Hell Let Loose - PC game. Can I play it alone?

[Misery]

I agree with you about the "can we get to the Do Things parts already?". I might like a story game some day, maybe if it were only story, just a movie to watch. If I am playing I do not care about the cutscenes. I have not been drawn into one yet. People say wonderful things about that cowboy game. People say they cried when it was over and I am so happy for them but I tried that game and got bored in seconds.

Agreed.

I find that the best story-focused games are the ones that are like, super condensed. Where it's like, okay, this is a single play experience, it could be anywhere from 20 minutes long to 2 hours, and it is purely stuffed with story. Maybe there's a puzzle here and there or maybe some spooky thing to hide from (or maybe something extra creative sometimes) but mostly, you go through and you get the story WITHOUT it being all stretched out. All of my favorite game-related stories were in stuff like that.

Whereas traditional cutscenes tend to be looooooooooooooooong, and there's often a ton of them. And often they just feel like they're not being told in a way that feels like it makes bloody sense for the medium. There's a million other ways to do it, but the big budget ones in particular dont want to for some reason. They're written, acted out, and set up in a way that'd make sense for an actual movie. It's annoying.

Also maybe it's just me, but everyone seems to read their lines really freaking slowly. Generally I'd rather just have no voice acting, just show me the dialogue on screen and let me read it at my own pace so it wont take 50 years.

Granted I also have like zero patience, but still.

I really did love Lies of P because of the beautiful atmosphere, it was wondrous, but the action was too hard for me. I still have the game but I lost interest because I could not beat the first mini-boss. That balance - hard but not too hard. It was too hard for me.

Aye, it's a type of game often referred to as a "Souls-like". Because it's similar to a game called Dark Souls, which popularized a certain type of game design.

Basically, kinda slow, very deliberate, and VERY HARD. That whole genre is like that. It's too hard for plenty of people, it sure aint just you.

Of course, good luck getting a sense of that just by looking at the back of a box or something as someone who is new to gaming as a whole.

 

[grommet]

I found the game Call of Duty WWII. It was on sale on Steam for about $20. It is wonderful. It is just what I wanted but it is even better than I thought games could be. The graphics for the people's faces is amazing and the acting and writing is very good. These cutscenes are good, I am glad they are there.

I did not know how to game until Misery started teaching me. I was so frustrated learning because there are no videos or instructions online at all for beginners, only regular gamers wanting to know more. I say this because I have about 600 hours in playing a game I like and now starting this new game my finger just knew what to do without instructions from the game. Though some buttons do different things. I got killed a lot because the aim button was different and I could not figure it out.

I like Call of Duty WWII so much I looked on Steam and they had another version on sale for the same price too. I asked ChatGPT about it and the list of COD games. It recommended this one, Modern Warfare. I am downloading it. Almost 200gb. Taking all day. I hope I can play it. I worry it is more modern and I could not figure it out but if it uses controls like the one I am playing I will be okay. I asked ChatGPT only for versions of the game where I can play alone. It said I could with this new one too.

 

[Misery]

I found the game Call of Duty WWII. It was on sale on Steam for about $20. It is wonderful. It is just what I wanted but it is even better than I thought games could be. The graphics for the people's faces is amazing and the acting and writing is very good. These cutscenes are good, I am glad they are there.

I did not know how to game until Misery started teaching me. I was so frustrated learning because there are no videos or instructions online at all for beginners, only regular gamers wanting to know more. I say this because I have about 600 hours in playing a game I like and now starting this new game my finger just knew what to do without instructions from the game. Though some buttons do different things. I got killed a lot because the aim button was different and I could not figure it out.

I like Call of Duty WWII so much I looked on Steam and they had another version on sale for the same price too. I asked ChatGPT about it and the list of COD games. It recommended this one, Modern Warfare. I am downloading it. Almost 200gb. Taking all day. I hope I can play it. I worry it is more modern and I could not figure it out but if it uses controls like the one I am playing I will be okay. I asked ChatGPT only for versions of the game where I can play alone. It said I could with this new one too.

