Going kamikaze in Halo 3
Despite the many improvements to its predecessor's multiplayer mode, Bungie's Halo 3 is still not friendly to the newcomers. Wired's Clive Thompson is one of those players who don't have enough time or willpower to end up anywhere but last place in online matches. He's found a way to cope, however: suicide bombing.
Specifically, Thompson (in-game) runs straight at his assailant so that with his last breath he can lob a sticky grenade with deadly precision, so that his opponent dies with him. This leads to an interesting, however shallow (a point Thompson himself makes), observation on the psychology behind playing a game with the intent of throwing yourself into suicidal positions.
"The best players have dozens of free hours a week to hone their talents, and I don't have that luxury," he said. "This changes the relative meaning of death for the two of us. For me, dying will not penalize me in the way it penalizes them, because I have almost no chance of improving my state. I might as well take people down with me."
Those at Joystiq who can't own at Halo 3 have found a very different approach to feeling better about our gaming skills: we play as the medic in Team Fortress 2 and let everyone else rack up the kills while we rack up the assist points.
[Image via 1UP]
