Little things that ruin otherwise good games

[mushashi]

Kicking a box towards a wall so you can climb up, only for it to be repeatedly destroyed by enemies.

haha, if you had stuck with it, you would of seen the return of a very similar section late into the game which p*ssed me off no end (timed spikes destroying your box ) . Had no problems with the hell level though, funnily enough

Several of the puzzle/mini-game sections were quite annoying difficulty spikes in the game I have to agree.

[Steven]

There's one bit in MP3: Corruption, where you have to pull three levers while respawning Aero Pirates put them back up again. You get two down, then you're about to grapple the third and one of the basts replaces the one you've just done. I broke out the swears quite a few times at that bit.

They appear two at a time -bit of hypermode -dead -next handle. I did it with broken glass in my eyes and underpants, Y'great nancy.

[tronied]

There is one thing in games that really annoys me which is where the game spawns constant enemies in an area until you have either completed a task, or got through that area. A recent example of this was Gears of War where just before you go down into the caves, you have to cross a few planks of wood which could break. Anyway, I stepped on the wrong one and dropped down and was set upon by a few of those dog-like enemies. I kept killing them and more kept dropping down. Eventually after killing a couple of hundred of the things and knowing it wasnt going to stop, I had to run around with them chasing me and try and find an escape route.

For me, it isnt close to ruining the game as its brilliant, but I feel it removes part of the realism and is placed there for no good reason other than to annoy the heck out of me.

* Plenty of other games have done this, but GoW is the only one I can think of right now.

[Eighthours]

GOW has another one which isn't gamebreaking but piss-annoying. Checkpoints just before voiceover story bits, where you have to walk around ultra-slowly with Fenix holding his earpiece as seemingly lengthy, unskippable dialogue goes on... EVERY SINGLE TIME YOU DIE BEFORE THE NEXT CHECKPOINT. Aaaaargghh!!

[kerraig UK]

not being able to re-load immediately after dying in bioshock.

rage

IDGI, why would you need to reload when you go straight to a vita-chamber?

also, with test drive, it worked absolutely fine after the first online patch. Its a fidgety online system for sure, but thats only cos there are lots of different ways to play it and they are all visually integrated into the game rather than just being a menu system. i guess you could see that as a criticism but for me the online was wondrous. Still the 'most next gen' game ive played.

Mine would have to go to Dead Rising. The ludicrously tight deadline on the medicine mission, the underground bombing run not allowing a save immediately after completion, the woeful pathfinding of the AI and starting you out on your journey hopefully inedaquately prepared the first time through all conspired to undermine what is a otherwise a truly progressive and stunningly designed game.

Same problem with all the GTA's. the whole structure of go, get mission, get guns, attempt mission, fail, then go back get mission AGAIN, get guns AGAIN, try mission again is horribly otudated. I want the story to carry on if i fail a mission.

[meatbin]

Yep Dead Rising was spoilt like a Beckham kid.

[Alex W.]

Jackal Snipers in Halo 2. I can't think of a single enemy type which has been so utterly destructive to a game's entertainment value. On lower difficulties, they are just plain annoying and serve no damn purpose, but on Legendary, they make the game completely pointless by killing you at random.

[kerraig UK]

oh my god I cant believe those jackals didnt leap immediately to mind. utter fucking idiocy. Also see making the elites your allies and dropping wort wort wort for religious psychobabble and giving us a bunch of idiotic gorillas to fight.

[Cosmic_Guru]

The wretched convicts and da hip hop music in Dead Rising. Totally bonkers decision completely at odds with the rest of the game structure and aesthetic. By all means put another psycho or two in that area but not THEM. Garrr.

[Strafe]

How awful it must have been to play as someone who, for all intents and purposes, is absolutely no different to playing as Master Chief.

At all.

It was the equivilant of reading a novel written in the first person and then suddenly switching to a new character. It was fucking shit.

[Sabreman]

Zelda - A Link To the Past - Occupying the same physical space as your enemy, making combat terribly frustrating.

Castlevania - Symphony of the Night - Taking hits while you're recovering from taking a hit. Shite!

Super Metroid - Boss battles that take up more than one screen, meaning that you have to jump blindly and very often directly into dangers you can't see. Kraid... I'm looking at you

[Masu]

Perfect Dark Zero - The "Action Man" / Kryten rubbery faces.

Oh, and needing 200 shots in the face to kill someone because "casual players" need to be catered for too.

[Liquid Myth]

It was the equivilant of reading a novel written in the first person and then suddenly switching to a new character. It was fucking shit.

Evidently, your emotional attachment to the story can have me simply disregard your bizarre comparison and opinion outright.

It's not fucking Shakespeare. Or Clancy. Or even Madonna. Just typical gung-ho capers stuck onto a decent game.

[fasteasyfree]

Super Metroid - Boss battles that take up more than one screen, meaning that you have to jump blindly and very often directly into dangers you can't see. Kraid... I'm looking at you

I know what you mean. I think it added to the intensity though, even if it did seem a little unfair. (I killed him in the end after I ran out of everything except those super-bomb things you plant as a morph-ball. I kept bouncing up and down planting them.)

But the most recent was in Bioshock. you know the bit where you first encounter the Big Daddy? Well as soon as you drop down the last bit of stairs, look up to the top left - the bit you just came through, and you can see him spawn right in front of your eyes. That was fucking cheap.

[sosidge]

Bioshock... the fact that everything in the gameworld casts a shadow. Except you. And the fact that you have no legs!

Well... you did say little things!

