Deus Ex: Invisible War
Chromehounds Singleplayer
Snowblind
Eternal Ring
I got to the end of the first level of Turning Point, which is further than anyone should ever play. I wish I’d stopped before I opened the dvd case.
Xenosaga. I hated almost every minute of it but I forced myself to finish it. It reminds me of MGS4 in that I kept telling myself that there was a deep, meaningful, and above all interesting story here that I just needed to pay attention to appreciate it.
Horse shit.
Bioshock, it was all down hill after the big reveal. It almost redeemed itself, but took something that could have been amazingly awesome and turned it into a fucking escort mission.
Without a question, KOTOR 2. The first 1/2 of the game was phenomenal (probably better than KOTOR), the next 1/4 was great. The last 1/4 of the game was so horrid, it ruined the entire experience for me.
Shellshock: Nam '67: Its crappiness was evident five minutes in, but I felt compelled to see just how “shocking” its take on the Vietnam War would get. Not that shocking, but the level that has you shooting up a whorehouse is a memorable low point in my gaming experiences.
Also, fucking Lionheart. I was desperately hoping for another Barcelona-like level. First mistake. Once it became clear that I was in for a massive slog, I figured I was past the point of no return and hunkered down to see how it all ended. Even bigger mistake.
NWN2. Rocks fall, everybody dies!
Aw man, I loved that game. It’s like the only game ever that’s even slightly ambiguous about whether you just played through it as a hero or a scizophrenic psychopath.
Lazy Shiftless Bastard, I am glad you showed up. My hat’s off to you; you’ve proven yet again that while no game is universally loved, it’s also true that no game is universally hated.
I also loved Dreamweb. Great Bladerunner-esque atmosphere in that game and a good story too.
Edit: Oh man, I also forgot the diary! This was from the time where games came with cool props. It had a faux leather bound diary in the game box, with the main character’s name written on the front as if scratched out by his nails. The diary started off with clean, tidy handwriting, but as the character descended into madness the entries got more and more chaotic, before becoming a mess of scribbles and arcane symbols. It was a great read and included clues and things you’d later find meaning of as you played the game.
Pool of Radiance Ruins of Myth Drannor - easily the most tedious and repetitive RPG of all time. The same couple of fights, dozens of times, every level…very limited content artificially prolonged through repetition. Arduous to finish for the review.
The new Prince of Persia. The original Apple II game and Sands of Time are two of my favorite games, but this one felt like work. The ending itself didn’t really bother me, but the sheer repetitiveness of the gameplay did. I kept playing, hoping there’d be more variety, increasing challenge, etc. but it never happened. Good-looking game though.
And Planescape: Torment. But that’s because I never wanted it to end. :)
Lame puzzle involving timing isn’t as punchy as jump puzzle. Everybody else knew what I meant, so clearly you are defective. Ho HO!
I also didn’t mention the DEATH HAIL MAZE – the xxxxtreme version of rocks fall, everybody dies. What the fucking stupid.
On a related note, I need to remember to make a “Gravity is Fundamental” image, because the internets are lacking!
Dreamweb for me too. It’s the only one that I wish I hadn’t finished.
(The list of games I wish I hadn’t started is much longer!)
Freelancer.
During a certain points in the story line you are sent away and have to do some sandbox gaming for a while until you are called back.
Usually I’m pissed off by that but ok this time I decided to finally accept this and do some trading. Got rid of my fighter ship and bought a transport one with good gear. Found some lucrative trading routes and made some good money. Then suddenly I was called back into duty. Once the game decides you have to go back it pesters you with a lot of messages and hints that you “can” (read: have) to continue the story line. I ignored it for a while but finally was so annoyed (annoyed by the game I played!) that I said: Ok let’s continue.
I flew with my nice trading ship to the next assigment. Lo and behold it was some escape mission where I had to protect a ship that had to make it to a jump gate! Fine.
Turned out I couldn’t do it with my trading ship because I lacked the armor and fire power!
So after 20 tries I had to change my nice ship with some fighter ship to pass the mission!!!
That pissed me off without end because why the hell do I get a lot of options in sanbox mode and then when I’m pushed back into story mode I can’t advance besides only ONE of these options??
I completed the story mode with a sour feeling and uninstalled the game.
I doubt I will ever play it again.
Lame puzzle involving timing isn’t as punchy as jump puzzle. Everybody else knew what I meant, so clearly you are defective. Ho HO!
I also didn’t mention the DEATH HAIL MAZE – the xxxxtreme version of rocks fall, everybody dies. What the fucking stupid.
On a related note, I need to remember to make a “Gravity is Fundamental” image, because the internets are lacking!
As I said, if you didn’t like the game I’m cool with that. No biggie.
However, as a tip for next time : if you don’t mean “jumping puzzle”, don’t use the words “jumping puzzle” to describe the issue. It just confuses things. People like myself tend to look at the words that were written and use them to define the meaning of the sentence. It’s a nasty habit I picked up in school.
Agreed. I have a soft spot for Dreamweb too. I don’t remember much of the story anymore, except that it was really addicting and I just had to keep playing to find out what happens next.
I’ve been tempted to play it again some day, but I’m worried that it might not hold up anymore.
I’m starting to think that the Fallout 3 DLC segment that was released today is going to be on my list of games I wish I hadn’t finished. Luckily it’s apparently damn short. But as good as Fallout 3 is, this is just . . . ugh. Calling it “mediocre” may be giving it too much credit.
I actually liked GUN and completed it more than once; I thought it had well balanced gameplay and when you die, you start just a few seconds before you died, this is extremely useful on the harder difficulties which provided a very good challenge as well.
I don’t mean to get on Warren’s case (Aeon is not being clear) but the meaning of words is created dynamically, dropping out of the context they are being used in. If you took every word spoken to you for its literal, dictionary meaning, idioms and metaphors would make your eyes roll back in your head. Do you become confused when someone tells you they spent the afternoon surfing in their office? :p