Past the Hype - Q1-Q3 2009

I've decided to run a follow up to 'The List' series. With The List, I'm listing all upcoming games per month that look interesting to me, prior to release. The problem, many of those games just have horrible execution and ultimately relied heavily on hype and optimism. So now I'll follow up every quarter (or maybe every third) with the new section called "Past the Hype". This section will focus on the games that I listed, that failed miserably in reviews. For starters, I'll cover the 2009 year up to end of August.

Wolfenstein
Mindless shooting on an old 3D engine. Basically id milking the franchise. Raven FPS seem stuck in the 90s.

Overlord 2
They never worked out the kinks from the first game. Probably still a worthy bargain bin game.

Prototype
Never lived up to its "GTA" marketing. Needed more focus. Open world hurt it.

Damnation
A 41 out of 100 Metacritic score says it all. This game is budget bin bad.

Fuel
Open world racing led to open world boredom.

Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor
I think I've ranted enough about the death of Relic.

Stormrise
Designed this RTS with consoles 100% in mind, led to its ultimate failure in just about everything. Metacritic gave it a 42.

HAWX
Not enough diversity in plane types. You play one, you played them all.

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin
Could have been a mod for FEAR 1. I'm sure the delay due to licensing didn't help the title.

Puzzle Quest: Galactrix
Just never could live up to the original. Lack of diversity led to a lesson in game grinding. Actually, I never finished the original for that reason. Maybe good if you travel a lot.

Perimeter 2: New Earth
Tower defense games are everywhere now. Some of the best are in the form of flash web games. Heck even South Park has such a game. Why pay for something that isn't as good as what's already out there. P2 was not done by the same team that did P1.

Lord of the Rings: Conquest
You know, I never did find out if it had campaign coop. In fact, its hard to find any info on this game. 57 Metacritic score.


Summary
12 out of 37 on The List were over hyped.