Topic: Hype: The reason why I avoid some games

[NWR_pap64]

The Deus Ex talk reminded me of something I've been meaning to talk about.

There are some games that are considered to be the best in the entire industry. I'll confess that I avoided some of these games. Why? One word: HYPE.

We all know what it is, its the thing that raises our expectations about something, its what gets us really excited for something. Sometimes the hype is warranted but about 80% of the time it just destroys the potential thanks to the exceedingly high expectations it creates.

Hence why I have avoided some games like they were the plague. There are some games that either online forums or close friends HYPE like they were the best thing since sliced bread. If go play said games because of this, chances are I will not see what everyone's talking about and move on with something else.

Here are some games that I avoided because I fear that hype may ruin my overall enjoyment of the game:
Deus Ex: S_B has told me how great this game is, as well some of my school friends and classmates. One of them even gave me a copy of the game, but I never got around to playing it. Like I mentioned, I fear that the game might not meet my expectations. Also, the minute I loaded it up, that feeling that says "this isn't going to be as good as people say it is" reared its ugly head, so I decided to stop before it took over and ruined my enjoyment of the game.

Prince of Persia The sands of time: This I flat out avoided. I didn't buy it, I didn't rent it, I didn't borrow it from a friend, hell I IGNORED every review that said that this game was a masterpiece, because I KNEW people were hyping this game WAY too much, so the chance of it not meeting expectations were really high. So no...

Beyond Good and Evil: Everyone who has played this has said that the game is fantastic, one of the best Ubi has ever released. Hell, if I am not mistaken Cap owns several copies of the game because he loves the game too much. While I do trust people when they say the game is good I simply have that fear that once I play it I will find something wrong with it.

So overall, I rather have a nice, neutral memory of a game than play it, then be annoyed at the hype and argue with people about it.

Does anyone feel the same way?

[GoldenPhoenix]

Well I was hyped to read this thread but I feared it would dissapoint me so I decided to delay my response indefinately.

[Smoke39]

Hype is a dumb reason to avoid a game.  For all you know, you might be one of the people who can appreciate the game's strengths if you would actually give it a chance.

[nitsu niflheim]

Metal Gear Solid 2....

[Mario]

Hype only enhances the experience for me, it adds an extra layer of "wow i can't believe i'm finally actually playing this game!".

There's something weird about your post, the fact you see PoP and BG&E in a negative light now, wouldn't that mean you can only be pleasantly surprised by them? I mean who cares if other people are hyping it, if you arent hyping it how can you be disappointed? I don't really understand.

[Bill Aurion]

Just delve into a hyped game with a level head and there shouldn't be any problem...

[nitsu niflheim]

I agree with both of you Mario & Bill, but I hate it when hyping become lieing.  We were lied to about MGS2, for example.  How well would the game have orginally done if the people doing the reviews didn't use the line "we can't tell you anything becaus eit would spoil it" and had been honest about Raiden?  Konami lied about giving America the game first as a "reward" for making MGS a mega sellar, when in fact they were releasing it here first because they knew the game woudl bomb if they released it first in Japan like normal and America found out the "secret" before it was released here.

MGS2 is one reason I don't trust anything that reviewers and such say about games anymore, because they towed the line, so to speak, right along with Konami, and let the hype for the game get out of control and did nothing but disappoint a lot of buyers.

I mean, the fallout was hilarious.  A lot of the magazines that gave the game such high scores were right along with the jaded buyers in making fun of the game, so what does that say about them.  They wouldn't even stand up and defend, fo rth emost part, their own justification for "protecting" the game.  

[GoldenPhoenix]

Quote
Originally posted by: nitsu niflheim
I agree with both of you Mario & Bill, but I hate it when hyping become lieing.  We were lied to about MGS2, for example.  How well would the game have orginally done if the people doing the reviews didn't use the line "we can't tell you anything becaus eit would spoil it" and had been honest about Raiden?  Konami lied about giving America the game first as a "reward" for making MGS a mega sellar, when in fact they were releasing it here first because they knew the game woudl bomb if they released it first in Japan like normal and America found out the "secret" before it was released here.

MGS2 is one reason I don't trust anything that reviewers and such say about games anymore, because they towed the line, so to speak, right along with Konami, and let the hype for the game get out of control and did nothing but disappoint a lot of buyers.

