Critical Acclaim +: Open Mic

[Sly Reflex]

I like a lot of things about ME2, although I really think they got a lot of things wrong about it. Stuff like putting unnecessary crap in like making guns use ammo and making you drive around the map. The allies you had were were mostly a whole lot of boring too. I can't even remember their names. That's bad. The romancing stuff I felt was tacked on too. You seem to chat whoever you wanted up in the space of about 5 minutes or something daft. The level design was sort of funnelling you into doing stuff too.

It's a really good game mind, I just think that people built it up way too much. I much prefered the first game as it was doing it's own thing rather than trying to ape other games and not doing it as well.

[HandsomeDead]

Mass Effect 2 did have decent characters. It's a character driven game so they had to be for it to work as well as it did. The game's story is just about sorting out peoples personal shit. It's like a Space Soap Opera, but with more alien shooting and robot Cthulhus. But I like that sort of thing as it reminds me of the Persona games; they do similar stuff with character development by having small personal stories about people with shit to sort out, with a shits about to kick off backdrop. They mostly all have cool little arcs in ME2, if a little overly compressed.

Of course combat is tighter and actually feels satisfying. It's not as good as most dedicated TPS's but it's a strong attempt for a hybrid. Plus, the tweaks the did to biotics made them much more interesting to use than the last game by incorporating those set 'em up and knock 'em down combos which encouraged experimentation. Every class had a genuinely different way to play due to some cool abilities, and while the levels are linear they are put together in a way that the variety comes from the style you chose to play as there are options in some of those levels. I like that kind of thing, so it has that, which the original didn't; that game had level design templates that just come with the Unreal 3 engine or something ( I mean that arena with the fight with Liara's mother? Nasty. None of that in ME2).

So it's easily the best one because it just has the best mix of good design and a good mix of characters that put you on a cool journey. ME3 has some of that, too, but it felt a little too scaled back in some regards and didn't feel as good as a package. It could do with some punchier writing as the bromance stuff with Garus falls a bit flat, as do the comedy moments. And the resource collecting could have been done so much better so that it didn't feel like actual work, but other than that, Mass Effect 2 is one of the best AAA games out there. They did it.

[Sly Reflex]

Today is the last day of the Critical Acclaim thread. I think it's only fitting that the last game is Bioshock Infinite. We started with Bioshock and we're ending with Bioshock. I'm breaking a few of the rules I've followed for games on the list, but fuck it. It feels fitting and all that.

So there you go. Bioshock Infinite. Is it really worth all the love and attention it gets?

[Sambob]

Great story, great atmosphere, great design, good gameplay.

It didnt do anything brand new as with the first bioshock but it did many things to a very high standard and its story jusy totally sucker punched me.

[Bob]

I love Mass Effect 2. When I got it I just sat down and didn't really stand up until it was done. The way it linked the two games was awesome and I loved all the characters. It was really great getting to meet certain people again. It is one of the most memorable games I have played.... so I thought. See, my wife recently played through the trilogy and pretty much every time she said about something I just went completely blank. I couldn't remember any of what she was talking about. I remember the overall tone, I remember the key events and I remember that I built a strong bond with these characters. I just can't really remember exactly how I did it. This could be because I played it over a couple of days and didn't go back to it unless I was playing DLC, I'm not sure. Either way, I still know I loved it, just don't ask me why....

As for Bioshock Infinite, I loved that as well. So much love. At the risk of sounding like one of 'those' people. I am really glad that Troy Baker got so much recognition this year with that and the Last of Us, even though I thought the Last of Us was a load of old shite. He always does a great job and it is nice that a bit of attention has been drawn to him.

It is an odd one though. I think the gameplay could have been a lot more interesting. I think they did the shooter thing really well, I only ever used a couple of ... whatever the fucking plasmids were called this time but they worked well. Combat was satisfying if not the most exhilarating and it all came together pretty well. I do feel that Vigors (that's the one!) could have been a lot more entertaining if they were used for solving puzzles, or escaping from enemies, rather than killing everything that moves. Killing people is important to videogames, I understand that, murder is cool. The game could have still had some killing, some of the most memorable moments from the game revolve around the use of violence. However, they could have been that much more powerful if you didn't spend the time between making dudes explode while your sidekick threw thousands of rounds of ammunition at you.

