PC Gamer game of the year: Ghost Recon

[kriol 0]

The game reviewers would be better of comparing OFP to real life. I don't mind if they put Ghost Recon to the same category with the other games that have already been mentioned in this thread.

[Charlie_McSheenie 1]

UK pc gamer i doubt is taking bribes. possibly from ID if anyone because quake sucks in comparison to UT, but still they've gone into cs and dod and stuff like that instead of doing the quake v ut thing.

I read pc gamer a lot (in fact, i've had a subscription for four years now) and i must say every game i've bought (genuinly, not pirate, which is near enough 60) i've liked. Except force commander and every single quake. thats four games (i even liked tiberian sun for a long time then i stopped liking it)

And since i play almost every one of their highest rating games on their recommendation, i believe i'm at a good position to critisize/idolise their reviews. All of them i have agreed with, except for the aformentioned games i hated.

Since its a opf forum, lets take opf as an example. UK pcg gave it 89% and game of the month. Many people will now happily say that opf deserves game of the year, and is far superior to any other game on the planet. However, as pcg pointed out, opf was buggy and flawed in numerous ways when it came out (Graphic glitches, crap controls, crashing, large periods of boredom during single player) and they pointed this out.

Then take max payne, again, recieved a good welcome from pcg, probably more so. Many people hated it for being a swallow affair, pcg said this also but didn't care, saying it was great fun and was generally great fun, in a world where every game had to be realistic and serious. I thought this about max payne too (same applies to serious sam). It also wasn't as flawed as operation flashpoint (and included modding tools).

I pretty much agree with all their praise and all their criticism. If i took those 60 odd games i bought on their recommendation, i'd say theres 4 of them i didn't like (the ones i said before).

Even if they do take bribes the fact remains that most of the games they recommend (the vast majority) are really good. Just because operation flashpoint didn't get game of the year doesn't mean they suck and take bribes. I've been on the forum a long time and i've seen all the hundreds and hundreds of complaints there have been over opf, these came thick and fast when it was first released, the game was a buggy affair when they reviewed it, with ill-advised, just thrown in at the last minute features. With this in mind should they give opf game of the year, considering its taken months to get rid of major glitches? i can't remember half life taking months to make the game much much better, same with unreal tournament, command and conquer, shogun total war....

[Damage Inc 0]

No it wasn't fun. It was boring as hell. Or at least I got bored of jumping in slow motion and shooting.

[r71 0]

The problem people want action at every second and like the shoot outs up close. GR kicks ass for that and is already set up for good ladder play.igsleague OFP does not have very active ladders, and GS has 4 very active ladders that I know of (5 to 30 matches a day). I have played like 3 matches in a few hours befor. I cant even find a Clan on GameSpy that is on a active ladder. All you have to do is ask around in GS lobby who is on a clan ladder and they say whats that, or the clans that are maybe play a match 1 time a month. I think this is the only problem with OFP but its a major one that would keep this game going. I really dont see how GR won game of the year, there is a hell of a lot more work put into OFP. OFP has the best Missions I have ever seen and the best editor. I would say this is by far the #1 war sim. and should be the #1 game this year. Like I said though GR has that eye candy and fast action that most of the action gamers want. I just wish there was a good active clan ladder for OFP because thats where I would be.

[digitalcenturion 20]

When it comes to UK Pc Gamer i just cant take them seriously. As soon as a new game comes out wheter its is Quake-349 or C&C:Tiberian Alert they say "BEST GAME EVER". That opinion kind of loses wieght when you see it 1-2 times in every issue of the mag. All the highly anticipated games but utterly rather POOR ones like say Unreal they love just for the graphics. But oh i might be wrong i havent read PC Gamer Uk for like 2-3 years now. I am all settled with PELIT, the finnish gaming mag and IMHO the best magazine in the world.

And my standard tryout cycle: Review-Demo-Warez-Full Version. OFP had a shorter cycle: Demo-Full Version.

[Antichrist 0]

Hey stop saying that

Unreal is second best game ever after OFP

[Tylerb59 0]

Keep in mind though, they are only human and everyone is entitled to/has an opinion. It is our collective opinion that OFP is superior, and does not necessarily mean that it is.

We are all biased in the fashion that (assuming here) we have been playing OFP much longer (and probably started with) and thus come to the conclusion that they are wrong..blah blah, and the suck..etc.

Just keep an open mind, and don't take a review personal, it's only a game. If you take it THAT seriously, maybe you are going to far..?

