I’m sure you read the title of this article before clicking through, however, and can imagine that some rare exceptions exist. Perhaps you know what I mean: Playing a well-designed game and enjoying yourself throughout, but once you get to the end credits something terrible awaits — nothing. You’ve just finished something that you know for a fact is great, but all you want to do now is put it on a shelf forever.
Here are five games just like that.
Vanquish
Before they were selling Wii U games to nobody, Platinum Games put out great multiplatform titles such as Vanquish. They still sold trash, but that wasn’t for the lack of an install base. But I digress.
Vanquish is what would happen if Gears of War freebased meth at a rave, and all of the TVs were showing some kind of anime (I don’t know anything about anime [or meth {or TV }] except that it kind of looks like Vanquish sometimes? Sure). It’s a euphoric game that’s arguably the most exciting in its genre, but its lack of multiplayer and crazy difficult Trophy list put a damper on playing through it more than once.
L.A. Noire
Team Bondi’s first and only game is an impressive technical feat, no doubt about it. It’s a shockingly accurate recreation of 1940’s Los Angeles, and the MotionScan technology used to map actors’ faces is still some of the most accurate in the industry. For all of that, though, it had some weird problems.
For starters, after a strong start, the story takes a strange dive near the end. The interrogations are difficult to gauge despite the MotionScan, leading to Cole Phelps getting way out of line real fast even as you try to play it cool. And the collectibles? Finding all of the newspapers, film reels, and driving every car is a tremendous pain in the ass.
It’s worth playing all the way through, but I’ve never met anyone who’s started another playthrough.
The Walking Dead
It’s strange putting one of the greatest gaming phenomenons in recent memory on a list like this. The Walking Dead introduced two of the most well-developed characters that we’ll ever remember, weaving them into a story that, in my opinion, surpasses that of the television show and comic book that share its name.
That’s all well and good, but you’re practically punched in the gut at every turn. “Hey, that character’s really cool!” DEAD. Dead as hell, every time. By the time the credits roll on the final chapter, you’re an emotional wreck. Unless it’s your job to play multiple versions of the game, why would you do that to yourself again?
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
Ninja Theory’s Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is one of the most woefully underappreciated games of the generation. Have you played it? No you haven’t, you liar. I’ve seen the numbers, and you’re part of the problem.
Oh, I should probably talk about why it’s on this list. Like LA Noire, it’s a beautifully realized world with expertly crafted environments and character models, and even does it one better by playing really well. However, it falls into the same story pitfall by completely faceplanting at the very end. What’s the point of replaying a game if you’re not going to see it through to the end? There isn’t one.
The Last of Us
Hey look, another bleak-ass game! Terrific!
I enjoyed, nay, loved The Last of Us. It’s easily the best game Naughty Dog has ever put out, which speaks volumes considering their work with the Uncharted series. Beautiful graphics, haunting soundtrack, expertly-told story, blah blah blah.
I’m probably never going to play it again, at least not for a long while. I haven’t played since the game came out, but my friend came over recently to check it out for the first time. Do you remember how you agonized over the beginning of the game, right before it begins in earnest? Still horrifying! Knowing that it’s only way, way downhill from there doesn’t exactly have me eager to return, no matter how much I love Joel and Ellie.
The Last of Us has some decent multiplayer, so I could still play it if I’d like. But I’d know about the horrors elsewhere on the disc. I’d know.
http://www.stealthybox.com
By Joe Garcia
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