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PlayStation (Games) Entertainment Games

Worst Gaming Decisions Of 2003 Rated 120

Posted by simoniker from the boo-and-hiss dept.
Thanks to GameSpot for their feature rating some of 2003's videogames that deserve negative awards. Some of the 'winners' among this motley crew of letdowns include most pretentious game awarded to Namco's Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht ("a game that takes itself far too seriously"), most disappointing title to Capcom's Devil May Cry 2 ("a complete letdown in the face of the first game's genius"), and flat-out worst game to Activision Value's Gods And Generals ("looks and sounds absolutely horrendous.")
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Worst Gaming Decisions Of 2003 Rated More

Worst Gaming Decisions Of 2003 Rated

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  • How about that dud Matrix game? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by AtariAmarok ( 451306 ) on Monday December 22, 2003 @04:37PM (#7788797)
    How about the dud Matrix game that came out just before "The Matrix Reloaded". It was an early hint that the franchise was going very far south very fast.

  • My pick: overly gratuitous games (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Gothic_Walrus ( 692125 ) on Monday December 22, 2003 @04:45PM (#7788873) Journal
    I don't have a problem with video game violence for the most part, but there are a few titles that have taken it too far.

    The worst one this year was Manhunt by far, but it's not alone. As it stands, the gaming industry is still not looked positively upon by most people. Games like Manhunt aren't helping the industry at all.

    Same thing goes for games like DOA Volleyball and BMX XXX - the sexual content adds nothing to the game, and only hurts the industry.

    If we ever want to get to a point where we don't hear constant stories about how gaming influences murderers or makes people violent, reclusive, horny old men, these games will have to stop coming out...or possibly become so mainstream that no one blinks at DOA Extreme Nude Hockey

    *shudders at the thought*

    My $.02

    • "Same thing goes for games like DOA Volleyball and BMX XXX - the sexual content adds nothing to the game, and only hurts the industry." Speak for yourself, if I were to choose watching baywatch with or without the juggling of the boobies intro I treasure so much every episode or skipping it, I would shoot whoever made me choose. Though I'll admit BMX XXX might've been gone a little overboard.

    • yeah. right... (Score:5, Informative)

      by Ender Ryan ( 79406 ) <TOKYO minus city> on Monday December 22, 2003 @05:11PM (#7789142) Journal
      *Ender Ryan rolls eyes*

      Please... That's ridiculous.

      People wanted "Mature" games, just like people want "Mature" movies, magazines, books, etc.

      If you don't like it, that's fine, but please don't shove your morals down others' throats.

      My $0.02 USD

      • Re:yeah. right... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by LordLucless ( 582312 ) on Monday December 22, 2003 @09:26PM (#7791333)
        Yeah - except that the "mature" games are just crap. Making a volleyball game and then taking the players clothes off doesn't make it "mature". A truly mature game would be a game that deals with content in a mature manner, not one that just shows as many titties as possible.
        • Yes, and action films and porn are just crap too, but people seem to like them. What the fuck is your point? My point is simply, "fuck off, and leave people alone."

          Personally, I detest pornography, violent films with no content, etc., but who defines that? I also like the game Manhunt, and many violent films and films involving sex that are not exactly critically acclaimed - because they have something interesting to ME.

          So piss off with your judgements.

        • "Making a volleyball game and then taking the players clothes off..."

          I wasn't aware volleyball was usually played in winter overcoats.

          I see what you're saying, of course, but I would say the issue is more about making a volleyball game where "breast physics" and bikini selection are critical sales points.
      • As an example of just how arbitrary these silly moral decisions are, Gamespot gives DOAXBV "Most Embarrassing Game", with braindead analysis such as:
        While we here at GameSpot aren't against the concept of poolside wiggling, the way it's portrayed in DOA: Xtreme Beach Volleyball is embarrassing to the point of disgust. Its dress-up, peep-show mentality comes across as just plain creepy, and just as people's perceptions about games as serious subject matter were beginning to change, something like this stick

        • Re:yeah. right... (Score:1, Insightful)

          by Anonymous Coward

          Upbeat silly oggling and dress-up of virtual women = exploitation, while severe graphic violence against virtual women = underrated game?

