Beijing 2008 Review

[RaychelSnr]

We have posted our review of Beijing 2008.

"Recently, sports gamers have fretted over the word "accessible" and what it means to video gaming in general. When a company strives to make a sports game "accessible," the common connotation is that it will be "watered down," made too "kid-friendly," or simply less authentic."

[DubTrey1]

Great review. Saved me the trouble of renting so my wife & I could play a game together for a change.

[BSanders]

Thanks for the review, DubTrey I suggest renting it and making your own judgement, I think it's the best Olympic game made and that's my opinion like reviews are. Look at IGN review of NCAA 09 and 08 one point difference and I think it's way better than 08. BTW.. Judo is one of my favorite events.

[LingeringRegime]

I think I will buy this one soon. Looks like it would be fun with the wife.

[texbuk84]

great review wasn't going to buy anyway.

[allBthere]

It's a good game. There has never been a better representation of track and field events. The field events are particularly satisfying. I rented the game, and couldn't stop going for olympic and world records, and if you stick with it, you'll get them.

I can't agree w/ all of the review either. If you played the game and BEAT the game, it actually becomes better because you get to go through the olympics again w/ you team completely maxed out.

It can be frustrating however since you have to 'groove' w/ the controls after you understand them. Sprinting for example it's best to 'waggle', but waggling means going completely sideways and I don't think everyone gets that. So it's easiest to hold the controler on an angle and use the right analog and just make sure that you're going fast completely to the left and right (not up and down).

Also the shooting is great imo except for skeet shooting. I'm 375th on live for the 10m shooting, and have high rankings on many other events w/ is actually exciting for a change rather than being 233,429th, you can actually see a progression as you play and get better. I just returned it, but wish i still had it to challege OSers to field events since I belive no one can out discus or javelin me lol.

Very unique game, that I may rent again during the olympics. I believe everyone should at least try it - compared to every other olympic game it blows them all away. It's fun to trade tactics too on some events since some people just naturally 'get it' more than others on one event, but get stuck on others.

anyway, i was pleasantly suprised and I think others will be too.

[allBthere]

just want to add that my girlfriend liked the game. It's also not fair to fault the game for being hard, after all the 360 is slanted more towards core gamers. Would a game be worth buying if you can immediately get massive scores w/o taking the time to learn the skills? At least this game rewards you for learning and doing well, and imo it should be hard. To me this is a 7.5 overall, and for niche fans 8.5 and up.

[CPRoark]

Hey guys,
thanks for the comments. As always, this review is only my opinion, so disagreements are fine.

This probably is one of the better Olympic games produced, and like I said, if you are into these games, you may be pleased. And I fully prepared for a comment like allBthere's: "not fair to fault the game for being hard." My issue, and I hope I communicated this well enough, is not that it's too hard. I like a challenge. The problem is that it's best as a multiplayer game, but the difficulty will turn others away.

If the single player were more fun (again, just to me), the difficulty isn't an issue. It's not an issue either if you have 3+ friends who are up for the challenge.

I'll defend my 6 as being within the OS guidelines, those being that a 6 falls in the range of an slightly above average, fun game, with a lack of depth and some design issues. Most importantly is the idea that this game probably won't appeal to those who aren't fans of the sport.

To me, this game is definitely a rental, but I can't recommend a purchase to those who aren't big time Olympic fans. Try it, you may like it.

Keep the comments coming! And don't forget to give a use score, especially if you disagree with me

[Alliball]

I long for the days of Track and Field and Decathlon by Activision on the Atari 2600, both of which I spent many an hour playing and trying to beat my personal best. When T&F hit the 360 I was excited, it finally gave me a chance to look good online. I never heard so many, OOOO's and AAAAAh's when it was my turn to run, throw or jump. This game might just fill the bill.

[allBthere]

Re: Beijing 2008 Review

Hey guys,
thanks for the comments. As always, this review is only my opinion, so disagreements are fine.

This probably is one of the better Olympic games produced, and like I said, if you are into these games, you may be pleased. And I fully prepared for a comment like allBthere's: "not fair to fault the game for being hard." My issue, and I hope I communicated this well enough, is not that it's too hard. I like a challenge. The problem is that it's best as a multiplayer game, but the difficulty will turn others away.

If the single player were more fun (again, just to me), the difficulty isn't an issue. It's not an issue either if you have 3+ friends who are up for the challenge.

I'll defend my 6 as being within the OS guidelines, those being that a 6 falls in the range of an slightly above average, fun game, with a lack of depth and some design issues. Most importantly is the idea that this game probably won't appeal to those who aren't fans of the sport.

To me, this game is definitely a rental, but I can't recommend a purchase to those who aren't big time Olympic fans. Try it, you may like it.

Keep the comments coming! And don't forget to give a use score, especially if you disagree with me

Oh I didn't think you were way off or anything, just so you know. It was a good review, I just think it definitely swayed people away from trying it as the first comment suggests. We differ in that I only played single player (training, olympics, challenge) and I enjoyed that quite a bit. And I noticed that I got achievements for beating my personal bests which was pretty cool.

It is hard though, and frustrating especially at the beginning, but when you get a WR or OR, it's totally fist pumping material.

these games come out rarely, and they always get bad scores (but not this one), so to me it's sort of a triumph. I was very suprised at the production values - this is not a cheap olympic cash-in, they really set out to make a good game imo.

I absolutely agree on not recommending a purchase, it is a game that you must try, and like me you may have a lot of fun with it during a week rental and feel that you got your fill. I may rent it again, and I may not, but it was a very good rental imo. It's not one that I returned early for sure.

[allBthere]

Re: Beijing 2008 Review

I long for the days of Track and Field and Decathlon by Activision on the Atari 2600, both of which I spent many an hour playing and trying to beat my personal best. When T&F hit the 360 I was excited, it finally gave me a chance to look good online. I never heard so many, OOOO's and AAAAAh's when it was my turn to run, throw or jump. This game might just fill the bill.

there's another t&f game comming next week, I'm going to try to check that out too, although it might not be 'big' enough for rental stores to carry it.

[wayne23]

Beijing 2008 would have been a great game for the Wii.