"Great" games that failed to blow you away

[A Pious Cultist]

-Portal, I don't like solving puzzles.

Why on earth would you play it then?

The same question to the guy that named an several SERIES of games. If you don't like one why would you buy the rest?

Another huge pitfall are the guns, a central part of any FPS, but in HL2 they are boring, they don't "feel" like guns, you get a very boring "standard" set of them, and the gunplay-mechanics are horrible (lack of ironsights, "rigid" guns etc). The only innovative thing was the Gravity Gun, yet it felt very gimmicky.

Why I will agree that the guns miss a certain je ne se quois, ironsights simply weren't in games back then. Neither are they a neccessity now. Why not hate on the original release of Star Wars for the lack of good CGI? You're wouldn't because CGI wasn't really around and wasn't necessary.

 

[Hashcurt]

-Half Life 2. Sadly, I don't think it's just a case of borrowed nostalgia or losing my edge, but to me it felt weaker than Half Life one. HL1 had me scared at points on that first playthrough, 2 felt like a faceroll with gimmicks. Inparticular, the physics gun providing lateral thought and the general hand holding that the NPC's do with you. Patronising is the way of the Freeman. They even had the audacity to bring out that book about "raising the bar" so they did have wank hats on alright. The only game to have raised "the bar" between 2004-2006 was Resident Evil 4 to me. (edit: and for the record, I bought HL2 twice for some reason, something to do with that tin edition)

-Modern Warfare 2. Can't be bothered to copypasta but after Zampella and West sacking I couldn't help but smile. Talk about 'Bifurcating' alright.

-F.E.A.R. It felt generic on the playthrough, right down to the whole grisly shocks and the Bullet time addition. I thought Doom 3 did a better job on me.

-Quake 4. As a fan of the other three, it did not feel right. While to a degree it was in the Quake 2 mould, it felt lacking and Soldier of fortune 1 in space (kind of apt too, Raven designed it) and the MP felt a bit on the pants side despite being really a flashy update of good old Quake 3 arena.

-Ico. Tried playing it, but did not last an hour.

-Deus Ex. Everybody does regard this highly but at the time I did not. It felt buggy and to me did not come close to being as immersive as Shock 2.

-Far Cry it was a "Woo, Direct X 9 effects!" game. Or maybe it was the whole effect of the AI being a bit of a cheating sod as it seemed to know exactly where i was whenever I quickloaded.

-Halo 2. Don't think my flatmates could forget my reaction to that being over.

 

[-Drifter-]

...I hate these threads. Every single time, someone has to go bonkers after someone else calls their favorite game of all time a piece of crap. Then the flame wars start and it all spirals downhill from there.

Also, I wasn't too impressed with FF7...maybe it's because deep down in my heart, I'll always be a Chrono Trigger girl.

I'm afraid it's already happening, but hey, I can't help it if people love to argue.

 

[wolf_isthebest]

Halo series .. they were all so boring and dull

 

[The Spectator]

Gears of War failed to blow me away. But it looked pretty though.

 

[chromewarriorXIII]

Dragon Age: Origins. I was really looking forward to it after hearing so much praise for it on here. Finally I got the chance to sit down and play the PC version and a couple hours later I just couldn't stand it anymore. I don't know what it was but I just couldn't keep playing it.

Unfortunately, I've been looking forward to Mass Effect 1 & 2 as well (still haven't played either). Now I'm wondering whether they're as good as I'm hoping they will be.

 

[jubosu]

Bioshock
I dont care for it one bit

 

[-Drifter-]

I want you to say why. Everyone is just saying HL2 was "crap" HL2 was mediocre. If you didn't play it when it first came out, that could explain alot, but I want to know what your reasons are. I get angry when people don't give any examples, like Arachon, who's really starting to piss me off.

I won't though just because I don't need to, and I'm too lazy. I didn't say HL 2 was mediocre, I just responded to the thread, Half-Life 2 did NOT blow me way.

And as for the guy who is pissing you off, you should know by now that you are probably pissing off more people with your first response to him. You can't claim that he is ignorant because not everyone would consider HL 2 to have been innovative even if they did play it when it barely came out. Just let everyone post their response and read in peace.

I never said you did call it mediocre. I just wanted to know your reasons for not liking it.
Everyone is just stating it's crap or mediocre (not you) I just want to be given examples of why, because I'm sure the majority of them (possibly you, not sure) didn't play it when it first came out.

So you've said, about five times already. You've made your point, I think it's time you moved on.

