Gamespot's Best & Worst of 2002 (1 Viewer)

[Rob Lutter]

Call me crazy, but I had more fun playing Buffy than I did any other XBOX game this year. Of course, this may change when I get MechAssault and Splinter Cell

 

[Dave F]

Deus Ex probably got overlooked since it was a pretty late port of a PC title.

-Dave

 

[Travis Kolesar]

Happy to see Freedom Force getting some love. That game was $30 well spent.

The RPG award could have went either way for me, I had a blast playing both Neverwinter and Morrowind. Morrowind would have been a hands down winner if it wasn't for the online play and the toolset in NWN. Being able to port some of our PnP materials was really sweet. I'll have to check out Arx Fatalis, saw it in the store tonight and was intrigued, as I hadn't heard anything about this game.

The best thing about these awards for me is pointing out the games that I remember reading about but never got around to checking out. My rental list has definately increased.

Well, time to go start Metroid Prime. I've been looking forward to sitting down with this one.

 

[Sean Hardiman]

How does Steel Battallion warrant being a nominee for most disappointing game of the year? They gave it a 7.3 rating and it has an amazingly innovative control setup that's included. Go figure.

 

[Damien]

I think Splinter Cell is a good game for what it is, but not up to game of the year material, and nothing near gta: vice or metroid prime quality. IF you played Metal Gear on ps's, the luster out of the gameplay isn't too shiny. I'm on the 6/7 board where you have to avoid these lights and wall mines and escape. After trying all sorts of things, it just became too much for me and I just shelved the game for the time being. Although some say I should stick it out, i do believe the design is questionable at certain points. I think microsoft should of gone ahead and just purchased ghost recon for themselves, it would(and kind of still is) a game of the year choice, but people will see it for ps2 and buy that one, which is pretty stripped down, and the gc version was pushed to next year. So your left with mechassault or JSRF, that is an objective debate...but you wouldn't want them picking a game packed-in with the system either, and mechassualt is the killer-app for live, as Unreal Championship for all intensive purposes seems like it is still in the 70's in percent finished, but SOME great level designs and never-dull gameplay still make it great fun.

as for the rest, they were pretty accurate. anyone here or elsewhere who objected to them before will so now. It was funny they nominated a 8.1(not saying that is a bad/good score) game like Animal Crossing, instead of eternal darkness

 

[Romier S]

that is an objective debate

Everything said in this thread is a subjective debate as are all of the choices that Gamespot selected. Greatest thing about subjective thought is the ability to disagree.

 

[BrianB]

It was funny they nominated a 8.1(not saying that is a bad/good score) game like Animal Crossing, instead of eternal darkness

Because time is a wonderful thing. I think in the longterm, the quality of Animal Crossing has shined through, whereas a lot of other games with possibly higher marks are more "flash in the pan".

 

[Morgan Jolley]

How does Steel Battallion warrant being a nominee for most disappointing game of the year?

The review for SB said the gameplay boiled down to an extremely simple method of alternating between shooting and dodging, making the game kind of boring. They also said that the cutscenes between missions seemed to be extremely crappy compared to the rest of the game and could have been done a lot better.

The reviewer did praise the game for being a nerd's dream-come-true, but overall said it was a gimmick with a game attached.

 

[Steven_V]

source: GameSpot

I agree with GameSpot on this one. METROID PRIME totally immersed me in its atmosphere and gameplay. MP is "gaming nirvana" defined! Definitely "Game of the Year" across all platforms.
I agree with GameSpot's criticism of Splinter Cell that keep it from "GotY" status. MechAssault is the more fun game of the two and I would also rank it higher that SC.

 

[Dave F]

I highly recommend downloading the Arx Fatalis Demo when you get a chance

I'm definitely checking this out tonight. I looked at it in the store, and it looked fantastic. And screenshots never lie, do they?
-Dave

 

[Morgan Jolley]

For me, after Splinter Cell, Metal Gear seems simplistic and cartoony

Well, to be fair, MGS is based on a combination of the dramatic storyline and the super-spy aspects. It's not meant to be totally realistic, but more like a comic-book.

 

[Dave F]

Good point.

-Dave

 

[Peter Rohlfs]

Virtual Fighter 4 continues it's tradition as the most overated fighting game of all time. Tekken Tag and DOA2 HC on the PS2, not to mention DOA3 on the X-box are vastly superior. Tekken 4 was noth the majot step forward I hoped for, but still compared to VF4 it kicks butt.

IMHO,
Peter

 

[BrianB]

IMHO

And in my opinion, you're completely wrong VF4 has way more depth & subtlety to it than the likes of DOA & Tekken (and I'm a big DOA fan before I'm accused of bias). The kumite mode is a major step forward for the fighting genre as far as I'm concerned, and VF4 deserves the plaudits its received because of it.

 

[RayKk]

bump, sorry about that!

 

[RayKk]

I challenge Gamespot for worst Xbox game of 2002, I say it should be Prisoner of War, it damn near drove me to drugs due to boredom so I settled for smoking cigarettes.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

VF4 has way more depth & subtlety to it than the likes of DOA & Tekken

Pac-Man has more depth than DoA.

Tekken isn't as deep as VF4, but its more fun to just jump right in with. You don't need to play for hours and hours before you are good. True, this leads to a lot of button mashing, but if you get into it, you can reap rewards in a relatively short time compared to VF4.

Virtua Fighter is a LOT deeper and more complex than Tekken. Tekken is easier to get into and provides more (I guess this is the best way to say it) mindless action.

 

[Damien]

Well remember DOA3 wasn't released this year. I have to agree w/Morgan DOA3 is fun for a few minutes in my expirience(i own it - this statement even applies for 2-player), b/c the gameplay is so shallow, character designs are so-so, and modes are way too cliched. i think the genre itself is obviously not at it's peak, as I am not even enjoying mk like i used too, (but that game seems a tad bit rushed though) and tekken 4 from all i heard seems like the same game as before, so VF4 deserves the title even though i never played it, the 1-p modes seem better. But since there are so many consoles out nowadays, there isn't that one fighter everyone has, so the odds that you'll play agaisnt a human button masher are higher than before, which leads too.....

The one bright spot is xbox live support, if capcom's games are playable, then i don't think there should be a live-less fighter on xbox again. i'm sure some kids will still just go on there and mash all day, but there probably will be some well-done tournaments too.

 

[Dave F]

Pac-Man has more depth than DoA

If you believe this, you haven't played against a skilled player.

-Dave

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Dave-

I have DoA2:H for PS2 and I haven't played against a skilled player, but I'm pretty sure becoming a skilled DoA player requires maybe an hour worth of actual effort. Even Tekken takes longer to become truly great at it.