Thread: Not so good games

  1. #1

    Not so good games

    I'm going to use a game for my student thesis, and I'm looking for suggestions.
    What I need is a game that has many emotional elements, like caring for NPcs, conflicts and so on, and other elements like physical presence in a world, complex control of the character, etc.

    Good examples would be Morrowind, Half life 2, Thief 3, Fable, Doom 3 and so on. This are all games that have a complex interface for controlling the character and can present feelings other just than the ludic fun of playing, since they involve other emotions like fear or sadness.

    Now, the problem is that what I actually need are bad examples . I need games that have all those elements, but failed to present them.
    I heard one of the new prince of Persia games had a character nobody could relate to, so it was hard to feel anything about him. I'm not sure this is true or not, but a situation like this is an example of what I'm looking for.
    Another example happens is Dungeon Siege 2. The npcs one time ask for your help and kindness, and the next instant are saying "hey, press TAB to open the map", or "DONT YOU MAGGOTS KNOW YOU HAVE TO RIGHT CLICK TO DESTROY THE BARREL?". A lot of players didnīt think it really fits the theme.
    In another game, you would learn that A did something while you were practicing, and then A would do something else in the tournament, making it extremely hard to play.

    So, in short, what I'm looking for is a complex game that, because of contraditions or inconsistencies, and not because it wasnīt just good enough, made players feel something negative towards the game. The more problems the game has, better will it be.
    Suggestions appreciated
    Last edited by the dead tree; 11-12-2005 at 03:30 PM.

  2. #2
    Registered User Queatrix's Avatar
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    I don't think anyone here has what your looking for, try googling it.

  3. #3
    & the hat of GPL slaying Thantos's Avatar
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    The developers of City of Heroes are a walking breathing example of that

  4. #4
    Yes, I already found one candidate with google, but I'm also trying other good sources for suggestions, like my friends and this board

  5. #5
    Registered User VirtualAce's Avatar
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    Black and White 1 by Peter Molyneux.

    Great reviews to start...not so great at the end.

    Interesting game.

  6. #6
    Moderately Rabid Decrypt's Avatar
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    I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for, but there was a game my wife bought a long time ago for our PS (one, I'm pretty sure) called Backstreet Billiards.
    It wasn't a bad pool simulator (I'd go so far as to say it was pretty good, actually), but it tried to make you care about your character, (you're playing pool - who cares?) trying to find your dead father's f'ing pool cue or something ridiculous like that. The whole story line was horrible, you wandered from pool hall to pool hall to retail store that just happens to have a pool table in the back to get information on your dad's cue, but no one will talk to you until you - wait for it - beat them at various billiards games. Then you 'infiltrate' the rich-guy-who-stole-the-cue guy's high rise, playing pool with people there, too. Even the crazy ogre looking guy in the basement would rather play you in pool and not beat the crap out of you if you win than just plain beat the crap out of you and kick you out of his boss' building.
    And of course, being the honorable rich-guy-who-stole-the-cue guy he is, he'll just give it back if you can beat him in pool too, instead of calling the cops and telling you to get the hell out of his building, you whiny little twerp.

    I've never seen a more contrived and poorly executed story line than that. Thank god for the non-story mode.
    There is a difference between tedious and difficult.

  7. #7
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    The Longest Journey has the best story line ever IMO

  8. #8
    carry on JaWiB's Avatar
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    Does sim city count? It kind of tried to make you care about the residents of the city, but it was always more fun to cause massive flooding, earthquakes, fires, nuclear meltdowns, etc. I did feel somewhat bad when my mother was leading an angry mob trying to get me removed as mayor
    "Think not but that I know these things; or think
    I know them not: not therefore am I short
    Of knowing what I ought."
    -John Milton, Paradise Regained (1671)

    "Work hard and it might happen."
    -XSquared

  9. #9
    haha, backstreet billiards sounds funny.

    Jawib, that actually means the game doesnīt have inconsistencies or contradictions regarding how we felt about the people - if it had, you wouldnīt enjoy killing them, you would just say "whatever", and load minesweeper hehe

    I'm browing through gamespot reviews, searching for low scores. Right now I'm considerating Breed, and Daikatana, which is famous enough and apparently had some problems.

    At one point your character Hiro is spooked by the appearance of a ghost after having just dispatched two hundred reanimated skeletons in the previous level. At a later point, characters debate walking through a graveyard. One of them says he has a bad feeling about it, while another chides him for being superstitious. Meanwhile, they've both forgotten that they were battling an entire army of zombies moments ago and that the time for healthy skepticism is over. This sort of disparity between the plot and the gameplay is frequent and gives the story a cheap, threadbare quality that works against any atmosphere the game attempts to build.

  10. #10
    Registered User VirtualAce's Avatar
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    Daikatana is proof that just because you worked for ID software DOES NOT mean you can make your own great game.

    The reason I said Black and White is because most gave it five stars and then later recanted to about 2 to 2.5 stars. Hype can alter the ratings and this game is evidence of that fact.

  11. #11
    I was checking black and white 1, it was a good suggestion, specially since itīs a famous game! But as I read some reviews, I noticed the game has a comic atmosphere, and I think something that tries to be realistic (and fails at doing it) would be better

  12. #12
    Banned nickname_changed's Avatar
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    The Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time (nintendo 64 )

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