[FetishFool 0]

Ghost Recon is fun for ten minutes at a time.

It never actually gets boring...  It just gets repetative.  But then you start thinking about it in your sleep, then you get up and start playing it for another ten minutes.  Then stop.  Then start again a few hours later.

It's like masturbation.

I like Ghost Recon.

OPF is getting kind of boring now...  After almost a year of playing it.  (Including demo)

[dayglow 2]

Oh my God this has hit like 3 pages it's about OFP and GR and it hasn't degraded into a flamefest and name calling? Something is wrong here, I think we are losing our edge

When I think about it and how people didn't like how PC Gamer gave OFP such a low score when it was reviewed (@75%) I have to remember that I wouldn't have like OFP straight out of the box. With only one save per mission I would have probably giving up in the Lost in the Woods mission. With out the save game hacks OFP would not be that great IMHO. The fault with PC Gamer's game of the year awards is that they didn't use the same criteria when they review games. Anarchy Online got Online game of the year even though it was a bug POS when it came out. Now if they let patching and modding effect their game of the year ranking, then OFP should have had a fairer crack at it. I know I can't wait for Satchels sound mod and then the sonic environment of OFP should reach GR levels.

COLINMAN

[r71 0]

LMAO...... Fetish I think you hit it right on the money. I love the fast up close action of GR. But if I had to take of which of the 2 games I had to get rid of, it would be GR that would go out the door. I hope someone will come up with a good clan ladder that will be active. keep an eye on this one just in case it does --> igsleague -- look how many matches there are. The most matches in one day I have ever played in on day was for Rogue Spear, 5 of them. I bet IGS would get OFP in there if we all emailed themIGS

[Charlie_McSheenie 1]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (DayGlow @ Feb. 07 2002,23:39)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Oh my God this has hit like 3 pages it's about OFP and GR and it hasn't degraded into a flamefest and name calling? Something is wrong here, I think we are losing our edge  

When I think about it and how people didn't like how PC Gamer gave OFP such a low score when it was reviewed (@75%) I have to remember that I wouldn't have like OFP straight out of the box. With only one save per mission I would have probably giving up in the Lost in the Woods mission. With out the save game hacks OFP would not be that great IMHO. The fault with PC Gamer's game of the year awards is that they didn't use the same criteria when they review games. Anarchy Online got Online game of the year even though it was a bug POS when it came out. Now if they let patching and modding effect their game of the year ranking, then OFP should have had a fairer crack at it. I know I can't wait for Satchels sound mod and then the sonic environment of OFP should reach GR levels.

COLINMAN<span id='postcolor'>

so we are talking about us pcg, i thought we were rabbling on about uk pcg, which gave the game 89%

[Guest]

The point isn't that they gave GR GOTY and not OPF.

A Game of the Year Award is *suppose* to be awarded to games that redifine a gene, takeing a risk and doing something that haden't been done before, quality and originality, and developer support.

Does Ghost Recon have any of these factors? No

Examples of games that won and deserved a GOTY award, even if you don't really have any intrest in it are:

Deus EX: combine a FPS with an RPG, and it worked brilliantly!

Half-Life: Love it or hate it, HL was originial and innovative at the time of its release.

Operation Flashpoint: name any game that even comes close to OFP's scope and originality.

Max Payne: It might have gotten dull but it is original and adds something totaly new to the gene.

Basicly PCGAMER is awarding Redstorm GOTY award for creating an update to it's RS series.

Thats like giving the guy who finnished a race in 5th place the Gold metal and giving the guy who finnished in 1st place a plastic trophy with "you

re a winner" engraved on it.

[Sandman 0]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Sh3ll_Sh0ck2 @ Feb. 08 2002,03:49)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">A Game of the Year Award is *suppose* to be awarded to games that redifine a gene, takeing a risk and doing something that haden't been done before, quality and originality, and developer support.

Does Ghost Recon have any of these factors? No

Examples of games that won and deserved a GOTY award, even if you don't really have any intrest in it are:

Deus EX: combine a FPS with an RPG, and it worked brilliantly!

Half-Life: Love it or hate it, HL was originial and innovative at the time of its release.

Operation Flashpoint: name any game that even comes close to OFP's scope and originality.

Max Payne: It might have gotten dull but it is original and adds something totaly new to the gene.

Basicly PCGAMER is awarding Redstorm GOTY award for creating an update to it's RS series.

Thats like giving the guy who finnished a race in 5th place the Gold metal and giving the guy who finnished in 1st place a plastic trophy with "you

re a winner" engraved on it.  <span id='postcolor'>

Good post!

