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More 2005 Gaming Than You Really Want
It's Christmas Eve, and you need something to read while you're avoiding your relatives. We understand. Howabout several looks at the year in Gaming? The big sites have actual awards, with Gamespot and IGN both offering up decisions that are sure to spark dinner table discussion. Next Generation doesn't hand out awards, but it does have an exhaustive set of lists covering all aspects of the year. We've previously discussed their Top 30 Games of the Year, but today they have over half a dozen articles dedicated to the year in gaming. The Guardian Gamesblog has staff pics for best of the year. World of Warcraft certainly is on a lot of 2005 lists for a game released in 2004. Finally, 1up.com staffer Jared Rea probably has the most interesting take on the year. His traditional list headlines Guitar Hero, but he also has a special list, with ermm...special awards. That might make you angry. From that list: "The Sin and Punishment Award - Named after the hideous and boring N64 shooter from Treasure, the Sin and Punishment award is reserved for the the title which claimed the hearts of 'hardcore' fanboys around the world, despite the game in fact, being garbage or quite frankly, nothing special. Previous winners of this award include Ikaruga and Katamari Damacy." That award goes to Shadow of the Colossus. Which, sorry Jared, did actually rock.
2005 gaming, but no mention of what may have been one of the biggest portable hits of the year? Mario Kart DS was very well formulated :D
:P
wait this just makes me a nintendo fanboy doesnt it?
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That award goes to Shadow of the Colossus. Which, sorry Jared, did actually rock.
No Zonk, *you* think it rocks.
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
Best damn game of the year. And an amazing port to the PS2 - who'd of thunk that old PS2 could perform so well? --M
Wait a minute...did anyone play anything other than world of warcraft?
So, oh high and mighty one, why does your sig advertise online poker?
Pics != picks. If I wanted pics of people on the internet, I will just look in my hidden stash but shh don't tell the boss
do.what.promptcmds
I'm not avoiding my relatives, the relatives are avoiding me!
And I'm not even in Soviet Russia anymore.
This isn't a rant against Zonk (whom I feel gets too much grief sometimes) but a rant against the entertainment industry in general.
Oh please... your faux-blase act is so commonplace these days it's not even funny.
If you don't like best of the year reviews, then don't bloody read them. If you don't like awards, don't watch the ceremonies. I hate the whole Christmas and end-of-year bullshit as much as the next guy, but that doesn't mean I should feel compelled to go on Slashdot pretending to be assaulted by the entertainment industry against my will and complain about it.
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
So, "Beyond Good and Evil" rocked but "Katamari Damacy" didn't? BGaE WAS pretty good, but it certainly wasn't Katamari-level cool. REJECT!
Of course, it's become common practice in some circles to try to buffer rejection of a controversial statement, or even try to shame people into accepting it, by preemptively calling those who will obviously disagree with it fanboys, which at best is figuring out to what decimal place one's geekness resolves, and at worst is an act arguably more nerdly than the actual liking of the supposedly mediocre game.
And why did people want a sequel to KD so badly? MAYBE IT WAS BECAUSE THE ORIGINAL GAME WAS ABOUT THREE HOURS LONG! Fool! It's okay to make a sequel to a game that was, by all reports, much much too short to begin with!
Just because he doesn't like the game (which, to me, means he's either trying to play too-kool-4-U overhipster or is simply deficient in basic humanity) and by random whim of publishing industry happens to have a megaphone handy with which to shout his merest idea*, doesn't mean that he shouldn't attempt to see why other people like it. Empathy is a surprisingly useful trait for a reviewer, of any type, to have.
Further, later on he says "Microsoft introduces the Tard Pack." Oh yeah, that does wonders for his creditibility, oy.
*Yep, that's a blatant TMBG reference. Also geeky, I know.
Obviously this guy hasn't played Katamari Damacy. Yes, the concept of the game is crazy and whatnot, but this game had to be one of the funnest games you could get for the PS2. And at $20, what a steal!
I'm with Zonk on this one, Jared's taste is lacking.
- A
How did they know? How do the editors know that I just finished eating dinner, my football team is losing, and my relatives are looking at cruise pictures. Get out of my mind!!! Get out of my mind!!!
