Rate the Game: Week 155

[M-A-G]

Good morning. I love you all, but I'm not sure how busy I'm going to be today. Definitely busy in the afternoon and into the evening, but the morning is up in the air. That said, I feel the need to get this pumped out as soon as possible. It's week 155 of Rate the Game! We're so close to the end of October and not a lot of spookiness in sight here on this little feature. I think we blew our load on spooky games in the last pile. Maybe last week's Battletoads put the fear of God in you because of the difficulty? It's a stretch, sure. That aspect aside, how well did it do in the overall scheme of things? Let's take a look at the board!

Rate the Game Results

1. Super Mario World (4.81)
2. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (4.8)
3. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (4.8)
4. Hitman: Codename 47 (4.75)
5. Mass Effect (4.75)
6. Goldeneye 007 (4.72)
7. Super Mario Bros. 3 (4.7)
8. Silent Hill 2 (4.66)
9. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (4.61)
10. Super Mario Bros. 2 (4.5)
11. Portal (4.5)
12. Red Dead Redemption (4.5)
13. Chrono Trigger (4.5)
14. Final Fantasy 3 (4.5)
15. Silent Hill 3 (4.5)
16. Mega Man 2 (4.44)
17. Donkey Kong Country (4.44)
18. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (4.44)
19. Super Mario Bros. (4.41)
20. God of War (4.4)
21. Mega Man X (4.36)
22. Metal Gear Solid (4.33)
23. BioShock (4.33)
24. Ōkami (4.33)
25. Perfect Dark (4.3)
26. Shadow of the Colossus (4.28)
27. The Last of Us (4.28)
28. Super Castlevania 4 (4.16)
29. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (4.16)
30. Super Street Fighter 2 (4.15)
31. Sonic the Hedgehog (4.14)
32. Resident Evil 2 (4.14)
33. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (4.125)
34. Super Mario 64 (4.07)
35. Grand Theft Auto 3 (4.06)
36. The Legend of Zelda (4.06)
37. NBA Jam (4.05)
38. Super Mario Kart (4.0)
39. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (4.0)
40. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (4.0)
41. Super Smash Bros. (4.0)
42. Super Metroid (4.0)
43. Star Fox 64 (4.0)
44. The Simpsons (4.0)
45. Resident Evil 4 (4.0)
46. EarthBound (4.0)
47. Fallout 3 (4.0)
48. Mirror's Edge (4.0)
49. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (4.0)
50. Donkey Kong Country 2 (4.0)
51. X-Men Legends (4.0)
52. Banjo-Kazooie (4.0)
53. Dishonored (4.0)
54. Final Fantasy 7 (3.94)
55. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time (3.92)
56. Mega Man (3.89)
57. Castlevania (3.86)
58. Contra (3.86)
59. Devil May Cry (3.86)
60. Half-Life 2 (3.85)
61. Half-Life (3.83)
62. Final Fantasy 8 (3.83)
63. Infamous (3.83)
64. SimCity 2000 (3.8)
65. Final Fight (3.8)
66. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (3.77)
67. Batman: Arkham Asylum (3.76)
68. Double Dragon (3.75)
69. Tomb Raider (2013) (3.75)
70. Max Payne (3.75)
71. Fallout 4 (3.75)
72. Tetris (3.69)
73. Mortal Kombat 2 (3.67)
74. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (3.66)
75. Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (3.66)
76. Alan Wake (3.66)
77. Diablo (3.66)
78. Xenoblade Chronicles (3.66)
79. F.E.A.R. (3.66)
80. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (3.66)
81. Mortal Kombat (3.65)
82. Doom (3.625)
83. StarFox (3.61)
84. X-Men (3.6)
85. Resident Evil (3.58)
86. Kirby's Adventure (3.57)
87. Daytona USA (3.5)
88. Ninja Gaiden (3.5)
89. Burnout Paradise (3.5)
90. Thief: The Dark Project (3.5)
91. Dark Souls (3.5)
92. Shinobi (3.5)
93. Unreal Tournament (3.5)
94. Battletoads (3.42)
95. Dead Space (3.4)
96. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (3.39)
97. Resident Evil: Nemesis (3.38)
98. Crash Bandicoot (3.33)
99. Mortal Kombat (2011) (3.33)
100. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (3.33)
101. Wolfenstein 3D (3.33)
102. Dead Island (3.33)
103. Left 4 Dead (3.33)
104. Nights Into Dreams (3.33)
105. Condemned: Criminal Origins (3.33)
106. Gauntlet Legends (3.28)
107. Gears of War (3.27)
108. Borderlands (3.22)
109. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (3.22)
110. Duke Nukem 3D (3.2)
111. Darkstalkers (3.2)
112. Quake (3.2)
113. SoulCalibur (3.16)
114. Pac-Man (3.125)
115. Killer Instinct (3.11)
116. Virtua Fighter (3.09)
117. Rock Band (3.09)
118. Earthworm Jim (3.0)
119. Metroid (3.0)
120. Time Crisis (3.0)
121. Tekken (3.0)
122. Halo 2 (3.0)
123. Syphon Filter (3.0)
124. Gex (3.0)
125. Destiny (3.0)
126. The Secret of Monkey Island (3.0)
127. Army of Two (3.0)
128. Sonic Adventure (3.0)
129. Shenmue (3.0)
130. Guitar Hero (2.875)
131. Ecco the Dolphin (2.85)
132. Streets of Rage (2.84)
133. Altered Beast (2.8)
134. Bayonetta (2.75)
135. Command & Conquer (2.75)
136. ToeJam & Earl (2.75)
137. Jet Set Radio (2.75)
138. Assassin's Creed (2.71)
139. Gauntlet (2.71)
140. Street Fighter Alpha (2.71)
141. Dead Rising (2.71)
142. Bionic Commando (2.66)
143. Saints Row (2.66)
144. The Sims (2.6)
145. Killer Instinct 2 (2.6)
146. Silent Hill (2.6)
147. Tomb Raider (2.55)
148. Halo: Combat Evolved (2.5)
149. Twisted Metal (2.42) 150. Crackdown (2.42)
151. Golden Axe (2.33)
152. Gran Turismo (2.3)
153. The Secret of Mana (2.2)
154. Ghosts n' Goblins (2.14)

