The Fail List: Games That Won't Survive Christmas
September 9th 2008 00:40
The drought has officially broken for gamers. This upcoming Christmas is set to be one of heartbreak for many as tough decisions are made as to which titles will make it into the collection and which will have to wait or become a weekend rental.
Someone has to do it as friends and relatives will be soon asking what we want for Christmas. And so as not to disappoint them, this list has been developed to give you the games that will make it, and those that will fail (probably...). Let's start with the biggest title to be a cannot miss, sell a relatives organ to purchase, must own smash hit, to the one that will cause the most anguish over having to be sacrificed:
KING HIT: Fallout 3
EPIC FAIL: Mirrors Edge
Fallout 3 speaks for itself. Although some of the content may sound questionable to casual gamers, the sheer scope and word of mouth will sell a burnt out bus load of units. Bethesda are masters at creating the type of world that will be able to handle the diverse story. Will be a massive hit and a deserving one.
Conversely, Mirror's Edge is starting to sound like a tech demo. You could argue that Geometry Wars and Portal started out in a similar way. The big difference though is that those had compelling gameplay, whereas we have heard very little of the reason behind this games existence. Sure it looks kinda cool, if it were a Nike ad, but as a twenty hour game?
HITS
Viva Piñata: Trouble In Paradise
Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway
LittleBigPlanet
Fracture
Fallout 3
Fable 2
Dead Space
Guitar Hero: World Tour
Mortal Kombat vs DC
Resistance 2
Gears Of War 2
Warhammer Online
Left 4 Dead
FAILS
Spore
Too Human
S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Clear Sky
Mercenaries 2
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Crysis Warhead
Silent Hill
Saints Row 2
Bioshock (PS3)
Rock Band (Aus release)
Mirrors Edge
Red Faction: Guerrilla
The deciding factor between most games was the amount of choice in each genre. Crysis Warhead, Red Faction 2 and Mercenaries 2 are fairly solid, but in the face of Gears Of War 2, Resistance 2 and Brothers In Arms, it will be a case of empty multiplayer servers pretty quickly.
And as much as I love it, S.T.A.L.K.E.R just cannot survive in the face of Fallout 3. Reportedly buggy (still!), Clear Sky is similar in concept but the lesser game in execution from what we have seen.
Spore huddling in the Fail category might raise a few eyebrows, and although it will initially be successful, The Sims players won't cross over and hard core gamers will become bored.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is a game before its time. LucasArts are rightfully miffed about not getting the lowdown on the Wii Motion Plus, it makes this game pretty redundant.
Guitar Hero to own Rock Star. Nuff said.
Silent Hill might do fairly well, but there is no chance that you would pick it over Dead Space. Hype alone will make you choose.
The Hits column shouldn't surprise too many, and still adds up to around $1200 of your Australian dollars. I just couldn't find any more to cull. The new Viva Piñata will be great, it's unique, and you know Microsoft will be pumping up this franchise in the face of LittleBigPlanet.
Fracture is the sleeper hit of the season. Not a lot is out about the title just yet, but with LucasArts at the helm, near future weaponry and terrain deformation on a scale not yet seen, this is sure be be a massive online gaming hit.
So there you have it. Start hounding Grandma for gift vouchers, this is going to be a Christmas for gaming. And to all of you who live in the hemisphere of the perpetually snowing Christmas, having an excuse to stay in and play them makes you some lucky SOB's.
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Comment by Anonymous
Comment by ThRiLL-2-KiLL
Also, BioShock will definetly sell well. I mean look, i has Home support, trophies, extra DLC and all right out of the box. It will also probably be at a cheaper price. Can you say Greatest Hit?
Nice way to get visitors to the site though. Nice article.
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Comment by Ikaro
This is more logical:
HITS
Spore
Wiisports Resourt
Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway
LittleBigPlanet
Fracture
Fallout 3
Fable 2
Dead Space
Guitar Hero: World Tour
Resistance 2
Gears Of War 2
Warhammer Online
Left 4 Dead
Mercenaries 2
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
FAILS
Viva Piñata: Trouble In Paradise
Mortal Kombat vs DC
Too Human
S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Clear Sky
Crysis Warhead
Silent Hill
Saints Row 2
Bioshock (PS3)
Mirrors Edge
Red Faction: Guerrilla
Comment by The McNeil
MKvDC is looking better and better as the days progress, in the least this game will be good enough just to see superman get his propaganda filled existence kicked to shit
ill give you the rest of those except silent hill, you just cant go wrong with silent hill :]
fyi, force unleashed is only worth playing purely for the story, bargain bin must in like 5 months tops
Comment by Sir Battlemonkey
Comment by TheCrazedMadman
And another small thing, I hate to break it to you guys but 20 hours is no longer the norm for games, its more like 10-13....and for a game like Mirrors Edge, that would be the oerfect length.
I also cant wait for Fallout 3, but watching it in action (again at PAX), the animations are just so damned clunky and stiff....it takes me out of the expeirence, so Im pretty sure that will take some wind out of it.
Comment by Anonymous
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Comment by G-no
they were totally wrong,
i found the game to be extremely addictive, and have a smooth gameplay,
it also has a lot of downloadable content coming up!
so when i saw ''epic fail'' and a pic. of mirrors edge,
i thought that it had to be a mistake
sure the game is short, but the time trials and speed races make up for that perfectly, not to even mention the upcoming map pack!
Comment by Anonymous