[Timmo]

Bioshock... the fact that everything in the gameworld casts a shadow. Except you. And the fact that you have no legs!

Well... you did say little things!

"that ruin... games".

[Comrade]

It was the equivilant of reading a novel written in the first person and then suddenly switching to a new character. It was fucking shit.

That's been done in literally thousands of novels. It's not new, or even bad. The only real problem was that the Arbiter actually had a character and drama and stuff, whereas the Master Chief was the same old "blank canvas" which made the story lopsided towards the Arbiter. But anyway, it didn't effect the game one jot. In fact I like the Arbiter levels, having covenant guys with you was really cool, as since they had shields too, they actually survived for quite a bit. Plus, invisibility.

[routeburn]

The savepoints in Metroid Prime ruined it for me. I wanted to play in 1-2 hour slots, but by the time I'd got from the last savepoint to where I died last time, I'd either die again and have to do the travelling all again (with respawning enemies), or make it through and have to find the next save point.

I find a similar problem with FFXII. It's really hard to play when you've only got an hour or two to spare, mainly due to having to reach the next savepoint before you can finish your session.

[SPE]

It was the equivilant of reading a novel written in the first person and then suddenly switching to a new character. It was fucking shit.

LOLZ. Not liking the Arbiter is like cognitive dissonance for 14 year old.

[Isaac]

(Halo)...was the equivilant[sic] of reading a novel

[Ropelight]

Well done for creating a HATE thread Tim.

Pfft.

[chris on the moon]

It was the equivilant of reading a novel written in the first person and then suddenly switching to a new character. It was fucking shit.

No, not quite. Halo isn't half-life. In half-life you're always gordon freeman right? there's not even cutscenes.

but in halo you're not always master chief. you first see him when he's already gone through a bunch of battles and is getting unfrozen. there's lots of mystery so you don't really feel much like him.

Zelda - A Link To the Past - Occupying the same physical space as your enemy, making combat terribly frustrating.

Castlevania - Symphony of the Night - Taking hits while you're recovering from taking a hit. Shite!

Super Metroid - Boss battles that take up more than one screen, meaning that you have to jump blindly and very often directly into dangers you can't see. Kraid... I'm looking at you

are you taking the piss?

[Corporal Flashback]

Evidently, your emotional attachment to the story can have me simply disregard your bizarre comparison and opinion outright.

It's not fucking Shakespeare. Or Clancy. Or even Madonna. Just typical gung-ho capers stuck onto a decent game.

Which is weird, because my emotional attachment has the opposite effect - I loved the Arbiter story. I think the initial hate towards him was just a load of goits getting pissed at someone taking up Master Chief playing time, despite playing almost exactly the same as him, but the Arbiter is a much better character with a far better story than the mostly one-dimensional Master Chief.

[squirtle]

The retarded fucking ally AI in Gears of War. Seriously, how fucking hard would have it been to just put the most basic of commands in it to stop Dom and the rest from just running out look fucking idiots to get shot to pieces every fucking time. It's just ridiculous. Playing it on Insane recently, got to that bit with that round fountain bit in the first level, after taking out the guy with the troika. I just watched as all my teammates, instead of staying behind cover and taking out the locusts from safety, go bounding over the wall and get ripped to shreds in a matter of moments. All of them. Inept fucking cock monkeys, supposed to be the elite of the elite and they're fucking clueless. Same goes for Dom in the fight against Raam. Jesus wept. And don't give me this, "You need to play it co-op!" crap, either. The game has a single player mode which is fundamentally crippled by the shit AI.

[Mogget]

The combat in BioShock.

Oh, sorry. You said "little" things.

[tronied]

The retarded fucking ally AI in Gears of War. Seriously, how fucking hard would have it been to just put the most basic of commands in it to stop Dom and the rest from just running out look fucking idiots to get shot to pieces every fucking time. It's just ridiculous. Playing it on Insane recently, got to that bit with that round fountain bit in the first level, after taking out the guy with the troika. I just watched as all my teammates, instead of staying behind cover and taking out the locusts from safety, go bounding over the wall and get ripped to shreds in a matter of moments. All of them. Inept fucking cock monkeys, supposed to be the elite of the elite and they're fucking clueless. Same goes for Dom in the fight against Raam. Jesus wept. And don't give me this, "You need to play it co-op!" crap, either. The game has a single player mode which is fundamentally crippled by the shit AI.

They dont seem that bad on casual mode. Guess ill have these problems on my second run through in hardcore.

[b00dles]

Although it's not a particularly great game anyway, the last fight in DOA4 and Goose in whatever one it was he was in.... totally over-hard final bosses in fighting games that can be down to about an inch of life bar and then do either

one move that completely chops about 3/4's of your life off, or

gets you stuck in a never ending combo til you die, kicking you as you get up from their last move so you can't counter or anything

just bloody frustrating.

[routeburn]

The retarded fucking ally AI in Gears of War. [etc]

I have absolutely no f'ing idea how Gears of War got such good reviews. I guess people were just desperate for a "true next-gen"-looking game.

[Sprite Machine]

I have absolutely no f'ing idea how Gears of War got such good reviews. I guess people were just desperate for a "true next-gen"-looking game.

Certainly not the case for me. I just really like it.

[routeburn]

Certainly not the case for me. I just really like it.

Be interested to take this to the Gears thread. I'm still convinced I'm "playing it wrong" or something. It just isn't pushing my button, and it should be my sort of thing.

ObThread: The AI does spoil it for me. Team mates wandering out and just getting slaughtered is a bit depressing.