I never got excited about Horizon Zero Dawn because I don’t have confidence in the developer, Guerrilla Games. They have a really spotty track record, in my opinion. Take their previous game, Killzone: Shadow Fall. Everyone agreed that it was a really pretty game…but also pretty boring and that’s kind of the sense I’m getting about Horizon. Oh, it’s gorgeous—those robot dinosaurs do look awesome—but it sounds like a pretty rote open world game, with the side quests being one of the biggest offenders. Aside from them being super generic, I’ve read several reviews where they talk about how helping strangers actually goes against who Aloy is as a character. But if you want good side quests (I’m looking at you, Patrick), definitely check out Gravity Rush 2, a great PS4 exclusive that has really flown under the radar for most people. There are a gob of side quests but they are all framed so differently that even when you’re doing the same kind of thing, mechanically, it feels like a different experience. I’m just finishing it up and it’s been a really, really good game. I’m normally not a completionist but I’m going for the Platinum on this one because I’ve just been enjoying it so much.
Stage Select
3. TimeSplitters 4
I never played the first TimeSplitters game, which was more or less a multiplayer-only early PS2 game by the people who made Perfect Dark (after they left Rare; that is why Perfect Dark Zero sucked). TimeSplitters 2 made it to the GameCube (where I played it) and it had an awesome campaign—with co-op!—in addition to the great multiplayer. It just didn’t have much of a story. The third game, Future Perfect, was the total package: Fantastic co-op campaign with a legitimately funny story and great multiplayer. Even had online play for the PS2 and Xbox kids. I struggle to say anything bad about it. But I guess it didn’t sell very well, unfortunately, and the developer went on to make Haze, which wasn’t very good, and then Crytek bought them. Crytek, to their credit, looked into letting them make TS4 anyway but the project was officially cancelled in 2012. The world is a bleaker place now without TimeSplitters.
2. Metroid Dread
We really don’t know much about Dread other than it was going to be in 2D on the DS but man, I am hungry for some classic Metroid. The name is also really evocative. What does “dread” refer to?
1. Mega Man Legends 3
I played Mega Man Legends last year and other than the archaic, pre-analog controls, it held up really well. What hurts about Legends 3 being cancelled is that Capcom never said that was a possibility. It was finally in development and the community was involved and NOW we’re going to cancel it. Wait, what? If memory serves, Keiji Inafune left Capcom after development had started and I wonder if it was at least partially an “f--- you” from Capcom management to Inafune. Whatever the case, it sucks. I suspect I will rather like Legends 2 and I already know that poor Mega Man Volnutt winds up stuck on the moon at the end. He’s still up there…
Chrono Crossing: Jet Force Gemini (N64)
I was sold on Jet Force Gemini from the moment I saw it on that promotional video Nintendo Power sent out about it (it shared that VHS tape with Donkey Kong 64). Two playable characters, a bunch of weapons, multiple planets and space ships to explore, secrets to find including entire secret levels…it was a meaty campaign! The multiplayer was a lot of fun too. The one thing that dragged it down was Rare’s blasted insistence on collectables. The main victim of the evil bad guys was a race of teddy bear-like aliens and there were some of these bears in every level that you could save. But the only way to get to the final boss, you discover at the end, is to use the special teddy bear alien spaceship…and they won’t let you unless you save all their cuddly brothers. Dang it, Rare! That was too much for me in those days of internet infancy (seriously, kids have it so easy these days) and I never beat the game. A couple years later I found out one of my friends had the player’s guide but when I went back to finish the game, guide in hand, I discovered that all the save data had somehow been erased. And so I STILL have not finished that game and probably never will but I sure had a good time with that game back in the day.