Just a quick thing, and I had wanted to tell you this quite awhile ago but totally forgot:

With games like that, be very, very careful about in-game spending.

Call of Duty, and many other big games, are made by publishers that are... EXTREMELY shady.

Many of them will try to get money from you, in a game you ALREADY paid for when you bought it. The concept is called "microtransactions". It's a huge problem in the industry as a whole right now, and it's one of the reasons I personally dont play AAA games, because even though I can resist it, it just bugs me too much.

Like, the concept of loot boxes. You're playing the game or whatever, and you're handed a mystery box somehow. It contains things that you could equip on your character... often they're cosmetic items that dont DO anything (so like, cool looking armor, or other things), but in some games they'll also give you more power (perhaps guns that are genuinely more powerful than guns you could normally find). You never know exactly what will be in it.

They might hand you one of these, and then suddenly they're like "Did you like that? There's more where THAT came from... you COULD keep playing and maybe every few hours you'll find another one, but if you pay us $2 in real money right now, we'll give you 5 of these RIGHT NOW, doesnt that sound great? And look at this super duper rare thing over here... if you open loot boxes, you just might get THAT even!" You WONT get that, the chances of getting some shiny super rare thing are astronomically low, but they want you to think you will.

The idea is to get you hooked on buying things like that, over and over again. They want to create addiction, and they use a lot of the very same tricks a casino uses. For instance, the idea that an individual hit "only" costs you a couple of dollars. That adds up REAL fast, and that's the point.

There's A LOT more to it than just that... I could write a book on the subject at this point. It's one of the primary things about the industry that I've been following the closest.

That doesnt mean that every big game does it, mind you. There are plenty that dont. Like I'm pretty sure that sniper game you played doesnt do it. But there are many that do, and the number keeps growing.

The one good thing is that, in many cases, this concept is most focused on multiplayer. They figure, if you do get some cool shiny things, well, other players seeing them on your character when they encounter you might encourage them to spend more too. That cant happen in pure singleplayer, so it's less likely with games that have a heavy singleplayer focus.

If you've wondered at all why there also seems to be a lot of games that are ONLY played multiplayer, that's one of the reasons. Singleplayer isnt even close to as profitable because the "FOMO" aspect cannot occur there.


Now, I dont know if Call of Duty: Modern Warfare specifically does it. I follow these trends in the overall industry, but I rarely care about the individual games (it just takes too much effort to follow all of the major games at once). But it is made by one of the absolute slimiest of all of the publishers out there, Activision.

I want to stress something here: I'm not telling you not to play it... seriously, I'm not. Go have fun with the game. I just want to make sure you're aware of the potential issue, not just in any one game, but in AAA gaming in general. I feel it's important for any consumer to understand any potential pitfalls of any product or service they are buying (it's why I'm a game reviewer!)

And... yeah, that's all about that. I just wanted to make sure you knew about the whole thing. I can explain in greater detail about pretty much any element of it if you want, but really all you need to know is that the problem is there. If a game asks you for more money from INSIDE THE GAME, dont do it, dont fall for it. Just completely ignore it, say "LOL NOPE", and keep playing.


As for the stuff about controls and difficulty and such, what I'll say is the same thing I usually say: Just dont give up, eh? Remember Jeff.

 

[grommet]

Just a quick thing, and I had wanted to tell you this quite awhile ago but totally forgot: ...
If a game asks you for more money from INSIDE THE GAME, dont do it, dont fall for it. Just completely ignore it, say "LOL NOPE", and keep playing.


As for the stuff about controls and difficulty and such, what I'll say is the same thing I usually say: Just dont give up, eh? Remember Jeff.

Thank you. That was fascinating. I think you explained a lot quickly. I understood. I had heard about micro transactions. I was not sure about what they were. In my favorite game they offered a lot of DLC and I bought most of it and I really liked it. I did not care about skins, I did not buy those but they sold extra weapons and those were wonderful. It was very worth it. Also the DLC went on sale for so little. Sometimes $.99.