          You're kinda leaving out an important part of the argument, namely that DOAXB is a terrible, terrible game (the shallowest volleyball engine since the 2600 era combined with about half a dozen other crappy underdeveloped minigames) that tried to get by entirely on the basis of its scantily-clad women, whereas Clock Tower 3 (what the hell is "Clockwork Tower"?) is a gen

      • You call unlimited, gratuitous boobies and blood "mature"? I call it immature in the extreme. A mature game is one which mature (i.e. smart, more skillful than average) gamers get the most out of. A mature game in my opinion is a game like Ikaruga: because although it has no sex or violence, you'd need to be at least fifteen years old to complete it without unlimited continues, and in addition to that, you need to be smart, fast, skillful and CONCENTRATING to get the highest scores out of it. An eight year

    • Re:My pick: overly gratuitous games (Score:4, Funny)

      by Kyouryuu ( 685884 ) on Monday December 22, 2003 @05:16PM (#7789199) Homepage
      Between boobs and the ability to dynamically pee on anything in sight and reduce everything to a bloody pulp, I'll take the boobs. ^_;

    • I don't agree (Score:2, Insightful)

      by AtariAmarok ( 451306 )
      I don't agree. If you do not like the content of a game, don't play it. Some people are even more offended by "Hello Kitty" games. I don't think that such games are a "mistake" unless there is a problem with marketing blunders or poor gameplay/graphics.

      If you do not like games with such content, do not play them. I would count an act of game censorship as the #1 "worst game mistake".
    • The gaming industry is an entertainment industry. Different things entertain different people. Live with it. If you don't like the game, don't buy it.

      BTW, no games actually show live full nudity like is in plenty of movies I have seen. However, I'm sure the first one that does will receive an AO rating, the equivalent of NC-17. Even though a movie with full frontal nudity only receives a R rating.

    • I don't have a problem with video game violence for the most part, but there are a few titles that have taken it too far.

      Who's to determine what's too far? Any other entertainment industry that has ever tried to censor itself or that has been censored has turned their product into crap until the artists began rejecting the censorship.

      The worst one this year was Manhunt by far, but it's not alone. As it stands, the gaming industry is still not looked positively upon by most people. Games like Manhunt are
    • Same thing goes for games like DOA Volleyball and BMX XXX - the sexual content adds nothing to the game, and only hurts the industry.

      I don't see how it hurts anything. I played DOAVB and it was a fun game. I used to play super dodgeball and this volleyball game on my old Nintendo and playing DOAVB I realized how much I missed those and was glad someone picked up the genre. I didn't buy it for the babe content, but it was rather addicting seeing cute girls playing and hearing the well done game chatter

  • Worst Gaming Decision (Score:4, Interesting)

    by happylight ( 600739 ) on Monday December 22, 2003 @04:49PM (#7788904)
    N-Gage
    • Ignoring for the moment that the mods are on crack for scoring a post consiting of only "N-Gage" Insightful and Interesting, I was actually expecting (based on the /. article title) a longer list of gaming industry decisions that turned out badly. The article is only five crap games, nothing really worthy of a /. thread.

      Now, getting back to the "N-Gage" issue. While I totally agree that Nokia's marketing department should get a lifetime achievement award for fucking up, the product itself is actually pret

      • Re:Worst Gaming Decision (Score:3, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward
        The article is only five crap games, nothing really worthy of a /. thread.

        Look on the right side of the page, and there are links to the rest of the article:

        * Most Embarrassing Game
        * Most Despicable Product Placement in a Game
        * Worst Use of Celebrity Voice Acting
        * Most Disappointing Delay
        * Most Pretentious Game
        * Most Disappointing Game
        * Flat-Out Worst Game
        * Best Game No One Played

        They don't exactly stick out, though. I thought the article was pretty short until I noticed them.

