2003 LCVG Reader Awards, Part 5

[Robot Monkey]

Please post your nominations in this topic. Part 1 is here, Part 2 is here, Part 3 is here, Part 4 is here. You can still nominate there or change your choices.

 

Please make a case for your choices in this thread. I encourage you to debate the choices here as well.

 

The next group will be the last -- best games on each platform.

 

Here's the Golden Coasters group for nomination:

 

Worst Control System

Worst Rush Job

Worst Voice Acting/Script

Worst Sound

Worst Music

Worst Sequel

Worst Character

Worst Loading Times

Worst Interface

Most Craven Grab for Cash

Most Tragic Flaw (for what would've been a slam dunk)

 

EDIT: To keep things under control, please do not nominate more than two titles per category. And don't forget to explain your choices

[Big Daddy Bling Bling]

Worst Control System

P.N. 03- Wow, this was just awful. A fast paced action shooter, with controls even more sluggish than Tomb Raider. It literally takes eons to turn 90 degrees to the left or right.

 

Worst Rush Job

GTA: Double Pack- Took the glitches from the other versions, and introduced more glitches on top of them! Freezing, dirty disc errors, unplayable on some Xboxes, the pedestrian voice glitch, I could go on and on.

True Crime- I don't think this one needs much explaining, as anyone who's played it can attest.

 

Worst Voice Acting/Script

FFX2- Take two of the worst characters from FFX, make them leads, then add another, even MORE annoying lead character. Payne's "Feel my pain" line stands out as one of the worst and most comical lines ever in a game. The script and story had almost no focused narrative whatsoever and wouldn't have been enough to carry cinematic cutscenes in a 8 hour action game, much less a full length RPG.

Xenosaga- I was shocked by how badly Xenosaga turned out. From top to bottom, the script and story were awful, and nothing compared to Xenogears. The script is literally 75% fluff. More of interest happens in the first 10 hours of Xenogears than the entirety of Xenosaga. Let's not forget the emotionless voice actors and their prepubescent voices either, they really drive home the nomination for me.

 

Worst Sound- nothing immediately comes to mind. I'd imagine that the game with the worst sound would be pretty forgettable.

Worst Music- Same as worst sound.

 

 

Worst Sequel

FFX2- See other explanations for FFX2.

Devil May Cry 2- Capcom turned what is still the best hack and slash of this generation into absolute crap for the sequel. I still don't understand how they managed to break a fighting system that was perfect before. And who can forget the coin flipping antics of Dante: "Heads, I act like a dork, tails, I act like a loser".

 

Worst Character

FFX2- Words cannot describe how awful the YuRiPa trio is. I'm not sure who they were designed to appeal to. Logic would dictate the female audience, but my fiance who loved FFX was so insulted by the utter stupidity in FFX2 that she refuses to play it. Female leads are fine in a RPG, if they are done well. See Suikoden 3, or Terra and Celes from Final Fantasy 3. However, spending 40 hours with a trio of bimbos is not fine. I haven't even gone into the trio of bumbling villains, but that would be enough to fill a dissertation. Keep the most annoying characters from FFX and leave the good characters with very limited appearances? Thanks Square.

Xenosaga-A horribly conceived cast of characters from top to bottom. Ziggy was the worst, but Albedo's "rip his own head off and turn into a pedophile" routine is a close second.

 

Worst Loading Times

Rainbow 6 3- Who's idea was it to make you load the map before you enter a room? Really, I love waiting 45 seconds for the map to load before entering the room and being instantly booted because it's a clan match, host is being a dick, etc. Sure other online games have problems with the communities, but Rainbow 6 has the worst community combined with the longest load times.

 

Worst Interface

Ghost Recon: Island Thunder- Limited search options and the fact that you can't see the whole list of games add up to give Ghost Recon a horrible interface. Try to search for siege matches, and 95% of the results are LMS. It's a shame the creators didn't respond to the problems complained about in the first Ghost Recon. How much effort would it have taken to rip off Wolfenstein's interface?

Rainbow 6 3- See Rainbow 6 3 above.

