The Club at Texas A&M University-Commerce held their first video game competition of the semester, showcasing [i]Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2[/i]. Aside from several technical difficulties, the event was a success.
Sign-ups for the competition began two weeks ago, peaking interests of quite a few video game junkies. Students were given time to choose their teams of four and, upon registration, they were promised backpacks, t-shirts, ready-to-eat meals, and personalized dog tags with their code and team names written on them.
The Club was heavily decorated for the event. Décor was provided by the National Guard and included a camouflage canopy that stretched across the entire ceiling and two secluded bunkers to conceal the teams who were playing at any given time.
“It seemed like it was going to be a lot of fun,” freshman Dakota Smith said. “The grand prize is a $150 version of the game and pair of military grade night vision goggles for each team member.”
The game itself was not available in stores until midnight the day before the tournament, a precaution which served to even the playing field. [i[Call of Duty[/i] games are known for their realistic weaponry and intricate stages and maps.
“They did a really good job making this game,” sophomore Justin Morales said. “I’m in the Marines, and the guns in this game are very similar to the ones in real life.”
Although the event was scheduled to limit players’ access to the newly released game, many teams waited in line to purchase it the night before to give their team an edge. Team Orgy, comprised of mostly freshmen, stayed up until the early morning learning the maps and strategies of the game.
“I only got a few hours of sleep,” Morales, a member of team Orgy, said. “We were practicing our strategies and making sure we could make it through the maps as a team. But I think that this knowledge will help.”
However, the sleepless night seemed to pay off for some in the multiplayer single elimination tournament. The competition began with 16 registered teams and several more waiting for a team to forfeit, each coming into the event with a different plan for success. Each round lasted 10 minutes or until a team reached their goal of 50 kills.
“From watching I can tell there are some people who went out and bought the game last night and took time to learn the weapons and things, and then there are the teams who didn’t and seem to have no idea what’s going on,” Smith said.
Aside from this, the competition faced several technical difficulties. Teams were forced to go down to three players, and on several occasions, entire rounds had to be restarted because the monitors froze.
“We all play shooters a lot so the playing field is even, but it was so hard to choose who would sit out on the actual game play,” freshman Philip Dahir said.
The competition also had an abundance of down time for the players. The Club was set up with only two bunkers, one for each team that was playing. Since only two teams could play at one time, the other students spent their free time waiting and watching, which proved to be an advantage on it’s own.
“We are learning other teams’ strategies by watching them play on the big monitors,” Smith said.
Furthermore, the teams also expressed the tournament was not just about winning. “I’m not here because of all the hype,” Dahir said. “Everyone is like, ‘yay [i]Modern Warfare[/i],’ and for me it’s more like ‘hey, it’s a free competition and I’m good at video games,'” Dahir said.
Smith seconded this, saying that once he sat down and watched the other teams, the tournament became more about the experience rather then just winning.
“The night vision goggles would be nice though,” Smith said.