I mean, the fallout was hilarious.  A lot of the magazines that gave the game such high scores were right along with the jaded buyers in making fun of the game, so what does that say about them.  They wouldn't even stand up and defend, fo rth emost part, their own justification for "protecting" the game.

The funny thing is that I actually enjoyed MGS2 the most out of the 3 games, in fact I never felt like beating the other two but couldn't put down MGS2! Goofy story, definately, but it was a fun experience!

[Sir_Stabbalot]

Quote
Deus Ex: S_B has told me how great this game is, as well some of my school friends and classmates. One of them even gave me a copy of the game, but I never got around to playing it. Like I mentioned, I fear that the game might not meet my expectations. Also, the minute I loaded it up, that feeling that says "this isn't going to be as good as people say it is" reared its ugly head, so I decided to stop before it took over and ruined my enjoyment of the game.

The bolded part makes no sense at all. You'd still get more enjoyment out of playing the game and not finding it quite as good as everyone says then not playing it at all. So what if you find it to fall short of expectations? No one's forcing you to call it the best game ever. All your doing is robbing yourself of the chance to play a good game.

[Nick DiMola]

I understand where pap is going with this, but you definitely shouldn't avoid games just because they are hyped too much. Stay leveled headed (as suggested above) and everything should be alright. If you don't expect the world, you won't be disappointed.

[Artimus]

Deus Ex is very very good, but still overrated. It's not mind blowing. It was my first major PC FPS in a long time so I was disappointed. Oddly enough I played Half-Life 6 months later and found it every bit as good as I'd heard. I was really surprised.

Price of Persia is fairly good (I haven't beaten it, need to get on that) but it's not a masterpiece. It gets a little dull and the enemies/fighting is really dull. It doesn't quite have the right action/platforming balance. But it's still very well done.

Beyond Good and Evil was a decently done run-of-the-mill action game. Take the kind of world setup you'd find in, say, Knights of the Old Republic, and add fairly generic fighting and movement. So bizarrely overrated and I cannot figure out why. I played it on the PC, though, so maybe that's why.

I find Viewtiful Joe very overrated, too. The graphics aren't attractive to me and I find it hurts my eyes after a while. It's visually obnoxious.

I usually just seek out the best reviewed games, so hype isn't an issue for me. I find it goes 50/50 pretty much.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Quote
Originally posted by: Artimus
Deus Ex is very very good, but still overrated. It's not mind blowing. It was my first major PC FPS in a long time so I was disappointed. Oddly enough I played Half-Life 6 months later and found it every bit as good as I'd heard. I was really surprised.

Price of Persia is fairly good (I haven't beaten it, need to get on that) but it's not a masterpiece. It gets a little dull and the enemies/fighting is really dull. It doesn't quite have the right action/platforming balance. But it's still very well done.

Beyond Good and Evil was a decently done run-of-the-mill action game. Take the kind of world setup you'd find in, say, Knights of the Old Republic, and add fairly generic fighting and movement. So bizarrely overrated and I cannot figure out why. I played it on the PC, though, so maybe that's why.

I find Viewtiful Joe very overrated, too. The graphics aren't attractive to me and I find it hurts my eyes after a while. It's visually obnoxious.

I usually just seek out the best reviewed games, so hype isn't an issue for me. I find it goes 50/50 pretty much.

I definately agree here is what I've encountered with hype:

BG&E: A well done platformer but didn't feel like anything "special"

PoP: Didn't care much for it at all

Halo series: I can't stand the series and feel it is beyond shallow, but then again I also play alot of PC Games

GTA: Fun series, but definately does not live up to the hype, each "new" game feels like an expansion pack
Metroid Prime series: Not a big fan of them, and feel they have too many flaws (I especially hate how poorly done exploration is in the first game, there is just way to much ground to cover to find everything)

Zelda series: Haven't been dissapointed yet

Mario series: Same as Zelda

KOTR: I really like this series, and feels it lives up to the hype

The Sims: I love the Sims but think it is a bit overhyped and has become stagnant

Madden: Great football series but still there is not enough new to warrant the hype each year

GoW: Yet another big let down. Is it a good game? Yes but not deserving of the hype, it doesn't really feel special or innovative besides the visuals

God of War: One of the best action games around, but still not what I would call a unique or jaw dropping experience.

Resident Evil series: For the most part lives up to the hype

Metal Gear Solid: I'll never understand why this glorified mov
ie series is so popular

Kid Icarus: Hey have to bring in old school here, personally I find the game average at best. It has sloppy controls, poor level design, cheap difficult, and awkward shooting mechanics.

