"Son, I am disappoint." (A let down thread)

[Elfgore]

So pretty much, this is a let-down thread for 2014. Which game did you get hyped up for, but in the end, Was left with nothing but disappoint?

Mine would be Watch_Dogs. I'll admit, I got a little hyped about this game. A hacker with a phone that can do anything? "That's fucking awesome!" thought the naive me. I picked the game up day one, put it in my PS4 and started playing. The story sucked, but I was expecting that. But the gameplay was awesome! Using your hacking phone to cause explosions and distractions was just so much fun. I loved when they gave me a room full of enemies to just annihilate. Same for the car chases. Then after playing for four hours, I found myself bored. The same missions, over and over, just bored me. Eventually, I stopped playing and ended up trading it in to Gamestop. This game was suppose to hold me off until at least August, but it didn't even last until July.

So, what's your guy's most disappointing game of 2014?

 

[Vault101]

I started playing watch dogs and realised I did not care...at all

thats the first time thats ever happned to me

on the other hand I palyes Wolfenstein instead!

 

[Elfgore]

I started playing watch dogs and realised I did not care...at all

thats the first time thats ever happned to me

on the other hand I palyes Wolfenstein instead!

Yep, same here. I cared about nothing. The distress the main character was in, his revenge, nothing. Just all of it was so dull and overdone it hurt. Even when I learned a certain something happens to a certain character, who happened to be my favorite, I still didn't care. It's a first for me too.

And is Wolfenstein that good? I've heard some good things, but sixty bucks for a six hour campaign seems a little high. Or was I given false information.

 

[Lilphish]

In terms of most hyped game this year that disappointed me I'd have to agree - Watch Dogs. Not a horrible game, but just average. I think what ruined it for me was the terrible AI. You could shoot someone, hide behind an object right in front of them and they would say, "we lost him" after a few minutes.

 

[Vault101]

And is Wolfenstein that good? I've heard some good things, but sixty bucks for a six hour campaign seems a little high. Or was I given false information.

its certainly better than anyone expected

and I think I've played around 7 hours and don't feel that close to finishing

 

[Zhukov]

Well, I guess I get to sit and be insufferably smug for totally calling Watch Dogs being crap.

For me... I guess I'm a bit bummed by Walking Dead: Season 2 (the Telltale game, not the show) not being as good as the first time round. I couldn't even say why exactly, but whatever made the first season so good just isn't there. It isn't bad or anything, it's just kinda... happening.

And is Wolfenstein that good? I've heard some good things, but sixty bucks for a six hour campaign seems a little high. Or was I given false information.

I thought it was alright. A basically solid shooter if nothing else.

Interesting mix of new and old-school mechanics. So you pick up armour and medkits like candy, but you can also attempt to be stealthy instead of going balls-out. There's health regen, but it's quite limited.

I've heard people gush about the writing and story. Personally, well... you know how you often hear things to the effect of, "The idea was good but the execution was lacking"? To me, Wolfenstein felt like the opposite. They did their damnedest, but at the end of the day they were just making a game about Mr America shooting future Nazis. It's like hiring an award-winning chef to make you some popcorn.

They did come dangerously close to making BJ Blaskowitz interesting and/or sympathetic at times. So props where it's due I guess.

 

[Majinash]

Arch Age.

I've been watching this game for close to 2 years, hoping it would be Lineage 3.

Not only are they awful at localizing the game, but the payment model seems to be an obvious cash grab, including the $150 charge to buy into the beta for F2P game.

Between the months long time with no news at all (despite the game being out in Korea for... over a year?) and the news of incredibly exploitive payment options, I just don't want anything to do with it anymore.

Too bad really.

 

[Casual Shinji]

And is Wolfenstein that good? I've heard some good things, but sixty bucks for a six hour campaign seems a little high. Or was I given false information.

It's the most pleasant surprise of the year for me. It was like going out to buy a donut and getting a free chocolate cake instead. For something with as stupid of a premise, it carries itself with a baffling amount of grace. I never liked the phrase 'better than it has any right to be', because that seems to indicate that certain genres should know their place and should not be allowed to reach for the stars, but with Wolfenstein it feels very fitting.