That is a pretty big part of the game I would like changing but I think that is an overall criticism of gaming. This using violence as a crutch to appeal to as many people as possible. Not cool man. Not cool. I may as well put the other criticism I have of the game here before I say nice things. The ending, I thought it was great. But much like Bioshock, after the big payoff the game goes on too long. It is paced poorly and the impact of the moment is lost. There are too many distractions, too much explanation of exactly what is happening. I don't think it ruins the ending by any means but I would have liked it to be a bit snappier.

To the good! Elizabeth was a great character. She was the perfect travelling companion. Not only was she an interesting, well written character but she never got in the way and she provided help the whole time she was with you. To the point that when she isn't with you, you miss her. It doesn't matter whether you thought she was an awful bitch face of a character even, you miss her because you don't have that supply of ammo any more. You aren't getting extra cash and health and Vigor juice. As it happens I thought she was lovely and I missed her two fold. She is one of only a handful of travelling companions I can think of that I never spent the game trying to kill. In fact the thought of hurting her only ever crossed my mind when she bugged out and got stuck on a skyline. That is very rare and I think very impressive.

The design of the game was beautiful. Graphically it was nice, but it wasn't amazing by any means. Not on the 360 at least. It was still a beautiful game though, the characters and environments were so full of life. It was a joy to explore every nook and cranny looking for loot. Nothing felt over designed or unbelievable. As a world it all sat together perfectly. The sound was great as well.

I think that is about all I want to say. I could be more specific about stuff I guess but I don't want to spoil anything. I loved the concept of the ending, I loved the way it was revealed and I was genuinely excited and intrigued by the whole thing. The lead up was drawn out though and then it went on a bit after the big finish.

Now. Since this is the last game does that mean we all get to bitch and moan about stuff that wasn't on the list? Like Nier for example? Which is cult classic as shit.

[DANGERMAN]

I think a big part of the problem with Bioshock Infinite is that it didn't live up to what was shown or talked about before release. The way Elizabeth was used in E3 demos looks great, scripted but great. The combat itself was going to be all over the place, leaping off the edge of city sections, using the sky rails. The racism was going to be a huge challenging part of the story, with difficult choices and hard hitting commentary. But the game wasn't any of that, Elizabeth can bring in hooks in for you to grab and will chuck some ammo your way. The combat is invariably in locked rooms, even when it's outside, and you use the sky rails maybe 6 times through through the whole game in combat. Then the racism is dealt with like a kids movie

Columbia itself starts pretty well, there's a creepy cleanliness to it, but it feels flat and unlived in. The game is made up of a-b-a level design, and even when you're outside it feels like a long corridor with blue paint on the ceiling. It's also way more gun heavy that you'd expect, right out of the gate too, you're ploughing down rozzers within minutes, and don't stop for a couple of hours

Thing is though, as I put in the Battlefield thread, Infinite's combat is actually more interesting than most shooters. There's different enemy types, there's some scenery stuff to use, you've got the vigors, a variety of guns, equipable items. Even the bits where Bioshock does become a ride it's cool as fuck, the ticket inspector bit, the Songbird stuff, there's lots of incidental stuff that gets you excited, even if it only lasts a few seconds.

I think Bioshock Infinite's strength is how it ends, there's some stupid shit in the back half, I suspect we'd all agree one boss fight was particularly out of place. I have issues with some of the story moments, I don't buy the motivations for a couple of characters. But the last few hours are great, the game gets creepy, clever, stylish, and then it starts to tie things up. There's a moment where one character in particular says "bring us the girl and wipe away the debt", that one line is my favourite moment in the game because of how much the game has loaded on to that phrase up until that point

So no, I don't think it's a 10/10 game, same as the original Bioshock, but like that I think it should be played, it's a classic in that sense. And I dare say I'll finish it again within the next couple of years

edit: One of the criticisms at the time involved Elizabeth and Ludonarrative dissonance, and I think it's something a lot of games are going to have levelled at them in the next few years as these types of fantastically-realistic games become more common

little things like Elizabeth being annoyed with Booker at one point, but she then finds a coin and "look Booker a coin!!", or some ammo, or some health. She also complains about the killing, the amount of it and the violence of it, but then she's absolutely complicit in it, chucking you guns to use, even bringing in medigun turrets that would rip people in half

[Sly Reflex]

I really really enjoyed Infinite.

