I tried a lot of games this weekend and made the following snap judgments about what to keep and what to reject for what is something of a special Monday edition of What We're Not Playing...
***
I decided the fate of the following games -- all of which were sent to me for free by game publishers -- this weekend:
"Star Ocean IV" - The three discs I found in this game's DVD case were already frightening me. Then I checked reviews which said the story was dull and conveyed in cutscenes that sometimes run 45 minutes. The combat system is supposed to be good. I tried it, but it didn't have a chance of hooking me. I put this in the giveaway stack. Rejected.
"Deadly Creatures" - One system crash of this spider-and-scorpion Wii original didn't deter me. I'm a level and a half in and have decided to see this one to the end.
"Hawx" - Two fun new ideas in this Ubisoft military flight game kept me interested for a few missions, but stunt-flying controls and emergency flight-path tunnel-vision weren't enough to compensate for this game's lack of Tie Fighters and Star Destroyers. I have a narrow range of interest in flight games. I put this in the trade-in pile, but, to be honest, I’m thinking of fetching it back. Rejected - with hesitation.
"EndWar" - Voice-controlled combat worked better than I thought it would. I hope the campaign's worth it, as I'm now planning to play this one through.
"PES 2009" - I'm told by the soccer fans that Konami's "Pro Evolution Soccer" is the greatest gaming franchise for that sport. I tried one match, but like all sports games, I don't feel motivated to learn it. I'm giving this one up. Rejected.
"Rune Factory Frontier" - This Wii-exclusive game presents the should-be-tedious gardening of the "Harvest Moon" games (same development studio) with some sort of dungeon adventure and a lot of dating. My gut tells me I should be playing "Persona 4" or "Fable II" (again) for some of those elements, but for reasons I can't yet explain, I'm giving this one the benefit of the doubt. I'll play more, but I'm expecting to lose my patience before hour 10. We'll see…
"50 Cent: Blood on The Sand" - I expected to roll my eyes. I didn't expect to be telling anyone who will listen that I will both try to finish this game and that I want more games like this. More on that in a future post, at least a week from now, once I'm back from GDC, play more and risk coming to my senses.
"Shaun White Snowboarding Road Trip" - I tried this briefly on the Wii with the Balance Board, but that's moot. My wife loves snowboarding games. We're keeping it.
Did I make the right calls?