 

[Bonkekook]

Almost any game that gets huge hype, and I get wind of it. There are some games, just like anyone, that I'm biased towards. But I literally didn't know about the Fallout series until two months before 3 came out. The games that I weren't exposed to that were good have wound up being my favorite games. I'm looking at you, TimeSplitters series.

(OT: Something's screwing my laptop up atm, so if there are errors, I apologize.)

For a specific list, look at CoD(The MW games), Halo, GTA IV(but admittedly, that wasn't because of the pre-release hype, I just thought it sucked), Resident Evil 5 was also one that sucked but it wasn't because of hype, Killzone 2, MGS IV, Far Cry 2. If you want specific reasons, reply to this and I'll do my best.

To compare, games I liked were Dead Rising, Saints Row(1 and 2), Oblivion, Prey(all 4 of these were games I played right away on the 360, without looking into the console at all. Just played the demos, then the games. Hype has a huge effect when it comes to my buying habits.

 

[ethaninja]

Fallout 1 and 2.

I really can't understand how so many people can love those games.

I like it because it requires skill and wit, rather then ego "blow them away" shooting.

 

[ethaninja]

Halo. I mean, it was ok. But WAY overrated, I don't see the difference between it and the other hundreds of linear shooters out there.

That and Oddworld games. They were alright, but I don't see what everyone was so omgomgomgomg about.

 

[Nazulu]

FF7 & FF8 - It took me awhile to get those for the old Playstation. I just kept hearing how great they are so I saved up some cash and got ém over Ebay. The games are good and the story's are some what interesting but it also got very tedious at some points and I found to be disappointing.

Modern Warfare 2 - Yeah it's alright, but for the amount of hype waves I got really made it over-hyped. It's hardly any different from any other FPS, it did nothing new so I don't see how this makes it sooo much better than all the other FPS's.

 

[Lolth17]

Shadow of the Colossus.

Go ahead, flame me. Not saying it isn't the best thing since sliced bread (but it isn't), I just didn't like it.

Also:

Oblivion
Resident Evil 1 (the one with the tank controls)
GTA - any of them really

 

[Arachon]

Why I will agree that the guns miss a certain je ne se quois, ironsights simply weren't in games back then. Neither are they a neccessity now. Why not hate on the original release of Star Wars for the lack of good CGI? You're wouldn't because CGI wasn't really around and wasn't necessary.

There you are misstaken, Ironsights were around at the release of HL2, Call of Duty had them, Medal of Honour had them, Rainbow Six had them. Hell, even Hidden & Dangerous from '99 had them.

I agree, however, in that they were not really industry standard in the same way as they are today, but they had been implemented in quite a few games, and was met with positive reactions.

 

[HassEsser]

I recently played the God of War III demo. I don't know how much it speaks for the quality of the actual game, but I was unimpressed, and having tried the other God of Wars as well, (albeit briefly,) I just fail to see what all the fuss is about.

While I respect your opinion, consider that that is only the demo. I preordered GoWIII and I have been playing while I am not playing TF2 and it has blown me away in every aspect.

MW2 in every light is so under par it isn't even funny.
Gears of War
Halo 3
Oblivion (I respect this game a lot though)
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Although I REALLY want to get into this game, I just can't bring myself to it
Left 4 Dead 2, Left 4 Dead is far superior

 

[Mr_Paisley]

Dragon Age. I was hoping for Mass Effect in world of D&D and while there are glimpses of that dream in the game, it really ends up being a chore to play. The gambit system hardly worked for me, characters didn't use shit the way I asked them too. On the off chance that the gambit system DID work, I'm being asked to do work on the A.I combat? Wtf?

PS: Get fireball early, it's the most powerful fucking fireball you'll see in any videogame.
PPS: Don't choose a caster class. Pick melee. Casters get 6 spells available for them to quick-bind, out of what is about 60-something spells -_- yeah, it's fun picking only six. The rest have to be picked by opening the combat-wheel and pausing the game -_-

 

[Sethzard]

Half Life 2...KIDDING!!!

I'm not, it failed to grab me, or appeal to me much at all. also:
final fantasy
metal gear
GTA IV
Zelda
more will probably come to me

 

[Axeli]

Without going too far back...

Bioshock, Arkham Asylum, inFamous, Uncharted 2.

Meh. Just meh. Stop trying to appeal to everyone, it makes boring games.

 

[Heraklitus]

Zelda Twilight Princess. I just don't get it. It has a juvenille aesthetic, the controls are awkward, and there is no reason anyone should have to fish for that long.

 

[thestickman91]

Kill Zone 2. It looked nice and all but I could never get past the feeling that the controls felt like the character was covered in syrup