Maybe it's because I'm just not a big sports person. Until they make a decent Squash game. I would play the shit out of that.
It's pretty much this. Since the dawn of gaming, there has been considerable anti-sports feelings from a largely non-athletic group of people. (You know, for broad strokes and such...) The wider the audience gets, the more likely that 'meathead' types, those only interested in sports or other visceral gaming, will increase. Not liking a particular genre (in your case, sports), is a kind of defense mechanism.
The sudden increase in music-based rhythm games has now created a further sub-group of 'anti' gamers who may feel threatened that their real music skill will somehow be brought into question or something because non-musicians might get involved.
Or something like that... It's the 'do it in real life instead' argument that messes things up. Taken to its logical conclusion, it's not a particularly valid line of reasoning.
I'm just waiting for a quality rugby game. I fear I'll be waiting for a while.
I had fun for about 2 weeks with it coming up with races and playing them through to space. Then I sat down and played a space game long enough to get to the center of the galaxy. It became an annoying grind about halfway through.
Apparently there were two factions among the devs. One wanted and in-depth space colonization game more akin to Gal Civ (and more in depth RTSs for that matter for the tribal/civilzation stages) and one that wanted to keep it as simple as possible so it wouldn't confuse people. The latter faction won out. It's been ages since I've followed Spore news but last I heard they were considering/planning on expansions that made hte latter stages less mind numbingly simple though so, who knows.
Maybe In a year or two I can buy some expansions and get a game out of it :P
Halo-
It just wasn't anything new for me. It was more of the same but with a control method I don't particularly enjoy for FPS games. I envied the people who had it as their first real FPS experience because man, if I could discover games like System Shock 1 and 2, Duke 3D modem multiplayer or Tribes again for the first time? I'd do it every day. At the same time being told "you don't get it, you're just a hater" was really fucking annoying because I did, in fact, get it and had "gotten it" years ago.
I imagine having someone get their driver's liscense for the first time and bitch me out for responding to their vehement enthusiasm with "Well, I've been driving for years. Do it every day to get to work in fact. It's neat I guess?" would also leave a foul taste in my mouth.
Not everyone who loves Halo does so because it was their first shooter. People throw shit like that around waaaaay too much. Surprise! It's possible for a long time PC FPS gamer to play Halo and consider it better than the PC shooters of the time. Hell, it's still my favourite shooter of all time, and I've been playing shooters since Doom.
Modern Zeldas:
Do the developers of these games realize that most of the people playing these games have in fact played numerous Zelda games in the past and possibly want something new and different? Oh great, there's a treasure chest, I wonder what's in it...oh yeah, bombs, arrows, or rupees. I just got the hook shot from an enemy again, I wonder if I'll have to use it to beat a boss? Heavy boots that weigh me down..no way. "Quirky" characters that used to add something bizarre and wacky to the game now being totally expected and annoying. Zzzzzz.
Everything Metal Gear:
I remember playing Metal Gear Solid, finishing it in six hours (three of those watching cut scenes) and wondering what the fuck all the fuss was about. Kojima pukes out his story like vomiting Kermit on Conan O'Brien. Non stop shit. And people go ape shit for it. I don't get it. The guy rips off Blade Runner, calls it Snatcher. Metal Gear my balls.
Man, with a few exceptions (Halo being the one I can remember at the moment), I'd have to say that this thread is basically a "Games I should try" thread. Because I already really like about half the shit listed.
Guess I'll contribute, though. Uhhhhh....
Halo.
Yeah, I got nothing. I just like too many games, or figure something's not for me if I don't. Even Halo, which I dislike more than most (mainstream, "actual" games), isn't really that bad. It's almost unfair to the game, since it seems I dislike its popularity and fanbase more than the product itself.
Modern Zeldas:
Do the developers of these games realize that most of the people playing these games have in fact played numerous Zelda games in the past and possibly want something new and different? Oh great, there's a treasure chest, I wonder what's in it...oh yeah, bombs, arrows, or rupees. I just got the hook shot from an enemy again, I wonder if I'll have to use it to beat a boss? Heavy boots that weigh me down..no way. "Quirky" characters that used to add something bizarre and wacky to the game now being totally expected and annoying. Zzzzzz.
I wish I could say it was the developers fault, but it wasn't. People wanted more OoT, and they got it.
the only people i know who got into it were a few girls back in high school who were trying to be gamers, and i never saw the draw. i also heard the best quote in the world because of it
as stated by Jack Flores
"guys play games where they can save the world, girls play games where they can do the dishes"
Add me to the long list of people who don't get Halo's popularity. Sure if you've played nothing but consoles all your life, sure Halo is great, but the instant you poke your head up out of your console-only world, things change.
Yeah because if we like Halo we just must not be exposed to better things right? Newsflash: some people honestly prefer the experience on a console. Is Halo 3 the best game ever? No - not to me at least, but I would much rather play it than any PC FPS you'd care to name. Because I honestly prefer the controller to th keyboard, I like the 360's matchmaking system that keeps me from having to find a server and hope for a spot to open, and I like playing on my big TV.
The only recent game I can think of that I actually preferred the PC version was Gears of War, and that is ONLY because it had additional content.
We're not all "hurr durr these consoles sure are greaet - I wonder if that work machine in my office can do anything like this, too?" while drooling on ourselves.
Slow down there hoss. You're using a strawman. I said nothing about people who like Halo. *I* like Halo. It's the people that honestly think Halo is the greatest game in the world that need a reality check. Halo is a solid game, but it's definitely not the second coming that some people apparently think it is. I don't give a shit about the whole K/M vs controller debacle. Sure I prefer K/M when it comes to FPS games, but I do not begrudge anyone who prefers controller style
I bolded the part that pissed me off. I don't rightly care whether you enjoy Halo. I am, however, offended, that you seem to think that I can only think it's a great game because I just haven't seen the light that is PC gaming. I know PC gaming, and I don't especially care for it. I don't like the controls, I don't like how multiplayer is (usually) handled, and I don't like having to figure out whether my PC can run whatever game I am looking at.