I do not want to cheat. This game when I was looking on Steam sold something I cannot remember how it was written, something like CP, points. For money I could buy points. ChatGPT said they were for in-game transactions and I was not interested and it also felt like cheating. I worked really, really hard to complete the challenges in my favorite game. If there were a way to cheat I would really be disappointed in that. Those points for sale felt like that.

A long time ago I tried buying one of the COD games. I downloaded the huge file but never could even get through the shopping mall lobbies to the game. I kept trying to play and it told me about gold edition or whatever in one room, then another option, was I already a member, this is how much it cost. It did not make sense to me. I bought the game want to play but it would not let me, only keep offering things to buy. It was like renting a car but they will not let you leave, only keep buying options for the car. It was scary and creepy and I missed playing the game.

This WWII version has not done that. The DLC was on Steam but the game has not asked me yet to do anything. I am worried about Modern Warfare. If it does I will miss the game. I will try to return it. I would want the option to say no buying things and just play but it might not let me. I got very confused last time. The game is installed now and I will try to play it before the return period ends.

Yes, I remember Jeff. That was a huge life lesson for me. I use that a lot. I always need to remember Jeff. For people if you read this and do not know, Misery helped me when I was stuck in a game because of an NPC named Jeff. I felt miserable. She got me to keep trying and I infamy got past Jeff. It took me over 100 days. Misery said, you just have to get a little further each time. I had not thought of it that way and she was right. Just a little bit, only a little further than last time and it adds up. You can do it.

 

[grommet]

COD Modern Warfare is not single player, ChatGPT lied. It lies so much. I took all day downloading it. I asked for a refund, I hope I will get one.

COD WWII is getting too hard. I thought I was doing very well but then it got too hard. I did not like it but I lowered the difficulty and it is still too hard. I will have to get a little further each time. Slow work.

 

[Misery]

COD Modern Warfare is not single player, ChatGPT lied. It lies so much. I took all day downloading it. I asked for a refund, I hope I will get one.

There is a singleplayer campaign for Modern Warfare.

Look:

Here's the question though: Which specific game with that title did you try to buy? Modern Warfare is not just a game: it is a SERIES, contained within the overall Call of Duty franchise. So if you buy the wrong one, you end up with perhaps an entry in the series that is indeed just multiplayer only. Like seriously, CoD is a VERY old franchise. It's been around for a long, long time. There's a bewildering array of products under that umbrella.

For instance, this is the most recent Modern Warfare game as far as I'm aware:

Save 50% on Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® III on Steam

That is NOT the same game as the one in the video up there. And you might notice that this particular entry in the series has a horrible review score.

Yet, this one ALSO has a singleplayer campaign, it turns out.

Gotta say, even I'm confused here. What did you click on inside the game itself? I wonder if you didnt find the correct selection to start the campaign, VS starting the multiplayer stuff. Or if you bought an entirely different product beyond the one in the video, or the one I just linked to.

Oh, this also brings up something else I meant to tell you awhile ago and forgot:

When it comes to ChatGPT, it does not quite do what you are thinking it's doing. There are a lot of different AI services out there, and each one is good at different things, and not so good at other things.

ChatGPT is good at conversation, and performing tasks. It is NOT good at answering questions that might be found by browsing the internet. So, asking it questions about a product you might want to buy isnt a very good idea. It will always TRY to answer them, but has a decent chance of getting it wrong.

When I want to ask a question of the sort you asked it (like, related to a product I might be interested in), I dont go to ChatGPT specifically. I use Microsoft's Copilot. The reason: It is very heavily built around interacting with the internet. If you ask it questions, likely it will go and look around online a bit, and when it gives you answers, it will also show you where it found those answers. That way, you can double-check what it told you.

Being specific is also important with any AI. For instance, asking it a generic question about just "call of duty" is going to make for an erratic answer, because the series is so huge. You gotta get REALLY specific, or you'll get wrong answers. And that of course can be hard if you dont know what questions to ask!

Something I'll always say is that these AIs are just like anything else about computers: when you want to perform a task, ya gotta pick the right tool for that task. These things are not magic, after all. The more you can learn as a user, the better the results you'll have with any computer-related thing.