There's bad stuff in it. Once you get a few spells under your belt fights turn into borefests. The conflicts just turn into obstructions between you doing stuff that you want to do, which is progress the story. Rooting around for stuff makes me feel like a goldfish rooting around in gravel, the benefits of eating the food and alcohol was minimal. I'd rather that they hid stuff like money piles, equipments and audio files instead of stuff thats adding 1% of health but taking away 1% of salts. Stupid. Making enemies or boss encounters bullets sponges further into the game is a sign of bad balancing to me, especially when you're basically reliant on Elizabeth to throw you ammo because the guys you're shooting are gobbling that shit up like whores swigging down dicks at a cock convention.

The good stuff. Everything else. The aesthetics of the areas are stunning. For me a lot of the time it wasn't a case of exploring because I wanted to find loot, but more a case of I wanted to look at the game. It's stunningly beautiful and rarely dips below amazing. To me walking around Columbia was like walking around inside one of the worlds finest paintings. I wouldn't say they were the best graphics I've ever seen, but the design and implementation of them stabs into your mind of what intention the artist wanted to imply. The way that it's portrayed that actions have consequences between the areas you visit is done really really well.

The voice acting comes across as totally natural in the audio diaries. The rhythm and flow of the conversations are the best I've heard since the easter eggs chats in Bad Company 2. They don't seem forced at all. The way they are delivered can seem menacing, informative or quite sinister depending on the musings of the person delivering them. A particular highlight being Robert and Rosalind Lutece. The delivery in Rosalind's audio diaries is possibly some off the best voice acting I've ever heard.

Elizabeth is great. I'd often to walk about just to see how well her animation flowed. It's not often I stand and admire stuff like that, but whoever had the job of animating her did a supreme job. It's one of those things where even if you didn't like the game you could admire the craftsmanship that went into how well Elizabeth moved. The quality and detail to attention reminds me of the old hand drawn Disney films where every movement they make is anatomically correct and everything that's connected to that object is animated correctly. Her clothes moving and folding as they should makes all other games where the seams on them wobble as they walk look ultra shitty now. I love the way her expressions changed on a moment to moment basis. The shock of discovering enemies to her screwing her face up in disgust at me skyhooking some guys face off. It's stuff like that that makes me (and possibly others) feel for her character. The moments where you're jumping around and she says something like "I'll be fine down here!" makes me want to go back and check on her. I know she's in no danger but the way you bond with her is really an achievement on Irrational Games part. I like the little design decisions that people may not have noticed, such as when you're going in the right direction Elizabeth starts running off in front, It's not as obtrusive as putting the guide on the floor and it doesn't break immersion. It's a genius bit of design really.

Story wise I think it's weighted a bit too much towards the end, although I'm not really sure how they could combat that. I guess it is what it is. Picking up the audio diaries and working out piece by piece what's going to happen and then finally seeing it take place really is something special. I don't really want to go into that too deep as this is not really the place to be putting up spoilers on games.

So yeah, I really liked this game. I think it helped that I basically blanked everything about it and went in with low expectations. I'm glad I did, as nothing can really come close to discovering a game like this for yourself. It's easy to ruin games for yourself in this day and age when you can basically track development week by week. I suspect the people that did suck up every last bit of news or info on the game didn't enjoy it as much as I did.

A bit of a sidestep in what I'm talking about, but did anyone notice that when Elizabeth threw a coin at you from point blank range it look like she was tweaking your bollocks just before you pull a coin from behind her ear? That amused me a lot more than it should have.

[Hendo]

Massive props to Sly for doing this one!

A great thread, much appreciated.

[Sly Reflex]

One hundred and sixty nine days. One hundred and thirty nine games. Well over nine hundred replies and eight thousand views. This thread is possibly the most successful thread ever in the General section of the forum. Sure, there are longer ones and ones with more views, but none of them have managed to grow this rapidly over the course of 5 and a half months.

I'm impressed and thankful that some of you guys really went out of your way to talk about the games I listed, whether you tore into the game or waxed lyrical about it. Booting up the computer and seeing some of your replies has been the highlight of the summer forum wise. If you look at some of the best rated posts ever done there are a few in the top 25 or whatever the forum limits the top content to. This is pretty impressive as a lot of the posts in the top rated content are pictures, the MFG chart or one liners. Amazingly one of the top rated posts is about WWF No Mercy, which I added to the list expecting nobody to reply beyond a few lines of people saying "Yeah, I played that, was alright."

