2009′s disappointments
2009 was a good year for gaming. A huge amount of top notch stuff came along, with cheaper versions of consoles off-setting the terrible economic crisis.
However, there were duds. Oh boy were there duds, and it wouldn’t be right to leave the year without acknowledging them. Shoryuken will have a list of the best bits of 2009 in the next few days, but first lets ease into the joy with some shameful moments of 2009.
To quote Metalocalypse, “Hey we need a favourite thing!… Disappointment.”
First up is the amazingly disappointing cash-in that was ODST. Halo, without Master Chief, without a decent story, with a bunch of mish-mash features thrown in for no reason and the multiplayer disk added to make us pay full whack to compensate for the fact that Sony were going to win this Christmas.
Next up is a game that promised us everything from other musical games, but offered nothing but a waste of time, extra peripheral and shitty remixes. That’s right folks, we’re on about DJ Hero. Truly a bore from start to finish, even turntablists didn’t bother with this one.
Bar a few Daft Punk mash-ups this game really is horrific, and the plastic control manages to feel even more plastic then the first iteration of the Guitar Hero controller.
Next up is another plastic peripheral-clad piece of trash. Yep, it’s Tony “I’m too old for this hoodie” Hawk, who likes to ride, apparently. His skateboard peripheral was shown to an audience of bored 360 fans at E3 where he completely pimped the thing without using it – first sign of disaster. The only time I saw a journalist really enjoy the control was when a journalists from a financial journal play it.
As useless and needlessly expensive as it is, at least it has potential as a method of torturing prisoners in the middle east. “Tell us everything or we’ll make you play Tony Hawk Ride…”
Duke Nukem Forever couldn’t not be on this list. Not only is it definitely not coming out, again, this time it’s after taking down 3D Realms with it. 2009 finally saw the saga behind the game end when the company disbanded due to money problems. Who would have predicted that, eh?
For me, Bionic Commando Rearmed was stunning. One of the tip top PSN/Arcade titles ever to get a release, and a deserving remake for a remarkable classic title. This promised great things for the new, full sequel in Bionic Commando. But no, the game stank. Stank on ice. An absolute bore, horrible mechanics and almost nothing good to take from the experience.
Next up, it’s sad to say it but Tim Schafer’s Brutal Legend was an utter disappointment. It had funny moments but the gameplay lacked anything interesting, and really only shon in two sections. The rest was boring, typical bargain basement gameplay stuff. If it didn’t have the marketing campaign and big name actor fronting it there would have been less sales then Psychonauts.
Finally, the bombshell that the fan-made remake of Half Life 1 in Source was to be delayed. We’ve waited a long time for this thing, and a week ago they announced a further delay. An huge disappointment… but one that will hopefully make the free release ultra brilliant when it comes out.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Gary, Kevin. Kevin said: 2009's disappointments listed with appropriate facepalm images http://bit.ly/4GXdQj [...]
HAHAHA Implied Facepalm for the win. I would add Earthworm Jim for the Iphone to that. Terrible controls make me sad.
funny article. my disappointment this year was ghostbusters. all hype, no substance