In recent days I’ve been requested to take my time and stream some PUBG when I get a chance. So low and behold I have. Often times on Twitch or Mixer so that viewers can interact with me and comment on my gaming antics. But what these viewers don’t know before they make that request? I suck at PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. I suck bad enough that I’m pretty sure my K/D/A on that game is lower than a .9 and that my win-to-loss ratio is at a 0%.
I’ve never won my chicken dinner nor have I actually been able to make it past five remaining players. I’ve always seen myself get knocked off within the top thirty-five and I’ve even fell witness to seeing myself knocked off within seconds of spawning. But that’s the delight behind this game. No matter how bad I suck, there’s always someone with worse luck than me and there is someone who will always be better than me as well.
But what’s surprising is the fact I’m not ashamed to openly admit that I suck at this game. Not because it’s a hard game, but rather the fact it’s an open-world survival game. Sure, the objective is to take out opposing players, but most importantly, it’s about surviving. It’s about taking every risk needed in order to play it safe, to obtain the best gear you can for your preferred play style and ultimately make it until the final seconds begin to tick down.
But what makes PUBG so hard for me? What makes it that I’m okay with admitting that I’m absolutely horrible at this game? Is it the fact it’s an open world game? Is it the fact I’ve become less calloused when I lose? Or is it the simple fact that I’ve become more seasoned as a player and have finally adjusted to the idea of not being able to respawn upon being eliminated?
When it comes to seeing where I stand with PUBG, it’s not that it’s necessarily hard for me. It’s hard to predict where I need to go, where I can find the most success if I decide to land on the side of the map where no one else is and just how I can take advantage of doing so. With this comes the trouble of finding proper gear, if you find it. I’ve sometimes found myself running about with ten to fifteen people left and only picking up the scraps that were left. Sometimes a grenade or two, sometimes a crossbow no one wanted, or a shotgun that had been tossed aside.
But that’s the trouble I have. It’s all about planning. While everything, except for the map and the buildings, is procedurally generated, I still have come across the trouble of finding weapons, backpacks, and protective gear. Some matches I’m dressed to the nines in combat gear. Other times I’m better off having jumped out of the plane in nothing but a pair of whitey tighties and a gas mask. After all, I did die this way multiple times and found better luck just letting someone kill me upon landing.
That’ why I’m okay in admitting that I’m horrible at this game. It’s not that I can’t obtain a kill or three. It’s not that I’m a horrible shot, which at times I am. It’s that I’m learning to accept that the game is fun regardless if I win or not. The added bonus is being able to rain on someone elses parade who thought they would make it to the end.
Even when I lose, I find satisfaction in knowing that for that situation there was nothing more I could do. I’d done my best, I’d encountered opposing players to the best of the hand I was dealt and unfortunately it wasn’t in my favor. While this sounds as a simple, “I gave up”, it was more than that. I put up a fight, I got my shots in and unfortunately didn’t win out. Instead, I was satisfied with my very performance. I’d died, I’d moved on and already queued in for another match.
The philosophy behind my acceptance of death in this game? You get one life. If you die, you can load back in rather quickly so that you can attempt another match. But I’m okay with the fact I suck at PUBG. I’m okay knowing that I may not ever be the best because I enjoy each random encounter. I appreciate the time I get to actually explore this carefully crafted map before its encroaching wall of blue death passes me by. I’m okay at the random explosions bombarding the area about me when caught in the red zone.
In truth. This is the first time I’ve felt okay knowing that I’m not the best there is, the best there was or the best PUBG will ever have. You know why? I’ll eventually have my chicken dinner.
The views expressed in this article explicitly belong to the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of, nor should be attributed to, Blast Away the Game Review, but rather the author.
About the Writer:
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.