[Gossamer]

THE BADS!:

Far cry 2:
Big expectations. I was hoping for something along the lines of Crysis without the aliens(which would make the game amazing). However I found myself stuck in an African pseudo-desert with the same::

"GO, SHOOT, COME BACK, DIE, DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN." mantra.

It seems like every game since Half Life 2 has had perfect everything outside of one or two mundane details that makes it mediocre.

Fallout 3:
Beat the game in three days, then decided that walking around a landscape that looks exactly the same no matter where you go isn't very exciting, not to mention the hauled 20lv. limit with almost no replay value whatsoever. I've been everywhere, seen everything, not to mention the fact that every character has the exact same animations; and is there really a point to seeing it? After meeting Billy Creel I had hoped that his character would appear to some advantage in the future. 99% of every character you meet has no purpose in life other than to say the same phrases over and over again. The only last purpose I had in this game was to systematically kill every NPC in existence. At least oblivion had fun side-quests and a certain mysticism about it.

Grand Theft Auto 4:
I'd tell you more but I'm still trying to get it to run.

Left 4 Dead:
Remember Half Life 2? Yeah? Good game. Do you remember Team Fortress 2? It was also a good game, but wasn't there something familiar about it? Oh yeah, it used the same engine and Valve has used the same engine for... oh I don't know... 5 years?!?!

When I first got the game started, I thought it would be interesting. I heard that most new zombie games had been extremely entertaining because of their just massive gore factor. The one thing I couldn't get over in this damn game was dealing with the same game engine that I've been... "enjoying" for five years. Valve, I've done it, I've re-done it, I'll do it again, maybe. But I'm tired of doing it.

---
THE GOOD!

Dead Space:
Ok, got the game to run. There we go... Well, I'm not getting to sleep for a while because... quite frankly I'm afraid of the dark for the first time since I was twelve.

Amazing, original gameplay. Put the HUD on the main character's back, perfect presentation and amazing graphics. Nothing here is repeated. Every experience is different. It's close to the end of the game, you think you've seen it all and there are two new types of enemies afoot. It was a brilliant experience, one I haven't relished since Half Life 2.


----
Who else thought originally that this season was going to strait rule? The only thing I have left to look forward to now is Tom Clancy's Hawx. I could use a good realistic dog-fighting game. I'm just so... disappointed... and mad.

 

[Paratech]

Mass Effect and Devil May Cry 4 were great...

 

[snickothemule]

There is Saints Row 2 and Mirrors Edge if you are into that kind of thing.

 

[Demi Fiend]

Have you tried tomb raider underworld ?? I haven't the time yet.

 

[makotech222]

really? this season has been pretty good dead space wasnt that great. not scary at all imo.
rise of the argonauts looks pretty good its coming out this week i think. theres more but i cant remember any lol

 

[Princess Garnet]

I mostly agree with that list, and even for the same reasons. I didn't not enjoy Left 4 Dead due to the engine though. It's not that it didn't enjoy it, but it seemed too arcade style and short. I was expecting something much longer, more akin to the old Resident Evil online games (can't remember the names).

Let's also not forget to add Silent Hill Homecoming to the "bad" list. It's right up there with Far Cry 2 and Grand Theft Auto IV for titles that should have been big, but messed up big time.

Mirror's Edge looks good. I liked Portal, despite how short it was, and it seems to be another game akin to that in that it's a first person but not shooter game. Still, hearing that it's linear and short from others put me off a bit.

I can't speak of Fallout 3 though.

What else is there? Well, I bought Crysis and Crysis Warhead this year, and those two along with Dead Space have been the best, by far, PC game purchases I made this year. Both series are an announced trilogy, so those are atop my list right now.

 

[Thanakil]

First, for L4D : Considering how this year has been filled with complaints about buggy games, I appreciate how stable the engine has been. And considering how it's been consistently upgraded with every (or almost) games that has used it, it's not like it looks exactly the same as HL2 did. (L4D looks MUCH better than it did.)
While I obviously would like to see a completely new engine, I still like how solid and stable that one has been.

As for other games that were released lately (I personally havent played those, so I can't comment on them, just games that were talked about a bit):
CoD :WaW
Sacred 2
Red Alert 3
Back in sept we also had Clear Sky
Not that long ago there was also NWN2 : Storm of Zethir (or somesuch), but while MotB was quite good, SoZ seems... Average. (or maybe I just havent played it enough, but the game just didnt grab me...).
The enthusiasm around the franchise really seems to have died down anyway. (I still think it has potential, I REALLY liked MotB, but the only thing I'm looking forward is that stupid adventure pack that has been delayed for a year because Atari wants to try their new DRM... I guess that NOT releasing a game is the best DRM there is tho.)

Right now/soon we got :
Prince of Persia
Rise of the Argonauts.
Saints Row 2
Mirror's Edge

Not a GREAT season (hell no), but I wouldn't call it "sucky" just yet.

(also there was World of Goo <3)

 

[Princess Garnet]

Red Alert 3 wasn't that great. It wasn't terrible, but it's two major flaws were the new resource system, and the slow pacing (which I think is a result of the first). I liked Tiberium Wars much better.

 

[Spyhop]

I can't keep up with the awesome PC titles coming out right now.

 

[Paratech]

How was Rainbow Six Vegas 2?

