Perfectly average games that you love all the same.
72 replies, posted
This is inspired by one of my favourite RPS articles [URL="https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/08/04/best-average-action-games-on-pc/"]"In Celebration Of Perfectly Average Action Games".[/URL]
In essence, what are those generic games that you would freely admit aren't great, and will never be classics, but that you managed to get massive enjoyment out of. The ones that are tough to recommend to friends, because you're well aware of their shortcomings and limitations but god damn if they don't scratch a certain itch. The RPS article in question calls them 'good' 7/10 games, meaning they were always intended to be disposable, popcorn experiences. As opposed to 'bad' 7/10 games which were meant to be AAA blockbusters but just didn't have enough polish or originality to stand out from the pack.
My pick is Mercenaries 2: World in Flames.
[video=youtube;Uc2S-R1MuEk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc2S-R1MuEk[/video]
An open world TPS packed with explosions and ridiculous vehicles. Sure, every assault rifle feels about the same, and missions can often boil down to hijacking one heavy vehicle after another in order to survive the constant hail of gunfire, but as something you can boot up and tool around in to kill time this game was replaced only by Just Cause 2 a few years later, which did similar things but with more original toys.
So, what completely average games do you love more than any critically acclaimed, po-faced 'masterpiece'.
Brutal Legend
Bulletstorm
Binary Domain, definitely
Dragon Age: Inquisition & Fallout 4.
I loved the first Just Cause when it came out
The original Red Faction was a pretty entertaining game and fun to play in its own right.
[t]https://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/0/1987/687788-red_faction_front_smaller.jpg[/t]
The story had an interesting premise of a miner revolt on mars, even if the acting and cutscenes fell short from how dated the technology was as well as how cheesy the acting was as well. The gameplay however was pretty fun, being able to blow holes and even dig tunnels to certain destinations was pretty awesome, and I havent really seen that type of mechanic replicated in many games today. The atmosphere itself too, comprising of the artstyle, sound, and general "mood" of the game was very spot on as well. Given the technology the developers were working with, they set the tone of the game pretty effectively.
I've never played any of the game's sequels. Not RF2, not Guerilla or Armageddon, but I do hope some day we get another Red Faction game. I'd especially appreciate it if we had another one akin to the original in some form as well.
[sp]Also, I saw XIII on the original list you posted there as well OP, That is also a pretty great game.[/sp]
[QUOTE=Qbe-tex;52193656]It annoys me that 7/10 is considered average in the industry (nowadays, though I could have read that wrong). With that said:
Sonic heroes.
Fallout 3-4.
Spore.[/QUOTE]
Probably because people rating on a grading scale (as in school grading letters) instead of the mathematical average (5 out of 10)
I honestly don't consider Fallout 4 to be "perfectly average game" because
1.It is a crazy popular franchise
2.It is a very expensive (content) game despite its shortcomings, and;
3.It is not disposable, you can't simply pick another game to substitute the "Fallout" experience.
I would consider some rather unknown game on Steam store / GoG that didn't do so well (but didn't suck) to be "average".
Like, come on, Sleeping Dogs and Shadow of Mordor are "average" because they couldn't beat the best?! Might as well add everything below 9/10 to the list!
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That said, I like [url=http://store.steampowered.com/app/439190/Stories_The_Path_of_Destinies/]Stories:tPoD[/url].
I discovered the game last year after I did a small presentation in one of my game design classes where I argued that many single player games are too fixated on "letting the player win", either unnecessarily dragging the game length long enough for player to learn, or downright dumbing down the difficulty to cakewalk. I then quote the usual Facebook shit about how failure is the gateway to success blah blah blah, later comparing it to the mastery learning aspects of multiplayer and competitive games where losing is part of the gameplay experience. Of course I did mention a few difficult modern SP games (namely rougelites) that allowed losing to be a part of learning, as long it is fair and the player can correct their mistakes by self-reflection. I ended by mentioning if this can be applied to narratives.
Then weeks later this fucking game showed up outta nowhere. The gameplay is so awfully run-of-the-mill and repetitive, the branching-path narrative is full of untapped potential. Nevertheless, the game is a start for the final point I made for my presentation. A story that you only win by learning your mistakes.... I applaud them. Also one of its ending touched my heart.
[QUOTE=Zezibesh;52193390]Binary Domain, definitely[/QUOTE]
tbh with the amount of fun I had with BD, I'd call it a well above average game.
FUEL
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.
I have a weird fondness for mid-00s non-Valve Source-engine games. Dark Messiah of Might and Magic is a stupid, fun, stupid-fun brawler (like a proto-version of Dishonored), and Sin Episodes: Emergence is a surprisingly entertaining shooter that's kind of derivative of Half-Life 2 but there's worse things to try to rip off.
Bulletstorm, beyond any doubt. The game doesn't take itself seriously and just encourages you to go ham.
Pixar's Cars: The Game, mainly for nostalgic reasons.
I never watched that movie when I was a kid, but that didn't stop me playing the heck out of it. Think I even completed it 100% at one point.
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3
It's relatively shallow compared to other fighting games and the balance can be a bit iffy at points (Omega Shenron being extremely overpowered) but the versus mode is probably the most intense I've played in a 3D fighter.
Only complaint I have is that it removed all the fusions and transformations from 2 that weren't in the anime or movies.
I have a soft spot for the series in general because they got me interested in fighting games, but 3 is the only one that IMO can be considered a "real" fighting game.
Red Faction (All of them, yes even the last one)
Mad Max
Starbound
Modern TF2
Arx Fatalis
Cubivore
Dead Island
Since I had below 0 expectations, I found myself enjoying it
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger. People may disagree when I say it's just okay, due to the story, but most of the gameplay is so much of a standard, mediocre, jump in and out of cover in a straight line snoozefest that I think it's just okay.
Also Boiling Point: Road to Hell just came to mind, though it was and still is a glitchy mess with a cliched and confused storyline with writing being all over the place I still managed to enjoy it a ton.
I don't know if this counts as an average game or just a bad game, but Shadow the Hedgehog. I absolutely loved it, definitely in my top 3 favorite games ever, I was so surprised to go on the internet years later and discover that everybody hated it.
Superpower 2.
When you explored the game beyond it's nuclear armageddon simulation (which was basically the only selling point of this game), you'd quickly discover it was a buggy pile of crap with frequent ctd's. Regardless, I still played it a fuck load, plus it opened up the entire grand strategy genre to me and I've been playing grand strategy games ever since.
[QUOTE=Ardosos;52197463]I don't know if this counts as an average game or just a bad game, but Shadow the Hedgehog. I absolutely loved it, definitely in my top 3 favorite games ever, I was so surprised to go on the internet years later and discover that everybody hated it.[/QUOTE]
I felt the same way. The biggest problem with it was the fact that the controls would randomly fuck up, like jump attacks locking on to bottomless pits and making it impossible to advance.
Frontlines: Fuel of War
A Old Turn Based Strategy called Shattered Union, where the US has well, shattered and you play as a faction in that.
Payday 2
There's a lot wrong with the game but I still love it
[img]http://www.free-covers.org/covers/56722.jpg[/img]
I always wanted the series to continue. Some of the stunts were a royal pain the balls to pull off, but there was something about the game that kept me trying
Empire Earth. Average "Advance through the ages" RTS like Age of empires or Rise of nations, except you could also go a couple of epochs into the future.
The game alerted you to any combat with this sound of bells and a guy shouting [B]WE'RE UNDER ATTACK[/B].
And this would play every time an enemy unit began attacking one of your troops.
During a battle with multiple units it would basically be blaring it out non. Fucking. stop.
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