defend a game you thought was good

tallaghtmick

Seen a thread about defending a film earlier so i thought id throw up a game thread,my first game would be star wars:shadows of the empire on the n64.
http://www.gamespot.com/n64/adventure/starwarsshadowsoftheempire/index.html

a lot of people hated this game but i loved it,there was so much diversity in the game like snowspeeders a class alternate millenium falcon,a jetpack level and a class train fight level.

so whats your fave maligned game.:D

o1s1n

Manhunt, Manhunt 2, Thill Kill and Robocop Versus The Terminator.

In some cases, relying on gratuitous gore works.

Retr0gamer

Got to say I recently play Shadow of the Empire and that game is a real stinker. Think it's the rose tinted glasses effect. There was a lot of diversity to the game but unfortunately none of the levels were any good and I'm including the supposedly amazing hoth snow speeder levels. Play the game again if you aren't convinced :P

Robocop vs. Terminator: It's alright just a woeful bang of meh off it.

As for Manhunt. Awful game that involved walking behind someone and holding x. For the whole game. Which wasn't much fun.

Deadly Premonition: Yes it has some of the worst gameplay ever but I still found it to be the most compelling and interesting game of last year and the story and conclusion were well worth it. It took a massive dump all over Heavy Rain.

tallaghtmick

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Got to say I recently play Shadow of the Empire and that game is a real stinker. Think it's the rose tinted glasses effect. There was a lot of diversity to the game but unfortunately none of the levels were any good and I'm including the supposedly amazing hoth snow speeder levels. Play the game again if you aren't convinced

bah you:pac:

non mod note: no game bashing,we shall call this rule the retr0gamerrule;)

Retr0gamer

So you want no bashing of the games people defend on this thread? If so I'll shut my mouth

o1s1n

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Robocop vs. Terminator: It's alright just a woeful bang of meh off it.

Wrong.

Retr0gamer wrote: »

As for Manhunt. Awful game that involved walking behind someone and holding x. For the whole game. Which wasn't much fun.

I always wondered what it would be like to tear someones testicles off with a pliers. Now I know.

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Deadly Premonition: Yes it has some of the worst gameplay ever but I still found it to be the most compelling and interesting game of last year and the story and conclusion were well worth it. It took a massive dump all over Heavy Rain.

People keep comparing it to Alan Wake too for some reason. It's in a league of it's own. Can honestly say I've never really played anything like it.

Okay so maybe I've watched something like it made by David Lynch, but never played

Retr0gamer

Comparing deadly premonition to alan wake is an insult to it's good name.

tallaghtmick

Retr0gamer wrote: »

So you want no bashing of the games people defend on this thread? If so I'll shut my mouth

well your a mod you can do as you please:D

Retr0gamer

Nope I can't make a rule for the thread and I'll follow it :P

johnny_ultimate

Well since we're on the subject of Alan Wake, I'll defend that. I will set out first and foremost that the gameplay does get repetitive, most definitely. It is also fairly shamelessly derivative of many influences. However, I'd say the same things about Deadly Premonition. What Deadly Premonition lacks - and this is a more than significant point unfairly passed over by defenders of the game IMO, and I do most certainly like the 'game' - is anything compellingly playable. Alan Wake has that. The interplay of light and dark, a rock solid game engine and a story which what it lacks in originality makes up for with a refreshing hybrid of psychological character studies and tense action. It also has the guts to end on an ambiguous, complex note that suggests a sequel could be very special indeed.

It doesn't make the most out of its ideas at times - indeed, the first DLC chapter introduces a wonderful mechanic that's quickly passed over. And barring its repetition, it's still a unique and engaging experience, a story that isn't dumbed down. Where Deadly Premonition was a technical mess with a Twin Peaks-lite story (and lets be honest - it isn't Twin Peaks at its peak), Alan Wake was a technical marvel with a Stephen King-lite story. That has to count for something.

richymcdermott

Alpha protocol

Despite its bugs and glitches i enjoyed the game very much

ShadowHearth

Well here it goes:

Brink ( shocker, I know ) - I personally love it, but the console version Is awefull because of the peer 2 peer bull****. I will be trading in my xbox version and picking up pc one. Dedicated servers with zero bots ftw. ( I know how boards.ie hates this game and people who liked it, so let's leave it at this. )

Kane and lynch 2 - it was totally destroyed by reviewers and players who were upset with all that k&n 1 gamespot incident. I got that game for 8 quid and totally loved it. The ending was rubbish allright, but game isnot as bad as people make. Not game of the year, but enjoyable.

