Disappointments of this year.

[studbucket]

Re: Disappointments of this year.

Woah now...

Wow.. to each his own....but it's far far from crap.

I know many people disagree with me, and that's fine, but I can't honestly say I had any fun playing the game outside the first hour.

When I play College Hoops 2K8, Mass Effect, Gears of War 2, or several other games, I have fun. I play Fable 2, and it doesn't even feel like fun at all. The whole game feels like an overhyped chore with no creativity, depth, or point to it.

It's just the feeling I get when playing the game.

[Misfit]

Re: Disappointments of this year.

I have a few:

GTA4 - Let me first start off by saying that Grand Theft Auto 4 is a good game. I spent quite a bit of time with it going through the story mode and felt like I got my money's worth in that regard. And though I didn't spend much with it, the online mode was a nice surprise and provided some solid entertainment. What dissapointed me about this game though was that, in a lot ways, I felt the franchise took a step back rather than a step forward like it should have. Yes the game world was made bigger and the AI was more interesting to behold. The game looks nice and the improved car physics, while a bit of a shock, were welcomed. What I didn't like though was how the developers, in their attempt to make the game more realistic, seemed to forget what made the previous games so good - that they acknowleged they were videogames. I miss being able to find power-ups and rocket launchers throughout the game world. Or being able to randomly collect or shoot things that bring rewards (the pigeons sucked). The only positive I can say is at least they kept the insane jump stunts. And while I appreciate the developers focusing on giving us gamers a good story, I miss the more open story of GTA3. I liked playing some no name bum trying to make a name for himself and having options on who to befriend and who to screw over. I also miss the territories and how in games past when you pissed off the Triad any member would open fire on sight. I just found Niko to be an uninteresting character and not someone I really cared about. When I play GTA, I want to be the bad guy. Niko is pretty much a good guy forced into some bad situations and by the end of it I kind of hoped he'd bite the big one. Which brings up the point that once the game is over, its over. There's nothing to keep you coming back unless you really like having fake videogame sex and playing pool. And lastly, why the removal of aircraft? I loved the wide arsenal in San Andreas of different planes that could stolen and flown (and the jetpack was pretty cool too) and I can't fathom why Rockstar would omit that. And the series needs a real shot in the arm from a creative standpoint when it comes to missions. A lot of them end up feeling like chores, the creativity just isn't there. And most of the games difficulty stems from the character controls feeling just as awkward and half-assed as GTA3.

Spider-man: Web of Shadows - Activision's Spider-man for the Playstation was released in 1998, or there abouts. That game reinvigorated the Spider-man videogame scene and was a fun title. Since then, Activision has refined the web-slinging and that's about it. The same boring ground combat still exists and the camera will apparently forever plague this series. What looked promising in trailer form, just turned out to be turd. Here's hoping Batman Arkam Asylum doesn't befall the same fate.

Sega, for failing to realize what made Sonic great and effectively destroying any lasting credibility their once mighty mascot had.

Nintendo, for releasing nothing but carbon copy sequels and bad software on the Wii. Smash Bros and Mario Kart are the same as always, and Mario Baseball didn't even incorporate the most logical of motion controls into the title, swinging a bat! I still can't believe they failed to do that. And on top of that, save for a few Punch Out! images, Nintendo has given us no reason to think that 2009 will be any better.

Smackdown vs Raw - seems to be on its way to becoming the Madden of wrestling titles. Each year its two steps forward, two steps back, and THQ fails to push the series forward and give fans the wrestling game they deserve. Where's my GM mode? A story mode for created wrestlers? Two unforgivable omissions.

[whosgotcha]

Re: Disappointments of this year.

Mercenaries 2.

I really enjoyed the first one. Mercenaries 2 graphics style was to cartoonish and the shooting and aiming system was flawed.

[umd]

Re: Disappointments of this year.

Bad (all 360):

*Madden...yet again. Franchise mode is garbage. Atmosphere is blah. Gameplay is better, but is lipstick on the pig and that lipstick isn't that high quality to begin with.

*MLB2k8...talk about a game regressing.

*NCAA 09...the fact this franchise has fallen so far on 360 is such a big disappointment to me.

Now the better than expected:

*Fallout 3 (PC) ...knew it would be good but it's REALLY REALLY good. Maybe top 10 all-time good.

*MLB Power Pro's (Wii)...never owned the original so this was an eye opener. I thought the cartoony characters might get stale but it reminded me of my NES from when I was a kid w/ surprisingly solid gameplay and a simple, yet deep Career Mode. What a great game for the price.

*Bowl Bound College Football (PC)...I know it's old, but it was new to me and the NCFA w/ all the OS guys is awesome. Talk about an in-depth, hold your attention college football text sim. Fantastic game:

http://www.simgamingnetwork.com/?styleid=1

Somewhere in the middle...

*Left 4 Dead (PC)...more maps for versus mode and some mod maps for either mode will push this game into the better than expected. Its' just lacking in map diversity, but I dig the gameplay and atmosphere.

