Portal vs. the uncertified

Post by **The_cranky_hermit** » 05 Jan 2008, 00:03

It looks like Portal will win WSGF GOTY. But I thought it would be fun to pit it against the strongest GOTY contenders that weren't certified.

In case you're curious why each game was not certified:
BioShock has stretched HUD and 2D screens in 16:10 resolutions.
Call of Duty 4 is fine AFAIK, but nobody bothered to write a DR for it.
Crysis has cropped FMVs.
Sam & Max: Season One has no widescreen support at all.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. has a stretched HUD.

Tanuki · Post by **Tanuki** » 05 Jan 2008, 02:53

Not exactly a bountiful PC game crop this year.

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 05 Jan 2008, 14:24

I enjoyed CoD4 way more than I enjoyed any of the others. Crysis was close... STALKER was close...

Elios · Post by **Elios** » 05 Jan 2008, 14:49

:P what still no World in Conflict listed

Osuperman · Post by **Osuperman** » 05 Jan 2008, 15:15

I voted for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. because although I adored Portal, it didn't really give me the many hours of true immersive gameplay and atmosphere I got from the exclusion zone of Chernobyl power station. Okay driving was cut out and there was that whole widescreen/vista issue when it finally arrived (thanks Racer_S for the patch!), but once you sat down and played through the game it became sort of compelling.

With fantastic art, level and sound design (brain scorcher anyone?), the game was one of the first I have ever played that I felt was truly frightening!

I was really excited about S.T.A.L.K.E.R. in the months leading up to its release and its the only game in the last year thats lived up to my expectations. I loved every minute - so much so I've just started it again :) Plus I've always had a mild fascination with the Chernobyl power station anyway!

Post by **Paddy the Wak** » 05 Jan 2008, 15:20

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. .... Portal was ... well ..... down right boring.

infernus · Post by **infernus** » 05 Jan 2008, 16:56

CoD4 was an outright blast to play so there's a vote from me.

Dem Pyros · Post by **Dem Pyros** » 05 Jan 2008, 18:26

CoD4 for me was a total bust. The multiplayer isn't "that" amazing, and the singleplayer (imo) was terrible. If you layer on any difficulty less than veteran, it seems as if you were practically invincible. If you played on veteran, you got screwed over by AI EVERY TIME. I cannot tell you how many hundreds of times I played over the second-to-last mission on veteran because my AI kept pushing me out of my cover.

[/rant]

Bioshock was amazing, however.

Post by **Paradigm Shifter** » 05 Jan 2008, 19:54

Ain't it great the way games can polarise us? :) Or interesting, at the very least. ;) Kinda like films and music... or indeed, anything creative.

...I now have to admit the idea of 'games as art' is gaining on me. ;)

I thought Bioshock was an utter failure, except for in the graphics department. Steam-punk System Shock 2, but dumbed-down for consoles. ;)

DaFox · Post by **DaFox** » 05 Jan 2008, 21:18

If you layer on any difficulty less than veteran, it seems as if you were practically invincible. If you played on veteran, you got screwed over by AI EVERY TIME. I cannot tell you how many hundreds of times I played over the second-to-last mission on veteran because my AI kept pushing me out of my cover.

Agreed, I finshed it on Hardened And it wasnt bad till what I think is the second to last mission. The sniper one By the Farris wheel was stupidly hard. Played it probably 20 times or so, And i ended up having to be rather lame, I hid behind the Bumperkarts and watched as they ran all the way around it and would shoot them as soon as they poped around the corner.

Dem Pyros · Post by **Dem Pyros** » 05 Jan 2008, 21:47

[quote]If you layer on any difficulty less than veteran, it seems as if you were practically invincible. If you played on veteran, you got screwed over by AI EVERY TIME. I cannot tell you how many hundreds of times I played over the second-to-last mission on veteran because my AI kept pushing me out of my cover.

Agreed, I finshed it on Hardened And it wasnt bad till what I think is the second to last mission. The sniper one By the Farris wheel was stupidly hard. Played it probably 20 times or so, And i ended up having to be rather lame, I hid behind the Bumperkarts and watched as they ran all the way around it and would shoot them as soon as they poped around the corner.The Chernobyl level was fine until the last scene with the ferris wheel, and yes I too hid behind the bumper cars.... What killed me was when the SAS sent three people (you included) to prevent the end of the world, and didn't tell the deactivation codes to those ALREADY IN THE CONTROL ROOM.

Some things make sense, the singleplayer campaign didn't.

Cynagen · Post by **Cynagen** » 05 Jan 2008, 23:35

...Call of Duty 4 is fine AFAIK, but nobody bothered to write a DR for it....

Hey man, I've been a bit lazier than I should have, I'll get on it.

infernus · Post by **infernus** » 06 Jan 2008, 00:41

[quote][quote]If you layer on any difficulty less than veteran, it seems as if you were practically invincible. If you played on veteran, you got screwed over by AI EVERY TIME. I cannot tell you how many hundreds of times I played over the second-to-last mission on veteran because my AI kept pushing me out of my cover.

