The best and worst of 2004 - One Writer's Opinion

Before you start reading this, there is something you ought to know. I don't believe in hype. I do not automatically love a game based on how great I'm told it is by the developer or its fans. In the 25 years I've been playing video games, I've been burned far too many times for it to still work. Call me jaded. Call me cynical. Call me old. All would be accurate probably.

What I have to say in this piece will upset a few people. I'm just calling it how I've seen it this year. 2004 has been a banner year, but for me, one of the biggest titles, after a few hours play, turned into a huge letdown. And no, it isn't Doom 3 I'm talking about.

Please note, this article is the opinion of just one person, and does not reflect the opinions of Joystiq, or any affiliated entities or writers. It's mine, ALL MINE! *Evil laugh*

: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Already I can hear the knives being sharpened. The pitchforks being decorked. The fires being stoked. There's going to be a burning. But wait! Hear me out. Surely I can't be alone in growing weary of Rockstar's rapidly-going-stale franchise, can I?

I've been playing GTA since the first version. The move to 3D in GTA3 was a good thing. No, it was a GREAT thing. The game was unlike anything else that had come before. Truly unique. Then came Vice City, which had the 80's style going for it, the music, as well as the mighty Ray Liotta as the voice of your character. Ultimately, though, it was GTA3 with helicopters and bikes added. I did think that GTA: SA was starting to sound like the greatest game ever. So many new things to do, but ultimately I wound up realising it's the same old same old, with a little bit of a respray here and there, coupled with some lamentable gameplay decisions.

It was a few hours into the game I realised something. I'm tired of being Rockstar's performing seal. Seriously, what have they added since the first venture into 3D that is remotely revolutionary? They've taken the game, piled on more and more vehicles, added a few more character movements (I admit, climbing fences is a good addition). However, they've left the extremely repetitive and boring missions. If I ever have to play another "drive here, follow this person, don't lose them" mission again, I will not be held accountable for my actions and all I ask is you speak well of me to the Judge.

GTA is a good game, don't get me wrong. It certainly holds my attention more than most. However, that merely makes it good, not exceptional. After a fair few hours of play, I've grown really weary of it. The script plays like a failed film school project. It's cliched and dull. Not even Sam Jackson can save it. (And the less said about Chris Penn the better.)

On top of this now twice reheated gameplay comes the cheapest stunt Rockstar have pulled in the entire series. In GTA3, your inability to get to the other island is explained in the intro. In Vice City, it's explained on the radio shortly after the game begins. In San Andreas, there's a throwaway reference about "not leaving town" and that's it. Rockstar didn't even TRY. To cap off this "to hell with the player" mentality, if by some chance you figure out how to get to the other islands before Rockstar have seen fit to allow you out of the tedious sandbox that is Los Santos, what happens? You get four wanted stars that you can't get rid of. They regenerate if you manage to reduce them. Yes, that's really fair. Thanks, Rockstar!

So if you want to explore the whole game, you can't, unless you do the depressingly repetitive missions and advance the cliched, boring storyline that stopped interesting me after about the second mission. If I remember rightly, the other island opened fairly early on in Vice City. One path too it anyway. I certainly don't ever recall feeling falsely constricted. In GTA3, there were a couple of ways you could get to the other island before the bridge was opened. Then there's San Andreas, where Rockstar basically said "Screw you" and have forced you to be a good little seal and play through one boring, uninteresting mission after another. And if you've played the other games, believe me, you've done 99% of these misions before. Many times. Once you've finished that, you then have to complete another NEW set of boring, uninteresting missions to get the latter stage of the game unlocked, and if you so much as TRY to play outside the little area they've given you, they'll smack you, hard. Games like GTA should reward innovation by the player, not punish it. You manage to steal the plane from the airport before you have access to it (park a truck next to the entrance and hop the fence) and fly over a new area. How do Rockstar see fit to reward you? By having you shot down by a fighter jet of course! Gimme a break. That's just piss poor game design and stinks of lack of imagination.

You're in the entertainment business, Rockstar. How about you bring innovations to the party for the next game, rather than iterations. The core game mechanic is great. Legendary in fact. While the foundation is solid though, the veneer on top is getting extremely worn out.

Still not convinced you? Well, imagine this. How great would it have been if, the instant you fired up San Andreas, you could jack a car, and drive it to Vegas!  It doesn't get much cooler than that. Way to screw the pooch, Rockstar.

Now I've got that out of my system, onto the good stuff.

Best Game of 2004: Burnout 3

My first experience with Burnout 3 was in a computer store, running the Xbox version of the game. I had no idea what the game was, as it was already running in what I now know was the hugely entertaining "Road Rage" mode. I was bored, as was my three year old son, so I figured I'd amuse him by playing the game. It was then that it happened. As I started to drive, the bright shining light appeared above me to show me the promised land. The land of magnificent, almost beautiful carnage. The land of impact time, allowing every crash to be watched in exquisite slow motion detail. The land of the finest damn arcade racing game to ever grace the face of this silly little rock we call Earth.

Okay, so as you may gather, I was impressed. It's a rare thing indeed for me to get so pumped over a game these days. I decided to do some research at home, and found out the game was Burnout 3. Joy of joys, it was NOT an Xbox exclusive. I eagerly acquired it for the Playstation 2.

I am usually against unlocking items in games. It's tedious, repetitive, and makes a game become more of a job than it should be if you don't have enough time to dedicate to it. Burnout 3 is the first game since Gran Turismo 2 where I've unlocked everything, and done it happily.

