What’s a game or series that’s constantly maligned as generic but actually has a strong, unique design philosophy?
What’s a game or series that’s constantly maligned as generic but actually has a strong, unique design philosophy?
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I only think Gears gets remembered and maligned as a boring cover shooter because it was the most high profile game that started using it (before it became played out). I don’t remember disliking the cover mechanic very much, it was well done I think. For, y’know, that kind of thing. That little active reload minigame was really neat.
That used to be Assassin’s Creed before Ubisoft decided to make the newer games in that series a bunch of soulless Witcher clones.
Gears was the reason I got an Xbox in the first place. There was no new Gears this season, so I didn’t buy the new console
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Nobody did the cover/jump/roll mechanic with a single button as well as GoW 1 back then. Beautiful mechanics and gameplay.
Does Gears of War get constantly maligned as generic? I usually never hear this game brought up without it being praised.
Before people mention anything post Gears of War 3, no-one brings those up, unless it’s just to say they’re rubbish, so I wouldn’t really say they count.
Winback did it first
I can still hear the headshot sound effect now. It’s sooo satisfying.
Likely get downvoted for this, but assassin’s creed. Just because a lot of people don’t like the present day storyline of it doesn’t mean it’s not interesting and a unique setting. Reliving memories of assassin’s or templar in their war across milenias to collect powerfull artefact left by an ancient civilization is in itself, a rather unique setting.
And the games are pretty good all around. People around here just got a hateboner for ubisoft, which to be honest is mostly deserved. But they still make surprisingly good games.
kingdom hearts! People bash the story but the gameplay is really good!
Gears? That was a beloved game franchise from 1-3, what r u on OP?
Heroes of the Storm
Gears is the KoRn of video games—it spawned a whole slew of imitators that, in retrospect, make it look derivative by (unfair) comparison.
I like Gear of war 3 color style.
Gears of War being regarded as “Generic?” The fuck?
The original Gears of War was a *game changer* back in 2006/2007.
Man, Space Marine 2 has been giving me such big GoW vibes it’s incredible. E-Day better be good
the Shin Megami Tensei games often get maligned as “Edge-lord Pokemon” but
A. the first game predates Pokemon,
2. they have had a core design aesthetic that is spread across 2 main series, several sub series and countless stand alone in universe games that is instantly recognizable, as well as extremely good core gameplay loops throughout. and that they have caried from the SNES to current Generation.
The Sniper Elite series.
Yeah, the games are all basically about sniping Germans (or Soviets, in the 1st and 2nd game’s case) and a gory kill-cam in a WWII setting, but the games have seriously improved over time. What was once a series where either total stealth, traps or sniping were the only practical ways to succeed (the SMGs up until Sniper Elite 3 were utterly useless) has become a very versatile shooter in open maps with all sorts of creative ways to approach the missions. The Sniper-Jaeger PvP option was a stroke of genius too; the ability to have a human player invade your campaign missions at any point in time adds in all sorts of chaotic fun, yet it doesn’t truly obstruct your progress since the game saves your latest progress up to the point the enemy player invaded your session.
Also seems to scratch that Metal Gear Solid V itch that no other game has been able to do since it’s release.
The online sniping clan community was what made this game!
Love me some Gears.
Mannnnnn…. The wall bouncing, 2 piecing, the pure carnage!!
Oblivion gets called “generic fantasy” by a lot of people, especially Morrowind fans.
But nowadays it seems like ***EVERY*** non-Lord of the Rings fantasy setting has to have robots and other scifi bullshit, and while Elder Scrolls does have steampunk robots, Oblivion didn’t, it was pretty much pure medieval fantasy, which i love. It’s refreshing to not have robots in a fantasy setting.
The Darksiders series.
What? People loved the gears games
Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West. I’ve heard so many people call it bland but it has tight combat with very precise aim needed to hit weak points, which is pretty rare in an open world game. You can ride multiple mechanical animals around as mounts. You have several weapons I’ve never seen in other games like the ropecaster. I think its world and story are pretty unique too. The only thing you could label as generic about it is the way the open world is structured in terms of stuff like collectables and checkpoints.
Glad they moved away from the awful ears 4-5 storyline.
Idk if it’s maligned or even talked about these days, but the Resistance: Fall of Man series always sounded like a great premise to me. I was an avid Xbox gamer back then and only got to play a small amount of 3 (maybe a little bit of 2 also) but the gameplay was fun and the story was super interesting. To me anyway. Also, it’s one of few games that I’ve played that takes place in or goes to Chicago.
GOW is pretty repetitive & predictable BUT doesn’t stop it being super fun. From the days of ‘brown cover shooters’, this was one of the best & still very much stands up.
Great memory of the first time I played it at my friendo’s place & blitzed it start-to-finish. Satisfying as all hell chainsawing locust creeps to bits & Marcus doing his little ‘NICE’ with each perfect reload 👌
Hellgate London
It needed more time in the oven to make the gameplay better but I loved the vibe of that game… And yes I paid for the lifetime membership and it shut down 8 months later lol
It’s getting a remake I think
Yeah back then we always felt it was very Halo, except the mechanics were so strong, and fucking creative. Where else could you saw someone in half with your gun ?!
Shout out to Kill.Switch being the real first cover based shooter!
Also shout out to Space Marine being nothing like Gears despite all these idiots who think a cover based shooter and a hack n slash are the same thing because they both have big armour guys in them