Great concept, poor excecution

[SilkySkyKitten]

Bulletstorm.

Okay, perhaps I shouldn't list it since I haven't actually played the full game yet. However, I was expecting something that would be absolutely a blast to play, since I'm a fan of simplistic "shoot-the-shit-out-of-everything-in-sight" FPS games like Serious Sam. Unfortunately, the demo I found to be terribly underwhelming, and it made me reconsider my plan to buy the full game.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Mirror Edge, I though it intresting that it in FPS but with little use of the guns and more about leaping and jumping etc. However with the bright scenery and the motion can be quite a headache.

 

[kayisking]

Sadly the game was released in a state that I would, without hesitation, call unplayable.

If it was unplayable, then how could I finish it without encountering any of the things you're talking about? Might want to rethink the lack of hesitation.

Witcher had one of the most stupid combat systems I've ever seen from an action-RPG. You just do NOT make 90% of the combat proactive and base the remaining 10% on repetitive minigame gimmicks. This is poor design.

Also, agree on Mirror's Edge. The concept was fantastic, but the level design was flat-out wrong and the constant pauses in the game's flow created a slightly nauseating gameplay.

Bulletstorm
All the action was freakin' awesome, but they ruined it by adding a story (with it's own characters and plot twists). Serious Sam had none of that and that was an epic shooter.

The story was pretty good, actually. The part that makes it different from Serious Sam is the game's console-ish pacing.

Let me clear the part up. I have no wish to be unclear. I have played about three hours of metro 2033's campaign and I am now stuck in what seems to be an almost impossible stealth section. During my three hours I have encountered the myriad of bugs that I have described in my first post (and some more...). I guess unplayable might have been a bit of a strong word choice but I truly for the life of me do not see how anyone could beat this game without the use of a debug console. That is what I meant.

Also, I think you misunderstood me with mirror's edge (If you're referring to my post at least, I am not certain if you were talking about my post or the one from DJdarque). I believe that the developer have made the best possible game with that concept. The level design and everything could not have been better, it is just that first-person platforming is a flawed concept that wil never, ever work. That is my opinion at least.

I am not trying to troll, I just want to make sure there are no misunderstandings between us.

 

[Enderrr]

Alpha Protocol.

 

[Vault101]

Bulletstorm
All the action was freakin' awesome, but they ruined it by adding a story (with it's own characters and plot twists). Serious Sam had none of that and that was an epic shooter.

just curious (without giving anything away......hey I may want to play it ONE day) how does the story kill the game?

Im not criticizing or anything, did it take itself too seriously? force you to go off and do not fun things?

 

[Mace Tulio]

For me I'd have to say Too Human. I loved the concept and the setting, mainly because I am a sucker for alternate history/alternate settings and loved the Viking gods as cybernetic warriors set.

Gameplay was eyebleedingly bad however. Analogue sticks as attack buttons...

Got to agree with you there, I loved the setting and the re-imagining of the Norse Gods, but I just couldn't play the game the whole way through, the controls completely ruined the experience. Let's hope we can reserve the right stick for camera controls from now on.

 

[Indecipherable]

Everything by Troika

 

[klasbo]

Universe at War: Earth Assault (RTS, Petroglyph games).

Pros:
Wonderfully a-symmetric
Surprisingly well-balanced
Interesting use of Hero units and tech trees
Music by Frank Klepacki (oh come on, how is that not important?)

Cons (and why it failed):
Games for Windows Live
Bad/borderline useless hotkey and interface design
Not-the-greatest pathfinding, unit responsiveness, etc. Playing the game feels like driving a tractor.
Somewhat hard to learn
Almost nobody has heard of it, so noone plays the multiplayer.

Pick it up from Amazon for $1.13, new. Or $0.10 used. Now that's a bargain.


On another note: The problem I had with Mirror's Edge was that it wasn't open-world enough. I have good enough memory to remember exactly where to go after the first time I played it, so there's no replay value at all (for me. I have that same "problem" with all kinds of remotely linear games). Also, after having played ME, I cannot understand how people think 3rd person platforming is better. I actually find 3rd person much harder... Really.

 

[kayisking]

Also, I think you misunderstood me with mirror's edge (If you're referring to my post at least, I am not certain if you were talking about my post or the one from DJdarque). I believe that the developer have made the best possible game with that concept. The level design and everything could not have been better, it is just that first-person platforming is a flawed concept that wil never, ever work. That is my opinion at least.

I am not trying to troll, I just want to make sure there are no misunderstandings between us.

Yeah, I should've used an extra quote to specify who exactly I'm agreeing with. My bad. Penny Arcade posted a user-made level for Mirror's Edge once (or a very similar game, forgot which it was) where the platforming felt really good and wasn't constrained by the cityscape (sadly it's a really old news post and I couldn't find it if I wanted to). Those are my main problems with the game, and I do believe that the parkour aspect can be implemented very well.

And don't worry, I have pretty strict definitions for trolling. "disagreeing" is not one of them.

As for the part about Metro: I understand, it was unplayable for you. Not the general consensus though.

I'm glad you're reasonable about it and that we can simply agree to disagree. I hope I meet you again on the forum sometimes, you seem like an interesting fellow.

 

[shasqueebo]

For me I'd have to say Too Human. I loved the concept and the setting, mainly because I am a sucker for alternate history/alternate settings and loved the Viking gods as cybernetic warriors set.

Gameplay was eyebleedingly bad however. Analogue sticks as attack buttons...

Got to agree with you there, I loved the setting and the re-imagining of the Norse Gods, but I just couldn't play the game the whole way through, the controls completely ruined the experience. Let's hope we can reserve the right stick for camera controls from now on.

I think I'm the only one who actually loved that game. I know the combat was terribly flawed but I kept playing anyway because like you, I thought the story had great potential. I actually had a really fun time playing the game with my friend online.

 

[TriggerHappyAngel]

Bulletstorm
All the action was freakin' awesome, but they ruined it by adding a story (with it's own characters and plot twists). Serious Sam had none of that and that was an epic shooter.

just curious (without giving anything away......hey I may want to play it ONE day) how does the story kill the game?

Im not criticizing or anything, did it take itself too seriously? force you to go off and do not fun things?

After every adrenaline pumping action sequence there is a cutscene or a conversation between the characters (filled with bad jokes and unneccesary curse words) which completely destroys the flow of the game.

 

[OldAccount]

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. Maybe that's for the best though. I've those 2 worlds came together in a non-halfassed way then the universe might have imploded.

 

[badgersprite]

Allow me to be the first to say SPORE.

Good Lord, that game had me hyped. I was on the edge of my seat, drooling for it, checking every day in case the release date somehow changed.

And then... it was a handful of mini-games strung together.

The creature creator was great, everything it was hyped up to be (I thought), but there was just nothing to go with it. Except the space stage, which was the same thing over and over again.

I don't think I've ever been as disappointed by a game as I was by Spore.

Yeah, this. A game that could "randomly" (read: affected by multiple factors in a complex mathematical system going on behind the scenes) simulate a species' evolution over the course of millions of years, guided by different things you made various animals do in their different stages, including showing where the design fails or they run out of their food and a branch of the species goes extinct, would be utterly fascinating.

I mean, sure, it would be hard to pull off, but it could have provided for a game where you could design an entire ecosystem, then guide the fate of entire species in the struggle for the survival of the fittest. I mean, for crying out loud, it's an RTS where you are God of an alien planet. How did they screw this up?

 

[Mordekaien]

Hellgate: London, it sounded much better that it really was...