Agreed, I finshed it on Hardened And it wasnt bad till what I think is the second to last mission. The sniper one By the Farris wheel was stupidly hard. Played it probably 20 times or so, And i ended up having to be rather lame, I hid behind the Bumperkarts and watched as they ran all the way around it and would shoot them as soon as they poped around the corner.The Chernobyl level was fine until the last scene with the ferris wheel, and yes I too hid behind the bumper cars.... What killed me was when the SAS sent three people (you included) to prevent the end of the world, and didn't tell the deactivation codes to those ALREADY IN THE CONTROL ROOM.

Some things make sense, the singleplayer campaign didn't.

I guess I got lucky...I've never had a problem with AI. Played it on both the console and PC through Veteran and it all seemed smooth to me. They might run in front of me from time to time is all.
Don't they tell you the codes shortly before you get to the room? And the other Marines arrive in the control room same time you do, no? I'm a bit fuzzy on the details atm. :S

mengzor · Post by **mengzor** » 06 Jan 2008, 02:24

Agreed, I finshed it on Hardened And it wasnt bad till what I think is the second to last mission. The sniper one By the Farris wheel was stupidly hard. Played it probably 20 times or so, And i ended up having to be rather lame, I hid behind the Bumperkarts and watched as they ran all the way around it and would shoot them as soon as they poped around the corner.

The Chernobyl level was fine until the last scene with the ferris wheel, and yes I too hid behind the bumper cars....
Oh god that mission was a slut :<
i hid RIGHT at the back (further back then where they spawn) and barely made it into the chopper alive.
I still havent actually finished it , im at the last area-ish with the timelimit to get to the control room and there are these 5 guys that constantly kill me.

infernus · Post by **infernus** » 06 Jan 2008, 16:25

Admittedly, that mission is quite a bitch. My only advice is pre-fire and flashes. :(

greylantern · Post by **greylantern** » 07 Jan 2008, 04:19

Bioshock was awful even disregarding it's horrible widescreen problems, PC at least, it was one of the shoddiest products i've seen in some years for gameplay, bugs and PC centric design. Seriously the mouse doesn't work right, the interface is all wrong for PC the only thing it has going for it is a nice theme, some nice graphics and a deviation from the norm of FPS storylines.

My vote goes to CRYSIS, you need a GOOD system to enjoy it fully it's true but it's stunning in gameplay, physics and graphics. And what's more the 'slight' problem of the FMV is pretty much a non issue in the scheme of things as the 99% of the game uses realtime which is perfect Widescreen.

Frag Maniac · Post by **Frag Maniac** » 07 Jan 2008, 10:45

CoD4 for sure over any of the others mentioned. Portal was fun and unique, but extremely short, one dimensional in content, and very unbalanced annoyingly so in it's challenges.

CoD4 will go down in history as one of the best shooters of all time even though it was released amongst some pretty big and anticipated titles, Crysis of which pales in comparison sales wise.

BlueMak · Post by **BlueMak** » 07 Jan 2008, 11:52

I didn't find the wheel misison at all difficult at that part. (nea r extraction)
I went as back as possible, up the small "hill", and with some good aiming it was exciting but never felt like I am going to fail.

I found the single player part of CoD fun, but way way way too short. Still, I do not find the CoD games as much any most other FPS due to the mechanics where you have to advance to a certain point to force the enemy stop spawining and coming in waves. I find it so silly I just find it impossible to recommend the game as best of for any category.

From the list, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is my choice.
Bioshock could be so much better as a game, but it isn't. Combined with the whole WS issue, I say, fudge it.

Osuperman · Post by **Osuperman** » 08 Jan 2008, 03:00

You know, I don't think we talk enough about S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and its awesomeness so I'm going to just throw this in...

I'm just at the X18 lab and jesus, I forgot how bloody scary this place is... as I mentioned before, the sound is just spot on! All these low frequency rumbles, foot steps or strange clanging sounds... I know nothing is there but I literally jump out my seat! The developers understand that it's the imagination that scares you and thats what makes the game so powerful.

I just checked oblivion-lost.de and they have a media update on Clear Sky... just look at the character models... reminds me of the first character comparison shots from Half-Life 2 when they came out, what a difference!

http://www.oblivion-lost.de/index.php?zone=design2&lang=en

Now I always thought parts of the game had a cartoony look to it, the characters especially, they didn't really tie together with the world properly... so imagine how much more impressive the game will be if the devs match the art design to the level and sound design - it'll be amazing! :)

skeeder · Post by **skeeder** » 08 Jan 2008, 03:44

Portal was the most fun I've had since...Quake III. Its seriously fun.

STALKER was boring...to me...

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