Spot number 94 is going to be Battletoad's home for the time being as it claims a 3.42 overall score. Nothing to sneeze at, but the Ninja Turtles are sitting pretty way above them, giving them the finger. Wait, can the Turtles even give the finger? How does that work?

Well, that's something to ponder another time. Right now we're going to pick out the next game for us to ponder over. This week we return to using GIPHY as the host for the draw. I don't know why I stopped using it, especially since I try keeping my .gifs and static pictures separate. Anyways, let's get to it....

via GIPHY

There we go. It's time for us to complete a trilogy...even though more games came out after this one. Slap on your Mark VI armor and fire up your Warthog engine. This week's game is the third chapter in Bungie's sci-fi saga, Halo 3! The hype and release of this game was off the charts and it certainly raked in the dough, but what of its quality? Is it deserving of all its accomplishments? Did it endear itself to you? Or did it collapse under the weight of all the hype? How about it, you guys? Let's do the rating thing once again and let's hear your thoughts. Until next week!

[ClockShot]

Never played. Skipped this one and grabbed Reach.

[drave]

gonna have to watch a video. they're all the same to me at this point.

[Big Vic]

COD 4 lyfe..... well college life.

[M-A-G]

So with this being one of the biggest multiplayer experiences out there, and the fact that I dumped so many God damn hours into it, I thought about introducing a little sub-feature for this week. Halo 3 had an extensive collection of maps, but not all were equal in terms of enjoyment. I say we take the time to rate each multiplayer map (scale of 1 to 5 still applies) and give some thoughts on them all.


Construct


God damn, do I hate this map. Its structure is so infuriating and it's so easy to get camped into oblivion. I have no idea why a sniper rifle or Spartan laser is present here. There aren't that many ideal perches to utilize them to their fullest potential. Long story short, it eventually became one of the maps that we would veto hard. I give it a 1.

Epitaph


I know they did an update to this one and called it Epilogue, where they removed the shield doors and changed some of the weapon layouts, but either way it gets the same amount of praise from me. Which is not much. It looks amazing and the architecture is phenomenal. It was sort of hit-or-miss whenever we would play it. I give it a 3.

