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Welcome to the hype-train. First stop, Sleeperville.

Microsoft versus Sony, Battlefield versus Call of Duty and Forza versus Gran Turismo. These are some of the rivalries that can get people talking about console wars. “Game On or Game Over” is your place to get inside the minds of Nicholas and Andy as they seek to find the true meaning of gaming and tackle some of gaming’s most controversial subjects. Both are award winning authors – although the awards haven’t been mailed or created yet — but trust them. Would they lie to you?

Andy: I know you’ve been waiting for this week’s topic. You’ve been chomping at the bit to get to it. You’ve probably been looking forward to it for a couple months now. I know you won’t be disappointed though, because I am starting this topic by setting up your expectations, playing to what you like and generally just creating a lot of hype for it. Ah, there we go I said the ‘H’ word. Most of the holiday big games have dropped now and opinions are rolling in for each of them. From spectacular to disappointing, from fantastic to underwhelming and anything in between.

The hype train for most of the games is winding down, though I expect when we get close to Christmas we’ll see it pick up a little bit. Depending on the game some have had large expansive hype, while others had a relatively short lead up. Regardless though, it’s in a gamers nature to get excited for certain games – either sequels to games they’ve loved, or new games that look really interesting. This week I wanted to talk about when a game lives up to the hype. Anyone who knows me, or has read even a fraction of our Game On or Game Over articles knows that I absolutely love Fallout. Fallout 3 is easily my favourite game on the Xbox 360.

With the announcement of Fallout 4 being a game that Bethesda was actually making made me not care about anything else at E3. That carried over to the holiday season for me too. There were several games I would have gotten had Fallout 4 not been coming out. Tomb Raider, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, Need for Speed and Star Wars Battlefront to name a few. If Fallout 4 was good though I knew I wouldn’t care about any other game for a long time and I’ll be damned if I wasn’t right. Since its release I haven’t played anything else. Fallout 4 just fits like an old pair of shoes. There is enough new stuff there, but they didn’t change things that didn’t need to be changed.

That got me thinking, we do a lot of talking about games that are misleading from their hype and games that don’t live up to our expectations. Taking into account personal preferences can you think of any games that you were really excited for that lived up to (or exceeded) your expectations? A game where in your eyes the hype was spot on and you were happy that it lived up to everything? That’s how I am with Fallout 4 and it’s just an amazing feeling for a game to live up to what I had hoped.

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Nicholas: I want to careful with my answer to this one. As I look through my ever-growing list of games for my Xbox One, there are some great games that I’ve played, but there are a lot which were sleeper hits and ones where I didn’t buy into the hype and was pleasantly surprised. For example, I really (read: really) loved Wolfenstein: The New Order but I didn’t read into the hype pre-release so for me it doesn’t answer your question. Same for the latest Batman game too. I guess what would work is Grand Theft Auto V. I was pretty excited to play it when it finally released and when I got my hands on it and I really got involved in the story, it delivered. I ended up spending over 40 hours in Los Santos over the 2014 Christmas break and horrible ending aside, I regret none of it.

To your credit, this is a really difficult question to answer. I’ve now just sat down and looked over my Xbox 360 collection and maybe the only games that truly satisfy your question are Need For Speed Most Wanted (2005) and Mass Effect 3. With the former it’s almost assumed – I absolutely loved Most Wanted on the generation before it so them re-releasing a HD version was always going to be a winner. Mass Effect 3 though because, I guess similar to what you’ve said with Fallout 4, because the developers didn’t change things they didn’t have to. They had a great system with the original Mass Effect, they made it even better with the sequel and then with the final it was merely a case of adding some more polish. It didn’t need a revamp or a complete overhaul because they identified what they did well and stuck to it.

I’d like to put it back to you though and ask, are there many games in your collection that met expectations? Like I’ve done, I want you to exclude those games where you actively avoided the hype and were then impressed, and only consider the games you were actually following which still ended up delivering. Furthermore, why do you think these games achieved it?

Andy: It really is a tough question, because you have to think back to when the game was released and think about how much you had bought into the hype and then really think about if the game fully lived up to that hype. Then you also have to understand that a game living up to the hype doesn’t necessarily have to be a perfect 10/10 game either. With that said there are a couple titles for me that I was 100% invested in during the lead up to release. Metro Last Light is one that stands out to me – I really enjoyed Metro 2033 so when they announced Last Light I was immediately on board. Red Dead Redemption was another one, partly because of the developer but mostly because at the time I really wanted to play an Old West-style game.

So we’ve talked about those few games that really lived up to not only the hype, but our expectations as well. It seems only natural that we talk a little bit about those games that we are really excited for, really hyped up for only for them to be complete and utter let downs. It doesn’t mean that everyone else thinks the game is bad, but for whatever reason you yourself just didn’t like the game. One that pops into my head almost immediately would be Assassin’s Creed 3. Leading up to that game I loved the AC series, loved the exploring, the setting, open world, combat, etc. Then AC3 was released and I hated almost everything about it. Hated the main character, was frustrated with the change in combat and controls and just the general story to me. I never did finish that game. Another one would be Battlefield Hardline. I got into the Battlefield scene after no longer caring for Call of Duty and came to really enjoy the BattlefiIeld spin on things. Cops versus robbers seemed like an awesome addition, but after playing it for a couple hours I realized it leaned too far towards Call of Duty to where it felt like that and not what I was expecting. The last one that comes to mind was the latest Thief game. I wanted too badly to like that game. It’s right up my alley setting and content-wise, but there were so many things about that game I didn’t like. I was literally crestfallen when I realized I didn’t like it actually.