Just stuff to keep in mind for future AI usage.

A long time ago I tried buying one of the COD games. I downloaded the huge file but never could even get through the shopping mall lobbies to the game. I kept trying to play and it told me about gold edition or whatever in one room, then another option, was I already a member, this is how much it cost. It did not make sense to me. I bought the game want to play but it would not let me, only keep offering things to buy. It was like renting a car but they will not let you leave, only keep buying options for the car. It was scary and creepy and I missed playing the game.

Oh yeah, "scary and creepy" indeed, but that's only the tip of the iceberg. It gets so, so much worse.

If you're curious at all to see just how deep the rabbit hole goes with all that microtransaction stuff, have a look at this:

That's likely to be pretty confusing since the game being used as an example is of a type you arent familiar with, but honestly I dont think you need to 100% understand every little detail in order to see just how insidious the whole microtransaction thing gets.

 

[Misery]

Oh, one other thing I forgot to mention:

There are games that are singleplayer BUT also require you to be online anyway. Often referred to simply as "online-only singleplayer games".

The fact that you have to connect to some server or have an account to play doesnt automatically mean there is no singleplayer option.

Not sure why it didnt occur to me to mention that before.

 

[grommet]

Oh, one other thing I forgot to mention:

There are games that are singleplayer BUT also require you to be online anyway. Often referred to simply as "online-only singleplayer games".

The fact that you have to connect to some server or have an account to play doesnt automatically mean there is no singleplayer option.

Not sure why it didnt occur to me to mention that before.

Please tell me what Modern Warfare game I can get that will let me play single-player. I think that would be simplest. The one I bought was COD Modern Warfare. It kept talking about coop playing and preparing coop. I cannot play with other people. Gamers can be very hard. They say things I would not believe and I do not want that. I will play a campaign by myself and have fun.

Could you give me instructions so I can play this game, the one I bought and returned, but in single-player. I have not watched that video yet, if it explains how please tell me that and I will watch it for instructions.

Thank you for helping me.

 

[Misery]

Looking at that, I'm wondering, who is the punctured bongo that set up that store page? Steam says it was released in 2023. It was not. That's the 2019 game. And there's no indication of that on the page itself, because there's barely anything written about it. Apparently, it's actually an update to the first game in the Modern Warfare series, but it says nothing about that. Freaking Activision... No wonder this game is so confusing to find on Youtube. I mean holy heck this is confusing even to me.

Something to always look at on Steam's store page is a bit that looks like this:

Every game on Steam has this, and it can be found by scrolling down a bit, it is always on the right side of the screen. It always lists all the most major/important features. I strongly suggest *always* scrolling down to look at this for any game you're checking out.

Something specific to notice: the "requires third party account" part. I'm wondering if that's what you ran into that was so confusing. As I said earlier, some games require that you be online and connected regardless of what mode you're in. I've played Activision's games before, and they ALL do this. So even though you dont intend on playing with other people, you still need to do that part there.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaanyway.

How about you try this: Start the game up and get a screenshot or whatever of what you see when you start, and have clicked your way through any pop-ups it flings at you before you get to a menu. And show it to me.

I actually had a look at some videos of the game's campaign, none of them show the thing from initial load-up, so I cant see what the menus look like from those.

Also, dont be afraid to just poke things in a game, seriously. The only thing that could mess something up is the settings menu, which is usually just called "settings" or it might have a gear icon instead, that's like the most common icon for a settings menu. Best not to touch that if you arent used to dealing with it. Though, in some games, you may have to enter the settings menu to get the graphics set to max... often they default to a medium level (so they dont cause lesser PCs to have a seizure when the game is first run).

When you're playing something like the Flight Sim, there is a lot more that you can mess up if you poke it wrong, but for normal games, poke everything that isnt "settings" to see what happens.

Lastly... I agree on the bit about dealing with other gamers. Buncha rude little snots, the lot of them. For some reason, both competitive AND co-operative multiplayer turn people into frothing-at-the-mouth maniacs. I've never quite understood why. I never play online multiplayer games myself.


