Technically sound games this decade

[Slayer_2]

I'll start us off with Dead Space, which I thought was almost perfect in every mechanic. The shooting, movement, visuals, frame rates and sound all worked perfectly to immerse the player, barring one or two horrid on rails turret sections.

While Dead Space is a great game, I found the loading times ridiculous (and I have a good PC), plus I've had a few crashes and once I got stuck in an armor upgrade station. The 3D HUD, and lack of any "fixed" 2D HUD was very immersive, however.

I think Mirrors Edge wins my vote, as the only issue I ever had was ONE crash on startup. Considering how much I play it, this is quite decent.

 

[Emphraim]

As others have stated, the recent Total War games have been total failures. As for recent games that are technically sound, Crysis, Company of Heroes, Sins of a Solar Empire, Torchlight, Touhou games and TF2 are the first things that come to my mind.

I am assuming we aren't counting visual novels here though, because if we are, than pretty much any visual novel is more technically sound than any other genre of game.

 

[F-I-D-O]

You forgot Empire Total War!

Never played it (I'm awful at RTS games)

Borderlands was really good when it came to a solid frame rate.

It was great for the most part, but some sections had drastic frame rate drops, like the final level with the snow effects, or anytime you headshot someone through a sniper scope.

I played on the PS3 version, my frame rate never dropped when I got a scoped headshot, and the final level was fine for me as well.

 

[Hiphophippo]

And yes... I have heard the PC version looks better.

It does by quite a margin. I was starting to suspect we were on different pages here, talking about stuff the other was only partially knowledgeable of. I couldn't say what the 360 version looks like myself.

 

[Meggiepants]

fugly character models in Dragon Age

Really? What was your problem with them? .

Well, for a start, they looked like anoxeric Thunderbirds puppets.

Horrible reddish brown colouring, sloppy animations, armour that magically passed through itself...

And Morrigan's weird skinny twig arm.

Pshh. You can't blame graphics for Morrigan's twiggy arms. The woman lives on cynicism and bile. It might fill you up, but it lacks in nutritional value. The designers merely did a good job accurately portraying the character.

The armor on the other hand... that was just bad. And [url = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDanX-beShQ]this.[/url] I had to reload once because Alistair's head was on sideways. I creeped me out. People on PC may have had a different experience though. I've seen some screenshots and thought, "My game didn't look like that!"

 

[MiracleOfSound]

And yes... I have heard the PC version looks better.

It does by quite a margin. I was starting to suspect we were on different pages here, talking about stuff the other was only partially knowledgeable of. I couldn't say what the 360 version looks like myself.

It looks, to be honest, pretty shit by today's standards. Especially considering this is the company who just made ME2, one of the best looking games in history.

I'm surprised they allowed that to be.

I mean the 360 can obviously handle a lot more intensive graphics than the ones in DA:O.

I'm guessing they were rushing for a release date and didn't have a Mass Effect-size budget.

You forgot Empire Total War!

Never played it (I'm awful at RTS games)

Borderlands was really good when it came to a solid frame rate.

It was great for the most part, but some sections had drastic frame rate drops, like the final level with the snow effects, or anytime you headshot someone through a sniper scope.

I played on the PS3 version, my frame rate never dropped when I got a scoped headshot, and the final level was fine for me as well.

It would seem the 360 is clearly not always the best platform for big titles.

It's the only one I have though

 

[Kryzantine]

Last game I remember that looked good and was technically sound was The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, and that was only because I hadn't played Dark Athena.

Not only did it look phenomenal at the time and still looks good by today's standards, it was really fun. Sleeper hit of the decade, IMO.

 

[HandfulofWolf]

Darksiders was a joy to play through. Well apart from the sheer amount of Portal puzzling.

Most broken AVP. Glitchy and unsatisfying.

EDIT: Dante's Inferno was a broken mess too. Worse than AVP actually. I got stuck in walls several times. And don't get me started on everything needing a QTE. I like quick time events but can't I trust my character to open a crate without holding his hand and telling him he's doing just fine?

 

[darkeye14]

Personally, I have never seen a glitch in any Zelda game.

The N64 Zeldas are some of the most glitchy games ever made. In Ocarina of Time, you can literally jump through the Door of Time.

Spoiler: Jumping through the Door of Time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suFAge6UCQQ

To answer the question, Resident Evil 4 was solidly built; I never encountered any game-breaking glitches myself.

 

[Daedalus1942]

The last decade has seen many unfinished games released to some angry gamers.

Be it getting stuck in a rock in Fallout 3, fugly character models in Dragon Age, glitched multiplayer in MW2 or GTA4's frame rate dropping anytime you drive too fast, this generation of gamers are no strangers to bugs and flaws.

So...

Which games this decade got it right, ran smoothly and were mechanically sound?

And which ones were utterly broken?

I'll start us off with Dead Space, which I thought was almost perfect in every mechanic. The shooting, movement, visuals, frame rates and sound all worked perfectly to immerse the player, barring one or two horrid on rails turret sections.

Biggest technical mess I played? Saints Row 2.

Biggest Technical messes I've played were Mass Effect 2, Far Cry 2, and TES IV:Oblivion.
Best games with very few gameplay or graphical flaws? Arkham Asylum, Dead Space (I frigging loved that game despite the MANY similarities to system shock) and I also thought Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X (apart from the graphical rendering of the ground as you hit it) were very well done.
Also, an honourable mention goes to Mass Effect. I'm currently playing through it yet again, and like the first few times I've played it, I haven't encountered one glitch.

 

[Daedalus1942]

fugly character models in Dragon Age

Really? What was your problem with them? I thought they were really nice. For my own submission to this thread I submit everything Bethesda has done in the last 10 years.

That's in reference to being technically unsound, right?
Because apart from Fallout 3 (even with all it's glitches it was a good game) the rest were just crap.

 

[neilsaccount]

hey your on my friends list.....hey, and i think the hottest pick would probably be modern warfare 2 for me. So many bugs with the multiplayer just making it a broken mess. At least their slowly fixing it though, no more damn 1887 insanity or care package knife sprees thank god

 

[ScottocS]

Sins of a solar empire certainly comes to mind as a fairly flawless and simple game. I liked it.

Team Fortress 2 is another game that i must say i am very pleased with. (Portal deserves a mention, utter brilliance).

The worst game i have ever played in the last decade would have to be The Club. That was utterly terrible. For a console port to PC, it clearly wasn't meant for the platform. :O

 

[TheTim]

Company of Heroes seem pretty un bugged. And warcraft III frozen throne

 

[GoldenCondor]

The best game is obviously Heroes of Might and Magic III, even if it was released in late 1999. If you are super picky about your game, then it's S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat, which was only released recently.

The worst game? You guys all fail, because you did not say Big Rigs Racing. You are all ignorant.

 

[smudgey]

Best for me has been Metroid Prime Trilogy.
Worst for me has been Borderlands. The claptrap froze up outside Dr Zed's door at the start of the game, so i had to restart. Then i got stuck on a rock.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Biggest Technical messes I've played were Mass Effect 2, Far Cry 2, and TES IV:Oblivion.

As much as I love Me2, I'll be the first to admit it had many, many bugs.

These become much more apparent on Insanity difficulty, when you die repeatedly due to the awfully glitchy cover mechanics and broken squad pathing.

I had game breaking ones too, like getting elevated and stuck into invisible geometry, or doors refusing to open.