The PC has some great games. I won't argue with you on that. But to imply that I should "poke my head up out of the console-only world" like I'm some fucking ostrich with its head in the sand is pretty damned insulting. Things aren't greener on your side of the fence - not for me anyway. I like my skill-based matchmaking instead of a server list, my ease of process for buying and playing games, and my controller that I find more comfortable to use than an implement designed to slow down speedy typists.
In short, fuck you for assuming that just because I like a console shooter that I just haven't found the right PC shooter. They aren't better just because they're on the PC.
Sorry buddy, but you only get to be offended if you can honestly say that despite playing many many PC shooters, that Halo is still your favorite shooter (and that's ignoring the control scheme differences because I never brought that shit up, you did.) And even in that case. Tough shit, this thread is called "Games that Suck" not "Games that suck only if they don't offend the fragile sensibilities of people that do like said games." It would be an awful short thread if it were.
Otherwise you're taking this shit way too personal and blowing it way the hell out of proportion. In other words: Opinions and assholes, pal. Opinions and assholes.
If you don't like it, go start a thread entitled "Why don't people like the games I like?" and deal with your insecurities there.
Time I contribute:
Halo - reasons have been thoroughly covered at this point.
Fallout 3 - What a truly dismal game, if my draw to explore weren't so great I don't think I'd have ever put up with it. Bad textures, bad animations, bad shooting mechanics, repetitive dungeon crawls (which have been a Bethesda trademark since Daggerfall). The terrible combat was really its worst sin, because it basically had you fight Doom-like enemies with guns that can't hit anything and don't feel like they do any damage and if they do you don't have ammo. VATS was repetitive as hell but it was the only way to make the game bearable. The melee combat was silly, although Bioshock had the same problem to a lesser degree: equip weapon, circle strafe and swing until dead. And the fucking subways. And the ugly characters.
The big problem with combat is that they couldn't figure out how to balance it being an RPG with how they wanted the basic mechanics to work on the spectrum from Doom to STALKER. They kept the doom level combat and made your character really slow, unable to hit anything, and gave your enemies the ability to engage you much further away than you can.
Shadow of the Colossus comes to mind. I really wish I could understand why people enjoyed the game. I mean, I can see why people like the Halos, the Zeldas, etc... But this game honestly had no redeeming feature for me. Going from point A to point B (which was annoying and lame) then spending 25 minutes to figure out how to get to the weak spot to attack for damage....
I'm going to stop here because it always gets me a talk with a mod so I'll say that I wish I could enjoy the game as much as other people have.
Conversely I thought Blue Dragon was a fantastic game that everyone seems to hate for some reason.
Not everyone who loves Halo does so because it was their first shooter. People throw shit like that around waaaaay too much. Surprise! It's possible for a long time PC FPS gamer to play Halo and consider it better than the PC shooters of the time. Hell, it's still my favourite shooter of all time, and I've been playing shooters since Doom.
Pretty much sums up what I was going to say. I've been playing FPSs since Wolfenstein 3D and Doom, and have even done some competition level FPS play, and I loves me some Halo. The good part about it is that it is the most competent and updated FPS on a console. While console controls have nothing on PC's (for shooters), it's not like some people are playing with mice while others are using controllers or something. It's a new system to learn for the type of game I love.
But games I don't like?
Final Fantasy series - Never got into it. I've never been interested in asian culture, and I'm not too into non-PnP RPGs.
Zelda - I probably should have been into it, but my only experience with it was Windwaker (which I somehow got a copy of) and, after giving it a good shot, couldn't handle it anymore. I hear the older games were a lot better, but it just doesn't seem that interesting to me.
Shadow of the Colossus comes to mind. I really wish I could understand why people enjoyed the game. I mean, I can see why people like the Halos, the Zeldas, etc... But this game honestly had no redeeming feature for me. Going from point A to point B (which was annoying and lame) then spending 25 minutes to figure out how to get to the weak spot to attack for damage....
I'm going to stop here because it always gets me a talk with a mod so I'll say that I wish I could enjoy the game as much as other people have.
Conversely I thought Blue Dragon was a fantastic game that everyone seems to hate for some reason.
I'm kind of with you here. The first two bosses were really cool to me, and then it sort of seemed to get less and less interesting. Nothing stood up to that first fight where you get closer and closer only to find out that thing is huge.
I thought of another one: Afro Samurai. We got a copy in for review and everyone was like "OMG you have to try this game it's so much fun." Three uninspired, confusing levels later (or however many it takes to get to the flamethrower boss) and I was glad it was a free copy.
First person shooters have a tendency to make me sick.
So pretty much every first person shooter fad has managed to pass me by.
Thusly, I have never understood or been able to take part in the whole Halo experience.
The exception to this rule was Timesplitters.
Maybe because you can't jump, all I know is I played the crap out of that and never got sick.
But I couldn't play Half life for more than fifteen minutes at a time before getting sick to my stomach, though I managed to beat that regardless.
I hate Zelda games. Or rather (most of) the Zelda games released since A Link to the Past. Back in those days, Link was 16 or 17 I think. A traveler in a dying kingdom. One man making a difference, and all that. Shit was at stake. The monsters weren't cartoon jellies and shit either. The artwork was all in the manual, and I remember the enemies being genuinely scary when I was a kid.
And the difficulty! I could play through OOT on one hand I'll bet. But Remember Wizrobes? The blue ones? Combined with the Likelikes and blue darknuts? Holy fuck. Now that was a game.
Nowadays Link is a ten year old googly eyed little girl, and his greatest foe is a grumpy geriatric guy. How is anyone supposed to fear Ganondorf when he is consistently getting his ass handed to him by a ten-year-old? Fucking lame.
Pokemon, too, catches my ire. Not because it's a bad game or because I don't understand it. I just think that people ought to be able to use their favorites and still be competitive. Maybe if they included more virtual pet elements, and the relative power level of your mon depended on their level of affection toward you? (And why not? That's how the characters in the TV show manage to win with Pikachu and Piplup)
How do you not "get" handhelds? They let people play video games all sorts of places other than in front of the TV. At work. In bed. Waiting rooms. I can go on...