Settlers 7 - one of the best strategy games in awile. I love it. Back to proper settlers roots. And thanks got it's not trying to be anather Warcraft 3. No one of my friends have not even heard of it. I was so damn surprised . Remember playing it on my old 200mhz 32ram and 2mb video beast! Still love it Om my iPhone!

Branoic

+1 for Alpha Protocol, awesome game. Poor Obsidian, they deserved much better reviews from the gaming press. The depth and impact of the decisions you made were miles ahead of other games at the time, including Bioware.

Helix

most recently it's got to be the first templar

now, i KNOW that it's awful. there can be absolutely no denying that and i accept it, but when you look past the staggering technical ineptitude of the game, there's something there that's actually a little special. im not talking about clever gameplay mechanics or anything like that, just the fact that a game so utterly terrible had me coming back to it time and again until id pumped more than 15 hours into it

that VERY rarely happens for me due to the massive volume of games i have to play for work

Josey Wales

Doom 32X

It seems as though the popular opinion of this game is that it was the worst version around. It had less levels, the sound was awful, it had a large border around the screen etc...

When I first got the game that was not my impression at all. I thought it was excellent. It was certainly far superior to any other shooter I had on the Mega Drive like Zero Tolerance. For a time Doom justified my purchase of the 32X, albeit a short time.

I still have the game but no 32X system so I can't play it now. If I did go back and play it I'm sure I would feel differently but for now I remember it as a good game.

Genghiz Cohen

Splinter Cell: Double Agent
It had Splinter Cell written on it.
Nuff said

Mr Freeze

Ok, here goes, nobody is gonna agree with me.

Far Cry 2

I loved it.

It let me play the full game as a sniper and I loved the open world, I didn't like the re-spawning checkpoints, and it got a bit repetitive but what FPS doesn't.

I just got such a kick out of sniping guys at bases from way off, the shooting things that would explode and set the place on fire, then stroll in with my Desert Eagle and blow the survivors away. Fun times.

Let the flaming begin.

Alone in the dark. (the recent 'reboot')

Was vilified by a lot of people, admittedly the driving sections are horrible but other than that I found it a pretty decent survival horror, which is a rarity on this generation.

pablomakaveli

I'd say Alan Wake as well. I bought it without reading any reviews and before i played it i started to see that it was getting bad feedback in reviews etc. So i started to play it thinking it'd probably be bad but it surprised me and i enjoyed the game.


Another game ill defend is Bioshock 2. It thought it get judged a bit harshly. I thought it was nearly as good as the first. Playing as the Big Daddy was cool and i liked the new weapons. Also i thought the hacking was better in this one. A lot quicker and easier. And the story was good although not as good as the story from the first.

Spunge

Mr Freeze wrote: »

Ok, here goes, nobody is gonna agree with me.

Far Cry 2

I loved it.

It let me play the full game as a sniper and I loved the open world, I didn't like the re-spawning checkpoints, and it got a bit repetitive but what FPS doesn't.

I just got such a kick out of sniping guys at bases from way off, the shooting things that would explode and set the place on fire, then stroll in with my Desert Eagle and blow the survivors away. Fun times.

Let the flaming begin.

I thought it was a decent game, completely ruined by respawning enemies. And i mean completely freaking ruined

Laisurg

ShadowHearth wrote: »

Kane and lynch 2 - it was totally destroyed by reviewers and players who were upset with all that k&n 1 gamespot incident. I got that game for 8 quid and totally loved it. The ending was rubbish allright, but game isnot as bad as people make. Not game of the year, but enjoyable.

I know theres a rule against game bashing but shag it i don't care! I have to say kane and lynch 2 made my head hurt, it got picked apart in reviews for a very good reason, although it cost me 20 quid, (i had no idea about the game and just bought it for the sake of it, NEVER AGAIN) that being said cheap or not it was still a load of arse.

