If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m a chick. And yes, I like to play froo-froo games like Viva Pinata and Animal Crossing. But right now, my very favorite game is Call of Duty 4. I’ve been playing a lot more since a friend introduced me to the Headquarters playlist (thanks Covie!), which is like capture the flag on crack. I know I’m rare, because if I play in the afternoons (nap time for the kids), the conversations usually go something like this:

lilkid94 (obviously 14 years old or younger): Mrs. K. Nice Guy? (kid obviously didn’t get through Hooked on Phonics.) What the @#$%? You must be gay, you @#$%^.
me: no, my tag would be gay if I was a guy, but I’m not.
lilkid94: wha???? you… you’re a … GIRL??? Holy !@#$%^ *head explodes*
at least 5 other people in room: a GIRL!! Playing Call of DUTY!!! *heads explode*

And then I get pestered with questions for the rest of the match, many of which are not suitable for posting on this family-friendly blog (but which make me laugh fairly hysterically into my now-muted headset). Which is just one of the reasons I would rather play at night, when other adults are out. I am really not fond of playing with the little ones I call the “After School Special” crowd.

But I digress. I was here to talk about Headquarters, and how amazingly fun it is. Basically, you have to get to a computer console on the map, and stay by it long enough to capture it before the other team does. On some maps, the game is a total bloodfest. It takes definite teamwork. And good camping skills. And great hunting skills. And it also rewards you with huge riches of experience points. Five points for every five seconds your team holds the headquarters (even when you’re dead – you don’t respawn while defending the headquarters). Twenty points if you’re the first one to capture the headquarters. Fifteen points for destroying an enemy headquarters. And 15 points for each kill while defending. It is brutal. And fantastic.

Even when I am terrible at Call of Duty, I just cannot stop laughing (just ask MrKniceGuy). I love hunting down snipers and knifing them in the back. I love flanking an entire team and mowing them down. I love getting to the headquarters on Downpour, the one inside the greenhouse, and going prone between the barrels where no one can find me. I love that split second when the enemy is in my sights and I’m not sure which of us is going to be the one to die. I love that sound of bullets meeting their marks (but hate when the stupid Juggernaut symbol pops up). It’s a rush.

So yeah, I may be a chick, but I can appreciate an exhilarating round of online multiplayer in a great game like COD4. Now if I could just get more of my friends to play it, I wouldn’t have to waste so much time watching “after school specials” do unspeakable acts to my dead body in Halo 3.