I have to get all my RAAAAAAAAGE out now, thankyou ENN! I have work to do, and instead i'm gonna be doing this! I hope you're happy...
Grin studies made some absolutely goddam fantastic games. That's just not personal preference either, that is scientific FACT. Take a look at this:
That is the single most awesome box art ever. Anyone who disagrees is lying or insane. And the game was incredible too. It truly is the Fastest Game on Earth?. Hover-jetbikes... racing down tunnels at Mach 10. There is nothing about the previous sentence that doesn't make me cream my pants. No doubt about it, the best sci-fi racing game ever made. Move over Wipeout, get lost F-Zero, this is the BOMB!
Then, they follow it up with two of my favourate FPS's of all time, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 1 & 2. Now, if you've played the other Ghost Recon games, then you'll realise the GRAW series was a far cry from the originals tactical depth and roots in Tom Clancy Novels (by Advanced Warfighter they had dropped Mr Clancy's name from the title). But to be fair, Ghost Recon 2 was a big disappointment, and the original Ghost Recon was starting to look very dated. These two FPS's, instead of just trying to be clones of its forerunners, tried to step in a bold (but not necessary new) direction of being straight-up FPS's with little to no tactical depth. True, you could still order teammates around the AO and plan assaults, using the latest technology to spy on the enemy with satellites or an automated aerial drone, but it didn't have the same huge open areas or varying weather and environments that the first GR did, which really allowed an armchair general to come into their own. But still, it was a pair of amazing games, the graphics were absolutely incredible, and can still hold it's own with any titles today (at least, the PC versions can). If you've never played them, they're difficult, but you're missing a treat.
So maybe Grin's latest titles have been awful (Bionic Commando, Wanted:Weapons of Fate), but that doesn't besmirch their earlier work! Salvador Dalí's later work was shit compared to his earlier stuff, but at least he didn't have publishers breathing down his neck trying to get him to make rubbish movie and arcade knock-off games!
I'm so sorry to rant, but i really feel you did Grin an injustice there. They were a pioneer in their day, and you judge them based purely on what they've made in the past 2 years. If a man be judged by the sum of his actions, then let a Games Developer be judged by the sum of his work. And Grin's good games far outweigh their bad ones.
Besides, look at the next game they had in the pipeline, Fortress! That looked incredible. I think we all missed out on something special there. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortress_(Square_Enix)