I heard a fair few people go on about the witcher 1 being a load of ****e and saw some dodgey reviews but i actually really liked it, now the combat was a load of ****e i'm not denying that but rpgs don't often have amazing combat, i just really enjoyed the game overal, now if only the witcher 2 ran well on my computer (

I wonder if anyone actually liked dragon age 2?

landsleaving

I quite like Farcry 2 as well, it did something different with the FPS, which is pretty rare, and had some incredible technical achievements - the fire spreading effect is amazing. The only problem is that it's a bit of a pain to navigate the game world, and the towns have a lack of things to do.

pablomakaveli

Spunge wrote: »

I thought it was a decent game, completely ruined by respawning enemies. And i mean completely freaking ruined

That was the only major problem i had with it anyway. It was really taking the piss that you'd wipe out an enemy camp only to find they were all respawned less than 5 minutes later.

Also the AI being random about how easily it could spot you. Sometimes being spotted by guys 100 metres away while hiding in thick bushes was frustrasting while a guy 10 metres away wouldn't have spotted anything.

So many games that I loved but seemed unpopular:

Star Wars Galaxies - I had an insanely well equiped bounty hunter up until the first "revamp". I had a feared Jedi Kill crew and amazing player hunts most nights during the week. Fond memories of this sandbox MMO - looking forward to something else similar soon.

Just Cause 2 - couldn't get people into this, but it's a fun game to jump into, cause some havok and leave alone.

Vietcong - such an amazing underated game. Best co-op lan game I can remember, still to this day!

Spiderman 2 on PS2. Best high / drunk game ever.

Killing Floor - great atmosphere, really nice take on team shooter but never seemed to take off. Lacked polish but me thinks its the basis for a great future zombie shooter.

Magicka - Couldn't get people into this either, its amazing fun, really innovative.

Sins of a Solar empire - awesome game - don't know anyone who played it.

Carmageddon Say no more.

Stronghold Never met anyone who liked this game. I adored it!

Many many many more I can't recall, I had funny taste.

Laisurg

Deleted User wrote: »

So many games that I loved but seemed unpopular:

Star Wars Galaxies - I had an insanely well equiped bounty hunter up until the first "revamp". I had a feared Jedi Kill crew and amazing player hunts most nights during the week. Fond memories of this sandbox MMO - looking forward to something else similar soon.

Just Cause 2 - couldn't get people into this, but it's a fun game to jump into, cause some havok and leave alone.

Vietcong - such an amazing underated game. Best co-op lan game I can remember, still to this day!

Spiderman 2 on PS2. Best high / drunk game ever.

Killing Floor - great atmosphere, really nice take on team shooter but never seemed to take off. Lacked polish but me thinks its the basis for a great future zombie shooter.

Magicka - Couldn't get people into this either, its amazing fun, really innovative.

Sins of a Solar empire - awesome game - don't know anyone who played it.

Carmageddon Say no more.

Stronghold Never met anyone who liked this game. I adored it!

Many many many more I can't recall, I had funny taste.

Couldn't quite get into just cause 2, the controls are pretty finicky on the pc, spider man 2 and magicka are awesome though ^^

ShadowHearth

Deleted User wrote: »

So many games that I loved but seemed unpopular:

Star Wars Galaxies - I had an insanely well equiped bounty hunter up until the first "revamp". I had a feared Jedi Kill crew and amazing player hunts most nights during the week. Fond memories of this sandbox MMO - looking forward to something else similar soon.

Just Cause 2 - couldn't get people into this, but it's a fun game to jump into, cause some havok and leave alone.

Vietcong - such an amazing underated game. Best co-op lan game I can remember, still to this day!

Spiderman 2 on PS2. Best high / drunk game ever.

Killing Floor - great atmosphere, really nice take on team shooter but never seemed to take off. Lacked polish but me thinks its the basis for a great future zombie shooter.

Magicka - Couldn't get people into this either, its amazing fun, really innovative.

Sins of a Solar empire - awesome game - don't know anyone who played it.

Carmageddon Say no more.

Stronghold Never met anyone who liked this game. I adored it!

Many many many more I can't recall, I had funny taste.

Sorry to burst the bubble, but I think 90% of gamers loved those games.

Retr0gamer

Nier: Not exactly the best hack and slash game but it's still competent and really fun. However it's at it's best when it's changing up the gameplay and it constantly surprises. One minute it's a hack and slash, the next it's more like diablo, a bullet hell shooter or even a text adventure. Also it's got probably the best soundtrack in the last 10 years and a great story even if it's very depressing.

