So now that I have a bitchin’ new $20 laser mouse, I’ve been able to play S4 League again.

S4‘s weapons are an interesting take on MMO-ish games. Instead of level requirements for each weapon (which in nth-person shooters that aren’t outright MMORPG’s can go burn in Hell), all weapons are available immediately; you just have to do a tutorial and then you get 5 free hours of that weapon. The tutorial ensures (unless you have an IQ of ⑨) that you learn how to use each weapon before using it in a real round.

My weapons of choice are currently the Submachine Gun, the bat (forgot its actual name), and either the Handgun or the Burst Shotgun; SG for when I’m like “fuck it” about making accurate shots, the bat for slapping around enemies, Handgun or Shotgun for close-range combat or taking care of clusters of opponents. I’d use the Counter Sword in place of the bat but apparently, using it is a mortal sin, and quite honestly, it is a bit overpowered. And honestly, I don’t think the Cannonaide and Rail Gun aren’t that bad; it’s probably just my poor accuracy with charge weapons and sniping weapons speaking.

I find it interesting that the game offers the option to restrict weapons to just melee weapons, which brings about a fairly dramatic change in gameplay. Touchdown + Melee-only practically changes TD from a single-flag variant of CTF to something that’s more like association football.

Unfortunately, my computer sucks at running PC games that have more than two dimensions; I’ve had it overheat and auto-shutdown on me on several occasions. I wonder how much a cooling pad would help out.

I’ll write about StarCraft (the other “real” PC game I’ve been playing) later, when I’ve gotten to grips with the gameplay.