 

[skoreanime]

Not ground breaking in anyway, but if you like a FPS with a half decent FPS plot and great graphics with the usual Rainbow Six feel...then yeah, why not if you're bored

 

[Gossamer]

I haven't had my chance with Crysis Warhead yet. I played the first one, enjoyed it quite a bit but the aliens... a bit much. I've had more fun with Crysis using the level editor than I ever did playing the actual game itself.

... I did like Psycho more than Nomad. Yeah, I'll probably like Crysis Warhead.

Its just... where is our groundbreaking achievement? This generation of hardware has yet to blow me away, at least last gen we had Half Life 2 and WoW. Graphics can't speak for gameplay.

 

[AHE]

L4D sucks and i love any thing to do with zombies

But yes as Saddan said try Tomb Raider Underground , great game!!! playing it on my 360 at the mo but its on pc also, very atmospheric , you dive into a underwater city near the beginning ,it looks awesome great thinking gameplay

All the next gen tomb raider are quality

Company of heroes and opposing fronts if you havnt tryed already, best RTS ever

 

[Spyhop]

Interverse, all the games you're listing are games I've skipped over because they looked to me to be very dry or unoriginal. And you're now complaining that they're dry and unoriginal. I don't think it's PC gaming that's letting you down, I think you're just having problems choosing the right games for yourself. Maybe you need to change what you usually look for in a game.

 

[Phil]

how about rpgs?

 

[Xtreme2damax]

I heard L4D was good, not just good but one of the best games out this year. Who cares they are using essentially the same engine? If it ain't broke don't fix it, the source engine has proven to scale extremely well on older and modern hardware, is one of the most stable engines, which does not only look good but performs good as well.

The source engine like every other engine has been upgraded with nearly each iteration of games, and still looks damn decent visually and performance wise. It may not look as good as Cryengine, but it also won't take a drastic toll on hardware and force you to fork over unneeded cash just to play the latest horribly unoptimized and bug ridden games at the mercy of graphics card manufacturers.

This is why most games no longer have any substance, is because everyone is becoming graphics whores, thus developers are making great looking games but at the sacrifice of not only substance but performance and stability as well.

Btw, L4D was even compared to what Resident Evil should of essentially been.

 

[raksmey1309]

Red Alert 3 wasnt the 2 you played.It's boring and annoying unless you wanna see those girls's boobs.

 

[PCXL-Fan]

Mirror's Edge. Very good game.

Grand theft auto 4. Obscure game, from an unknown developer, but I've heard its fun.

Bionic Commando: Rearmed $15

Its being nominated for best downloadable game of 2008 in the Spike Game awards:

This is probably the one category for the spike awards that will be influenced the least by under the table publisher bribe money

Bionic Commando Trailer
[gt]38443[/gt]

 

[Princess Garnet]

I heard L4D was good, not just good but one of the best games out this year. Who cares they are using essentially the same engine? If it ain't broke don't fix it, the source engine has proven to scale extremely well on older and modern hardware, is one of the most stable engines, which does not only look good but performs good as well.

The source engine like every other engine has been upgraded with nearly each iteration of games, and still looks damn decent visually and performance wise. It may not look as good as Cryengine, but it also won't take a drastic toll on hardware and force you to fork over unneeded cash just to play the latest horribly unoptimized and bug ridden games at the mercy of graphics card manufacturers.

This is why most games no longer have any substance, is because everyone is becoming graphics whores, thus developers are making great looking games but at the sacrifice of not only substance but performance and stability as well.

Btw, L4D was even compared to what Resident Evil should of essentially been.

I'm not going to argue Crysis was unoptimized or hard on hardware, but there is more to it than just graphics. Maybe you don't like or care for said other things, but they're there. Yes, the story had the cliche of aliens halfway through. It's better than the alternative the complaints would suggest of having it like Far Cry 2 where it's the same thing from start to finish. That's terribly boring. The aliens in Crysis were at least different from those in most other games (where they're more human in appearance). These ones are aquatic, using robots and machines. So, it's a step in the right direction. I don't know. Maybe it's just me, but I never considered cliche or originality as deal breakers so much as how that cliche or originality is pulled off. If it's done a million other times but still done well, that's what matters to me. Crysis was "okay" at it. Not that great, but not that bad either. As for bugs, I have never seen one, so I wouldn't say it's "bug ridden", but any game will have them.

As for Resident Evil being Left 4 Dead, I'm glad it wasn't.

 

[Gossamer]

Interverse, all the games you're listing are games I've skipped over because they looked to me to be very dry or unoriginal. And you're now complaining that they're dry and unoriginal. I don't think it's PC gaming that's letting you down, I think you're just having problems choosing the right games for yourself. Maybe you need to change what you usually look for in a game.

I look for a complete package of originality and suspense. I'm a seasoned vet all the way back to the first Nintendo system. I've followed video games since as far back as I can remember.

You've skipped over most because they looked to you to be dry and unoriginal? Well?... They are, there's no real doubt about it.

Granted, I thought GTA4 was going to be like a PC messiah; freeing us from the droll pseudo-fun FPS's we've had lately. 80% of PC gamers have the ability to use an Xbox 360 controller. I do! I wouldn't mind the occasional platformer, or third-person adventure and the like.

"Oh, it would appear to me as though they use mice to control their characters, undoubtedly so, lets give them FPS's for the rest of their existance."

What about a new Mech Warrior? Come on!