Magill

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Well since we're on the subject of Alan Wake, I'll defend that. I will set out first and foremost that the gameplay does get repetitive, most definitely. It is also fairly shamelessly derivative of many influences. However, I'd say the same things about Deadly Premonition. What Deadly Premonition lacks - and this is a more than significant point unfairly passed over by defenders of the game IMO, and I do most certainly like the 'game' - is anything compellingly playable. Alan Wake has that. The interplay of light and dark, a rock solid game engine and a story which what it lacks in originality makes up for with a refreshing hybrid of psychological character studies and tense action. It also has the guts to end on an ambiguous, complex note that suggests a sequel could be very special indeed.

It doesn't make the most out of its ideas at times - indeed, the first DLC chapter introduces a wonderful mechanic that's quickly passed over. And barring its repetition, it's still a unique and engaging experience, a story that isn't dumbed down. Where Deadly Premonition was a technical mess with a Twin Peaks-lite story (and lets be honest - it isn't Twin Peaks at its peak), Alan Wake was a technical marvel with a Stephen King-lite story. That has to count for something.

I really enjoyed alan wake for what it was aswel, as a game it completely ****s all over Deadly Premonition.

Comparing Deadly Premonition to heavy rain is an interesting one.... On one hand you have a very dynamic interactive movie in heavy rain with a half decent story... and the other you have a decent story that is about as interactive as a block of wood... as a game... D.Premonition is a 1/10... In my opinion ofc. That being said, i didnt think much of heavy rain either, it was good enough to make me play through it in one sitting and then replay the last few scenes to see some alternate endings tho.


A game that i've got very fond memories of is Jade's Cocoon, wasn't really slated or anything but its a game no1 ever mentions. I loved it... but i guess i was only 12 or so when i played it.

ShadowHearth

ShadowHearth wrote: »

Sorry to burst the bubble, but I think 90% of gamers loved those games.

Not bursting my bubble at all - the people around me at the time didn't rate these games, I don't know how popular they are / were.

Glad to hear I have mainstream tastes!

hooradiation

Laisurg wrote: »

Couldn't quite get into just cause 2, the controls are pretty finicky on the pc

Just use a 360 joypad (or equivalent) if you can. Takes away all those problems and lets you have fun.


As for games that i liked that make people look at me funny -

Spore.
I enjoyed the hell out of creating different species and their civilisation based on what i thought would be the likely progression. And the content sharing system was really well done. The Space stage was a little rubbish at first, but it got balanced with patches but even so the scope of the universe is pretty impressive, and to hell with spode worshipers.

Alpha Protocol.
One of the few games where being a dick means you're actually a dick as opposed to a total sociopath. And a consequence system that is well ahead of it's contemporaries in it's scope, and effectiveness at allowing you to actually manipulate and control the situation you're in.

RedXIV

Legend of Dragoon

This did exactly what it needed to which was hurl another RPG at gamers after FF7 had convinced half the world that RPG games could be worth playing. LoD is a simplistic RPG with some colourful environments and some interesting, although unpopular gameplay choices.

......ah I can't do it, I'm trying to troll Retr0

Retr0gamer

God I hate Legend of Dragoon so much

chopperbyrne

Command & Conquer: Generals

I think most of the hate for this comes from the fact that it was EA's first first-party developed C&C game and it was just never given a chance by long time fans of the series.

It's arguably the best C&C game and easily ranks up there with Red Alert 2.

Retr0gamer

Dino Rex: One of the most impressive and deep fighting games ever made. The fluidity of the fighting engine and how many options and permutations are open to the player makes games like SF3 Third Strike and Mark of the Wolves seem so simplistic. It's also got a great single player mode with a real message. It's a journey through time showing the evolution of mankind and how me may eventually destroy ourselves.

It's also got a dinosaur that looks like barney.

Daemos

WWE Crush Hour [PS2]

A game where you drive around arenas in cars with guns strapped on and shooting others. But... it's a WWE game. All of the 20 or so stars have their own car, guns, specials, etc. [strangely Billy and Chuck had the best cars ]. I'd spend ages playing that game. The first game I ever sold and re-bought because I wanted more of it.

pablomakaveli

I dont know why people are comparing Deadly Premonition to Heavy Rain.

It's like comparing apples and oranges.

To be honest it had more in common with Alan Wake. The small town in the middle of nowhere with weird goings on, the protaganist who is visiting the town, the enemies being shadow/ghosts.