Oh, if I take awhile to respond to whatever you show me, or dont respond till tomorrow, dont worry, I'll respond when I see it. As always. My arm is acting up pretty bad today so I'll likely go to bed early or just step away from the machine to do some icing.

 

[grommet]

Looking at that, I'm wondering, who is the punctured bongo that set up that store page? Steam says it was released in 2023. It was not. That's the 2019 game. And there's no indication of that on the page itself, because there's barely anything written about it. Apparently, it's actually an update to the first game in the Modern Warfare series, but it says nothing about that. Freaking Activision... No wonder this game is so confusing to find on Youtube. I mean holy heck this is confusing even to me.

Something to always look at on Steam's store page is a bit that looks like this:

View attachment 141866

...


Oh, if I take awhile to respond to whatever you show me, or dont respond till tomorrow, dont worry, I'll respond when I see it. As always. My arm is acting up pretty bad today so I'll likely go to bed early or just step away from the machine to do some icing.

Thank you. I am so embarrassed. I misunderstood and saw those words on the screen about coop, and coop preparing that I thought it was about to put me in a live game with so many other people. I panicked. They are so mean. It would be nice if they played and had fun but they seem to want to make people feel awful about their playing. I thought I was just about to be put into that live play and stopped the game.

I cannot think more about it tonight. I will try tomorrow to watch that video. I think it will answer my questions. If I can make it work I need to buy the game again fast because it is on sale.

Something else I am worrying about is, COD WWII is getting so hard I had to reduce the difficulty and even with that I am barely making it. If it keeps getting harder I do not know and if COD Modern Warfare is as hard or harder I will not have fun, I worry I will be stuck in the beginning.

Sorry about your arm. Gel icepacks are amazing. Also Diclofenac cream. I hope you try it.

 

[Misery]

Thank you. I am so embarrassed.

There's no reason for that.

You know, there's a conversation I've had a few times with a friend of mine who lives nearby, about the whole gaming hobby and how bizarrely obtuse it is for new people. Like, every game just sorta assumes a level of base knowledge of a lot of concepts and such... even just when it comes to menus and whatnot. Over time games tended to add more complexity as the things that make it up became more capable, but they DID NOT improve the learning process.

There's a channel on Youtube I watch, this guy who talks a lot about game design and such, and he has this series that's like "here's what this game/genre is like for people who arent used to video games", and his wife... who is very new to the hobby... is playing whatever it is WITHOUT his help (so, relying only on what the game gives her, no outside tips) and he comments on and points out how and where the game in question fails at teaching the player things. And there's always SO MANY points where he's like "how is a new player supposed to know they need to do THAT? It's no wonder she's stuck here, when they dont explain/communicate X at all", and X could be a million different things. Even with tutorials in games, there's a lot of moments like "well it tries to explain this thing here... but it needed to also explain this thing over here, and it didnt bother, of course people new to the hobby are going to get stuck here".

Something else I am worrying about is, COD WWII is getting so hard I had to reduce the difficulty and even with that I am barely making it. If it keeps getting harder I do not know and if COD Modern Warfare is as hard or harder I will not have fun, I worry I will be stuck in the beginning.

That's to be expected though, even if the whole thing wasnt so obtuse.

There's no way to go into a skill-based hobby and be ready to knock it out of the park all in one go. Nothing works that way.

Consider hobbies you already ARE familiar with. If you think about it, you can probably easily see things about them that new people get stuck on a lot, or just need a lot of time to figure out. It'd happen to me, if I tried those hobbies.

Sorry about your arm. Gel icepacks are amazing. Also Diclofenac cream. I hope you try it.

Aye, I used a gel pack a few times yesterday.

I also tried submerging my hand into a bucket of ice water (which is something my father had done a number of times after his surgery, though that was on his foot, not his hand). This, I gotta say, did not work for me.

Today I have PT. Hopefully that'll help.

 

[grommet]

I downloaded COD Modern Warfare all night. It crashes every time it launches and I press play. I have worked hard enough on this game for now. I do not want to keep trying. I will move on.