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Thursday, 2 January 2014

Disappointment Is In The Air

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Whilst the PS3 has had some great successes over its years, there have certainly been some less than thrilling games. As we enter the new generation of gaming, we took a look back at some of the greatest disappointments of the PS3. So let’s get started!


10: LOST: Via Domus

As a huge fan of J.J Abrams’ acclaimed TV series, I played this game with high hopes, expecting to be able to explore the island uncovering it’s mysteries and surviving it’s perils. Unfortunately this wasn’t the case. What I actually got was a weak adventure game, with poor graphics, and some truly dreadful voice actors, who insult the original cast with their attempts at replicating their voices. Whilst not a terrible game, it in no way lived up to the standards of tension and mystery set by the series.



9: Spiderman: Edge of Time

Coming straight after brilliant Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions, this time hopping action game caught the eye of many a superhero fan. Unfortunately, when they got this game home, their hopes high and wallets lighter, what they got was a boring button masher, with very little to redeem it. The mediocre graphics were just the opening act of an opera of issues. The combat seems okay at first, and the two different Spidermen offer some slight variation to the fighting, but after battling through hordes and hordes of the same enemies over and over again, it becomes tedious and uninteresting. The only decent part is the story. When a mad scientist alters the course of history, an alternate reality is created. In this new reality, Peter Parker dies in the present, so Spiderman 2099 must call in another Peter Parker from another universe to help save our Spiderman’s life, and the entire universe...somehow. It’s just a shame that a great idea for a Spiderman game is wasted on a mediocre experience.



8: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

The Harry Potter game series had many ups and downs, but few believed that they could sink lower than the atrocity that was Goblet of Fire. They were wrong. For some reason EA decided to change the formula from open world adventure game to third-person shooter. It could have been a wise decision, considering the change in tone in both the final book and the final film, but it would only work if it was done well. But it wasn’t. Lousy cover mechanics, boring enemies, useless spells and poor graphics all create an experience that’s not worth playing. At all.



7: Beyond: Two Souls

This is a surprise entry on the list, because it isn’t a particularly bad game. As the title says, this is a list of the most disappointing games, not necessarily the worst. Beyond looks incredible, and if graphics made a good game, Beyond would be a million miles from this list. Unfortunately, after the magnificent freedom of choice and complex gameplay techniques sported by its predecessor Heavy Rain, Beyond felt uncomfortably passive. Nothing you do have any impact, and the freedom of choice you’re given is merely an illusion. You choose what to have for dinner, or what to wear for a date, rather than make choices that affect the overall story. This is down to the interesting, fragmented way of telling the story, which takes you through a series of key points in the protagonist’s life, but not in order. It all comes together to make a game that looks amazing, but doesn’t feel like a game at all.



6: Neverdead

A cursed man who fights demons using a pair of pistols and a sword, assisted by a scantily clad female companion? Sounds like Devil May Cry right? And as a huge fan of Capcom’s series, I went in with high hopes. But the gameplay falls short, the voice acting is terrible, the graphics and bland, and the game’s USP – the fact that the central character can reassemble himself when he is (frequently) dismembered – becomes one of the most frustrating gameplay gimmicks I have ever played with. When it happens you must roll around as a severed head using controls that can’t keep up at the speed you roll. As you find a body part, you can roll over it and pick it up, sticking it to the head. This is frequently hilarious, but often irritating, as the bizarre shapes made by the body parts sticking out of you make it much more difficult to navigate the areas, something that’s not helped by the insane camera that seemingly has a mind of its own. Urgh! So many annoyances!



5: Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City

Okay, so it’s been a long time since Capcom had a really good instalment in the Resident Evil franchise. The games have been sub-par and the films...well let’s just not go there. But Operation Raccoon City took a new look on the series, removing any known characters, and replacing them with a team sent by Umbrella, to cover up any evidence of their involvement in the T-Virus outbreak. Sounds good right? Sounds like an excuse to go and kill some zombies? No. If only. Faceless protagonists prevent any emotion connection or involvement to the story, and the gameplay is absolutely abysmal. With no command to go into cover, you just run into it, you end up running past it when you want to go into cover, or into cover when you want to go past it. This led to some cheap deaths and thrown controllers. All you have with this title is a sloppy third person shooter, that merely served to bridge the gap between Resi 5 and Resi 6.



4: Lair

DRAGONS! FIRE! DRAGONS SHOOTING FIRE! DRAGONS SHOOTING FIRE AT OTHER DRAGONS! Yeah, go crazy and let your inner child run wild at how purely awesome this sounds. And it could have been. Armies of fire dragons clashing with armies of ice dragons in epic, aerial battles above beautiful landscapes could be something truly incredible. Alas, it isn’t. The landscapes look beautiful at first, but upon closer inspection, they’re just bland, unmoving images that serve as a backdrop for what’s going on in the air. The gameplay is where it really falls short though. The six-axis controller is put to full use, but when you have to sit there twisting your arms and contorting your body to make your dragon go left. LEFT! NOT UP! LEFT! Sorry, I had a little relapse there. Point is, it doesn’t work well at all. It’s awkward, clumsy, and incredibly frustrating. No deal!



3: Naughty Bear

Upon first glance, this seemed like something original, hilarious and extremely fun. Original? Yes. Hilarious? Sometimes. Fun? Absolutely not. Naughty Bear doesn’t explore its full potential, and when you scratch the fluffy surface, what lies beneath is a boring action game that offers more bore than gore. The leading idea in Naughty Bear is that you play as a sociopathic teddy with a deep hatred for all things fluffy, and so must massacre other lovable cuddly toys with an assortment of brutal weaponry. Replacing people with teddies and blood with fluff is a fun thing to play around with at first, but before too long it gets really boring, as there is little variation in what you do. Boooooooooring!



2: Dead to Rights: Retribution

Just missing out on the top spot is a third person shooter that...well...sucks. It’s as simple as that. You play as a boring character, who shoots boring guns at boring enemies, until you run out of bullets, then you go and unleash some boring melee attacks. Of course every now and again you pull off a cool-looking execution move, that’s satisfyingly brutal, but when you realise there’s only about three that are reused over and over again. Then there’s Shadow the Husky, offering some minor changes to the gameplay, but even these get boring after the first time. Go kill a guard, get his key, bring it back to open the door. Rinse and repeat. Do yourself a favour and don’t pay for this one.



1: The Cursed Crusade

Here it is. The Cursed Crusade. I have very few words to describe my time with this game, and even fewer that I can post without causing some offence. Everything that this game tries to do, it does wrong. The story, the graphics, the gameplay, everything I can think of that makes a good game is missing from this. Even curse mode (which is basically a glorified rage mode) makes absolutely no difference. It supposedly makes you stronger, but all you were doing anyway is button mashing to beat up enemies who don’t actually fight back. Seriously, I was stood next to an enemy for about 30 seconds once whilst he did absolutely nothing, then just randomly sprung to life. I actually couldn’t find anything about this game that I liked, and I would be committing a crime against the readers and against the world of gaming if I recommended this for you. If anyone tries to sell you this game for anything other than £0.00, then you should walk away. Unless they offer you money to take it from them, which wouldn’t surprise me.




So there you have it! My list of the most disappointing games I’ve played! Disagree with my ranking? Feel like you have a worse game? Comment below! 

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