Re: Biggest Sleeper and Biggest Disappointment of this year??
First off, this is a fun thread, Graphik. Thanks.
OK, these are my picks only from games that I have played.
DISAPPOINTMENTS
-- Full Spectrum Warrior. This was a game with so much promise, but Pandemic didn't deliver. The game had way too much of a "wash, rinse, repeat" style of gameplay where one mistake caused you to start all over again. Plus the online play was a shambles -- the exact same as offline, with no adversarial modes.
-- Rainbow Six: Black Arrow. Other than a few new online modes, which sucked because they were too frantic, how is this game that much different than RS:3, and how can UbiSoft get away with charging $40 for this? RS:3 mixed tactics and speed very well. The new online modes of RS:BA, especially Canister, turned this game into run-and-gun crap, similar to CounterStrike.
-- Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow. The offline play was no different than the original SC, and online wasn't much fun. Knowledge of the maps was more important than tactical sense and gameplay execution. That's not what video games are all about.
-- IndyCar Series 2005. Putting this in the disappointment category is somewhat misleading because it's a very good game. But the online play -- the most touted addition to this year's game -- was an absolute mess. Bad connectivity, poor caution period AI, etc., etc.
-- EA Sports on Xbox Live. EA clearly doesn't give three sh*ts about Xbox Live play if its XBL interface is any indication. Just look at the clunky interfaces and connectivity problems with NASCAR 2005 and Burnout 3. Only four racers online in NASCAR 2005? A joke. No lobbies are kept intact after each race ends? A joke. No voice chat in race lobbies? A joke. EA Sports on Xbox Live? A joke.
-- XSN Sports. Microsoft had no clue about the power of EA Sports when it launched XSN Sports last year. It also didn't help that just about everything advertised about XSN, such as leagues, live stats, etc., didn't work for a decent chunk of the service's viable lifespan. So MS tucked its d*ck between its legs and scrapped XSN titles earlier this year. Don't believe the talk about a "hiatus." These titles aren't coming back, which is a shame because some were quite fun, such as Inside Drive, Links, Top Spin and Amped.
SLEEPERS
-- NASCAR 2005 Chase For The Cup. EA never has made a good NASCAR game until this year. NASCAR 2005 is a surprisingly fun mix of believable, yet somewhat arcadish physics and a very, very deep career mode. There are just a ton of things to do in this game, and they're all fun. I expected the usual NASCAR shovel-ware from EA and was stunned at how solid and how much fun this game is.
Take care,
PK
First off, this is a fun thread, Graphik. Thanks.
OK, these are my picks only from games that I have played.
DISAPPOINTMENTS
-- Full Spectrum Warrior. This was a game with so much promise, but Pandemic didn't deliver. The game had way too much of a "wash, rinse, repeat" style of gameplay where one mistake caused you to start all over again. Plus the online play was a shambles -- the exact same as offline, with no adversarial modes.
-- Rainbow Six: Black Arrow. Other than a few new online modes, which sucked because they were too frantic, how is this game that much different than RS:3, and how can UbiSoft get away with charging $40 for this? RS:3 mixed tactics and speed very well. The new online modes of RS:BA, especially Canister, turned this game into run-and-gun crap, similar to CounterStrike.
-- Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow. The offline play was no different than the original SC, and online wasn't much fun. Knowledge of the maps was more important than tactical sense and gameplay execution. That's not what video games are all about.
-- IndyCar Series 2005. Putting this in the disappointment category is somewhat misleading because it's a very good game. But the online play -- the most touted addition to this year's game -- was an absolute mess. Bad connectivity, poor caution period AI, etc., etc.
-- EA Sports on Xbox Live. EA clearly doesn't give three sh*ts about Xbox Live play if its XBL interface is any indication. Just look at the clunky interfaces and connectivity problems with NASCAR 2005 and Burnout 3. Only four racers online in NASCAR 2005? A joke. No lobbies are kept intact after each race ends? A joke. No voice chat in race lobbies? A joke. EA Sports on Xbox Live? A joke.
-- XSN Sports. Microsoft had no clue about the power of EA Sports when it launched XSN Sports last year. It also didn't help that just about everything advertised about XSN, such as leagues, live stats, etc., didn't work for a decent chunk of the service's viable lifespan. So MS tucked its d*ck between its legs and scrapped XSN titles earlier this year. Don't believe the talk about a "hiatus." These titles aren't coming back, which is a shame because some were quite fun, such as Inside Drive, Links, Top Spin and Amped.
SLEEPERS
-- NASCAR 2005 Chase For The Cup. EA never has made a good NASCAR game until this year. NASCAR 2005 is a surprisingly fun mix of believable, yet somewhat arcadish physics and a very, very deep career mode. There are just a ton of things to do in this game, and they're all fun. I expected the usual NASCAR shovel-ware from EA and was stunned at how solid and how much fun this game is.
Take care,
PK
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