Guardian


It's hella small and can get real chaotic depending on the game type, but we always enjoyed this map. Controlling the shotgun and the Gravity Hammer made you ridiculously OP if you played your hand right. The open area in the center was suicide. The only real thing you had to watch out for was the ocassional douche with the sniper in the lower hallway. This one gets a 4.

High Ground


Fuck yes. This one could handle every game mode and it never felt awkward. Capture the Flag games were so intense. You had so many points of attack and it was always a challenge to develop a plan. Of course, normal Slayer modes were still a hoot. This one gets a 5.

Isolation


Nothing's really offensive about this one, but it's pretty bland to look at. Objective-based games were really the way to go with this one to make it exciting. Let's go with a 3 on this one.

Last Resort


A remake of Halo 2's Zanzibar, this one is very much in the same vein as High Ground. A ton of options and a great layout always made this one fun. Let's go with a 5.

Narrows


A remake of Gephyrophobia from Halo: Combat Evolved, it's a fucking bridge. Yeah, there's nooks and crannies and a lower level, but it's a fucking bridge. My friend Luis loves this one, though, and playing with him on it made it better, I suppose. I think it depends on the game type you pick for it. Let's go with a 3.

Sandtrap


Fuck, this one's huge. It's rough if you're playing with anything less than 10 people. The desert setting doesn't make for a captivating visual experience. Its strength lies in being able to handle the objective modes. SANDTARP changed things a bit, notably the two Elephants on the maps no longer being the bases for the teams' flags and bomb arming points. I don't know, I kind of liked that idea of having your base be mobile. This one gets a 4.

Snowbound


This one also got an update called Boundless. I think we had the same kind of experience on both versions. There's a variety of ways to approach combat despite its small size, as the interior battles can be just as intense as the outdoors. Still, nothing too special. It gets a 3.

The Pit


This is another favorite of ours. We would actually get whole teams to quit on us because of how well we were doing. I don't think it had anything to do with how good we were with the game itself, but rather using our strengths and utilizing the map layout to our advantage. One of the biggest problems we would have, though, was our friend Dave insisting on rushing the rocket launcher as soon as the round would start. The rest of us weren't too keen on being part of that chaos. That aside, we would have a lot of fun here, no matter the game mode. This one earns a 4.

Valhalla


This one is supposed to be the Blood Gulch of this game and it functions well enough in that role. The scenery is great and it's equipped to handle almost anything. It's one of the few maps where it's great doing 4-on-4 or Big Team Battle. I think it's a tie between this map and High Ground as to which one is home to our most memorable moments. We'll go with a 5 here.

Foundry


Moving on to the DLC maps, Foundry was interesting because while it had a default layout like all the others, it was designed to be completely customizable with the Forge feature. All of its assets could be removed or shifted around to your heart's content, along with being able to receive additional assets. That makes it a bit hard to slap a rating on it, but if we're just going with what came out of the box, so to speak, it's about a 3.

Rat's Nest


I like the design of this one as it's a great mix of vehicular carnage and close-quarters combat. Nothing visual really stands out if you stick with the interior, though. This one lends itself well to a variety of game types and strategizing was always a challenge. Let's go with a 4.

Standoff


A sniper rifle or beam rifle would've really helped here. This one falls more in line with something like Snowbound. It's really hit-or-miss. I'll go with a 3.

Avalanche


The biggest of the bunch, even bigger than Sandtrap. This one's a remake of Sidewinder from Halo: Combat Evolved, and boy, is it an improvement, especially in the graphical department. While it's designed to handle everything, I think it does Capture the Flag the best. It's also the first map to have Scorpions and Hornets available by default, which adds a great new dimension to the proceedings. The fact that it may just be TOO big kind of hurts it. I give it a 4.

Blackout


Lockout, which was a fan favorite, from Halo 2 gets a remake with this map. It's not hard to see why it's a well-received map. The close-quarters encounters are chaotic and tense and the layout is fun. It's a great update with all of the little graphical changes. It gets a 4.