    • Which decision though? The one to make it, or the one to buy it?
    • Actually overheard last week while xmas shopping at Target:

      Real Man of Genius: (to wife) "I just saw this thing called N-Gage"
      Wife: (ignoring him while browsing) "Uh huh"
      Real Man of Genius: "They have games for it! And it's a phone!"
      Wife: "Uh huh"
      Real Man of Genius: "If we bought 2 of them we could play against each other!"
      Wife: "yeah... uh... That's cute."

      This is one of those moments in life, as you could imagine, where you might have a real crisis of morals. Do you resort to immediate physical violenc

  • Video Game Reviewers... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by JavaLord ( 680960 ) on Monday December 22, 2003 @04:49PM (#7788908) Journal
    It's becoming more obvious that people who review video games are becoming more and more snobbish against violence and sex in video games. It's kind of silly for them to attack postal 2 because you can pee on people. The fact is a game geared twards adults can be fun. Postal2 is fun if you play it for what it is (a virtual violence sandbox).
    • Except that Postal 2 is a horrible game with way-too-long loadtimes.

      Take away the peeing and exploding anthrax cow-heads and you have a boring, repetative game that takes forever to load.

      • Re:Video Game Reviewers... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by JavaLord ( 680960 ) on Monday December 22, 2003 @05:09PM (#7789116) Journal
        Except that Postal 2 is a horrible game with way-too-long loadtimes.

        Agreed, the zones are annoying.

        Take away the peeing and exploding anthrax cow-heads and you have a boring, repetative game that takes forever to load.

        That is like saying "Take the guns out of quake and you have aboring repetative game

        Plus, you didn't mention taking out the anal raping of cats with shotguns, the priests with guns, making women vomit and pee themselves by shocking them with a tazer, the insane amount of politically incorrect humor in the game, etc etc.

        I grant you, this isn't Final Fantasy, Quake, KoTR, Madden 2003, etc. It isn't innovative in anyway, it's just funny, and fun to play.

        There are plenty of movies that appeal to nothing other than crude humor, and that is their selling point. Why is this an invalid selling point for a game?
        • Because videogaming is trying to grow up and get itself taken seriously, and this kind of game is taking us back to the stone age. The entire movie industry doesn't get slated because of one appallingly bad-taste movie - but the videogaming industry isn't seen like that yet.

    • Re:Video Game Reviewers... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by MWoody ( 222806 ) on Monday December 22, 2003 @05:02PM (#7789045)
      "Postal2 is fun if you play it for what it is (a virtual violence sandbox)."

      No. GTA is fun if you play it for what it is (a virtual violence sandbox), and that game was a critical success. Postal 2 is liquid shit in a box.

      Remember, kiddies: "Dark humor" requires both the "dark" AND the "humor" to work; simply peeing on dead people is not immediately amusing in and of itself.
      • No. GTA is fun if you play it for what it is (a virtual violence sandbox), and that game was a critical success.

        Actually, GTA3 has missions and a story which is what it was designed for. I think some time was put into it being a virtual violence sandbox, but it wasn't as pointless as postal 2 (which is a good thing)

        Remember, kiddies: "Dark humor" requires both the "dark" AND the "humor" to work; simply peeing on dead people is not immediately amusing in and of itself.

        Have you played the game? I
        • Have you played the game? I would say it's humor is like the kind you would find in a tarantino movie, but on a much lower buget.
          It's hard to know where to start with that line. The best way to describe my reaction to that description is that not only wouldn't I buy the product, but if anyone used a product described this way as an example of something bad I'd have to say "Well, you've got a point there".
        • I would pity you, but it would be a waste of effort.
        • There are plenty of things you can do outside of peeing on dead people. I personally find it funny to collect a bunch of cats, go into a kitchen with a stove on and set all the cats on fire. After setting them on fire, watch them run around and burn the whole town down. I find cats setting people on fire amusing, but it's probably just me.