I treat any advocacy of Japanese games with extreme scepticism these days as it's become apparent to me that there is a certain weeaboo factor involved that skews peoples perceptions of the quality of some games. Not that all Japanese games are defacto bad, just that a lot of the ones that people get all giddy over turn out to be utter turds in every objective way and the only reason I can think of that some people hold them in such high regard is because they are hopeless weeaboos.
Kind of lttp on this post, but I did want to comment that I think the cultural divide may be a lot of what interests some people. It's just so different from what they're used to that it's easier to sit up and take notice.
I don't consider myself a weeaboo by any standards, but in the interests of full disclosure I do own a few choice anime series (Moribito, Ghost in the Shell, Berserk). At any rate, it's because I'd never be able to see these shows in live action TV, or in the U.S., for that matter, without a significant amount of changes. I can just see it now. "This didn't go over well with our test audiences, so we're stripping all original thought from your series."
Games are the same way to a lesser extent for me. I had no idea what steampunk was before I played Final Fantasy VII, and I had no interest in zombies or survival horror anything until Silent Hill made me afraid of the dark.
I really can't get into handhelds at all, try as I might. I've tried everything, all sorts of supposedly great and acclaimed games. The only handheld games I sufficiently enjoyed were Chrono Trigger and ports of FF, and Henry Hatsworth.
And even then, I could never really be bothered to break out the handheld when I had a 360 or PS3 in front of me anyways. Most of the time I just thought to myself "Man, I really wish Henry Hatsworth was on PS3." It's also hard for me to get comfortable at all playing handhelds.
I've been thinking of getting a PSP for Rock Band Unplugged, but only because it is the only current version of one of my favorite PS2 franchises. If they made a downloadable version on the next-gen consoles, I wouldn't even go near that shit on handhelds.
Add me to the long list of people who don't get Halo's popularity. Sure if you've played nothing but consoles all your life, sure Halo is great, but the instant you poke your head up out of your console-only world, things change.
Yeah because if we like Halo we just must not be exposed to better things right? Newsflash: some people honestly prefer the experience on a console. Is Halo 3 the best game ever? No - not to me at least, but I would much rather play it than any PC FPS you'd care to name. Because I honestly prefer the controller to th keyboard, I like the 360's matchmaking system that keeps me from having to find a server and hope for a spot to open, and I like playing on my big TV.
The only recent game I can think of that I actually preferred the PC version was Gears of War, and that is ONLY because it had additional content.
We're not all "hurr durr these consoles sure are greaet - I wonder if that work machine in my office can do anything like this, too?" while drooling on ourselves.
Slow down there hoss. You're using a strawman. I said nothing about people who like Halo. *I* like Halo. It's the people that honestly think Halo is the greatest game in the world that need a reality check. Halo is a solid game, but it's definitely not the second coming that some people apparently think it is. I don't give a shit about the whole K/M vs controller debacle. Sure I prefer K/M when it comes to FPS games, but I do not begrudge anyone who prefers controller style
I bolded the part that pissed me off. I don't rightly care whether you enjoy Halo. I am, however, offended, that you seem to think that I can only think it's a great game because I just haven't seen the light that is PC gaming. I know PC gaming, and I don't especially care for it. I don't like the controls, I don't like how multiplayer is (usually) handled, and I don't like having to figure out whether my PC can run whatever game I am looking at.
The PC has some great games. I won't argue with you on that. But to imply that I should "poke my head up out of the console-only world" like I'm some fucking ostrich with its head in the sand is pretty damned insulting. Things aren't greener on your side of the fence - not for me anyway. I like my skill-based matchmaking instead of a server list, my ease of process for buying and playing games, and my controller that I find more comfortable to use than an implement designed to slow down speedy typists.
In short, fuck you for assuming that just because I like a console shooter that I just haven't found the right PC shooter. They aren't better just because they're on the PC.
Sorry buddy, but you only get to be offended if you can honestly say that despite playing many many PC shooters, that Halo is still your favorite shooter (and that's ignoring the control scheme differences because I never brought that shit up, you did.) And even in that case. Tough shit, this thread is called "Games that Suck" not "Games that suck only if they don't offend the fragile sensibilities of people that do like said games." It would be an awful short thread if it were.
Otherwise you're taking this shit way too personal and blowing it way the hell out of proportion. In other words: Opinions and assholes, pal. Opinions and assholes.
If you don't like it, go start a thread entitled "Why don't people like the games I like?" and deal with your insecurities there.
Like I said, I don't care that you don't like Halo (and yes, I do like it better than any and all PC FPS that I have played). What strikes me as particularly douchey on your part is the implication that I am some sort of troglodyte that just hasn't been exposed to the right types of games.
I can understand that there are plenty of reasons to not like it, but even in a thread about games that you don't get or popular games that you don't like there is no reason to actively insult those that _do_ like the game that you don't.
There is a difference between "I don't like game X for reasons Y and Z" and "the people who like game X need to pull their head out of the console-only world."
God of War :- Imo, hydra was cool but battles were boring. idk, I like God Hand more.
Sims :- Dolls.
RPGs :- Actually, this is a lie. I completely understand people's appeal to it but now have failed to understand why they refuse to move on.
First, I used to think its because I like to think more than I like to press buttons. But this is obviously a lie because the strategy isn't as deep as chess. Heck even some action games have deeper strategy than most RPGs.
Then it was because I thought it was the plot and the environment. Nope, the plot really aren't that good, wall-e style at best, and the environment is easily rivaled by 2-d competitors. I think many action games have created great environments and characters. Certainly not as dialog heavy, but most do fine with that.
Customization? Yeah, but no. Also leads to some crappy mechanics like hey, I can wipe out a goblin army but at this moment I get captured because plot required it to. You know how I jumped into outer space and spiked into a monster? Yeah, it turns out I don't have the thigh muscles to land it or lift w/e rock.
Also, grinding is a chore. Positive reinforcement at its worst. You know there are games out there where you just watch your number go up? Yeah...
So basically, things look prettier when you don't need to animate movement and its easier to animate movies. Probably the only reason people play RPGs.
