It seems mediocrity is the rule these days...
 

After what could have been an onslaught of great games to choose from, it looks as if the developers gave in to the pressure of having to release the games before the holiday season started.

All ratings from ign.com:
Soldier of Fortune Payback: 6.1 (admittedly, the prior SOF games weren't great, at least consistency is the model in this franchise)
Kane and Lynch: 7.0 (looks like a rental, what a shame, I had high hopes for this one)
Blacksite Area 51: 6.4
Beowulf: 4.0
Cabella's Big Game Hunter: 5.0
Fear Files: 6.7
Clive Barker Jericho: 5.6
Sim City Societies: 5.8
Hellgate London: 6.8

Re: It seems mediocrity is the rule these days...
 

yeah, mass effect, orange box, mario galaxy, uncharted, ratchet and clank, (assassins creed), CoD4, crysis, rock band, what a mediocre line up.

Re: It seems mediocrity is the rule these days...
 

[ QUOTE ]
yeah, mass effect, orange box, mario galaxy, uncharted, ratchet and clank, (assassins creed), CoD4, crysis, rock band, what a mediocre line up.

[/ QUOTE ]

Those games are the exception to the rule. I left out most of the recent reviews and the list of mediocre/awful games would be even longer.

Re: It seems mediocrity is the rule these days...
 

Those are a lot of [censored] exceptions.

Re: It seems mediocrity is the rule these days...
 

5-6 of the games on that list that are either sequels to successful franchises or in Beowulf's case, an adaptation of a movie. Often games like those are made just for a quick profit for the company using old games as the model. Nothing new and no innovation, hence the low scores.

but as previous posters mentioned, this holiday season has LOTS of great games. the video game industry is bigger than the movie business now -- so there are going to be lots of games, most of which will be terrible, but that doesn't mean good games won't be made.

Re: It seems mediocrity is the rule these days...
 

What I'd really like to see some more of: 2D action/adventure/rpg/whatever. I want some next-gen Wizards & Warrios action, some suped-up Faxanadu, twenty more Metroidvania games. Anything good in this vein out lately? My latest system is a GameCube, so I don't know the lineups of the next-gen stuff too well. But, yeah, some good 2D games would definitely pique my interest.

Oh, and I'm more interested in console stuff than handheld, but I guess handhelds are more likely to have this kind of game.

Re: It seems mediocrity is the rule these days...
 

I think what OP is pointing out a lot of games that were hyped up quite a bit yet turned out to be disappointing. From his list specifically Kane and Lynch, Hellgate, Jericho and maybe blacksite.

This holiday season still has quite a few strong titles, but if you take a look at some lists compiled from July/August, theres a few that got dropped.

Re: It seems mediocrity is the rule these days...
 

The complaints about Hellgate were worse than I anticipated.

Re: It seems mediocrity is the rule these days...
 

he listed almost as many ridiculously awesome games as you listed "mediocre" ones. I hardly think that works with your "exception to the rule" argument.

Re: It seems mediocrity is the rule these days...
 

Damn it, what am I going to do in a world where Cabella's Big Game Hunter isn't a game of the year candidate? I was expecting big things out of that one.

Re: It seems mediocrity is the rule these days...
 

[ QUOTE ]
I think what OP is pointing out a lot of games that were hyped up quite a bit yet turned out to be disappointing. From his list specifically Kane and Lynch, Hellgate, Jericho and maybe blacksite.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I don't think this year has been any better or worse than previous years. It's just that there have been quite a few high-profile let-downs.

Re: It seems mediocrity is the rule these days...
 

[ QUOTE ]
Damn it, what am I going to do in a world where Cabella's Big Game Hunter isn't a game of the year candidate? I was expecting big things out of that one.

[/ QUOTE ]

tell me about it, the AI is terrible, the deer just stand there, well, like deer

Re: It seems mediocrity is the rule these days...
 

Uh I could have told you all but one or two of those were going to suck about 6 months before they came out. Hellgate was a disappointment (although I still think it has potential) and same with Kane and Lynch. That's pretty much it. There are so many really amazing games out right now I don't really have enough time to play them all. I have no clue what you are complaining about.

Go to gamerankings.com, search for the top 30 games in the last 3 months and you'll see how amazing the lineup has been recently.

Re: It seems mediocrity is the rule these days...
 

on the first page for all the reviews on IGN for the 360 the average rating is 6.7 (I didn't include the foreign ratings)..