          Yes, it's just you.

          Plus, you didn't mention taking out the anal raping of cats with shotguns, the priests with guns, making women vomit and pee themselves by shocking

          • This is kind of like the quip about free speach and nazi-ism. I'll defend your right to play those kinds of games, but those games are sick, and some part of you has to be sick to enjoy them.

            Hey, thanks for being so judgemental. That is really open minded of you. Of course, I could be judgemental about your signature....but I wont. :)

            I hope it's just your sense of humor that's so twisted, and that you keep such activities to fantasy scenarios such as video games. I'm not one of those whacked out P
            • So you are saying that animals are more important than some people. Sound like a PETA person to me. You need to lighten up a bit.

              No, PETA thinks that there is no circumstance under wich it is justifiable to hurt or kill an animal. I think there are pleanty of situations, but if you're going to kill them it should be for a good purpose and done humanely, and if you're going to hurt them it ought to be for a really damn good purpose (such as research into cancer or some such.)

              I like to think however that

    • Re:Video Game Reviewers... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by American AC in Paris ( 230456 ) on Monday December 22, 2003 @05:05PM (#7789086) Homepage
      It's becoming more obvious that people who review video games are becoming more and more snobbish against violence and sex in video games.

      ...actually, I'd say that video game reviewers are becoming less easily impressed by violence and sex in lieu of good gameplay. They've seen one too many half-assed games that slap a bit of skin or gore on to sell more copies, and they're getting sick of it.

      Consider that GTA3 and Vice City continue to be lauded as ass-kickingly good games. If the reviewers are going all snobbish on us, why didn't they denounce GTA as some half-baked game that gets old once you've finished picking up hookers for extra life and shooting transients in the head with a sniper rifle?

      • Because the makers of GTA buy a lot of ads.
      • Not to mention they just ignore the problems with anything that says Grand Theft Auto and automatically declare it perfect. While some of the same problems with GTA in other games drops it a point. Playing GTA for an hour pretty much gives you the whole game. I do like mindless killing though, just saying it's a very overrated game.

        • Re:Video Game Reviewers... (Score:4, Interesting)

          by The_dev0 ( 520916 ) <hookerbot5000@@@gmail...com> on Tuesday December 23, 2003 @12:57AM (#7792334) Homepage Journal
          Playing GTA for an hour pretty much gives you the whole game. I do like mindless killing though, just saying it's a very overrated game.

          You might like True Crimes: Streets of LA [truecrimela.com] by Activison. It's almost a GTA clone, but with a depth that leaves GTA for dead. It boasts branching storylines with multiple endings, an elaborate karma system, and an entire map of LA to drive around solving/committing crimes. I found it a much more rewarding experience than GTA, which left me feeling a little ripped off, after all, as you say, "Playing GTA for an hour pretty much gives you the whole game". Check it out, it's currently my favourite game.

      • "why didn't they denounce GTA as some half-baked game that gets old once you've finished picking up hookers for extra life and shooting transients in the head with a sniper rifle?"

        Because its not, probably.

        I've been playing GTA games on and off ever since the original on the PC, and I've not once done either of those things.

        The most telling thing I find with it, though, is that Simpsons Hit 'n' Run is currently riding high in the charts. Since the entire premise is to take all the elements unsuitable for
    • Revulsion at Postal 2 isn't indicative of snobbery. It's indicative of consciousness.

      The sooner exploitative shills like Running with Scissors are driven out of business the better for everyone.
    • Atleast with Postal 2, Gamespot admits that while the game isn't great, it nails its target. It brags about its intentions and fulfills them unlike a lot of games that fail to even have mediocre success with their intentions.
  • Final Fantasy X-2? No, I can't put it down...but I don't like it one bit. I just want to get the remainder of the story before I bury it in my backyard, really. The gameplay tries too hard to be fluid and innovative, and to me, fails in both respects. Items don't matter any longer, either...and that's a travesty. It was horribly over-hyped and over-rated, IMHO.