Now, I rip on RPGs pretty much everywhere (for all of those reasons on top of the fact that they aren't being judged on being role-playing games as much as them being novels and cinema), but there is an even worse offender.
Action RPGs :- Why not just call em action games? Obviously because they would be judged as terrible. They take the worst aspect of RPGs (stat-grinding and a god-forsaken menu combat) and apply it to action games (battles are interesting but not a huge cast of characters). The only thing remotely different about RPGs, conversations, are shunted in this format. And to top it off, usually the battles are so horribly implemented and with no synergy between any of the systems that there really isn't any reason to think about anything at all. Why do people like them?
Mortal Kombat :- Oh yay, people erupt in a shower of blood. You know what else erupts in a shower of blood now? Pretty much every single game. In fact, you can actually make 10 different enemies erupt in a shower of blood in most modern games. Why don't the creators understand this? They don't make interesting characters, they don't make interesting mechanics, they don't care about the careful interaction between 2 players, and the only thing that was even remotely enjoyable in that game is now definitely not done the best in the fighting genre (fatality).
RPGs :- Actually, this is a lie. I completely understand people's appeal to it but now have failed to understand why they refuse to move on.
First, I used to think its because I like to think more than I like to press buttons. But this is obviously a lie because the strategy isn't as deep as chess. Heck even some action games have deeper strategy than most RPGs.
Then it was because I thought it was the plot and the environment. Nope, the plot really aren't that good, wall-e style at best, and the environment is easily rivaled by 2-d competitors. I think many action games have created great environments and characters. Certainly not as dialog heavy, but most do fine with that.
Customization? Yeah, but no. Also leads to some crappy mechanics like hey, I can wipe out a goblin army but at this moment I get captured because plot required it to. You know how I jumped into outer space and spiked into a monster? Yeah, it turns out I don't have the thigh muscles to land it or lift w/e rock.
Also, grinding is a chore. Positive reinforcement at its worst. You know there are games out there where you just watch your number go up? Yeah...
So basically, things look prettier when you don't need to animate movement and its easier to animate movies. Probably the only reason people play RPGs.
Now, I rip on RPGs pretty much everywhere (for all of those reasons on top of the fact that they aren't being judged on being role-playing games as much as them being novels and cinema), but there is an even worse offender.
I think those complaints are all aimed towards JRPGs, with is a genre that is very badly in need of some true innovation. There are some excellent Western RPGs (like Balder's Gate and Planescape: Torment) with good writing, engaging characters and (sometimes) decent gameplay. Planescape: Torment has some fantastic writing in it, and what little I've played of it was great. Definitely give it a look if you want to try testing the RPG waters again.
I grew up on Doom, Quake, the original TF Classic, Half life, UT, etc. Played the everliving fuck out of those games.
I first played Halo in college. We would plug our xboxes into the dorm walls and since each floor essentially had a central router, we were able to LAN it up and down the whole hall. I have never, not before or since, had an FPS (hell, even gaming) experience that has rivalled those years at college.
crack open some beers, play some 8-12 player CTF on Blood Gulch. Firing a rocket allllll the way across the map at the bend near the blue base, hitting the warthog carrying the flag perfectly 8 seconds later, seeing it launch into the sky, turning to your friend to say "snipe the survivors" and seeing him headshot them all
only to run down the hallway, burst into the other team's room, and shout "SUCK IT MOTHERFUCKERS!"
good. fucking. times.
the real beauty of Halo was that, since hooking up 3-4 xboxes on a LAN is so much easier and cheaper than bringing 8-12 PC's to somebody's basement and hooking up 328974 chords in order to play, it brought the beauty that is LAN FPS gaming to the masses in an easy, convenient manner. and it deserves major props for that. it also happened to be a damn fun game.
Planescape: Torment has some fantastic writing in it, and what little I've played of it was great.
I only played a little bit.. it was definitely more my type of game. However, the last time I checked, the game ran on a pretty high price. I do enjoy RPGs that are about role-playing.
I do have to note that I have largely lost interest in most stories. Aesop's fable at best imo.
Balder's Gate
Didn't really get into it much. I believe there was some sort of warping in this game? Yeah.. too jarring. Idk, maybe I will check it out.
But as a whole, I am against the whole experience/level thing. Imo, not the best implementation of role-playing games and leaves me with too much grinding as a whole.
Like I said, I don't care that you don't like Halo (and yes, I do like it better than any and all PC FPS that I have played). What strikes me as particularly douchey on your part is the implication that I am some sort of troglodyte that just hasn't been exposed to the right types of games.
I can understand that there are plenty of reasons to not like it, but even in a thread about games that you don't get or popular games that you don't like there is no reason to actively insult those that _do_ like the game that you don't.
There is a difference between "I don't like game X for reasons Y and Z" and "the people who like game X need to pull their head out of the console-only world."
I think you guys just have a misunderstanding. Halo is an amazing game...and a lot of people love to play it online just the way it is. I don't. His implication that you haven't played the right games might be a little backwards. I think maybe he just hasn't played Halo the right way (or the way I like to play it anyways).
As a purely first person shooter game there are much better games to play, such as Call of Duty or Counterstrike. But Halo has a lot more on offer than looking around and pulling the trigger. It has immaculate and precise controls, and a lot of objective based gameplay. The stupid community game types that people play in Halo 3, like SWAT and other crap are mostly carry-overs from Halo 2. While I can understand the appeal of those gametypes to an extent, I still feel the only real way to play Halo is CTF (I do realize there is SWAT CTF but I don't care because I still think SWAT is dumb). And not just any CTF, but CTF where your flag must be at base to score.
I think the only games that I have played that had competetively quality CTF were Tribes/Tribes 2. I played Halo for the CTF, the same way I played PGR2 for Cat and Mouse (which they subsequently ruined in PGR3 and 4...much like Halo 2 and 3). Honestly I probably would never have liked Halo if there had not been a random sequence of events that forced me to play it's CTF in those specific settings...where it just became this beautiful strategic chess match that was played out as a first person shooter.