Wolfenstein: The New Order has completely destroyed the excuse 'What did you expect, it's just a [insert sub-genre here] game?' Because if a story about freaking cyborg super nazis can be this well written, anything can be.

For me... I guess I'm a bit bummed by Walking Dead: Season 2 (the Telltale game, not the show) not being as good as the first time round. I couldn't even say why exactly, but whatever made the first season so good just isn't there. It isn't bad or anything, it's just kinda... happening.

I only played the first two episodes, but the only memorable thing to me was the part with the dog. I kinda didn't bother with the rest of the series. By this point in series one we'd gotten to know everyone in the group and were involved with their struggle. By the end of Episode 2 S2 I could barely remember anyone's name besides Clem's.

 

[spartandude]

Apart from The Banner Saga I'm struggling to think of what new games I have brought this year, and i really liked The Banner Saga.

But I'm going to The Walking Dead season 2 as most of its episodes come out this year. It is by no means bad... at all, in fact it is very good. It's just a little bit of a let down compared to the first game.

 

[Evonisia]

Thief 2014. Not because I expected it to be good, but because it's not even about stealing. The objective of the game and pretty much all of the missions is get the totally-not-a-plot-device at the end of each mission, so you can beat most just by rushing ahead of the guards and then quickly solving the puzzles which the game gives you the solution to. Y'know, I expected the game to rip off Dishonoured as some kind of human centipede scariness but instead I got Running 2014 with some nice mood lighting, and it still manages to rip off Dishonoured in the story.

To be fair, I've hardly played any games this year. Thief 2014 was pretty much the only disappointment. Strider 2014 was fun. Wolfenstein: The New Order was great (besides the ending).

The most disappointing game that I got this year was easily Uncharted 2. Utterly mediocre in all fashions but it has its charm ruined by being a knock off of Gears of War, an actually good game. I remember mentioning Gears Judgment in a disappointment thread, but honestly ever since Uncharted 2 I've noticed how much I actually like that game rather than trying to deny how much I like it. The Last of Us also craps on Uncharted 2, but nobody is surprised by that.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Man, I'm so glad I didn't buy into the Watch Dogs hype.

For me it's Dark Souls 2. I just don't care about it. It's more fun to think about that game than to actually play it.

 

[stroopwafel]

Biggest letdown is Lords of Shadow 2 no doubt. I loved the first game but this was nothing like it. Maybe it was the change of direction, or the developers being too ambitious for their own good or the lack of Hideo Kojima's guidance. Whatever it was this game sucked. The original was an exciting God of War clone with influences of both Shadow of the Colossus and Uncharted. It was a tight, linear experience but it was awesome! Gameplay was a lot of fun, the locations were vibrant and colorful with a lot of variation and even the story tying the different setpieces together was serviceable.

The second game had none of these things. It was bland, boring and uninspired. As if 'Castlevania city' wasn't a drab location enough the non-linear structure of the game also required you to backtrack the same cut&paste alleys, sewers and warehouses at every opportunity. Gabriel was 'brooding' to the point of ridiculous and the story bits were a chore to get through. I get the impression they tried to make a 3D Symphony of the Night. Needless to say, they completely failed at it.

Though it gets hated on a lot, Watch Dogs was a game I actually really enjoyed. In terms of gameplay it reminded me a lot of Splinter Cell Blacklist which was another game I really liked. This played more or less the same although with cars and an open world. On the other hand I got pretty bored by Wofenstein. I really enjoyed the beginning of the game, espescially(considering one of the earlier segments) b/c I had the impression you got to fight this hugely imaginative kind of Frankenstein's army of Nazi creatures. But what you got was pretty much standard 'oldschool' FPS fare where you just shoot at waves and waves of generic baddies, albeit with a likeable protagonist. This wouldn't be an issue itself if the gameplay was great, but that felt a little 'off' to me as well. The guns seemed to lack weight and the bullets seem to lack proper impact. For a game that's essentially a one-trick pony if they don't get the essentials right it really starts to drag after a while.