Finally ARTISTIC games that people rave about like Killer 7, Viewtiful Joe, Rez, etc etc. I find most of these games that people drool over because of their artistic quality to have a ton of flaws that people overlook. I put them in the same category as "artistic" films which most of the time are not up to a standard of "polish" as many big budget films. Can't say how disgusted I am when I see movies try to be artistic by doing something like "handheld camcorder" shakyness, grainy or even oversaturated images in colors. The same thing applies to games and I always get the feeling people are more impressed by the "visual" candy than the substance.

And on and on, but I have definately been dissapointed with many hyped games in the past. Lately though I have tried to look over the hype and wait to see for myself unless it is something special like a new Mario platformer or Zelda game which never seem to dissapoint. For example with Gears of War, I was critical of the game way before it came out because I felt people were overinflating its Greatness, and seen many potential flaws.
 

[oohhboy]

Your kidding about Deus Ex right? I guess it wasn't for you. It is part of the FPS sub-genre that few companies have tried and excelled at. The thief series comes to mind, but it doesn't quite have the npc interactions or the raw number of tools or methods you can use to bypass an obstacle. It was also too hard for the average person to play.

System Shock while lacking any direct npc interaction, it has a narrative that can't be beat.

Elder Scrools had actually fails in general due to a crap combat system and lack of vision.

Viewiful Joe for me had lived up to it hype. I had avoided the beatem up genre for quite a while due to its lack to inovation. It just wasn't fun anymore. Sure they were in 3D now, but the game could have been rendered sprites and the gameplay mechanic would have remained the same. VJ changed all that by bringing in new elements and bringing back the art of making a 2D game that wasn't 2D.

I haven't played the other 2, but I have played Phyconauts. It had a distintive visual style, but I felt it didn't bring anything new to the table.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Been so long since I've played Deus Ex, in fact the last time I played it was when it was brand spanking new for the PC. I have fond memories of it and its unique approach to the FPS genre by making it quite non-linear!

[WuTangTurtle]

ppl may awp me for this but Half-Life 2, I felt it was really good at first but i got pretty bored of it after a few levels.  I'm a huge fan of Counter-Strike and all but Half-Life 2 didn't do it for me.  The destructable environments that were supposed to be like a puzzle solving kind of thing was too obvious for me and it just started to feel gimmicky.

Oh and Halo, I've found Halo as the most pick up and play FPS.  Thats not a complement though, its pretty shallow, slow, and has some of the strangest game design choices.  For example why does jumping seem like u are on a freaking moon all the time, it makes u a easy target and punishes u severly for doing so, unlike other FPS games where jumping can save ur life.  Shot accuracy is too forgiving, weapon variety is bad and so is the weapon balance.  I could go on....

I think instead of following the Hype train it is much more pleasing to find the hidden gems or sleeper hits out there.  Way back from the first pokemon game, I remember reading about what the game was like and thought it sounded good, boy did i find a gem there.  I also did the same with the first gba advance wars when it came out.  I think out of all the hidden gems that I've found Daigasso! Band Brothers (Jam with the band) is my favorite find.

EDIT:  Added Halo Dissing

[GoldenPhoenix]

Quote
Originally posted by: WuTangTurtle
ppl may awp me for this but Half-Life 2, I felt it was really good at first but i got pretty bored of it after a few levels.  I'm a huge fan of Counter-Strike and all but Half-Life 2 didn't do it for me.  The destructable environments that were supposed to be like a puzzle solving kind of thing was too obvious for me and it just started to feel gimmicky.

Oh and Halo, I've found Halo as the most pick up and play FPS.  Thats not a complement though, its pretty shallow, slow, and has some of the strangest game design choices.  For example why does jumping seem like u are on a freaking moon all the time, it makes u a easy target and punishes u severly for doing so, unlike other FPS games where jumping can save ur life.  Shot accuracy is too forgiving, weapon variety is bad and so is the weapon balance.  I could go on....

I think instead of following the Hype train it is much more pleasing to find the hidden gems or sleeper hits out there.  Way back from the first pokemon game, I remember reading about what the game was like and thought it sounded good, boy did i find a gem there.  I also did the same with the first gba advance wars when it came out.  I think out of all the hidden gems that I've found Daigasso! Band Brothers (Jam with the band) is my favorite find.