This is not the only way to play Halo though...there are a million ways and if you never stumbled on the one that really spoke to you then you probably wouldn't 'get it'. Playing Halo in slayer is one of the most boring experiences you can have in a game in my opinion...but a well setup CTF game? That can reach the highest levels of entertainment. Really it's tough for me to play any FPS anymore because without that depth of gameplay offered in the original Halo objectivewise...it feels just stupid to me.
But the mention of Gears of War made me realize I never understood that game either. The combat seemed so crappy to me that I couldn't get into it. All of the guns were terribly inaccurate and I felt so out of control of my character the way he attaches to things all the time. Plus the way cover worked it seemed every game played out so similarly...everyone ran up to the same blocks...attached themselves to them...then sprayed bullets over the top of them. It got tiring.
I grew up on Doom, Quake, the original TF Classic, Half life, UT, etc. Played the everliving fuck out of those games.
I first played Halo in college. We would plug our xboxes into the dorm walls and since each floor essentially had a central router, we were able to LAN it up and down the whole hall. I have never, not before or since, had an FPS (hell, even gaming) experience that has rivalled those years at college.
crack open some beers, play some 8-12 player CTF on Blood Gulch. Firing a rocket allllll the way across the map at the bend near the blue base, hitting the warthog carrying the flag perfectly 8 seconds later, seeing it launch into the sky, turning to your friend to say "snipe the survivors" and seeing him headshot them all
only to run down the hallway, burst into the other team's room, and shout "SUCK IT MOTHERFUCKERS!"
good. fucking. times.
the real beauty of Halo was that, since hooking up 3-4 xboxes on a LAN is so much easier and cheaper than bringing 8-12 PC's to somebody's basement and hooking up 328974 chords in order to play, it brought the beauty that is LAN FPS gaming to the masses in an easy, convenient manner. and it deserves major props for that. it also happened to be a damn fun game.
rant about Halo over.
This is exactly what I am talking about...it is an amazing gaming experience.
I grew up on Doom, Quake, the original TF Classic, Half life, UT, etc. Played the everliving fuck out of those games.
I first played Halo in college. We would plug our xboxes into the dorm walls and since each floor essentially had a central router, we were able to LAN it up and down the whole hall. I have never, not before or since, had an FPS (hell, even gaming) experience that has rivalled those years at college.
crack open some beers, play some 8-12 player CTF on Blood Gulch. Firing a rocket allllll the way across the map at the bend near the blue base, hitting the warthog carrying the flag perfectly 8 seconds later, seeing it launch into the sky, turning to your friend to say "snipe the survivors" and seeing him headshot them all
only to run down the hallway, burst into the other team's room, and shout "SUCK IT MOTHERFUCKERS!"
good. fucking. times.
the real beauty of Halo was that, since hooking up 3-4 xboxes on a LAN is so much easier and cheaper than bringing 8-12 PC's to somebody's basement and hooking up 328974 chords in order to play, it brought the beauty that is LAN FPS gaming to the masses in an easy, convenient manner. and it deserves major props for that. it also happened to be a damn fun game.
rant about Halo over.
Yeah but being someone who doesn't play multiplayer games makes it REEEEALLY hard to understand Halo.
Action RPGs :- Why not just call em action games? Obviously because they would be judged as terrible. They take the worst aspect of RPGs (stat-grinding and a god-forsaken menu combat) and apply it to action games (battles are interesting but not a huge cast of characters). The only thing remotely different about RPGs, conversations, are shunted in this format. And to top it off, usually the battles are so horribly implemented and with no synergy between any of the systems that there really isn't any reason to think about anything at all. Why do people like them?
I've given up on every Zelda game I've ever played because, yeah, the stat grinding and god-forsaken menu combat just wasn't doing anything for me.
Guitar Hero. Wouldn't it be more fun to know how to play an actual guitar?
No.
You have to spend a huge amount of time learning guitar to become reasonably competent at it. Its rewarding but utterly frustating. Those games are like instant gratification for me.
I can try, but in real life I'm never gonna be able to play Glenn Tipton's solo from Painkiller note for note. I don't think I could dedicate the time either to learn it without compromising certain aspects of my playing. In Rock band, I can fucking nail that solo and it feels awesome.
This annoys the shit out of me. I do actually play the guitar, I have put in the time over the years to be good enough to play the songs I like (thrash metal sometimes involving bazillions of notes in 3-6 minutes), and play in a band who get a great reception every time we go live (we're not actually a metal band, but that's irrelevant).
I still really enjoy Guitar Hero. I have every one that has hit the home consoles, because I really enjoy the game.
If you dont enjoy it, that's just personal taste, but don't be that guy. Where would you draw the line? "Why don't you learn to drive a Ferrari? Why don't you go on SWAT missions? Why don't you play for the Chicago Bulls?"
EDIT: given that the last basketball I played or watched was NBA jam on the SNES, for all I know, the Bulls could be a shitpile of \a team by now
Raybies666 on
Beat me on Wii U: Raybies
Beat me on 360: Raybies666
I honestly wish I found FPSs more fun. It just feels like I'm missing out on something.
I could never wrap my mind around FPS's either. With the exception of games like Metroid and Half-Life which I believe we can all agree are more story-driven adventure games than shooters.
Ninja Snarl PMy helmet is my burden.Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered Userregular
edited June 2009
Speaking of the Guitar Hero/Rock Band kick, I can understand how people can enjoy playing the games. However, what I don't understand is how people can enjoy shoveling out cash to do the exact same thing they've done on hundreds of other songs.
I played the crap out of GHII and got expert on all the songs, but after that I just didn't get the point in playing the other games. They're just memorization. In much the same vein, I don't get how people can enjoy playing the DDR stuff over and over and over. It's more like work than actually playing a game. Even in WoW, grinding at least makes your character better. In GH/DDR games, you grind forever and earn nothing. You don't even get better at playing a real guitar or actual dancing. What am I missing?
Also, I'll agree that I don't even remotely comprehend how anyone over the age of 12 can legitimately defend playing Pokemon as something decent. It's probably directly linked with not understanding how there are people who can enjoy pretty much anything coming out of Japan and still enjoy 95% of it. Like with the dubbed vs. original language snobbery; unless you actually speak fluent Japanese, it doesn't matter if the English dubbing isn't great because you can't tell if the original language was any better. On top of that, no amount superior voice acting can salvage the mountains of terrible stories and concepts in Japanese stuff. What is the deal?
It would be like claiming Star Wars Episodes 1-3 were actually pretty great with better voice actors. Awful story is awful regardless of how the characters sound.
I honestly wish I found FPSs more fun. It just feels like I'm missing out on something.
I could never wrap my mind around FPS's either. With the exception of games like Metroid and Half-Life which I believe we can all agree are more story-driven adventure games than shooters.
Same here. FPSs usually need some sort of hook to keep me interested. Although I absolutely adore the first person perspective. I eat stuff like Condemned and Escape from Butcher Bay right up.
Posts
It's pretty much this. Since the dawn of gaming, there has been considerable anti-sports feelings from a largely non-athletic group of people. (You know, for broad strokes and such...) The wider the audience gets, the more likely that 'meathead' types, those only interested in sports or other visceral gaming, will increase. Not liking a particular genre (in your case, sports), is a kind of defense mechanism.
The sudden increase in music-based rhythm games has now created a further sub-group of 'anti' gamers who may feel threatened that their real music skill will somehow be brought into question or something because non-musicians might get involved.
Or something like that... It's the 'do it in real life instead' argument that messes things up. Taken to its logical conclusion, it's not a particularly valid line of reasoning.
I'm just waiting for a quality rugby game. I fear I'll be waiting for a while.
I had fun for about 2 weeks with it coming up with races and playing them through to space. Then I sat down and played a space game long enough to get to the center of the galaxy. It became an annoying grind about halfway through.
Apparently there were two factions among the devs. One wanted and in-depth space colonization game more akin to Gal Civ (and more in depth RTSs for that matter for the tribal/civilzation stages) and one that wanted to keep it as simple as possible so it wouldn't confuse people. The latter faction won out. It's been ages since I've followed Spore news but last I heard they were considering/planning on expansions that made hte latter stages less mind numbingly simple though so, who knows.
Maybe In a year or two I can buy some expansions and get a game out of it :P
Halo-
It just wasn't anything new for me. It was more of the same but with a control method I don't particularly enjoy for FPS games. I envied the people who had it as their first real FPS experience because man, if I could discover games like System Shock 1 and 2, Duke 3D modem multiplayer or Tribes again for the first time? I'd do it every day. At the same time being told "you don't get it, you're just a hater" was really fucking annoying because I did, in fact, get it and had "gotten it" years ago.
I imagine having someone get their driver's liscense for the first time and bitch me out for responding to their vehement enthusiasm with "Well, I've been driving for years. Do it every day to get to work in fact. It's neat I guess?" would also leave a foul taste in my mouth.
Do the developers of these games realize that most of the people playing these games have in fact played numerous Zelda games in the past and possibly want something new and different? Oh great, there's a treasure chest, I wonder what's in it...oh yeah, bombs, arrows, or rupees. I just got the hook shot from an enemy again, I wonder if I'll have to use it to beat a boss? Heavy boots that weigh me down..no way. "Quirky" characters that used to add something bizarre and wacky to the game now being totally expected and annoying. Zzzzzz.
Everything Metal Gear:
I remember playing Metal Gear Solid, finishing it in six hours (three of those watching cut scenes) and wondering what the fuck all the fuss was about. Kojima pukes out his story like vomiting Kermit on Conan O'Brien. Non stop shit. And people go ape shit for it. I don't get it. The guy rips off Blade Runner, calls it Snatcher. Metal Gear my balls.
Guess I'll contribute, though. Uhhhhh....
Halo.
Yeah, I got nothing. I just like too many games, or figure something's not for me if I don't. Even Halo, which I dislike more than most (mainstream, "actual" games), isn't really that bad. It's almost unfair to the game, since it seems I dislike its popularity and fanbase more than the product itself.
I wish I could say it was the developers fault, but it wasn't. People wanted more OoT, and they got it.
the only people i know who got into it were a few girls back in high school who were trying to be gamers, and i never saw the draw. i also heard the best quote in the world because of it
as stated by Jack Flores
"guys play games where they can save the world, girls play games where they can do the dishes"
Sorry buddy, but you only get to be offended if you can honestly say that despite playing many many PC shooters, that Halo is still your favorite shooter (and that's ignoring the control scheme differences because I never brought that shit up, you did.) And even in that case. Tough shit, this thread is called "Games that Suck" not "Games that suck only if they don't offend the fragile sensibilities of people that do like said games." It would be an awful short thread if it were.
Otherwise you're taking this shit way too personal and blowing it way the hell out of proportion. In other words: Opinions and assholes, pal. Opinions and assholes.
If you don't like it, go start a thread entitled "Why don't people like the games I like?" and deal with your insecurities there.
Enlist in Star Citizen! Citizenship must be earned!
And all handhelds.
Halo - reasons have been thoroughly covered at this point.
Fallout 3 - What a truly dismal game, if my draw to explore weren't so great I don't think I'd have ever put up with it. Bad textures, bad animations, bad shooting mechanics, repetitive dungeon crawls (which have been a Bethesda trademark since Daggerfall). The terrible combat was really its worst sin, because it basically had you fight Doom-like enemies with guns that can't hit anything and don't feel like they do any damage and if they do you don't have ammo. VATS was repetitive as hell but it was the only way to make the game bearable. The melee combat was silly, although Bioshock had the same problem to a lesser degree: equip weapon, circle strafe and swing until dead. And the fucking subways. And the ugly characters.
The big problem with combat is that they couldn't figure out how to balance it being an RPG with how they wanted the basic mechanics to work on the spectrum from Doom to STALKER. They kept the doom level combat and made your character really slow, unable to hit anything, and gave your enemies the ability to engage you much further away than you can.
I'm going to stop here because it always gets me a talk with a mod so I'll say that I wish I could enjoy the game as much as other people have.
Conversely I thought Blue Dragon was a fantastic game that everyone seems to hate for some reason.