Where to start with this game? The graphics engine of course. The developer pulled out every single visual trick in the book to create a sensation of speed, and they delivered what has to be the fastest racing game ever. They used motion blur, subtle fisheye camera view, zooming etc... It's all a bunch of cheap tricks, sure, but the sensation is nothing short of incredible. All racing games feel pedestrian next to this. You live in real fear that blinking will see you wrapped around the next available vehicle. In fact it often does. And you'll love it.

The game modes are a major attraction too. Want to race? You can. Want to smash other people off the road? You can. Want to drive a garbage truck, a bus, or perhaps even a singler seater into a crowded junction just to watch the chaos? Got you covered. If you can't find a mode in this game to entertain you, you are most likely dead and should probably check your pulse. Yes, I'll wait while you find it...

Right, finally, there's the fact the game REWARDS YOU for screwing up. That's right. Race not going particularly well? Cause some havoc, and VOILA! You earn more Burnout Points, which go toward unlocking other items. This one simple addition elevates the game. Even your race is going wrong, it's still helpful in your overall cause. Magnificent design decision. I also REALLY like how, if you're just missing a vehicle at full tilt, rather than register a collision, the game cuts you some slack and jinks your car out of the way a little. It's rarely noticeable, but with a game this fast, it's preferable to the alternative. If you crash, you very rarely feel you didn't deserve it.

Multiplayer is also fun. Not tried online (no network adaptor) but have played with the wife. (She's hooked too.) Much fun is to be had. Both competitive and co-operative. Sadly, the limits aren't tweakable, so the multiplayer Road Rage mode, it's first one to ten takedowns, or last one to blow their vehicle to bits. Fun, but a little tweaking would have been nice. On some tracks, the game can be over pretty quickly.

A little heads up: Despite the seemingly common impression on the net, you DO NOT NEED official Sony gamepads to play this game. It appears that way, but I found a pair of new, dirt cheap controllers from Hip Gear for less than half what a single Sony one would cost, and they both work just fine.

If I have one complaint, it would be the so called "rubber band" AI. That meaning that if you crash, the AI slows down, a bit, so you can catch them. However, in my experience, the amount they slow down for you to catch them is far less than how much they can catch you up if they crash. Occurences of "You are 12 seconds ahead" and "He's right on your tail' being on screen at the same time are not uncommon. The AI plays a little bit cheaply, but then what other racing game gives you a mode to explictly destroy the AI cars? Nothing beats firing up the game after an annoying day and dishing out some punishment to the AI cars.

Musically, I can take or leave the game. EA continue their tedious trend of putting random crappy songs I would never buy in a million years on there. (The Ramones 'I Wanna Be Sedated" not withstanding.) The first thing I do in any EA title? Reach for the options and turn the damn music off. However, it leaves on the very spooky ambient music that occurs in many of the "Impact Time" segments, and this is a good thing. Atmosphere.

This is a game I can't put down. In short, magnificent. Best game of the year for me, hands down.

Honorable Mention: Title Bout Championship Boxing

Now here is where I stand up and say "My name is Steve, and I'm a text based sports sim junkie." For those who dismiss games like these purely because they lack eye candy, I pity you. You're missing out on some of the most addictive, absorbing games out there. And all because you gotta have your eye candy. Shame on you. When I was your age I used to walk uphill to school, both ways,  in fifteen feet of snow, and considered myself lucky when my silly little TV Pong game didn't break down after 15 minutes use. Seriously, if you dismiss a game due it lacking fancy graphics, you're doing yourself a huge disservice and may very well be dismissing an entire genre that you may actually love if you give it a chance.

Title Bout came out in late 2003, but since I didn't discover it until 2004, I'm putting it on this list because HEY! It's my list. Let me make it clear that you do NOT have to be a fan of boxing to enjoy this game. In fact I, someone who had not watched a bout on TV since the early 90's, have gotten a lot more interested in the sport based on playing this game. I debated buying this game for a few weeks (there was no demo at the time) and ultimately took the plunge, and am still glad I did. If you just consider games from 2004, I can't think of another title I've put more time into on the PC. Unreal Tournament 2004 came and went. Doom 3 fluttered on by for a bit. I have no real interest in Half-Life 2. The only constant this year on my PC has been Title Bout Championship Boxing.

There is a demo available which lets you play the full game for a few days. You've got nothing to lose! I really like to share my enthusiasm for text based sims as they allow you to use something all the eye candy in the world can't beat. Your imagination. (I'm starting to sound like a PBS special now.) While they're not for everyone, there are definitely many people out there who just need the right hook to get pulled into the genre. Title Bout could be the bait. Ironic, given that I came across it due to being a fan of Out of the Park Baseball. I now play Title Bout far more than I ever did Out of the Park.

So there you have it, a quick glimpse at some gaming highlights for me from 2004. There's lots of other stuff worth mentioning. Like how those bastards at Sony have pushed Gran Turismo 4 back AGAIN for no readily comprehensible reason! Or how there have been some great mods for UT2K4 this year. Spent many an hour playing Deathball. It's been a good year for gaming, it really has. The masses have been pleased with the huge titles like Doom 3, Halo 2 etc... And the niche areas I like to frequent have been well served by the likes of Title Bout. Burnout is the most mainstream I've gone in a while actually.

Can 2005 top this? Assuming Gran Turismo 4 actually makes it into stores in 2005, it could well be an early candidate for game of the year for me.

And let's not forget that somewhere... Somewhere out there in the mist, waiting for the opportune moment to strike, is a long awaited title called Duke Nukem Forever... Will 2005 be it's year? Wait and see my friend. Wait and see.

Opinions expressed are those of the author, and not those of Joystiq, it's affiliates, or any other writers.