-- the computer doesn't want any beer, no matter how much you think it does. NEVER, EVER feed your computer beer.
Actually I look forward to reading alot of these at the end of the year. I am not interested in buying the newest games as they come out as I feel they are overpriced. So I wait to see which games turned out to be the best and by then they are usually being discounted.
I haven't played all the games on the list (only console I own is an N64), but I can comment on a decent amount of them.
Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich
A fairly good sequel using the original engine (graphics aren't much better than FF). I liked this game and played it to completion, but its not as good as the first one. It didn't add very many new characters to the freedom force, and none of them were introduced using the storyline (they would just show up as available for hire). If you haven't played Freedom Force or FFv3R, I would recommend just getting the original. Its cheaper ($10 at wal-mart), has a better story, and is a great game.
Brothers in Arms:Road to Hill 30
I played a little bit of this game and found it to be a pretty refreshing take on squad combat. I liked the command system, but it got a little hectic when you had multiple groups to control. The unreal engine lends itself to some pretty damn good graphics. The game is a console port, and has a lot of unlockable stuff like video clips, cheats, and medals. As a sidenote, it would be nice if every WWII game wasn't always about the 101st airborne.
Battlefield 2
A great game that should have been published by someone other than the cockgobblers at EA. The persistant statistics are nice, as are lots of medals and unlocks (of course EA charges $$ if you want a ranked server). DiCE definitely deserves extra kudos for the great squad system and microphone/headset support that add a lot to the already solid battlefield gameplay. Finding a server where squad mates work together and communicate is friggin awesome (and happens pretty often). The non-fuctioning server filters and generally shitty server browser (no surprise it's powered by Gamespy) are really frustrating (especially since the game already has a $30 expansion pack) and are quite indicative of EAs approach to publishing a game (release early, patch rarely, make lots of expensive expansion packs). Gripes about EA aside, the core game is really solid and I highly recommend it.
F.E.A.R.
FEAR was one game I thought was less than the sum of its parts. It has great graphics, some decent scary parts (more startling than scary really), and does slow-mo better than any Max Payne game. I didn't care for the levels (office buildings are almost as boring in a game as in real life), and I really didn't like the lack of enemy variety. You face soldiers that all look a like (except different weapons), a demon or two, and some large Police robots. The graphics engine allowed for some really cool effects and lots of polygons; it would have been nice to see it put to work with some interesting foes. I didn't think the game was that scary either (hmm... its a long hallway, I wonder if I'll see yet another dissolving girl). The slow-mo effects (bodies light up when hit, bullets leave a trail like in the matrix) were pretty slick and I hope another developer rips them off and uses them in a more fun game. Speaking of scary games, are there any more Aliens vs. Predator games in the pipeline?
Call of Duty 2
I just got this game and haven't spent enough time to accurately evaluate it. The graphics have definitely been improved, and a good gamer friend says the missions in the game are really fun. The Multiplayer includes some new modes that weren't in the first game (I think CTF is new), and brings back the best CoD1 maps (Carentan, Brecourt, etc) and adds some new ones.
Psychonauts
I have this game, but no gamepad, so I haven't played it yet. I will say, however, that its really great to see a game that has good, creative art and level design. Other than World of Warcraft and maybe Darwinia, there haven't been many titles with creative art. Its good to see a game that is an escape from reality rather than a crude attempt at duplicating it.
Mario Kart DS
I played this game for about 5 minutes at Wal-Mart and I was instantly hooked. I wasn't sure I would like going from analog controls (ala Double Dash)
Oh, please. If you can't spell "shmup" correctly, you think Ikaruga was the hardest shmup ever (maybe for score, but certainly not for completion), and you dislike vertical shmups... well, you're really not much of a fan.
We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.
""Guitar Hero" doesn't even come close to truly playing guitar."
Neither do most rock stars.
"See how the real heroes don't look at a screen to know what notes to play next."
Yeah, real guitarists have all three chords memorized.
I try to pace myself throughout the year and get the game I want at price drop $29.99 or lower. But even if I did pay the new release price, my gaming budget is pale in comparison to my other spending. You can save $10 by sacrificing lunch for a day.