I totally agree on this. PCGamer can give any verdict they want for a game, thats all subjective, but when they give Game of the Year-status to a game that brings nothing new to the market it´s something wrong. Hence the speculation of "bribes" comes in mind...

[Sandman 0]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (DayGlow @ Feb. 07 2002,19:44)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">And the rumour that PCGamer is taking bribes from Red Storm - that probably true. But thats probably true for most computer magazines. Pesonally I dont look at reviews when I buy games, I play the demo before to make my own opinion of the game.

<span id='postcolor'>

This I dissagree with. I don't think that the PC business is rift with corruption. What it is is 10 individuals that have their own opinion. I didn't vote them in as PC gaming experts, so I read the reviews and see why they didn't like the game. If I agree with their points as well as reading other reviews to see if it's consistent as well as how the demo feels to me, then I make my choice. Case and point is Medal of Honour. The demo didn't really impress me all that much. But after reading the review, both in PC Gamer and CGW, plus others on the web I bought it. It is a great game and I'm really enjoying it. If I soully went by the demo I would have never bought it.

COLINMAN<span id='postcolor'>

Sure, reviewing is always subjective and personal in any gamemagazine, but the thing I object to is when they start to hand out GOTY-status to games that dont bring anything new or innovative to the genre.

U took my words to strongly - I dont mean bribes or regular handouts. Its not like the gamingmagazines get a big, fat cheque from the gamingcompany. This is not how its done, its a little more subtle than that.

All the big gamingmagazines are founded on one basic idea - namely the idea of advertising. U cant produce media today without advertising and commercial. And what is the most natural thing for a gamingmagazine to advertise? Yes...games...

If U were a gaming company, wouldnt U want to know what the magazine was going to write about your game before u payed them for an advertise? It doesnt look to good if page 4 consists of a review of your game with a score of 35 % and page 5 is a wholepage-advertise about the same game. I dont say that it doesnt happen, but its not as common as the opposite. So basically the magazine wont get the advertisingjob if the review isnt good enough.

About MOH : Allied Assault...

I feel just the same about it. I had very high expectations when I downloaded the demo (because of the hype that has surrounded this game) and when I finally played it I couldnt see what was so great about it...not the first time. However, I´ve played it a couple of times now and Im beginning to like it. I will buy it. But not for the reasons that I thought I would. Before I thought that this was going to be a little more realistic and innovative - it wasnt! But it was fun and the the atmosphere was, if not great, OK at least...

Thing is that this game is so hyped before it hits the market that NO reviewer would ever give it a bad verdict...

[dayglow 2]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Sh3ll_Sh0ck2 @ Feb. 07 2002,19:49)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"><span id='postcolor'>

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Operation Flashpoint: name any game that even comes close to OFP's scope and originality<span id='postcolor'>

Well technically Tribes would be the first game to really combine large outdoor environments with vehicles and fighting large coordinated battles. I never played the game, just the demo, but couldn't a scout laser designate a target so that a heavy guy could launch an artillary barrage at it?

But I agree with you I think that OFP will become like Falcon 4. A large community of players constantly modifying the game making 10x better and larger than it was at release. Don't know if you do flight sims, but have you seen the Super Patch 2 for Falcon 4? Man they have completely remade the game from top to bottom. From the AI to the actual plane you fly it has been changed. It's amazing what a group of dedicated gamers can do in their spare time. I can't wait to see how OFP evolves in the community.

COLINMAN

[dayglow 2]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Ruskie @ Feb. 07 2002,16:05)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">

so we are talking about us pcg, i thought we were rabbling on about uk pcg, which gave the game 89%

<span id='postcolor'>

Yeah, I'm from Canada so I read the US version. They didn't like the 1 save per mission ( neither do I, thank god for the hacks) and the fact that it was a stark, realistic simulation of infantry combat, only to be thrown into arcady elements when using the tank or helicopter.

COLINMAN

[dayglow 2]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Sandman @ Feb. 07 2002,23:55)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">U took my words to strongly - I dont mean bribes or regular handouts. Its not like the gamingmagazines get a big, fat cheque from the gamingcompany. This is not how its done, its a little more subtle than that.<span id='postcolor'>

Rats and here I am all getting my resume together to apply at the game mags dreaming of women and money. I'm easly coorst so it would be a dream job. Oh well back to plan A becoming a dirty cop.