EDIT:  Added Halo Dissing

I agree with you, Halo is definately a pick up and play title but like you also said it is pretty shallow. Most of the design choices made for it were ways of getting around the POOR control pad controls, and I still swear the shield regeneration thing was added more as a feature to avoid some balance issues.

[Shift Key]

Yeah, Mario and Bill pretty much summed up what you should be thinking of the hyped games. You shouldn't dismiss them simply because other people liked them. That'd be stupid.

Anyway, opinions follow below:

BG&E: Was this even hyped? A nice story, very straight-forward game in terms of gameplay, but not something that you go back and play through multiple times.

PoP: Actually, I don't remember much hype from this game as well aside from PC fanboys yearning for more 2D side-scrolling Arab fetishes. It was different from the various action games out in that there was more of an emphasis on "ok, the room is in ruins, time to figure out a way across the room" instead of beating up monsters constantly. But there was a bit of that in between. Another good game.

Halo series: I'm sure if I liked FPS games, I'd play this a lot more. But I leave that up to Xbox mates. The online matches are bad due to lag spikes, and I've played a fair bit of online games. Single player is annoying. But who plays the single player mode?

GTA: Now this one is definitely overhyped. Yes, there are missions, but I'd rather go explore the world and get rewards that way. And even that got boring fast. Go drive across town? I CAN DO THAT IN THE REAL WORLD!

Metroid Prime series: Didn't play much of this before Prime, but I found it very enjoyable. The FPS view does a lot for the claustrophobic feeling of exploring unknown places and fighting unknown creatures. I'd say this was underrated because people didn't like the controls. But that's their choice, they just choose to remain ignorant.

KOTR: Haven't touched the series. Maybe something to do with Star Wars prequels and desecrating classic franchises - who knows?

The Sims: The first Sims game was a lot of fun - perhaps it was channeling a lot of the Sim City 2000 vibe of building and then destroying populations (sup alien spaceship). But after that (the expansions, so many expansions, and Sims 2 was more of the same). Yes, this one was overrated.

Madden: FOOTBALL *waves hands* Madden is hilarious. The game is not. And its not hyped. You're confusing football fans with the general population. Don't.

GoW: Any game that I can come into and dominate online without any previous experience is a game I enjoy greatly. But is it hyped? Yes.

God of War: I meant to pick this up for cheap, but then I got rid of my PS2. It looked interesting, but very short (like BG&E, but violent).

Resident Evil series: CUTSCENES. FREAKING CUTSCENES. BARRY. JUST SHUT UP BARRY!
Anyway, a good series from what I've seen. But yes, very hyped. It has its flaws (camera angles for one, and that was a huge nuisance especially in parts of Nemesis where you have to know what is happening before it happens - yes, the Nemesis incidents are rididculous)

Metal Gear Solid: MGS fanboys are among the worst. A terrible control scheme and too many cutscenes. I like stealth games fine, but this was just beyond my tolerance limits.

Kid Icarus: Nup, can't speak of this one.

Deus Ex: Didn't play the first one (in hindsight I probably should have) but I picked up the second and gave that a shot. It was ok, but the feeling that this was a bit hyped was there from the start. And I pretty much stopped playing midway through - sitting in some person's apartment messing around with the alarm system I think. I passed it onto a mate who was wondering if the sequel was worth playing. I hope he has more luck with it than I did.

Viewtiful Joe: some hype and some criticism about this one. Again, it was short, but a fun game. Probably a bit simple to play.

Moral of the story: don't let hype get in the way of a fun game. Hire it if you have to, but don't write off a game until you have at least some idea of what its about. And pictures in a magazine don't count - play it!

[Smoke39]

Quote
Originally posted by: Shift Key
Deus Ex: Didn't play the first one (in hindsight I probably should have) but I picked up the second and gave that a shot. It was ok, but the feeling that this was a bit hyped was there from the start. And I pretty much stopped playing midway through - sitting in some person's apartment messing around with the alarm system I think. I passed it onto a mate who was wondering if the sequel was worth playing. I hope he has more luck with it than I did.

I don't know if you really care, but Invisible War is quite inferior to the original.  It's oversimplified and the story isn't as good.

[Shift Key]

Quote
Originally posted by: Smoke39
I don't know if you really care, but Invisible War is quite inferior to the original.  It's oversimplified and the story isn't as good.

