Are you an esports emperor or a casual conqueror?

I will keep this one short.

I often ask myself this question when comparing the value of professional gaming passion with that of my hobbyist approach to games. We all have that one title that one game we never could finish. The dreaded story mode! Depending on how far back your gaming goes and how long you have been alive will determine how much you can relate to the woes of what made my choice for the one that got away.

Let’s hop into the DeLorean and head not Back to the Future, but back to the past. Set the flux capacitor for 1997. Enter Nintendo 64's James Bond 007 Goldeneye. This game really put the screws to me in its maze-like levels and targeting system. Playing for hours upon hours dealing with the barrage of game freezes, save fails, sudden power loss, sibling interference, random girlfriend show ups and genuinely having bad aim lead to this being the one that got away for me.

In the subsequent years, this had a profound effect on why I love FPS titles and my newfound appreciation for the story mode offered in most titles. Pick your poison, Halo, COD, GOW, Doom, Medal Of Honor Counter-Strike etc.

This is not about what the best fps game is, that is completely subjective. Like in eSports competition games, there is nothing like PVP with a human. But the story mode did give me the skills proper to go out there in online gaming, MMO style and not be completely embarrassed on the game servers. Now with updated game-play hardware, mobile gaming, software, graphics, engines, internet, tactical gaming products and more, it’s more likely you will finish a title and possibly compete.

Can you relate? Tell me, what is the one that got away for you and did you finally beat it and now win at competitive gaming or has it joined your personal archive of never beats we all seem to have?