RABIDGAMES’ 5 biggest disappointments in 2011

2011 was a good year for geeks without a doubt – but tons of games also means lots of rotten apples, of course. Sadly, some highly anticipated games turned out to be pretty weak. Here are Rabidgames’ 5 biggest disappointments:

5. Assassin’s Creed Revelations

Revelations is just more of the same minus the great puzzles plus the horrible Den Defense – and both decision are bad. It seems Activision focussed on the MP but forgot the SP. Yes, Constantinople is fun to walk and the additions of bombs and more sending-assassin-throughout-the-world,  they’re ok. But that’s about it. Revelations is just ok, it is not great. And when Rabidgames plays it, it seems rather like a tale of “well, let’s just see what happens because it will eventually lead somewhere I give a fuck about” instead of “I need to know what’s going on or I’ll die”. Shame. But that’s the price we pay for annual add-ons.

4. Shadows of the Damned

What happens if you take away the humour and immaturity? Shadows of the Damned is a sub-par Resident Evil clone – including the obsolete game mechanics which should be extinct by now. Don’t get Rabidgames wrong – he liked the humour, he loved the insane ideas and the hilariously weird design of the enemies. But mediocre and repetitive gameplay make Shadows of The Damned a boring chore which is simply not worth suffering through.

3. RAGE

Tough case. RAGE is a fun and fast-paced shooter which looks stunning. But there is no depth whatsoever. The world (obviously stolen from Fallout) is just there, characters have neither depth nor show any signs of development. The “open” world of RAGE is almost as linear as Final Fantasy XIII was. And the worst thing is – you clean out a dungeon, and then you always, always get the task to clean it again. Exciting, isn’t it? And don’t get Rabidgames started with the ending: it’s now in the dictionary – just look for anticlimactic.

2. Dragon Age 2

Bioware and EA … this unhappy marriage bears children which become dumber and dumber. Remember their love child “Origins“? Well, that was bright boy. Full of power and ideas. Mass Effect 2 was still healthy but had some problems in the categories “don’t buy used passes” and “too much shooter, where is my RPG, damn it?”. Then the parents gave birth to a malformed kid that was named Dragon Age 2: A shallow action RPG with horrendously limited character creation options, a Bioware game where you can’t customise your party’s appearance, a story which is neither epic nor interesting until late in the game, and last and least, the incredibly lazy dungeon design: Throughout the 3 chapters, you visit dungeons with the same name again. That’s bad you say? Bummer, because there are just about 5 different dungeons in Dragon Age 2 at all – and the parents thought no one would realise it if they just make you enter from another direction and close off a section here and there. The only thing that saves Dragon Age 2 from making it to the top of the shame list is the still somewhat tactical fighting system and the interesting party members.

1. Duke Nukem Forever

Finally, the Duke has come back … to disappoint us. Even worse, Duke Nukem Forever starts off with great pace and lets you rejoice in its infantile jokes which even put Saints Row The Third to shame. But then, the gunplay kicks in – and even in the first encounters you realise: that guy ain’t the Duke himself, it’s a duke imposter who contracted an infection of Halo! Two weapons at the same time – lame. Regenerating health – a travesty. Honestly, Rabidgames enjoyed the first couple of hours … but after this initial time of joy, Gearbox shot all its wad. Even the humour gets dumber. The game also has a unhealthy relation to boss battles – they are great in the beginning of Duke Nukem Forever (the mothership and the queen are fun), but later on, they are bland: Empty one health bar of a boss, and guess what – there’s a second one. It was a nice try to revive the Duke – but what’s left is an awful shooter grandpa who wants to fit in with the hipsters. It has been 15 years in the making – and we still got an unfinished game. Well, that’s quite an accomplishment! Congratulations.