Steam Sale Conclusion

It's been almost several months but here we are at the end. One last post to bring all the games together in comparison and then let's never speak of this again.

Even before I finished all 10 games I had begun to try and rate them only to discover that I was more lenient the less I remembered about the game. This raised the question, what's a better indication of a game's quality? The recent memories of me frothing at the mouth over bad controls/camera angles/etc, or the more distant memories where the emotions attached have faded.

A more forgiving person would probably pick the latter as there would hopefully be less rage-induced bias but for me that just raises another issues: do the games deserve to be critiqued in a calm rational way. After all, the frustrating gameplay is still there, I just can't recall it as well anymore.

So here's the not-definitive-by-any-means-but-don't-expect-any-better final ratings:

10 - Painkiller

As the only game I couldn't bring myself to finish, Painkiller receives the very shameful ten. Seriously, who designs a boss fight to have several unavoidable parts where you take fall damage? When I'm more afraid of the physics than the giant flying demon, something is just plain wrong.

9 - Indigo Prophecy

I liked the premise and I was open to the interactive movie thing; too bad the premise went off the deep end and the gameplay was just badly implemented. When I encounter bad story/characters/setting I can get over it if the actual gameplay is good enough, and vice versa. This game obviously had neither and practically collapsed on itself while I watched with morbid fascination.

Here's where things get hard. Do I rate the remainders based on my initial feelings or current ones? What about originality? Is a game that tries to do something new but fails better than something that one that sticks to a formula and succeeds? Is replayability a factor?

8 - Eufloria

I'm actually a little surprised I put this here. The aesthetics were pleasing, so pleasing that they caused me to remember there's really nothing more to this game. No tactical depth, no evolution, no plot, no characters, no emotion. Eufloria is like some strange drug; you are doing something fairly boring for many hours, but you just don't care and you keep going back to do it some more.

7 - Beyond Good and Evil

I really want to put this higher because it has actual characters and tries to do something to my emotions unlike many of the games further down which seem to be excuse plots filled with 2 dimensional people. But then I remember the dull melee combat, awkward vehicle driving, and broken stealth. If only BGaE had had more focus instead of trying to be so many different things.

6 - Torchlight

I've put this game at 6. I've also played 53 hours according to Steam (I really want those last few achievements dammit). Two statements shouldn't go together but here we are. Torchlight shouldn't be above BGaE but that's what happens when your gameplay ain't broke. It may just be a pretty looking 'make numbers bigger' simulator but at least it works.

5 - Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3

RA3 gets this position by the virtue of being the last game left to place. There are no glaring flaws and no shining brilliance. It does have the advantage of having a lot more cash to toy with than basically all the other games bar Mirror's Edge, but this is countered by huge amount of nostalgia I have for earlier C&C games.

4 - Braid

I wish I could come up with a good reason why this game should be placed lower but I can't. As frustrating as I found the late game, I can't fault it for being difficult (except for a few parts that were just plain unintuitive). Despite the frequent pretentiousness of both the game and its fanbase, the gameplay both functions and is not repetitive, which is something I can't say about the previous games listed.

3 - Mirror's Edge

The time spent playing ME was a combination of screaming at difficult sections, cursing at screwy programming, and cringing at the plot. What put this so far up (down?) the list is that one day I may decide to replay this game, which is something that I won't consider for some of the others here, including Braid.

2 - Trine

I went to the enough of getting every single achievement for this game. It in my eyes is fully completed and experienced, Trine has nothing more it can offer me. But like Mirror's Edge I can see the possibility in a year or two of going back and playing it again. It also helps that there are no massive flaws in the game. Trine is the Mario, an all rounder in various stats/features, and in this instance that proves to make it the better than most.

1 - World of Goo

Things were always in WoG's favour. Where every other game was an unknown to some extent, WoG was something I had played and finished in the past but wanted to own for myself. It also has the honour of having a second post to make up for deficiencies in the first one. Other games probably needed that treatment but I didn't feel guilty enough to do one. I could mention actual features of the game which I think earn it the number one place but I'd prefer to go anecdotal. When I finish a good game I get a little sad as there is no more for me to play. Of the 10 games, only World of Goo caused this to happen and that is why it is in first place.