  • Am I the only guy that finds it funny that ... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by doublesix ( 590400 ) on Monday December 22, 2003 @04:53PM (#7788948)
    There's a 'check latest prices' link next to all the box shots?

    These games suck, now go buy them

  • A game that takes itself far too seriously (Score:5, Funny)

    by ivan256 ( 17499 ) * on Monday December 22, 2003 @05:06PM (#7789090)
    Really, what business does a game have taking it self seriously? How dare a game company assume it has an educated audience or incorporate satire and history? It's a video game it's supposed to be mindless entertainment for children and lazy ass 20-sometings. Somebody needs to tell those Xenosaga folks that they're not artists before they put any thoughtful storytelling in episode 2!
    • Somebody needs to tell those Xenosaga folks that they're not artists before they put any thoughtful storytelling in episode 2!
      I wouldn't worry about that, seeing how there wasn't any thoughtful storytelling in episode 1, just a bunch of cliches dressed up with sub-Evangelion religious symbolism and endless anti-war speechifying.

      • Re:A game that takes itself far too seriously (Score:4, Insightful)

        by ivan256 ( 17499 ) * on Monday December 22, 2003 @06:12PM (#7789775)
        Right. There aren't any new storylines out there. Everything is old and cliche. We should stop taking ourselves seriously altogether because our golden days as an artistically creative species are all behind us. We should be satisfied with a string of first person shooters with progressively fancier graphics, because live action is the only thing that can be "real" anymore. We should give up on reinterpreting the classics and make all directors and fantasy authors do some actual work for a living. All of our shildren should play football in lieu of all other potential activities. All television series should become "reality" shows.

        Excuse me while I go shoot myself.
    • Yeah, they should have put in a big, fluffy, mascot character, maybe it actually fights in battles and has a whole town of little fluffy comrades! That would help lighten the tone of an otherwise serious game.

      No, the Xeno series would never stoop so low...
    • There's a difference between a game having a deep and involving plot or subtext and justifying it - for example, the original Deus Ex - and a game which attempts to be clever and FAILS MISERABLY either directly or by being severely lacking in rather more important areas such as playability.

      If Xenosaga managed to be a good game at the same time as being high-brow, then I say fair play. Having overly-long cut-scenes is a completely different thing from being pretentious.

  • Xenosaga might take itself too seriously, but... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Lightwarrior ( 73124 ) on Monday December 22, 2003 @05:10PM (#7789129) Journal
    ...it's still one hell of a game - though people either tend to love it or hate it.

    http://gamerankings.com/itemrankings/itemcomment s. asp?itemid=519264

    -lw
    • Pathetic fanboys like it. Everyone else hates it.


      If you like it you are probably an "otaku" (and don't realize that it's an insult in Japanese).


      Caltrops.com seems to be down now so here's the Google cache of the only Xenosaga review you need:


      http://66.102.11.104/search?q=cache:On37B5AYF1kJ:w ww.caltrops.com/review0012.php [66.102.11.104]

      • Another example of someone who doesn't like something, and decides that their opinion is superior to everyone else's. My post stated that it is not universally revered, allowing for criticism - you felt the need to insult people who might like something you don't.

        I'm less of an "otaku" and more of a "gaijin", though *you'd* probably call me "wapanese" - which would likely be followed up by several other deragatory comments about things I appreciate.

        You're entitled to your opinion, but try not to be such
    • Hmm, personally I fall into the latter camp. I loved the storyline of the first Xenogears, but Xenosaga just takes itself way too seriously. Expecting me to memorize all of the wacky abbreviations, expecting me to care about that new NTR-4405 rotor part that just came in, to check my in-game e-mail, and wander aimlessly around a needlessly sterile and bland spaceship and talk to every boring NPC I see to hear more techno-babble. To put it bluntly, Xenosaga is boring and it says something that I cared mor
  • Why would this make it to /.?