To those that sat down and dedicated time and constructed those well thought out posts, I salute you. Particularly DifferentClass, Ben and Bob who often went above and beyond. Guffaws to Nag and his irrational hatred of everything Nintendo and Robotic Monkeys solid foundation of saying the same thing in nearly every post.

So yeah. Thanks to everyone that actively took part, You're all dead wonderful and that. Give yourself a pat on the back for being generally awesome. You deserve it.

So where do we go from here? Just because my list has ended doesn't mean the thread is now dead in the water. There's still questions to be answered.

Firstly, did you enjoy the thread?

Was there any game that got a reception that you were surprised about? It could have been overly praised or overly slated.

Which games were you surprised to see in the list? Were you surprised because you didn't think they were that good, or were you surprised because you thought they were obscure or forgotten about?

Which games were you surprised didn't make the cut? Don't go in depth on the games, just flag up the ones you expected to show but never did.

That's pretty much it. Would you like to put your thoughts into the conclusion of this thread?

[HandsomeDead]

I liked the thread. I was often surprised with the games that were up but I suppose it's because of the way I consume opinions of games. An early example is Red Dead Redemption. I didn't see any reviews of it really and just got my consensus from general internet comments, random blogs or Twitter quips and it seemed really divided so I was surprised it was so consistently praised by critics. Skyward Sword is another. In fact most games are.

As for games that didn't turn up? It felt like there was a lack of things from the 16bit era, but then memories can be hazy so maybe not as much discussion would have come out of them but did Super Metroid and Chrono Trigger happen?.. they could have but I have a shite memory.

I have an idea but It might be too hard to put together. I don't really want to do it (I might, I'll see when I've next got nothing to do). But what about a thread that's the opposite. Get games that have been panned or don't carry much clout, if any at all, and see if the should be noticed more.

[Sly Reflex]

Massive props to Sly for doing this one!

A great thread, much appreciated.

You're welcome, it was a pleasure.

I liked the thread. I was often surprised with the games that were up but I suppose it's because of the way I consume opinions of games. An early example is Red Dead Redemption. I didn't see any reviews of it really and just got my consensus from general internet comments, random blogs or Twitter quips and it seemed really divided so I was surprised it was so consistently praised by critics. Skyward Sword is another. In fact most games are.

As for games that didn't turn up? It felt like there was a lack of things from the 16bit era, but then memories can be hazy so maybe not as much discussion would have come out of them but did Super Metroid and Chrono Trigger happen?.. they could have but I have a shite memory.

I have an idea but It might be too hard to put together. I don't really want to do it (I might, I'll see when I've next got nothing to do). But what about a thread that's the opposite. Get games that have been panned or don't carry much clout, if any at all, and see if the should be noticed more.

Check the first post to see all the games we covered.

I considered doing a opposite thread but I'm not sure it'd really work.. The thing is people buy games they think will be good, whereas people won't buy into a game that they see is getting a panning everywhere.

[HandsomeDead]

I considered doing a opposite thread but I'm not sure it'd really work.. The thing is people buy games they think will be good, whereas people won't buy into a game that they see is getting a panning everywhere.

I compiled a small list that night and I probably won't go through with it. Most of the games I found I haven't played myself so even I wouldn't be able to comment on a lot of them to start with, and I doubt many others will too. I looked around Metacritic too for games that didn't review well but have a pretty good user review but that was a bit hit and miss. There were a lot of Naruto games.

[Sly Reflex]

@Nag

Yeah, some of the indie games absolutely shit on the bigger games now. In some cases I think they're beating the big funded games at their own game. They also offer experiences that have long since died outside big publishing or can sometimes offer something completely new.

A lot of them remind me of the games that are considered classics before big publishing homogenised the industry. They are sort of rough around the edges but it doesn't matter because they are really fun to play regardless.

@DC

I've a better idea for a thread although it really relies on people heavily taking part. I'm not sure how I'd engineer it.

You might want to pay attention to this thread come midnight. Something's a brewin'.

[dante76]

Love the idea of an awful gamees list. I wish I'd played a lot of the games and had the time to give more in depth comments but I enjoyed this.

[Sly Reflex]

I might be done with putting games up, but that doesn't mean you still can't carry on the thread. You think there's a game I missed out that we should dissect? Nows your chance.