 

Most Craven Grab for Cash

Final Fantasy X2- In addition to the aforementioned problems, FFX2 simply reuses 90% of its environments from FFX, yet Square saw fit to charge full price for it. Greedy greedy greedy.

EA's continuing lack of support for Xbox live - trying to get money for allowing point to point play that requires no servers on your part, how greedy can you get EA ?

 

Most Tragic Flaw (for what would've been a slam dunk)

Zelda WW- The power of the Gamecube, a proven franchise like Zelda......how could it possibly go wrong? Ignore requests for a realistic looking game and make it look like the Powerpuff Girls.

F-Zero- Such a great game, marred by overly touchy handling and an unrealistic difficulty level. It's a shame, because this game was what Nintendo needed stylistically. Cool characters and an interesting world that weren't too risque for younger gamers but also avoided insulting the intelligence of older gamers. F-zero could have been great, but was only good instead.

[Robot Monkey]

Only one vote for now:

 

Worst Loading Times

 

Top Spin. I really like the game, but the loading screens are killers.

 

I'm not sure that it's fair to nominate Zelda WW. In the big picture, I believe it was received with general acclaim and did very, very well on the Cube. In the context of the entire year's crop of games, I'm not sure about its inclusion. I was thinking more along the lines of Metal Arms lacking live play -- something that might have helped Metal Arms break out. Just a thought.

[Big Daddy Bling Bling]

It is all opinion. You don't have to agree with or accept my nomination but I'd still like to state it because I feel that Wind Waker's look was among the worst tragic flaws I've ever seen in a game. The term "well recieved" is a bit relative. It certainly wasn't as well recieved as most of the past Zelda games. In fact, the polls shortly after the revelation showed the vast majority of people hating the new look. That appears to have softened over time, either because the approach worked a bit better when people saw it in motion, or people realized that it wasn't a joke, this was the only Zelda coming, and they would have to learn to like it. My guess is that it's a combination of the two. In the end, Wind Waker turned out OK critically and commercially, but certainly not on the level of past Zeldas. In my opinion, the look played a large role in that, because Zelda on Gamecube should have been a "slam dunk".

 

 

But, debate is good. None of the choices in other threads have really been challenged. There should be some deliberation about year end awards.

[Mark E]

In fact, the polls shortly after the revelation showed the vast majority of people hating the new look

 

What polls are these exactly? It's all well and good to say that, but if you're going to lambaste I'd like to actually see this propped up .

 

Far as the look goes, I could not disagree more, which is naturally the point of good healthy debate. People got bent out of shape because it doesn't look realistic, but guess what, nobody who wanted that has there name on the game as Art Director either.

 

I don't think there's anything immature about Wind Waker's storyline and I'd hold it up with any of the past Zelda games. Have you looked at Link to the Past lately? How much more cartoony can you get? Link in Wind Waker is more expressive than most game characters, and the style of the game not only makes him memorable but unique.

 

Say what you will about Wind Waker, but for good or ill it made people notice it. I'd rather have that then yet another cookie cutter "realistic" look that just looks like Splinter Cell with a pointy hat. Given the theme of reincarnation that runs through the game, it makes sense that things would change.

 

If graphics not being what somebody wants, while still being perfectly functional (you can tell what everything is and the camera is not buggered beyond), is what we now consider to be a tragic flaw, then I feel bad for the industry.

[Big Daddy Bling Bling]

Well, the most famous of the polls was on Nintendo's own website, where something like 80% of the respondents answered against the new look. Of course, Nintendo has not left that poll up, but this article references it:

 

http://www.gamersmark.com/news/2002/02/1/812/

 

If an art design change that alienates a significant portion of a game's target audience is not a tragic flaw, then what is? I would be interested to see your nominations. I also do not think a more realistic Zelda would look like "splinter cell with a pointy hat". I envisioned something more like the Gamecube tech demos, or TOOT with better textures and more polys.