However York completely trumps Alan Wake in terms of character. Wake was boring and forgettable and York was York.:p

Coriolanus

Urban Chaos on the ps1. I thought it was great. Everyone else who I knew that played it thought it was crap.

ghostchant

pablomakaveli wrote: »

I dont know why people are comparing Deadly Premonition to Heavy Rain.

It's like comparing apples and oranges.

http://improbable.com/airchives/paperair/volume1/v1i3/air-1-3-apples.html

So there.

ShadowHearth

Deleted User wrote: »

Not bursting my bubble at all - the people around me at the time didn't rate these games, I don't know how popular they are / were.

Glad to hear I have mainstream tastes!

well then you got a good taste, atleast in my eyes . i have to warn you thought, my taste wouldnt be most popular in these parts of boards.ie

stronghold was just plain awesome, then stronghold crusades came out which was epic too. i will need to get bouth from GOG.com . these games remind me of settlers, and i LOVE settlers!

carmaggedon - pure fun on pc. best carapocaliptic game in my book!

killing floor is great. for me l4d < killing floor. way more crack with lads then l4d. "i am trying to heal you, not shag you!"

starwars galaxies was one of the best mmorpgs back then, it still would be if they would not go balls up. Ultima online suffered same fate . Unfortunatly i was late to the party when bouth those games were BIG!

wasnt spiderman 2 one of the most favorite games of yatzee? he knows his **** .

and thats the scratch on your list.

you might thing that nobody likes them, becouse you are pc gamer surrounded by console gamers?

johnny_ultimate

pablomakaveli wrote: »

Wake was boring and forgettable and York was Dale Cooper :P

FYP

Don't want to sound like I'm putting Deadly Premonition down - I can only restress I'm glad to have played through such an interesting game. But it really is a shameless rip off of Twin Peaks at times. An eccentric FBI agent with a penchant for coffee visiting a strange small town, talking to a potentially imaginary friend and having weird dreams in which he is visited by small people? If we're going to call Alan Wake out for being derivative (I'm not disagreeing) at least let us call Deadly Premonition up on it too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0iaR3mFdxE

Twin Peaks doesn't have an awesome whistle theme though.

Retr0gamer

Deadly Premonition did derivative better. It also has the best use of amazing grace ever

johnny_ultimate

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Deadly Premonition did derivative better

As long as you weren't, you know, actually playing the game

Retr0gamer

I think the fact that the narrative made wading through those awful shooting sections worthwhile says a lot Despite the better gameplay in Alan Wake I wasn't compelled to finish it at all and my short time playing in my friends was enough for me.

But yeah DP is more a fantastic experience than game. Still thoroughly enjoyable.

Magill

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I think the fact that the narrative made wading through those awful shooting sections worthwhile says a lot Despite the better gameplay in Alan Wake I wasn't compelled to finish it at all and my short time playing in my friends was enough for me.

But yeah DP is more a fantastic experience than game. Still thoroughly enjoyable.

Oh... so you haven't properly played the game.. good to know.

dmcdante

i really liked eat lead thought it was funny and just a really good game.
Deadly Premonition was one of the top 3 games of last year imo

Retr0gamer

Magill wrote: »

Oh... so you haven't properly played the game.. good to know.

Played about 4 hours, probably half the game. Bored the titties off me. Not bad but just absolutely nothing standing out.

Magill

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Played about 4 hours, probably half the game. Bored the titties off me. Not bad but just absolutely nothing standing out.

ahh... Yeah i'd agree with that i guess. Certainly didn't seem like a game that took 4 or 5 years to develop, its more like a 10-15 hour game for a first playthrough tho.

I enjoyed it in fairness, bit slow at first. The last 2 chapters were probably the best imo

pablomakaveli

I think Alan Wake was originally supposed to be more open and sandbox like so maybe thats where the few years of development went into.

Retr0gamer

I'll probably try it again when I pick it up at bargain bin prices.

I think I need to lower my hyperbole quotient.

EGriff

Enter the Matrix. The controls were kinda woeful but apart from that I loved it, Must have played the post office level about 100 times.

Some of the moves you could do in it were the coolest things I've seen in any game.

Jazzy

Doom 3. torch thing was annoying but if you switched into a doom 2 mentality of "lets rock" and just power through ignoring the atmosphere it was a great blaster. similarly, it had some great level design and the whole complex looked fantastic