Ghost Town


A far cry from all of the Covenant and Forerunner architecture from other maps, this one gets points just on the setting alone. It's more geared towards Slayer games than anything else, though. I didn't really have a lot of memorable Assault or Capture the Flag or Territories encounters here. It's pretty so-so, but the setting is a good one. It's a 3 from me.

Cold Storage


Ugh. A remake of the similarly-named map from Halo: Combat Evolved, it gets some credit for at least being free. Other than that, it's too small, too chaotic, and too oddly put together. You're asking for trouble going any higher than 6 players. It gets a 2.

Assembly


I mean, it's impressive looking at least. I can't really recall a lot of memorable and/or enjoyable outings whenever we played on here. The layout is pretty neat, though, and the setting is cool. I'll go with a 3.

Orbital


This one's a weird setting as it's a terminal of sorts. I do like the idea of the overlapping of the two levels, however. That aside, it's another hit-or-miss map as it all depends on how your team wants to approach things. It gets a 3.

Sandbox


Like Foundry, this one, despite its default layout, is meant to be toyed with in the Forge. There's actually three levels to this, as there's the default ground floor in the desert, the hidden underground "tomb" area, and the sky if you're willing to do some building up there. As there's more options here than with Foundry, this one is going to get a higher score out of me with a 4.

Citadel


Meh. It's easy to get confused and lost despite its small size because it all looks the same. Nothing really stands out about it. It gets a 2.

Heretic


A remake of Halo 2's Midship, I actually don't know if I prefer that one over this one. There's a lot going for it despite the size of the battlefield, such as it is. It's real easy to get blown out by a good Energy Sword user, though, and you don't have many options to deal with them. It's fairly middle of the road. It gets a 3.

Longshore


Out of all of the maps, I believe we played on this one the least. I applaud it for its setting but it's not that great of an experience. Big Team Battles are the way to go here, but it doesn't have a lot going for it in the way that Valhalla or High Ground or even Sandtrap do. I give it a 2.

[Lock Jaw]

Never played it.

[Fignuts]

Originally Posted by ClockShot Never played. Skipped this one and grabbed Reach.

[drave]

Seeing the maps, I remember now. I played the campaign and didn't do much MP. Not a bad game, more "Halo" I guess.

[Emperor Smeat]

Gameplay-wise its probably closer to a 4 but hate this game the most out of all the games I've played in the Halo series so far and gave it a 1 instead.

Main reason was due to the game giving me legit headaches after a while over the motion effects and blurring whenever Gravemind spoke during the story campaign and reached its worst during his level.

That's the main reason why I've never bothered paying Max Payne 3 since it does the same thing.

[M-A-G]

The campaign, I found, was an improvement over the one in Halo 2, maybe because of the finality of the story they were telling throughout the trilogy, but it still has hiccups. The Cortana level is probably the biggest black eye of the whole thing. It is accompanied by a very strong multiplayer, though, and it's hard not to discount that. Reach, on the other hand, was strong in both departments so this one kind of pales in comparison. I get why people would give it an emphatic "meh". I just have so many damn memories with this fucker while playing with my friends. I remember this one website that would tell you how much time you've wasted waiting to respawn in the game's multiplayer. It was eye-opening, I assure you.

[drave]

I have fond memories of Halo 2 Multiplayer. I went to the midnight release and got the steelbook version.

Bought a really long ethernet cable to be able to plug in my Xbox at the time. That shit was epic.

[M-A-G]

Originally Posted by Big Vic COD 4 lyfe..... well college life.

I'll testify to Call of Duty 4 being the better game between the two. Hell, I think I gave it a 5 here. The problem was that it was a game where my friends and I couldn't do split-screen sessions like we could with the Halo entries, so consequently we put in more time with the latter.

[M-A-G]

Originally Posted by drave I have fond memories of Halo 2 Multiplayer. I went to the midnight release and got the steelbook version. Bought a really long ethernet cable to be able to plug in my Xbox at the time. That shit was epic.

