Top games of 2003 series#

But when it came time to take its go-kart racing game for another spin, Nintendo crashed into a tree. True to form, Zelda: Twilight Princess and* Super Mario Galaxy* were both excellent updates that made good use of Wii's new features. When Nintendo revealed Wii, it was widely touted as nothing short of a revolution in the way we would experience games. What's even more disappointing is that so many gamers are unquestioningly lapping up this ample serving of style over substance here's hoping the inevitable sequel is more balanced.

Top games of 2003 series#

But the gameplay has been simplified and streamlined to the point that not only are players never challenged, they are rarely tasked with doing anything other than tapping a predetermined series of buttons to watch canned animations play out. In some ways, this reboot got the acrobatic action series back on track: The graphics, music, and story are pitch-perfect. The Sands of Time was a masterpiece that ranks among the best videogames of the last decade, but its sequels were not. And for the record, dimming the lights and slapping up bloody, gory wallpaper doesn't automatically make a game scary. The boss fights are inane and repetitive. The whack-a-mole combat is only barely propped up by a gimmick where leg-shots are the new headshots. Alas, we've already seen Aliens, and played Doom, so it was more of a second go-round. Chris BakerДЄ gorgeous, seamless interface? 'Strategic dismemberment'? Survival horror in space that (sort of) doesn't involve zombies? And a fantastic story penned with help from the esteemed Warren Ellis? Dead Space seemed like a guaranteed thrill ride. But it would be irresponsible to celebrate their achievement without mentioning the glaring missteps that marred what otherwise would have been a contender for our Top 10 list. DICE has created what could be a promising new genre, and we can't wait to play the expansion pack and inevitable sequel. The shallow, unnecessary combat and obtuse level design meant that you died over and over (and over and over) again. Unfortunately, the same thing can be said about pure frustration. Nate RalphДЇor pure exhilaration, very few games in 2008 compared to the first-person parkour play mechanics of Mirror's Edge.

And it was filled with even more bugs than the original - which kind of makes sense, since it's a prequel. The first Stalker was interesting because you had to explore the world on your own, but Clear Sky's all-knowing GPS gadget killed that. The finished product was quite pretty to look at, but suffered from a number of flaws that made sitting down and playing a chore. They say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but when we saw the trailers for Stalker: Clear Sky, we couldn't help but get excited about the haunting atmosphere, gorgeous visuals and the promise of improved AI. Perhaps designing a game as a trilogy isn't the best idea, when it means splitting a storyline into three parts and ending the first the very moment that the plot actually becomes interesting. The most disappointing part about it, though, was that it was over so soon. On release, it neither owned the haters nor made prophets of the believers: Too Human turned out to be a flawed but enjoyable experience. No game in 2008 had as much negative word-of-mouth as Silicon Knights' action RPG.