This year has been great for video games. Doom 3, Halo 2, and Half-Life 2 were all released this year, and all of them were highly anticipated. But there was something wrong with all of them.
I remember playing Doom and Doom II years ago, and loving it. It was my first online game experience as well. I fondly remember when I accidentally jumped in front of Josh's BFG shot aimed at a Cyberdemon, dooming us to death. So naturally I was really excited about Doom 3, and bought it the day it came out. I recently got a new computer beforehand, with the latest affordable technologies. The graphics were said to be amazing, with great shading and shadow-work. But even on my new computer, it ran slow. The only way I could run it at a reasonable speed was to dumb down the detail, and turn off the shadows, which made the game look like yesterday's shit. Not only that, but it was too flippin' DARK! It didn't add anything new to the first-person shooter genre, and it got boring real quick. I lost interest months ago and still haven't finished the game.
Everyone's heard of Halo. Everyone's heard of Halo 2. Great game with awesome multiplay. However, Mike, resident video game genius, told me that there's no ending. It's as if the developers just figured they've done enough, and decided to go with what they got. Like doing your homework but only doing 5 out of the 8 problems assigned because you just don't care about it anymore. "Master Chief, there's something you shou-" CREDITS! Paul says, "If it was possible to cut off in mid-letter, they would have."
Half-Life 2, another anticipated first-person shooter, was recently released. I loved it! The gameplay was great and it actually added something new to the genre: physics. It's a long game that looks and sounds great, and runs smoothly as well. However, the ending? Disappointing. Sure, it was nice of them to include one, but if I play though 17-20 hours of awesome and challenging gameplay, I want some sort of payoff. Not some anti-climactic 30 second soliloquy. Closure people!
So, anyway, what's the deal? The developers know the sequels are going to make money, so they don't bother devoting 100% to every facet of the game? Sure, no game is perfect, but it doesn't have to be so obvious.
I just got Metal Gear Solid 3, but haven't played much of it yet. I've heard that since so many people complained about all the talking in MGS2, there's even more talking in MGS3. There's something oddly satisfying about that. (I'm still not sure what the La Lee Lou Lay Lo or whatever was) Here's hoping it's a better experience than the other games mentioned above. Something tells me it will be. Snake never lets me down.
No comments:
Post a Comment