...and games you don't like that everybody else does.
Games that reviewed well but nobody bought don't count (Valkyria Chronicles, R.I.P.
) in the first category. Games that reviewed poorly but sold well don't count in the second (EA's entire catalogue, for instance)
Under the first heading, for me, there are two big ones in recent memory. Just Cause was my first Xbox 360 game and despite its many bugs, I found it to be consistently entertaining. The world was gorgeously crafted and enormous, with so, so many great ways to travel around it and tackle the various mission objectives. I mean, what's cooler than driving a jeep through the closed gates of a coastal military base, completing your objective, driving out towards the cliff across the road, standing on the hood, then using your grappler to commandeer the attack helicopter firing at you from above? Nothing? Yeah, that's right.
The other would be Viking: Battle for Asgard. I'm horrified at the reception of this game because, technically, it's a marvel. Aside from the Mass Effect-length loading screen at the very beginning of the game, there's no loading whatsoever - even when using the site-to-site teleportation devices in each of the three huge worlds. It's very nice to look at and successfully uses a combat engine that can be as simplistic or combo-heavy as you want, and the lite RPG elements and ability to tackle objectives in the order of your choosing make for a great gaming experience. This is one of the best games I've played all year, hands down.
I'd like to add a few games which have earnt 'cult' status, but they don't really count. Shenmue might, I spose, if it didn't become a litmus test of one's gamer street cred - thus prompting throngs of people to retroactively declare their undying love for it despite never having played it or even, y'know, owned a Dreamcast. ICO and SotC also don't, and for similar reasons, since they're now the most popular un-popular games in recent memory.
Anyhow, under the second heading I'd like to...perform a drive-by shooting on the much-ballyhooed GTA4. All the hype for this game before and after its release was nothing short of bullshit. It played like something from 2001...which is odd, because that's when GTA3 was released. Yeah, it played exactly like GTA3. Stiff vehicle handling, stiff character control, the absurdly outdated necessity to hold A/X to run, and tap A/X to sprint. It got old quickly and there was little effort to dispense with the usual GTA nonsense and unimaginative mission structure. It was also the first current-gen game to make me throw my controller. Turns out 360 controllers bounce. Also, despite what IGN foolishly proclaimed, it did not tell an 'Oscar worthy' story. As someone funnier than I once opined: 'you can't spell ignorant without IGN.'
Next in my crosshairs is the Halo franchise. It boggles the mind that otherwise intelligent people go weak at the knees at the mere sight of Mister Chef. Please, tell us more stories about aliens invading earth and our genetically-enhanced Messiah. Give us more games where corridors stretch on to infinite and where rooms are endlessly copy/pasted next to one another. I never know where I'm making progress or wandering in circles. I also have no reason to care. Seriously, I need someone to explain to me why Halo is so popular because I just don't see it.
Games that reviewed well but nobody bought don't count (Valkyria Chronicles, R.I.P.
) in the first category. Games that reviewed poorly but sold well don't count in the second (EA's entire catalogue, for instance)Under the first heading, for me, there are two big ones in recent memory. Just Cause was my first Xbox 360 game and despite its many bugs, I found it to be consistently entertaining. The world was gorgeously crafted and enormous, with so, so many great ways to travel around it and tackle the various mission objectives. I mean, what's cooler than driving a jeep through the closed gates of a coastal military base, completing your objective, driving out towards the cliff across the road, standing on the hood, then using your grappler to commandeer the attack helicopter firing at you from above? Nothing? Yeah, that's right.
The other would be Viking: Battle for Asgard. I'm horrified at the reception of this game because, technically, it's a marvel. Aside from the Mass Effect-length loading screen at the very beginning of the game, there's no loading whatsoever - even when using the site-to-site teleportation devices in each of the three huge worlds. It's very nice to look at and successfully uses a combat engine that can be as simplistic or combo-heavy as you want, and the lite RPG elements and ability to tackle objectives in the order of your choosing make for a great gaming experience. This is one of the best games I've played all year, hands down.
I'd like to add a few games which have earnt 'cult' status, but they don't really count. Shenmue might, I spose, if it didn't become a litmus test of one's gamer street cred - thus prompting throngs of people to retroactively declare their undying love for it despite never having played it or even, y'know, owned a Dreamcast. ICO and SotC also don't, and for similar reasons, since they're now the most popular un-popular games in recent memory.
Anyhow, under the second heading I'd like to...perform a drive-by shooting on the much-ballyhooed GTA4. All the hype for this game before and after its release was nothing short of bullshit. It played like something from 2001...which is odd, because that's when GTA3 was released. Yeah, it played exactly like GTA3. Stiff vehicle handling, stiff character control, the absurdly outdated necessity to hold A/X to run, and tap A/X to sprint. It got old quickly and there was little effort to dispense with the usual GTA nonsense and unimaginative mission structure. It was also the first current-gen game to make me throw my controller. Turns out 360 controllers bounce. Also, despite what IGN foolishly proclaimed, it did not tell an 'Oscar worthy' story. As someone funnier than I once opined: 'you can't spell ignorant without IGN.'
Next in my crosshairs is the Halo franchise. It boggles the mind that otherwise intelligent people go weak at the knees at the mere sight of Mister Chef. Please, tell us more stories about aliens invading earth and our genetically-enhanced Messiah. Give us more games where corridors stretch on to infinite and where rooms are endlessly copy/pasted next to one another. I never know where I'm making progress or wandering in circles. I also have no reason to care. Seriously, I need someone to explain to me why Halo is so popular because I just don't see it.