*GTAIV (360)...played the hell out of it at release, but then kinda got lost in the shuffle over time. I think I was really subconsciously counting on the MP to be something special and it wasn't for me. I did enjoy the SP, but MP is where it's at for longevity with me.

*NBA2K9 (360)...better than 2k8, but a little bit of a re-hash title for me. Getting a little bit dry even though I really dig the 5 on 5 online aspect and am anxious to see how it takes off.

*Head Coach (360)...great idea and addicting, yet buggy on the field. It's not as good as Bowl Bound and really makes Madden's Franchise mode look criminally poor. Put the two games together instead of giving me peanut butter in one box, jelly in another and then telling me I can't have both on the same sandwich.

[Quint75]

Re: Disappointments of this year.

No game disappointed me more this year than NCAA 09. I thought Madden was a better game than NCAA this year. And I am not a big Madden fan.

[Dez]

Re: Disappointments of this year.

I have to go with gta IV as the let down game of the year.

[WazzuRC]

Re: Disappointments of this year.

MLB 2k8 hands down.

Looked forward to that game for months, tried to play it for 2-3 weeks, and then it sat on my shelf for another month before I sold it.

[Money99]

Re: Disappointments of this year.

MLB2K8. That was an easy one.

But to add some festive cheer I want to give props to some games that people seem to bashing in this thread:

NHL09. I love this game. It has it's flaws certainly, but I can't stop playing it.
Same with MLB The Show 08. Could be the best sports franchise out there right now.
Star Wars Unleashed and GTA IV. I've enjoyed both of them immensely. But with GTA IV, I hadn't played a GTA game since GTA III. So maybe I liked it because it was fresh.

I'm hoping to pick up Fallout 3 sometime soon.

[Cusefan]

Re: Disappointments of this year.

Madden was not really a disappointment for me, NCAA 09 was a real downer for me. NCAA just didnt do it for me, the excitement of previous installations just was not there.

MLB 2k8 was downright bad, The Show absolutely stomped it.

Quantum of Solace: It sucked, it just was not good. When will bond games get the AAA treatment they deserve. When will bond Games focus on espionage instead of gunplay!!

Far Cry 2: The AI ruined this game, If every person in the world didnt shoot at you it would be awesome. It really gets old having to shoot EVERYONE you see.

[jmood88]

Re: Disappointments of this year.

Far Cry 2: The AI ruined this game, If every person in the world didnt shoot at you it would be awesome. It really gets old having to shoot EVERYONE you see.

They only shoot at you if they see you or you make a noise. You can sneak past people in the game.

[Cusefan]

Re: Disappointments of this year.

They only shoot at you if they see you or you make a noise. You can sneak past people in the game.

Im talking about when you are driving and going through checkpoints. Also the only people in other cars are trying to kill you as well. They should have made a GTA style star system, if you have no stars they will not shoot at you, if you do get stars then people will chase you and shoot at you.

It just gets sooo annoying having to shoot at anything that moves, You cannot enjoy the African scenery because there is someone always shooting at you.

[coffeeholic]

Re: Disappointments of this year.

For me-Fable 2 was over-hyped and I got bored with it quick. Luckily, I played the story mode and sold it for 50 bucks to a co-worker-So I didn't lose much.

[MC Fatigue]

Re: Disappointments of this year.

For me-Fable 2 was over-hyped and I got bored with it quick. Luckily, I played the story mode and sold it for 50 bucks to a co-worker-So I didn't lose much.

Is there a non-story mode? I'm just curious, since you seemed to specify story-mode; I'm wondering if I missed some part of the game.

[Anaxamander]

Re: Disappointments of this year.

GTAIV for me. I fell for the hype and bought it day 1, but the controls absolutely kill the game for me. If the game had duplicated the controls of, let's say, Dead Rising and kept everything else the same, I would have loved it.

[the_future420]

Re: Disappointments of this year.

Biggest Disappointment

Gears of War 2 (tie).

The campaign and horde mode are excellent, but the mutliplayer is trash. This coming from somebody who put in around 1000 hours in the original Gears. HUGE disappointment.
I will just say four words regarding this game and move on. Shield Glitch. "Smoke" Grenade.

GTA IV (tie)

This game just got boring really quick. Multiplayer was fun for awhile but got stale too. Not enough variety in missions. A very good game, but considering how much it was hyped and anticipated, it was a huge letdown.


Biggest Surprise

Fallout 3.

I've always loved shooters, and I've enjoyed my fair share of RPGs so I figured I'd give this game a shot. Never played a Fallout game before so I wasn't expecting a whole lot. What I ended up playing was the GOTY and probably one of the 10 best games ever made. That game completely immerses you as soon as you step out of Vault 101 and doesn't let go. The best thing about it is that there is probably 150 hours of gameplay there. I beat it once in 73 hours and there are lots of sidequests I didn't do and tons of places left for me to explore. That game is a masterpiece. From the excellent combat to the surprisingly great soundtrack (lots of old 1950s and earlier music) that game showed me exactly why I still play video games.