Funny how things can change on a dime and one has no real reasonable explanation.  Just a blank stare and a look that screams "how did I get here?"  Between my now past birthday and the impending national day of lip service to members of your family that you would never see were it not for some co-opted Pagan solstice ritual, I wound up taking a forced detour on the way to somewhere entirely different.

Everyone has that friend that shows up once in a blue moon to let you know how much better than you they're doing and to commemorate the occasion with what they deem to be a paltry token of their continuing condescension...I mean "affection" for you.  For me, it was actually a blessing in disguise.

Now, apparently, this guy is not a member of this site, nor has he obviously spoken to me in the last few months.  Because he flung a GameStop bag at me and said, "oh yeah, I got you something for your birthday."  Inside the bag was a copy of Modern Warfare 2: Hardened Edition.  He spat off some rationale along the lines of how he remembered I always liked games and that this seemed to be the one everyone was talking about.  I said thank you, we proceeded to have a few drinks and he left.

I looked at that classy looking box for a good half-hour, wondering whether or not I should just Michael eBay the hell out of it when I decided "why not."

...I kinda beat that game in two sittings...

I COULDN'T STOP PLAYING!!!  Every new mission was like an interactive action movie in and of itself.  For every run and gun mission I barely escaped my the skin of my teeth, there was a stealth mission waiting to steal my last breath.  I didn't really care that I was playing the best video game adaptation of Red Dawn ever made, I love that movie too.  This was just a pleasant surprise.

Beyond the completely awesome campaign, there was Spec-Ops, which has fast become one of my favorite co-op experiences of recent years.  The variety and challenge of the missions therein make it endlessly entertaining in the field of pizza and beer gaming.  I thoroughly intend to bust my hump to earn all 69 stars in that mode, hell or high water.

Even the multiplayer, which I have NEVER been into, has become a gripping new pastime for me.  I just got my first win the other night (and I'll tell you, being a level 6 going up against a bunch of 50's and coming out on top is a great feeling), and I'm looking forward to more of it every chance I get.

Praise aside, I do have to make one hatemail-worthy statement.

As much as I have become enamored with it, Modern Warfare 2 is still not my Game of the Year.  In my top ten, but not the tops in pops.

For what I loved in here, the game is still just an iterative installment of a long-standing franchise.  It just so happens to be the best iterative installment of any franchise.  Infinity Ward was obviously not out to reinvent the wheel.  And praise should be given to them for that.  They amped up all the things that worked before, elaborated on them in the best and most intuitive manner, and created a game that is sure to keep my attention for much longer than most.  What thrills me for game of the year, however, is not iteration.  That's not slam against the game, just a matter of personal preference.

...yes, I know my personal GotY was a sequel, but come on, Uncharted 2 was as close as I'll ever come to fulfilling all my childhood fantasies of high adventure and swashbuckling derring-do...more on that at another time...

Long story made longer, though, I WAS WRONG.  I was wrong to question my interest in this title.  I was wrong to just think "oh, it's just another FPS."

I was wrong.  I was wrong.  I was wrong.

Seems to be my year for that.