Which is why I said that I didn't play the original. Oh well, maybe some day I'll try the original.

[oohhboy]

KOTOR was a lot of fun, even if I was playing it on a computer that was a bit too under powered for it at the time. The ability to build a charater that reflected how you wanted to play the games was great. The converted DnD rules was easy to understand. the combat was adequate, but got more repeatitive the more specised you got. The npc interactions had some good laughs in there. Accounting droids FTW. It matched up with the hype I got. Although, don't play KOTOR 2, well you can, but it's weak sauce.

[WuTangTurtle]

Deus Ex: I thought the original was pretty good, it reminded me of Half-Life 1 but it had more of an RPG feel.

Viewtiful Joe:  I think it met the hype well, its the sequels that killed it.

Dead or Alive series:  To be honest the only one I've played was the Dreamcast one I believe it was DOA2, it was cool for the first 15min then i hung on for the 30min only because my friends were still into it.  I think the problem was that it didn't differentiate itself from any other fighter.  To be fair I was spoiled with Soul Calibur before that though.

[Sir_Stabbalot]

Wow, lists seem to be popular. I WILL FOLLOW THE CROWD!

Half-Life 2: This game deserves the hype it got, IMHO. Valve really outdid themselves with it. Combat was fun (even moreso because of the gravity gun, nothing like killing zombies by launching radiators at them) and I found the puzzles to be a great break between the action. Plus the huge amount of mods for it make it last forever.

Half-Life 2: Episode 1: The game's fun and a good extension of Half-Life 2, but to be honest the whole episodic content system fails for it, as I'm not certain Valve has ever completed a game on time. They do good work, but have a tendency to throw everything away half way through and start from scratch.

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind: This game deserved all the hype it got. Vvardenfell is huge, and every time I ventured into an uncharted area, it was a new journey. I could stumble upon a dwemer ruin and stomp the derelict centurion spiders easily, but a cave down farther may house an elite Daedric cult. Every area felt hand-made. Best 100+ hours I've had in any game to date. Oh, and mods. I can go on and on about how much they rock.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: he game's good, but to be honest it was dumbed down so much it ruined it for me. In Morrowind, the dungeons were all different and hand-placed. In Oblivion, EVERYTHING is leveled with you. Loot, enemies, guards, you name it, it's leveled. No more wandering into a dungeon not knowing how tough it will be. And did I mention how simple the quests are? You almost never get any options for how to complete them. Also, the so-called "Radiant AI" doesn't exist. Don't get me started... And the Construction Set is crap.

Halo 2: Good game and a blast to play online with friends. You haven't truly played it until you've played the custom Zombies gametype with eight friends on Foundation. Still, so much was cut out, it feels more like an expansion to the original then a full game. The ATV, sprinting, destructable environments, melee combos, vehicle handling affected by damage, peeking around corners and remotly-detonated explosives were all things that should have been in.

KOTOR: Played both and can see why their loved so much. And for you meatbags who haven't played it, HK-47 rocks.

Gears of War: I believe the hype was too much fr this game. It's fun, but it's in no way an instant classic. The cover system adds a new layer to the game, but to be honest, there's not much variety in multiplayer besides standard Gears vs. Locusts deathmatches.

Metroid Prime: It rocks, ok? Anyone who derides the series because it's not a "true" first-person shooter is an idiot.

GTA: I only played the PC version of San Andreas. Great, but looking at the rest of the series since GTA III, they all seem the same.

Mario & Zelda: No disapointments so far. Hype for both series has gotten to the point I ignore it, so I can't really comment.

[KDR_11k]

I think HL2 is overhyped, it's not nearly as fun to play as many people claim. The grav gun is stupid (click on box, click on enemy, repeat) and the weapons not very fun to use.

[Sir_Stabbalot]

Quote
The grav gun is stupid (click on box, click on enemy, repeat)

Wh, what?!? Is it even possible to put those words in the same sentence?!?

I'm joking, of course. But I found the gravity gun indispensable throughout the game. I mean, it could be used as a weapon, to make cover, grab health and ammunition I normally couldn't reach, throw an enemy's grenade back at them, changed Manhacks into a weapon, switched hopper mines to your side and made Rollermines into toys.

Then again, maybe I just get too much joy out of killing a guy with a toilet.

[Smoke39]

I'm with KDR.  I thought Episode 1 was better, but still not really great.