Halo 3 was actually the first game for which I did a midnight release. I wasn't buying it myself, but my friend, David, had convinced me to go with him to the Gamestop to pick it up and play it immediately when we got back home. It was an experience. They had refreshments and what not along with a shit ton of people in the store. They were even showing season 5 of Red vs. Blue on the monitors. I think I only did a midnight release two other times, each for a different Call of Duty game, each time because the same friend didn't want to stand in line alone. I've never really had the urge to do something like that, even if I did end up having a good time while we were there.

[drave]

Halo 2 and Skyrim.

I distinctly remember playing Skyrim until about 3AM that morning, having to get up at 5:30 for work

Maaaaan, miss those days of hype and "good releases".

[M-A-G]

Oh, staying up late with this fucker definitely happened. If it wasn't online matches, it was time spent in the damn Forge coming up with new maps and rules. After Grifball was a thing, I racked my brain trying to come up with something that my friends and I could call our own. And thus, Dodgeball was born.

OK, it wasn't exactly innovative, but it was fun. The idea was simple as it was a variation of Oddball. I closed off a section in Foundry and then split that area in half with a barrier. You could still see the other side as well as fire into it. You were only armed with a Brute Shot and unlimited ammo. Each team had a "ball" on their side and you had to have possession of it to score points, like in any Oddball game. Non-ball carriers, obviously, had to try to keep the opponent's ball out of play while retaining theirs. Oh, and the playing field was littered with fusion coils that would constantly respawn and you had no shields. A round ended when a team reached 20 points and the team with the most points after 5 rounds took the whole thing. I made lots of stuff in the Forge and I wish I still had a way to upload and share it all.

[DAMN iNATOR]

Other than Reach, I remember playing the main games simply for the story and then never touching them again. So based on that alone, I give H3 a 4.0.

[M-A-G]

I have to give this one a bit of credit for the different ways the campaign was replayable thanks to the skulls and the scoring system. If I'm not mistaken, it was the first game I got 100% of the achievements on, up until the DLC stuff. Now I'm just missing one and I don't think I'm getting it anytime soon.

If you didn't play multiplayer, I think you missed out on some solid stuff. Reach is still the pinnacle, but this one holds a lot of memorable moments. One major one that still resonates is this one time my friend and I were part of a 4-on-4 match on Valhalla (refer to the picture above). We were both on opposite sides of the map, him near the crashed Pelican and me near the rocks next to one of the bases. I have a sniper rifle and I can see him battling it out with one of the other team members. I figure I should lend a hand and I line up a shot to take the other guy out. It's a perfect aim and right as I pull the trigger, my friend decides to melee the guy which pushes him out of the way and puts my friend in the line of fire. Consequently, we hear "BETRAYAL!" from the announcer and we're like "WTF?" I sniped my friend on accident in one of those one-in-a-million moments. He still gives me shit to this day about it.

[Helmsphere]

Originally Posted by DAMN iNATOR Other than Reach, I remember playing the main games simply for the story and then never touching them again. So based on that alone, I give H3 a 4.0.

Same here

[Helmsphere]

I'll give it a 4. Enjoyed it better then 2. I loved the battle against The Scarab in this one.

[DAMN iNATOR]

Originally Posted by M-A-G I have to give this one a bit of credit for the different ways the campaign was replayable thanks to the skulls and the scoring system. If I'm not mistaken, it was the first game I got 100% of the achievements on, up until the DLC stuff. Now I'm just missing one and I don't think I'm getting it anytime soon. If you didn't play multiplayer, I think you missed out on some solid stuff. Reach is still the pinnacle, but this one holds a lot of memorable moments. One major one that still resonates is this one time my friend and I were part of a 4-on-4 match on Valhalla (refer to the picture above). We were both on opposite sides of the map, him near the crashed Pelican and me near the rocks next to one of the bases. I have a sniper rifle and I can see him battling it out with one of the other team members. I figure I should lend a hand and I line up a shot to take the other guy out. It's a perfect aim and right as I pull the trigger, my friend decides to melee the guy which pushes him out of the way and puts my friend in the line of fire. Consequently, we hear "BETRAYAL!" from the announcer and we're like "WTF?" I sniped my friend on accident in one of those one-in-a-million moments. He still gives me shit to this day about it.

I’m just not much of a multiplayer or “always online game” player. The one game I’ve made an exception for is The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited.