Worst moments of otherwise good games

[thespyder]

So in keeping with the current trend towards "Best" and "Worst" games out there, I got to thinking. What are some of the miss-ques or merely badly implemented features of otherwise good, excellent, or favorite games.

Usually this arrises from poorly thought out mini-games or "tacked on" features that were apparently afterthoughts. However they could also be really shodily executed plot lines or voice acting, or even missques that were missed opportunities.

Recently for me I played Dead Space. There was one mini-game in there where you had to shoot the asteroids incoming with a rail gun. it was mindless, tedious and poorly executed in my mind. And it really marred what was otherwise a very cool game.

Another example in my mind was the Persuasion game in Oblivion. It was tedious in the extreme and had apparently no connection or relevance to the game itself.

A third example would be the excessively shoddy voice-over for the ending sequence of Neverwinter Nights 2 where the voice actor just sounded REALLY Hung over.

 

[69Mach1]

The jumping parts of Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast were terrible. It took me forever to get across the bottomless chasm with the stormtroopers shooting rockets and disruptors at me. I nearly quit several times. There were other areas nearly as bad. Almost ruined the game for me, and I know at least one other person who didn't buy the game because of it.

 

[PingSpike]

I was going to say the persuasion game in Oblivion as well. It just didn't work and I don't know how it was suppose too. The whole the world levels with you thing was awful too but everyone knows that.

The Xen levels in Half Life. I just lost interest. I can't remember them being hard I just thought they sucked so I stopped playing I think. Actually, HL isn't even a great example of uneven level quality and its pretty common. Lots of games have beautifully crafted early levels and then end with drab repetitive ones, likely when the game developers were in crunch mode or had become bored with level design itself. Doom 3's early levels had lots of clever unexpected scares but the majority of the game turned into a marathon of cliche monster closets that you knew where there before they opened.

 

[JackSpadesSI]

I don't care for missions in any RTS where you don't get to build a base. To me, the core of an RTS is base management and churning out expendable troops. There's a couple examples of this in StarCraft II, but a lot of RTS games do it - I assume to change things up.

Note: I'm perfectly willing to concede that this is a personal preference of mine if other people absolutely love such missions in an RTS.

 

[PingSpike]

Yeah, I hate those kinds of RTS missions as well. I suck at RTS games and have the most fun turtling so those are just awful missions for me to begin with. They are really common in Warcraft 3.

 

[JackSpadesSI]

Oh, also:

Mass Effect: great game, but driving the Mako around an otherwise-pointless planet in search of resources was terrible.

Mass Effect 2: great game, but scanning otherwise-pointless planets in search of resources was terrible.

...I really hope they figure out a less soul-crushingly-boring way of obtaining resources in ME3!!!

 

[TheSlamma]

The worst things for me is defense missions where you have to keep an AI protected that is horrid, either won't move along or gets into battle and can't fight on their own and if they die it's instant lose.

 

[JackSpadesSI]

The worst things for me is defense missions where you have to keep an AI protected that is horrid, either won't move along or gets into battle and can't fight on their own and if they die it's instant lose.

Yep, escort missions make me cringe!

 

[thespyder]

I don't care for missions in any RTS where you don't get to build a base. To me, the core of an RTS is base management and churning out expendable troops. There's a couple examples of this in StarCraft II, but a lot of RTS games do it - I assume to change things up.

Note: I'm perfectly willing to concede that this is a personal preference of mine if other people absolutely love such missions in an RTS.

SC 2 where you have to invade that one base with only a limited number of marines?

Or how about any RPG game where you have to end up playing inventory tetris every time you come across some loot?

 

[obidamnkenobi]

I don't care for missions in any RTS where you don't get to build a base. To me, the core of an RTS is base management and churning out expendable troops. There's a couple examples of this in StarCraft II, but a lot of RTS games do it - I assume to change things up.

Note: I'm perfectly willing to concede that this is a personal preference of mine if other people absolutely love such missions in an RTS.

Yes! I especially hated those in original Red Alert and older C&Cs. I seem to remember that the ones in Starcraft 1 didn't bother me as much.

Somewhat ironically I thought dawn of war 2 was awesome

 

[AstroManLuca]

Quick time events in Resident Evil 4. Especially when there were three or four of them immediately before a boss fight, so if you screw up on just one of them, OR if you get killed in the boss fight, you have to redo ALL of them.

Dogs in COD: World at War.

The Mako in Mass Effect 1 and the mining in Mass Effect 2.

The intro sequences of Mass Effect 1 and 2 and Fallout 3. Along with most other games with long, unskippable opening cutscenes and tutorials that you must play every single time.

 

[Barfo]

I hated the Water Hazard level in HL2...otherwise great game.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

SC 2 where you have to invade that one base with only a limited number of marines?