 

But, at the risk of this one debate getting ugly or dominating the thread, I'll step back from it. Accept my nomination if you like, or feel free to discard it. Maybe it was a bad idea to have "worst of" awards. If someone nominates a game they like for a "best of" award and someone else disagrees, the discourse will be good natured. However, if someone nominates a game for a "worst of" award and someone else happens to like that game, that person may well react as if they have been personally insulted. I guess if someone nominated one of my favorite games like LOTR:ROTK for "most craven grab for cash" since it has a movie license, I'd be displeased. So, enough of this for me, unless someone wants to make a thread for it so this one can go on about its specific purpose.

[Mark E]

Well, I have no say into the award things, I'm just trying to counterpoint your nomination, no offense meant .

 

I mean, a lot of people have spoken against the Zelda look, yes, but really does it make that much difference to the game itself? Clearly for you it does, but I would argue that there are a lot of people who enjoyed it because of the graphics, despite the graphics, or even irregardless of the graphics. I'd even further wager that a number of people who played the game after complaining about the graphics found that they didn't mind them so much.

 

That's just my speculation of course, but I think that it hardly represents a tragic flaw, while you do. Hey, it's your right to put it up there, and you explain yourself fine, I'm just saying. Not meant to attack you .

 

alienates a significant portion of a game's target audience is not a tragic flaw, then what is?

 

It's fascinating that people are often complaining about Nintendo relying on its franchises and never doing anything new with them, yet they alter the art style in Zelda, while keeping the core gameplay near identical to Ocarina of Time with some improvements, and so many people raise the roof.

[AnthonyVolpe]

Worst Control System

Virtual On Marz (PS2) ? Clunky, archaic, and just plain horrible. An insult to the entire series.

Drake of the 99 Dragons (XBox) ? Does a game you can't even control count as "worst controls?"

 

Worst Rush Job

Enter the Matrix (PC, GameCube, XBox, PS2) - Max Payne already did everything this game tried to accomplish, and it didn't have to be done in time for a movie release with 7 months of development left. Oh - WORST DRIVING PHYSICS EVER.

Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel (XBox) - The game's playable, but BARELY. Having the NPC's move a little while they talked would have been nice, but for obvious reasons (the Interplay shut-down), I guess it was more important to finish the game itself...

 

Worst Voice Acting/Script

Voodoo Vince (XBox) - Go ahead and start throwing those tomatoes at me, folks... like I said, I call the shots as I see them. The Cajun narrator is annoying and the title character is just horrendous. Too bad, cause the rest of the game is very impressive.

Charlie's Angels (GameCube) ? Certain actresses were never meant to do voiceovers even though they can act onscreen. Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu, and Drew Barrymore proves this point. AWFUL.

Honorable Mention: Dennis Rodman's performance in Dead or Alive Extreme Beach Volleyball... UGGGGHHH

 

Worst Sound

Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (XBox) - You can't tell me the same company that invented THX can't make a game that uses 5.1 properly? Especialy during the CUTSCENES?????? Atrocious and unforgivable.

 

Worst Music

Mario Party 5 (GameCube) - Earth to Nintendo: PLEASE quit trying to be Disney. You're not fooling anyone.

WWE Raw 2 (XBox) - Right out of my speakers and into my ears. At least I didn't have to listen to Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler this time.

 

Worst Sequel

Virtual On Marz (PS2) - Could be considered worst mech game as well.

WWE Raw 2 (XBox) - Gee, let's spend countless hours making an interface where you can design your own pyro, lighting, and entrance music and LEAVE THE GAME'S AI AS DUMB AS A BRICK!!! HEY TRIPLE H!!! YOU TRIED TO PIN ME 13 TIMES IN A ROW!!!! HOW ABOUT TRYING SOMETHING ELSE??? LIKE LETTING ME THE F*** UP, MAYBE????? AND HOW MANY G**DAMN TIMES IS TORRIE WILSON GOING TO ATTACK ME IN THE LOCKER ROOM??? IN ONE EPISODE???

 

Worst Character

Rosh from Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy - Never in my life did I want to punch my TV screen while playing a game until this nitwit showed his bitchy little face...

 

Worst Loading Times

Rainbow Six 3 (XBox) - Phenomenal game, terrible load times for the online maps.

 

Worst Interface

Midway Arcade Treasures (PS2, XBox, Gamecube?)- Ugly, cheesy, hard to figure out what game is what.