Not to ssy the game didn't have standout moments though. The 'prison' part was espescially great. But in general I had higher hopes of former Starbreeze members.

 

[franticfarken]

Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

I know the game came out awhile ago, but due to the Steam sale during summer of 2014- I bought it for just $4.99
Got to say, for a game that's really in depth about the future of humanity, robotics, cyborg enhancements and human possibilities .. it was, poorly done.

The gameplay felt stale, the NPCs were not interesting at all, I never got to know my guy's girlfriend to care about her death, the enemies would derp usually and forget I was even at one spot despite moving a second ago, and the entire map (areas) were all the black / golden theme. No diversity in scenery which really killed my mood to play further.

Man I felt completely different, loved the scenery and the atmosphere that I felt. But yeah the NPC's were fairly stale, loved the game still.

As for the topic, I don't particularly like 2014's games list so far (other than a few Wii-U releases.

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

Titanfall.

I played in the open and closed betas, and I had a whale of a time. Then the game released; I went to my friends house, and bugger all had been changed. The weapon variety was crap, the fact that you had to play through the campaign twice to get both of the titans was bulls**t, and whilst the amount of maps was quite good(on release), the entire game just felt lacklustre. I was really disappointed at a game which I thought would have beefier multiplayer(since there was no singleplayer, ergo: resources go only towards the MP) and more maps.

Didn't actually buy the game, the only games I would ever buy day 1 on release would either be indies or CDProjektRed's stuff.

Apart from The Banner Saga I'm struggling to think of what new games I have brought this year, and i really liked The Banner Saga.

But I'm going to The Walking Dead season 2 as most of its episodes come out this year. It is by no means bad... at all, in fact it is very good. It's just a little bit of a let down compared to the first game.

Hello, fellow Banner Saga fan!

Bought that first week of release, and I did not regret it. Really does re-create the feel of older Bioware RPGs in story, and in the difficulty of combat.

Also dat soundtrack:

 

[sXeth]

Rise of the Dark Spark. I got tossed it as my review job anyhow, but had a mild interest as friends had highly recommended its predecessors of last-gen.

Mediocre third-person shooter, boring (and kind of confusing story, with how they tried to the movies in). Vehicle modes that are nigh-completely useless because of the shoddy level design.

Watch_Dogs started to wane away midwayish too. Throws too many villains in so that none of them feel important anymore. Then kills off the semi-interesting one first. Online was kind of fun, but too many sessions just become Destroyer-spam (seriously why they let that go into MP is beyond me) which makes PvP boring, and one obnoxious guy with it can mess up any other stuff you're trying to do.

 

[Asclepion]

Shadowrun Returns.

I was prepared to love this game. A modern isometric RPG in the beautifully crazy Shadowrun universe, with character customization and tools for creating your own adventures? Kickass!

The result was still enjoyable, but constantly ran into oversights that dragged down the experience. To begin with, your character is able to hire other runners to accompany them on missions (Shadowrun is generally a game about taking a specialized role on a team), but the skill checks apply only to the player's character. Hired deckers are useless- even if you have a squad member with the needed attributes, there's no way to tell them to hack your target in the dialogue box, and no way to control them outside the combat mechanic.

Additionally, the dialogue box only checks to see if your character's skill is high enough, so you can apparently hack without a cyberdeck, or with no equipment at all. WTF?

There's no stealth skill. What irony that SHADOWRUN won't let you walk the shadows? The gameplay is mostly a series of linear fights, but if you want to make your magic ninja adept, you'll have to wait.

The game did do one thing very well: It made your character feel like one shadowrunner among several, that you were a small part of a larger world.

 

[TheArcaneThinker]

Nowadays , the industries focus on casual gamers ( see skyrim ). They try to make it as simple as possible , by creating little depth , simple gameplay , low difficulty , etc . So it is inevitable to not be disappointed in a AAA game . People should just try some older games like Planescape torment , Deus ex , etc for depth and quality . Those are the ones which do not disappoint and just wait for some decent game to show up in the meanwhile , which will at least entertain.