Or how about any RPG game where you have to end up playing inventory tetris every time you come across some loot?

I like playing inventory tetris... I dunno having to make decisions on spending the time looting stuff to sell or speeding forward is good to me.

 

[thespyder]

I like playing inventory tetris... I dunno having to make decisions on spending the time looting stuff to sell or speeding forward is good to me.

I am currently in the process of re-playing Diablo 2. There is HUGE amounts of Inventory Tetris, and therefore not fun. I can literally Town Portal home 2-3 times just to sell loot after a successful (even minor) "Boss" battle, or anywhere there is one of those sparkling chests. And just wandering around the levels, treasure racks up VERY quickly.

either a) Give enough room so that weight is the factor that slows you down not space, or b) Don't make Weight/space an issue at all or c) cut down on the loot or d) allow a portion of your inventory be for "Vendor Trash" and make it unlimited. All IMHO.

 

[Udgnim]

I always thought that the sheer amount of botting & duping that happened in Diablo 2 was a good and bad thing.

bad in that botting & duping should be a bannable offense

good in that it made lots of gameplay elements available and possible to people that would have never been able to experience it otherwise

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

I am currently in the process of re-playing Diablo 2. There is HUGE amounts of Inventory Tetris, and therefore not fun. I can literally Town Portal home 2-3 times just to sell loot after a successful (even minor) "Boss" battle, or anywhere there is one of those sparkling chests. And just wandering around the levels, treasure racks up VERY quickly.

either a) Give enough room so that weight is the factor that slows you down not space, or b) Don't make Weight/space an issue at all or c) cut down on the loot or d) allow a portion of your inventory be for "Vendor Trash" and make it unlimited. All IMHO.

or D : only pick up stuff that's either A: useful to you or B: worth trading (decent base item rares/uniques).

 

[Wardawg1001]

Only two I can think of off the top of my head:

1. The (first?) driving mission in Mass Effect - I got so frustrated with it that I stopped playing and never picked it back up, though I had been enjoying the game up to that point.

2. Hacking computers in Fallout New Vegas (maybe FO3 as well if it is the same concept, I never played it). I like to read up on the backstories and various snippets of information (as well as get the exp) you get from hacking the computers, but I never had any patience that mini game.

 

[thespyder]

or D : only pick up stuff that's either A: useful to you or B: worth trading (decent base item rares/uniques).

I am guessing you haven't played Diablo 2 recently.

2. Hacking computers in Fallout New Vegas (maybe FO3 as well if it is the same concept, I never played it). I like to read up on the backstories and various snippets of information (as well as get the exp) you get from hacking the computers, but I never had any patience that mini game.

LOL. I hated that as well. So every time I had to hack a computer, I got my wife (who turns out is fabulous at it) come solve it for me.

 

[JackSpadesSI]

2. Hacking computers in Fallout New Vegas (maybe FO3 as well if it is the same concept, I never played it). I like to read up on the backstories and various snippets of information (as well as get the exp) you get from hacking the computers, but I never had any patience that mini game.

Ha, that's funny - I actually really enjoyed the computer hacking in FO3. However, I hated safe cracking in that game. I hacked every single safe I could find, but every time I saved and did the auto-hack (if it failed I reloaded and tried again). It was a painful process that drove me crazy, though.

 

[Elcs]

I don't care for missions in any RTS where you don't get to build a base. To me, the core of an RTS is base management and churning out expendable troops. There's a couple examples of this in StarCraft II, but a lot of RTS games do it - I assume to change things up.

Note: I'm perfectly willing to concede that this is a personal preference of mine if other people absolutely love such missions in an RTS.

Yet removing the basebuilding and resource management is what made Dawn of War 2 possibly my favourite RTS of the the decade 2000-2010.

Granted, I hated some of those kinds of missions with a passion. GDI mission 6 in C&C Original, commando mission.

 

[ichy]

The weird dream sequences in Max Payne.

 

[Arg Clin]

Mineral harvesting in ME2. That got old after 2 seconds.

 

[Scouzer]

The fade in DA : O. Definitely!!!!

 

[thespyder]

The fade in DA : O. Definitely!!!!

gotta say that really did feel "Tacked in". I didn't hate it, but when I was playing a Wizard and had to "Tank" instead of blasting like I would want too, I did kind of feel "Wrong" about it all.

 

[zinfamous]

gotta say that really did feel "Tacked in". I didn't hate it, but when I was playing a Wizard and had to "Tank" instead of blasting like I would want too, I did kind of feel "Wrong" about it all.

at least there is a mod that lets you skip the entire sequence, while retaining all the skill points and xp that you would have earned while doing it.

I didn't mind it the first time through (I was a rogue), and thought by the end, the mechanic of shapeshifting and puzzles was quite good; but I skipped it the second time as a caster.