I don't discount the fact that there are great games out to be played, but to say there are more great or even good games compared to bad games out there is simply not true.

Re: It seems mediocrity is the rule these days...
 

big shocker

Re: It seems mediocrity is the rule these days...
 

[ QUOTE ]
yeah, mass effect, orange box, mario galaxy, uncharted, ratchet and clank, (assassins creed), CoD4, crysis, rock band, what a mediocre line up.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sure, if someone owns all 3 consoles and a computer with enough HP it might be a lot, but for most people who one one or two, it's still not much

Re: It seems mediocrity is the rule these days...
 

[ QUOTE ]
but to say there are more great or even good games compared to bad games out there is simply not true.

[/ QUOTE ]

No one has said this. You said that good games were the exception to the rule, which implies incredibly rare. People were simply arguing that this was untrue. Btw I don't think there has been a single time in video game history where more good games came out than bad.

Re: It seems mediocrity is the rule these days...
 

Well, if there aren't enough good games out there right now you've either got too much free time or you won't ever be satisfied.

Re: It seems mediocrity is the rule these days...
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
yeah, mass effect, orange box, mario galaxy, uncharted, ratchet and clank, (assassins creed), CoD4, crysis, rock band, what a mediocre line up.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sure, if someone owns all 3 consoles and a computer with enough HP it might be a lot, but for most people who one one or two, it's still not much

[/ QUOTE ]

??

The 360 has 5/9 of those by itself. Only one is a PC exclusive. And that doesn't include the slew of great games that have been released in the past few months, and is also missing some upcoming titles like Lost Odyssey / Katamari / Warriors Orochi / etc. Not sure how quickly you go through your games. But I only have one console right now and already have a backlog of games I haven't gotten a chance to buy yet!

Re: It seems mediocrity is the rule these days...
 

[ QUOTE ]
Well, if there aren't enough good games out there right now you've either got too much free time or you won't ever be satisfied.

[/ QUOTE ]

well, I just picked up Crysis and COD4, we'll see if the later part of what you say is true. Games like Rears of War, the Half-Life franchise, Bioshock, FEAR(the first one), and World in Conflict can spoil a person and make unrealistic expectations for upcoming games..

Re: It seems mediocrity is the rule these days...
 

Most sports games too.

Re: It seems mediocrity is the rule these days...
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Damn it, what am I going to do in a world where Cabella's Big Game Hunter isn't a game of the year candidate? I was expecting big things out of that one.

[/ QUOTE ]

tell me about it, the AI is terrible, the deer just stand there, well, like deer

[/ QUOTE ]

If the AI get revised and the deer start shooting back, I'm in. Otherwise, it's just not realistic.

Re: It seems mediocrity is the rule these days...
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Well, if there aren't enough good games out there right now you've either got too much free time or you won't ever be satisfied.

[/ QUOTE ]

well, I just picked up Crysis and COD4, we'll see if the later part of what you say is true. Games like Rears of War, the Half-Life franchise, Bioshock, FEAR(the first one), and World in Conflict can spoil a person and make unrealistic expectations for upcoming games..

[/ QUOTE ]

CoD4? Man, didn't you watch Zero Punctuations review of that? I did, and come to think of it, I'm going to again, since it's so damn funny.

Hey, I just thought of a great phrase! [censored] slap! Good? No? I like it. (the censored word rhymes with 'bunt' and starts with the same letter as the word 'censored', in case anyone is wondering)

Oh crap, that was MoH Airborn, my bad.

Re: It seems mediocrity is the rule these days...
 

Wouldn't it violate the rules of math if all games were above average?

Re: It seems mediocrity is the rule these days...
 

[ QUOTE ]
Wouldn't it violate the rules of math if all games were above average?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, but they could just make one REALLY bad game so that all games beside it were above averave.

Re: It seems mediocrity is the rule these days...
 

[ QUOTE ]
Games like Rears of War

[/ QUOTE ]

That game sounds awesome

Re: It seems mediocrity is the rule these days...
 

[ QUOTE ]
5-6 of the games on that list that are either sequels to successful franchises or in Beowulf's case, an adaptation of a movie. Often games like those are made just for a quick profit for the company using old games as the model. Nothing new and no innovation, hence the low scores.

[/ QUOTE ]

I was thinking the same thing. Cabella's Big Game Hunter and the Area 51 game are probably made at such a low budget that it doesn't need the ratings that the blockbuster games need to break even. Also there is not a huge market for games like these so they aren't marketed the same.