    Anything they review, rate, or judge is specifically designed to give back to the people who throw adv$$$ at them. Oh yes, and there's the little detail of complete idiots writing the copy. DOABV made way more money than about 30 other titles that did NOT make it into the year's worst.
    • I think you are referring to IGN when you refer to advertising dollars going to far. Even when it isn't game related (McGriddles...haha).

      Seriously, Gamespot is the least bought out of all the sites. Sure, some of their reviews are still questionable but the percentage is much less than all the other sites.
  • The guy who hacked for HF2.
    • I agree with this. Although let's not kid ourselves, it wasn't going to come out in 2003 anyway.
    • I assume you mean HL2, short for Half-Life 2. And theres a large number of reasons as to why HL2 didn't come out the self imposed date besides from the hacking incident.

      They gave themselves around 6 months between announcement and expected launch date. Thats like Duke Nukem Forever to suddenly be announced to be released next quarter, you KNOW its not gonna happen short of divine intervention.


  • Nightcaster. [rottentomatoes.com]

    Yech.

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Monday December 22, 2003 @08:40PM (#7791021)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Typical sell-out media (Score:4, Insightful)

    by jvmatthe ( 116058 ) on Monday December 22, 2003 @09:40PM (#7791427) Homepage
    Maybe I'm just a pie-in-the-sky idealist, but I'm more and more disappointed that the "media" are really just vehicles for pushing the products they claim to evaluate. Do all media outlets now provide "check prices" and "buy now" links when they're supposed to be evaluating products?

    As another poster pointed out, what's the deal with a "Check prices" link on every game, even the ones that are supposedly terrible? The answer is that GameSpot is probably obligated to provide those links because of deals they have with publishers or game retailers. Not only does that particular category reveal them for the captialists that they really are (i.e. not independent press), but then they actually have a category called "Most Disappointing Delay" populated with games that are not out now and (in the case of Half-life 2, at least) may not be out for several months yet.

    Frankly, I think they could have listed themselves among the category "Most Despicable Product Placement".
    • I agree, it's pretty sad that they've got "Buy Now" links for games they claim suck. However...

      reveal them for the captialists that they really are (i.e. not independent press)

      How is that a contradiction? The _independent_ presses pretty much need to be capitalistic. After all, by definition, if they're independent than no one else is going to be paying their bills. The problem occurs when they can make more money pushing products that they can by unbiased reporting to attract readers and/or advertisers

      • This [section on delayed games] is a problem how?

        Sorry, I wish I had time to reply to your whole post, as I think I'd like to elaborate on the other points, but I only have time for this clarification on my original post. (Blasted holiday season eats time like nothing else I know...)

        My issue with the delayed games is that they're pushing people to check prices on games that are delayed, and by definition, won't be out for quite a while. I'm not a fan of pushing people to pre-order games, and I think th

        • Ahhh, sorry, i misunderstood your second point, i thought you were objecting to the games they selected for that category. I still expect unreleased games to be nominated for that category, but you're right, it is pretty stupid of them to have "check prices" links for them. I think by that point i had kind of tuned the links out and didn't noticed that category had them too.

          I'll still stand by my first claim unless there was something else you said that i'm missing. Independent media have to be capitalist

  • My dumb opinion (Score:3, Interesting)

    by JWhiton ( 215050 ) on Monday December 22, 2003 @11:02PM (#7791838) Homepage
    Although I haven't played either game (yeah, yeah, I know) I would personally say that Postal 2 deserves the criticism they heap on DoA Beach Volleyball. Postal 2 is as focused on wonton violence as DoA is on boobs. Now if that floats your boat, okay, but which game do you think would show up in a senate hearing? Games like Postal 2 provide the necessary ammunition (heh) for people who want to pass laws to heavily regulate the game industry. This scares me much more than a bunch of 3d rendered boobs. I just hope that games like Postal 2 are ignored by the gaming public so that they never gain enough popularity to end up on some excitable legislator's desk.

    I'm also confused by why they were so disappointed with Devil May Cry 2. It's exactly the same as the first game! I thought the first game was a very predictable action game with a plot that could've come out of an 8-bit side scroller. Why were they expecting any more out of the sequel? They're both pretty much the definition of a rental game.

    Personally, I'd say that Unreal II was the worst game I played in 2003. It was basically an engine demo. It had a really weak plot and offered absolutely no innovation on the standard FPS formula. Its only claim to fame was that it had more polygons than yesteryear's games. The multiplayer add-on was released far, far too late.

    I dunno if it counts as a 2003 game or not, but I had a ton of fun playing the Serious Sam First Encounter/Second Encounter collection. In Second Encounter the graphics are 90% as good as Unreal II's and the gameplay is a hundred times better. It retails for $10, so I'd urge anyone out there who hasn't played Serious Sam to give it a whirl.
    • "Postal 2 is as focused on wonton violence"

      I'm sure there's a John Woo joke in there somewhere, if only I was awake enough to find it...
    • Personally, I'd say that Unreal II was the worst game I played in 2003. It was basically an engine demo. It had a really weak plot and offered absolutely no innovation on the standard FPS formula. Its only claim to fame was that it had more polygons than yesteryear's games.

      Funny - I quite enjoyed Unreal II. A bit bland, sure, and much too linear, but it had some very nice level designs. Not a classic by any stretch of the imagination, but mediocre != terrible.
  • Tomb Raider?

    I thought only people who had IQs below 80 and/or retrograde amnesia could possibly be disappointed by a Tomb Raider game in the year 2003. Freelancer would've been a much more appropriate nominee.

    Rob (At least MOO3 was on there...)
    • Freelancer, are you nuts?

      Let's see:

      * Richly designed universe, tons of ships, with tons of configurations
      * Excellent space engine with beautiful art, incorporating pixel shaders for real-time lighting.
      * Innovative flight model, making for very fast-paced battles.
      * Contrived, but well-executed storyline. The depth of characters made up for the redundant plot.
      * Excellent online play on persistent servers.

      While it only took me a week to beat the single player game, I was caught up for months in the multipl
  • If you read gaming industry magazines on a regular basis, some of the PC games this year got some of the lowest rankings I have seen in a long time. In fact the games people are naming in /. are mediocre games that sucked. The REALLY bad games no one even know exists.

    I am talking the review ranks are so low you'll laugh your ass off.

    2.4 out of 100
    1.3 out of 100
    18 out of 100

  • Glad to see (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Daetrin ( 576516 ) on Tuesday December 23, 2003 @04:44AM (#7793086)
    I'm glad to see that Master of Orion 3 was up for Most Disapointing. I'm kind of sorry i wasted the money on it. I tried to get into it for a week before getting fed up with the crappy interface and the complete lack of action by the AI. Despite the difficulty of getting anything done the way i wanted, i kicked the computer's ass from one end of the galaxy to the other, and didn't really enjoy any of it. The combat was especially crappy and iritating.

    I was equally happy to see Galactic Civilizations make Finalist for "Best Strategy Game." It's a wonderful space strategy game, made even more sweet after dealing with Master of Orion 3 (despite GalCiv being more Civ like than MoO like.) I kind of wonder why it's free expansion pack didn't get nominated for an award though. How can a free expansion to one of the best games of the year not make the "Best Expansion Pack" list?

  • This is about the worst gaming decisions of 2003. Wouldn't Valve's Steam fall under that category?
  • I disagree with the Gamespot folks. Actually, I think that games like Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball are marketed to boys who have reached puberty. Thus the allure.

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