I would think it would be easier for a larger game mag like PC Gamer or CGW to be unbiased because they are so well read. If the advitiser wanted the public penitration they have to go through the mag even if they give out bad reviews b/c so many people read it. I know CGW has been really negative in a lot of it's reviews lately. They've had no problem slagging every game that has come out in some way. I like that because I can see what the bad points are and if it's something that would really bother me. What I find interesting is how the two mags never seem to agree on anything, one seeing something as a strong point of a game while the other didn't like it or found something else that really bothered them.

COLINMAN

[Enemy of the State 0]

i played GR at a m8s house and its the same as any other rainbow 6 game but is it related to the rainbow 6 clan or a new type of game built around the same rainbow 6 build plot your teams course choose your weapons notheing changes PC ZONE is the best

[R. Gerschwarzenge 0]

Does your keyboard have a <span style='font-size:17pt;line-height:100%'>.</span>-key?  

You know the little dot that goes between sentences?

[Charlie_McSheenie 1]

The US pcgamer as i said is rubbish anyway, i much prefer that gameplay mag and pc accelerator whenever i'm looking at the american mags. Uk pcg also gets demos and reviews earlier than US pcg, and can actually make funny jokes about yanks in response to US pcg's tedious boring and generally unfunny cracks at basically everyone else (i think once i made a list of quotes of all the horrible things uspcg has said . bugger, i went on a bit there

I still don't know why people think they get bribed, look at daikatana, a shite game but from the developers who gave us ''The greatest game ever'' and no doubt got flithy rich in the process. Also with doom creators on board, who were flithy rich. Ion storm would've been in a great position to bribe pcg in order to get a good score for there game that took several years to make. maybe its because it was so blatently crap that they felt it could not be given a good score. So they didn't (this is pretty much the same case with red faction btw).

some people just sit back and go ''WTF?! il2 didn't get over 90%, now i know they take bribes (ignoring the fact no game got over 90% in that issue if i remember correctly). Its not like il2 is an original game. The graphics are pretty and all, but it plays exactly the same as say microsoft combat simulater, with knobs on. Yet people liked it and felt it shoul;d get 95% or something.

UKpcg always make valid reasons for why a game gets its score, red faction was a shite single player game, plus graphics weren't too sharp and the geomod didn't work as well as it could - 79%. Operation flashpoint, great game, good idea,for the most part ruined by bugs - 89%

anyway, i don't think they take bribes because about 95% of the time they are right in what they say in their reviews and i thoroughly enjoy the games they recommend. Not only that but their news and features are great, and they actually talk to their fans and get into meaningful conversations/arguments with them over on the pcg forum (where they'll most definatly argue what i just have way better than i ever could)

[762WorldOrder 0]

Screw scores, anyone who sits down and finishes both games, and then tries to extract any replay value out of them will see that OFP is far and away the better game. People love the pretty trees in GR, but I could give a fuck what the trees look like when I'm in the middle of a war. I'd much rather have an entire world to explore and complete freedom of movement than pretty trees, thanks.

The difference between the two games is simple.

Ghost Recon is a game.

Operation Flashpoint is an experience.

[Die Alive 0]

Great, now soon there will be a Ghost Recon "Game of the Year Edition" that's just going to sell more copies for Redstorm. I remember Half Life getting a "GOTY" edition after it got PCG GOTY award. It sures pays off getting the GOTY award if you want to re-release the product with a couple new levels or an new addon. If you see on the shelf a "Game of the Year Edition" or a "Gold Edition", the GOTY edition would look more appealing to someone who hasn't got either game yet.

-=Die Alive=-

[Charlie_McSheenie 1]

Games scores aren't really massive influences on people anyway (as in people who don't read games magazines), so saying ''Well, EA could've bribed them to give FIFA 3098 98% so the game will sell more'' but thats bollox. Just look at all these game show games like who wants to be a millionaire (remembering these are made by companies who can no doubt splash a bit of money at games magazines) which sell in their millions and millions despite shite review scores.

[Damage Inc 0]

Brand names sell. There's no reason for EA to bribe anyone.

[Snake1999 0]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Ruskie @ Feb. 08 2002,00:05)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">When I think about it and how people didn't like how PC Gamer gave OFP such a low score when it was reviewed (@75%)

COLINMAN<span id='postcolor'>

so we are talking about us pcg, i thought we were rabbling on about uk pcg, which gave the game 89%<span id='postcolor'>

Bah,, now I know that the Swedish PCG is the best: OFP was given the "Game of the Month" award and a stunning 95% (in a 6pages long review).