Pretty much sums up what I was going to say. I've been playing FPSs since Wolfenstein 3D and Doom, and have even done some competition level FPS play, and I loves me some Halo. The good part about it is that it is the most competent and updated FPS on a console. While console controls have nothing on PC's (for shooters), it's not like some people are playing with mice while others are using controllers or something. It's a new system to learn for the type of game I love.
But games I don't like?
Final Fantasy series - Never got into it. I've never been interested in asian culture, and I'm not too into non-PnP RPGs.
Zelda - I probably should have been into it, but my only experience with it was Windwaker (which I somehow got a copy of) and, after giving it a good shot, couldn't handle it anymore. I hear the older games were a lot better, but it just doesn't seem that interesting to me.
I'm kind of with you here. The first two bosses were really cool to me, and then it sort of seemed to get less and less interesting. Nothing stood up to that first fight where you get closer and closer only to find out that thing is huge.
I thought of another one: Afro Samurai. We got a copy in for review and everyone was like "OMG you have to try this game it's so much fun." Three uninspired, confusing levels later (or however many it takes to get to the flamethrower boss) and I was glad it was a free copy.
So pretty much every first person shooter fad has managed to pass me by.
Thusly, I have never understood or been able to take part in the whole Halo experience.
The exception to this rule was Timesplitters.
Maybe because you can't jump, all I know is I played the crap out of that and never got sick.
But I couldn't play Half life for more than fifteen minutes at a time before getting sick to my stomach, though I managed to beat that regardless.
HG: 5285 4128 5154
And the difficulty! I could play through OOT on one hand I'll bet. But Remember Wizrobes? The blue ones? Combined with the Likelikes and blue darknuts? Holy fuck. Now that was a game.
Nowadays Link is a ten year old googly eyed little girl, and his greatest foe is a grumpy geriatric guy. How is anyone supposed to fear Ganondorf when he is consistently getting his ass handed to him by a ten-year-old? Fucking lame.
Pokemon, too, catches my ire. Not because it's a bad game or because I don't understand it. I just think that people ought to be able to use their favorites and still be competitive. Maybe if they included more virtual pet elements, and the relative power level of your mon depended on their level of affection toward you? (And why not? That's how the characters in the TV show manage to win with Pikachu and Piplup)
Also fuck Bioshock.
There, I said it.
How do you not "get" handhelds? They let people play video games all sorts of places other than in front of the TV. At work. In bed. Waiting rooms. I can go on...
but in this the cocks shoot fire and lighting and rocks!
Pretty much how I prefer them.
Kind of lttp on this post, but I did want to comment that I think the cultural divide may be a lot of what interests some people. It's just so different from what they're used to that it's easier to sit up and take notice.
I don't consider myself a weeaboo by any standards, but in the interests of full disclosure I do own a few choice anime series (Moribito, Ghost in the Shell, Berserk). At any rate, it's because I'd never be able to see these shows in live action TV, or in the U.S., for that matter, without a significant amount of changes. I can just see it now. "This didn't go over well with our test audiences, so we're stripping all original thought from your series."
Games are the same way to a lesser extent for me. I had no idea what steampunk was before I played Final Fantasy VII, and I had no interest in zombies or survival horror anything until Silent Hill made me afraid of the dark.
Ka-Chung!
Ka-Chung!
And even then, I could never really be bothered to break out the handheld when I had a 360 or PS3 in front of me anyways. Most of the time I just thought to myself "Man, I really wish Henry Hatsworth was on PS3." It's also hard for me to get comfortable at all playing handhelds.
I've been thinking of getting a PSP for Rock Band Unplugged, but only because it is the only current version of one of my favorite PS2 franchises. If they made a downloadable version on the next-gen consoles, I wouldn't even go near that shit on handhelds.
I can understand that there are plenty of reasons to not like it, but even in a thread about games that you don't get or popular games that you don't like there is no reason to actively insult those that _do_ like the game that you don't.
There is a difference between "I don't like game X for reasons Y and Z" and "the people who like game X need to pull their head out of the console-only world."
Sims :- Dolls.
RPGs :- Actually, this is a lie. I completely understand people's appeal to it but now have failed to understand why they refuse to move on.
First, I used to think its because I like to think more than I like to press buttons. But this is obviously a lie because the strategy isn't as deep as chess. Heck even some action games have deeper strategy than most RPGs.
Then it was because I thought it was the plot and the environment. Nope, the plot really aren't that good, wall-e style at best, and the environment is easily rivaled by 2-d competitors. I think many action games have created great environments and characters. Certainly not as dialog heavy, but most do fine with that.
Customization? Yeah, but no. Also leads to some crappy mechanics like hey, I can wipe out a goblin army but at this moment I get captured because plot required it to. You know how I jumped into outer space and spiked into a monster? Yeah, it turns out I don't have the thigh muscles to land it or lift w/e rock.
Also, grinding is a chore. Positive reinforcement at its worst. You know there are games out there where you just watch your number go up? Yeah...
So basically, things look prettier when you don't need to animate movement and its easier to animate movies. Probably the only reason people play RPGs.
Now, I rip on RPGs pretty much everywhere (for all of those reasons on top of the fact that they aren't being judged on being role-playing games as much as them being novels and cinema), but there is an even worse offender.
Action RPGs :- Why not just call em action games? Obviously because they would be judged as terrible. They take the worst aspect of RPGs (stat-grinding and a god-forsaken menu combat) and apply it to action games (battles are interesting but not a huge cast of characters). The only thing remotely different about RPGs, conversations, are shunted in this format. And to top it off, usually the battles are so horribly implemented and with no synergy between any of the systems that there really isn't any reason to think about anything at all. Why do people like them?
Mortal Kombat :- Oh yay, people erupt in a shower of blood. You know what else erupts in a shower of blood now? Pretty much every single game. In fact, you can actually make 10 different enemies erupt in a shower of blood in most modern games. Why don't the creators understand this? They don't make interesting characters, they don't make interesting mechanics, they don't care about the careful interaction between 2 players, and the only thing that was even remotely enjoyable in that game is now definitely not done the best in the fighting genre (fatality).