 

Most Craven Grab for Cash

Dead or Alive Extreme Beach Volleyball (XBox) ??"This game will have nudity. JUST KIDDING."

American Idol (PS2) - For the love of God, why on Earth would ANYONE make this into a game? Other than money?

 

Most Tragic Flaw (for what would've been a slam dunk)

Metal Arms: Glitch in the System (XBox) - No online support, no sales.

Dead or Alive Extreme Beach Volleyball (XBox) ??No four-player support, no camera-angle options, no nudity, no Live support, no common sense

[adamsappel]

Worst controls - Resident Evil (GC). I can't understand why Capcom is sticking with this hideous control scheme after all these years. It is the most non-intuitive conviluted way of moving a character. I know people have adapted to it, but I put the game back in its case after five minutes and haven't gone back. RE is now my GameCube tech demo disk.

 

Worst Rush Job - Enter The Matrix (all). If they had just postponed the game a few months (or made a better movie) they might have avoided disappointing so many hopeful fans.

 

Worst Voice Acting - Wind Waker and Sphinx (GC, all - tie). So bad you couldn't even hear it. Isn't it about time to give Link a voice? And Sphinx has so many other high-production values that not including voice acting is shameful.

 

Worst Script - Tetris Worlds Online (2003 for Xbox). Don't tell anyone, but apparently there's a story mode.

 

Worst Sound - Virtua Tennis (GBA). Tennis is such a "shh, quiet, please" type of game that any extraneous music is a mistake. Save that cartridge memory for some real sound clips instead.

 

Worst Music - P.N.03 (GC). I actually like the controls, but a game that used dancing as a motif should have had better music. If you could have controlled the music via your character (as in Rez) this could have been a classic game.

 

Worst Sequel - Ape Escape 2 (PS2). They didn't even try to improve on the original. I knew Devil May Cry 2 was a stinker, so I never played it.

 

Worst Character - Tingle in Zelda:Wind Waker (GC). I'm glad he was optional.

 

Worst Loading Times - Top Spin (Xbox). Hands down. You have to reload an entire stadium if you want to replay a match or even a training drill. I literally don't have that kind of time to waste.

 

Worst Craven Grab for Cash - Phantasy Star Online (Xbox). The fact that PSO required you to subscribe to Live to even play the offline single-player mode is unconscionable. I had nominated Final Fantasy:Crystal Chronicles for making a game that was incapable of being played multi-player without owning additional expensive peripherals. FF:CC could have made the GBA option the most efficient but still included "pausable" gameplay. Then I realized it was released in 2004. See ya right here next year, FF:CC!

 

Most Tragic Flaw - Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy (all). I thought I had made a mistake when I first saw the subtitles. I usually turn those off in my menu options. Then I realized the mistake was THQ's.

 

Worst Interface - Project Gotham Racing 2 (Xbox). What is so hard about having a button for "Garage" or "Friends" in the main menu? And why does "Remove Friend?" come before "Join this Friend's game?"

[Big Daddy Bling Bling]

Wow, I must second PSO for the Xbox, I don't know how I forgot about that fiasco. I feel like I got my $25 worth during the free trial, but I still can't believe they had the audacity to charge a monthly for such a poorly maintained product. Hacking and duping had become so bad as to be an integral part of the game. Every single lobby I went into: people trading hacked items for hacked items. It was even possible to dupe items without a gameshark or special device by abusing the shops. That was a known problem that wasn't fixed from the Gamecube version. The promised online quests were nonexistent during the time I played the game. The only "super special online quest" allowed you to play through Forest with remixed enemies and kill the boss. Wow. And who can forget the FSODs? It was a lot of fun losing hard earned items every time my Xbox froze.

 

Worst Music - P.N.03

 

I actually like the music in P.N.03. For some reason, I find it oddly soothing and it's a good "before bed" game.

 

Re: sphinx- Doesn't it feel a bit archaic to have these games with 60FPS 480p graphics and well refined gameplay, then sit there and press a button while text goes by on the screen? It's jarring to say the least, but I find it doesn't affect my enjoyment of a game where cutscenes are a limited part. I think Sphinx wasn't a big hit due to marketability issues more than anything else.