There's got to be rules. Without rules it'll possibly turn into a big ball of fuck.

Obviously use your common sense when choosing a game. You might have liked it but if it doesn't meet the criteria for most of what went before then don't choose it.

Games must be at least 6 months old. Any DLC (not including vanity stuff) they've had must be 6 months old too.

Games that have developed a cult following may be put forward if they didn't review well. They must have a cult following, don't be putting any old shite forward.

Games that are old that can't have good reviews traced should be well recognised or cult titles.

Here's the biggest kicker. One game per day. If you want to talk about a game then you best get in as soon as that day starts. Obviously have some etiquette and don't post a game every day at 00:01 every day, let others have a go if you have had a go. Check to make nobody has suggested a game before you do yourself and make sure the game you want to discuss hasn't been discussed before. Just use your common sense really.

That's it. Easy. I now declare Critical Acclaim +: Open Mic open. *snip*

Go forth and make me proud!

[regemond]

Does Mirror's Edge meet all the criteria? I'm gonna start with Mirror's Edge.

It wasn't in the list, had good reviews but didnt sell well and has a cult following, right?

This was one of the first First Person games I played all the way through on this gen. I'd shied away from FPS games after they introduced looking up and down, and never strapped on a pair and just played one after Doom 64 really.

I really liked the free running aspect of it. The fact that it flowed due to important things being highlighted red was a great touch. You didn't run across a few rooftops and then come to a complete stop working out where to go next. You genuinely felt vulnerable. You weren't a super-soldier, you couldn't soak up bullets like a sponge. A few enemies shooting at you and you were done for. It just seemed to bring something different to the table and it's what attracted me to the game in the first place.

I should really go back and do the 'Pure Levels' DLC but just never got around to it, something else always popped up.

But yeah, just for the fact it made me stop being such a bitch over FPS games means I'm gonna throw this one out there.

[Sambob]

This is one of my favourite games of all time so im glad you posted it. First of all, it is hugely flawed and there are times when you feel like you should make a jump and for some reason you dont, I actually played it again the other week and got stuck for about 15 minutes just trying the same jump over and over to the extent where I had to check youtube to see if it was even possible to make.

The thing about this game that makes it one of my favourites is just the concept, its a game id imagined playing for years and years until it was revealed to be in production and although as i said it needs a bit of polish to be considered in more peoples favourite games lists, the moments where the game clicks and you instinctively know where to jump and you chain your jumps together it creates something really unique.

The additional stuff you mentioned Reg about it not being an FPS where you can stand and take a few shots are another example of the concept being right but the execution just being a bit hit and miss, I remember periods of being shot from miles away where it seems unavoidable and feeling a bit hard done by, but at other times you would leap of a wall, knock one guy out, slide to avoid a whole firing squad and then wall run to a zip line to freedom and it felt awesome. Same thing with the combat, at times it just clicked but others you could be so frustrated by it.

If the sequel to this game gets these things right then I think it will be widely regarded as one of the best.

[Sly Reflex]

Excellent choice Regemond.

I remember picking this up for daft money not long after it came out. I was a bit suspect about it as I didn't really think it'd work as a premise. I wasn't won over by the demo so taking the punt on it seemed risky. Turns out the demo really wasn't indicative of what the final game was. I can't say I was totally smitten with every last part of it, there were times when you'd get shot up far too easily and some of the quicktime bosses were arse. The exploring in the slower parts of the game was really satisfying too. The sense of achievement when you look up to something that looks like you can get up there but means you have to trace back how you're going to get up there using the momentum of your runs.

There's some ace set pieces too. Making the getaway on the rooftop of a train is pretty exhilarating.

Aesthetically it's stunningly beautiful too. it makes a change from everything being a million shades of grey.

[DANGERMAN]

Mirror's Edge looks great, and it's a great idea. I even liked the story. Playing it though is another matter, it's awkward, frustrating, and boring. A game that I've tried to like a couple of times, tried forcing myself through until it clicks, but it's just never going to because it's not very good imho

[HandsomeDead]

Yeah, I like Mirror's Edge a lot and usually have a pretty fun time whenever I play it. I like games that focus on running and jumping around. It has some stabs to the gut when the game falls apart at times but it's a fun time a lot more than it isn't.

It's one of the few games I still own (and I have bought it twice) so I often feel like playing it again.