I think those complaints are all aimed towards JRPGs, with is a genre that is very badly in need of some true innovation. There are some excellent Western RPGs (like Balder's Gate and Planescape: Torment) with good writing, engaging characters and (sometimes) decent gameplay. Planescape: Torment has some fantastic writing in it, and what little I've played of it was great. Definitely give it a look if you want to try testing the RPG waters again.
I first played Halo in college. We would plug our xboxes into the dorm walls and since each floor essentially had a central router, we were able to LAN it up and down the whole hall. I have never, not before or since, had an FPS (hell, even gaming) experience that has rivalled those years at college.
crack open some beers, play some 8-12 player CTF on Blood Gulch. Firing a rocket allllll the way across the map at the bend near the blue base, hitting the warthog carrying the flag perfectly 8 seconds later, seeing it launch into the sky, turning to your friend to say "snipe the survivors" and seeing him headshot them all
only to run down the hallway, burst into the other team's room, and shout "SUCK IT MOTHERFUCKERS!"
good. fucking. times.
the real beauty of Halo was that, since hooking up 3-4 xboxes on a LAN is so much easier and cheaper than bringing 8-12 PC's to somebody's basement and hooking up 328974 chords in order to play, it brought the beauty that is LAN FPS gaming to the masses in an easy, convenient manner. and it deserves major props for that. it also happened to be a damn fun game.
rant about Halo over.
I do have to note that I have largely lost interest in most stories. Aesop's fable at best imo. Didn't really get into it much. I believe there was some sort of warping in this game? Yeah.. too jarring. Idk, maybe I will check it out.
But as a whole, I am against the whole experience/level thing. Imo, not the best implementation of role-playing games and leaves me with too much grinding as a whole.
http://www.audioentropy.com/
I think you guys just have a misunderstanding. Halo is an amazing game...and a lot of people love to play it online just the way it is. I don't. His implication that you haven't played the right games might be a little backwards. I think maybe he just hasn't played Halo the right way (or the way I like to play it anyways).
As a purely first person shooter game there are much better games to play, such as Call of Duty or Counterstrike. But Halo has a lot more on offer than looking around and pulling the trigger. It has immaculate and precise controls, and a lot of objective based gameplay. The stupid community game types that people play in Halo 3, like SWAT and other crap are mostly carry-overs from Halo 2. While I can understand the appeal of those gametypes to an extent, I still feel the only real way to play Halo is CTF (I do realize there is SWAT CTF but I don't care because I still think SWAT is dumb). And not just any CTF, but CTF where your flag must be at base to score.
I think the only games that I have played that had competetively quality CTF were Tribes/Tribes 2. I played Halo for the CTF, the same way I played PGR2 for Cat and Mouse (which they subsequently ruined in PGR3 and 4...much like Halo 2 and 3). Honestly I probably would never have liked Halo if there had not been a random sequence of events that forced me to play it's CTF in those specific settings...where it just became this beautiful strategic chess match that was played out as a first person shooter.
This is not the only way to play Halo though...there are a million ways and if you never stumbled on the one that really spoke to you then you probably wouldn't 'get it'. Playing Halo in slayer is one of the most boring experiences you can have in a game in my opinion...but a well setup CTF game? That can reach the highest levels of entertainment. Really it's tough for me to play any FPS anymore because without that depth of gameplay offered in the original Halo objectivewise...it feels just stupid to me.
But the mention of Gears of War made me realize I never understood that game either. The combat seemed so crappy to me that I couldn't get into it. All of the guns were terribly inaccurate and I felt so out of control of my character the way he attaches to things all the time. Plus the way cover worked it seemed every game played out so similarly...everyone ran up to the same blocks...attached themselves to them...then sprayed bullets over the top of them. It got tiring.
This is exactly what I am talking about...it is an amazing gaming experience.
Yeah but being someone who doesn't play multiplayer games makes it REEEEALLY hard to understand Halo.
This annoys the shit out of me. I do actually play the guitar, I have put in the time over the years to be good enough to play the songs I like (thrash metal sometimes involving bazillions of notes in 3-6 minutes), and play in a band who get a great reception every time we go live (we're not actually a metal band, but that's irrelevant).
I still really enjoy Guitar Hero. I have every one that has hit the home consoles, because I really enjoy the game.
If you dont enjoy it, that's just personal taste, but don't be that guy. Where would you draw the line? "Why don't you learn to drive a Ferrari? Why don't you go on SWAT missions? Why don't you play for the Chicago Bulls?"
EDIT: given that the last basketball I played or watched was NBA jam on the SNES, for all I know, the Bulls could be a shitpile of \a team by now
Beat me on 360: Raybies666
I remember when I had time to be good at games.
I could never wrap my mind around FPS's either. With the exception of games like Metroid and Half-Life which I believe we can all agree are more story-driven adventure games than shooters.
Hey, I have a blog! (Actually being updated again!)
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I played the crap out of GHII and got expert on all the songs, but after that I just didn't get the point in playing the other games. They're just memorization. In much the same vein, I don't get how people can enjoy playing the DDR stuff over and over and over. It's more like work than actually playing a game. Even in WoW, grinding at least makes your character better. In GH/DDR games, you grind forever and earn nothing. You don't even get better at playing a real guitar or actual dancing. What am I missing?
Also, I'll agree that I don't even remotely comprehend how anyone over the age of 12 can legitimately defend playing Pokemon as something decent. It's probably directly linked with not understanding how there are people who can enjoy pretty much anything coming out of Japan and still enjoy 95% of it. Like with the dubbed vs. original language snobbery; unless you actually speak fluent Japanese, it doesn't matter if the English dubbing isn't great because you can't tell if the original language was any better. On top of that, no amount superior voice acting can salvage the mountains of terrible stories and concepts in Japanese stuff. What is the deal?
It would be like claiming Star Wars Episodes 1-3 were actually pretty great with better voice actors. Awful story is awful regardless of how the characters sound.
Hell yes.
Same here. FPSs usually need some sort of hook to keep me interested. Although I absolutely adore the first person perspective. I eat stuff like Condemned and Escape from Butcher Bay right up.
On the black screen