So what about you? Do you have any games that pop into your mind right away that you feel you were burned on by the hype, and expectations you had set for them? And, how did you feel when you realized that a game you were really looking forward to just wasn’t good?

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Nicholas: Immediately the first game which comes to mind is one that’s quite recent – Need For Speed. Despite the game having all the elements that I loved from Underground 2, it just never felt like the sequel we all knew it was meant to be. I couldn’t pin-point what it was, whether it’s just because I was younger or perhaps the implementation isn’t as revolutionary as it was 10 years ago, but that’s definitely a game that didn’t deliver on what I expected it to be. I think I’m with you on Assassin’s Creed 3 and mirror everything you wrote. Perhaps I just didn’t give it a good enough go or perhaps the Frontier was pointless and I hated hunting, but yes, that game was a complete let down for me. As a matter of fact, it’s the only game in the series (on consoles) that I’ve yet to complete. I actually ended up just watching the final cinematic on YouTube just so I could know how it ended.

If I think about the last generation I think DiRT 2 is one that comes to mind quite quickly. I got into the Colin McRae franchise with the first DiRT and was totally blown away. When I picked up the sequel though I was completely and utterly disappointed. I hated how ‘American’ (no offense) the game felt and it seemed like it lost all its character and style that made the game before it so great. It was like they dumped McRae and picked up Ken Block and it was a matter of (sh*tty) style over substance. Need For Speed comes to mind yet again, with each subsequent title after Carbon never quite delivering with the exception of SHIFT 2. It was as if the franchise never really could reach the bar that was raised with Underground 2 and Most Wanted (something that they really still haven’t achieved to date).

I guess the next logical thing to discuss is what games you’ve been pleasantly surprised with because you had no hype behind the purchase. It doesn’t mean the games weren’t being talked up by others, but that just you decided not to get caught up in the hype before you laid out the cash for it. Which ones make the list for you, and why?

Andy: You read my mind, that was exactly what I wanted to ask you next. So I have actually put a lot of thought into this one. The first game that comes to mind, and it’s one I have talked before, is Dust an Elysian’s Tail. I literally knew nothing about it but I really liked the art style so I took a flyer on it and gave it a try. The journey that followed was hands down one of the best experiences I had on Xbox 360. It’s funny, I am a bit of an achievement junkie, but with Dust an Elysian’s Tail I didn’t care about the achievements. To me that game was all about the experience.  I’ve recommended it to many people and it’s one of the few games that I would probably play again if it came to the Xbox One backwards compatible list.

Another one that jumps to mind is Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare. I remember when it came out and I quickly overlooked it and never really thought about it again. Until the day it became available as part of the EA Access Vault list. I downloaded it just for something different to play and I couldn’t put it down. I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would, and if it would never have become available I would never have played it. Now, I’m looking forward to sequel coming out in February. The last one that comes to mind is another game that I picked up on a whim when I was at GameStop several years ago. After staring at the wall for what seemed like forever I just grabbed a game to leave with one and it turned out to be an awesome purchase. It’s another game I have recommended to countless people, Deus Ex Human Revolution. Only after playing it did I find out that it wasn’t the first in the series, but it didn’t matter because I loved every moment (minus the boss fights) of that game.

For me though, some of my favourite gaming moments come from this category of games. The ones you have zero expectations for, but it was at the right place at the right time and just works.  It goes to show you that a game doesn’t need the huge hype machine to be good. When the hype machine is shut off and you’re sitting in your living room with just you and your game the fancy marketing doesn’t matter anymore. Enough about my hidden gems though, do you have any that jump out right away for you? A game that you may have played on a whim that just worked for you? Are you like me in that these type of games are some of my fondest memories of gaming?

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Nicholas: Wolfenstein The New Order instantly comes to mind when I think of that question. I’d seen perhaps a billboard or two about it, heard that gamers were liking it, but it wasn’t a title that I was following prior to its release. I decided to give it a shot and it was arguably one of the best (if not the best) game I played that year. The accessible yet satisfying combat, the interesting universe/story and the characters all just worked together to be my sleeper hit of the year. I enjoyed it so much I actually played it through twice and unlocked all the collectibles, something I really rarely do.

The other game that comes to mind is one that I only recently purchased and completed – Batman Arkham Knight. I never played the game before it and I was slightly let down by the title before that (to me, Arkham Asylum was the greatest) but I figured I’d check it out regardless. What followed was perhaps one of my most enjoyable gaming experiences of 2015. Rocksteady did an amazing job making you feel like Batman, the combat was oh so enjoyable and I loved every moment of the 30 hours I sunk into the story. Sure there was the odd glitch but I really, really enjoyed it. Again, it was a game I didn’t follow at all prior to its release and it turned out to be one of the best games in my collection this generation.

I think it is these games which are proving to be the most enjoyable for me as of late. It’s not necessarily that they aren’t AAA or that there isn’t a massive marketing machine behind them, but the fact I’m not getting involved with that hype train and just keeping my expectations low. What I mean by that isn’t that I expect the game to be horrible, but that I’m not coming into it saying it has to meet certain criteria. If I compare Tomb Raider that I’m playing now and Need For Speed that I played before it, only one I was really excited for and there’s only one that I’m perhaps really enjoying. Hint, they aren’t the same game.

So I guess the question to you is, assuming you agree with what I’ve said above, is why? Why is it that when we set our expectations low or don’t look into the games at all before we buy them that they turn out to be so surprisingly good? Perhaps at the same time, are there any games which don’t follow this rule – that you weren’t anticipating and still turned out horrible?

Andy: For me that’s actually a pretty easy question to answer. When I have high expectations for a game anything short of those expectations has a chance to be a disappointment. Even if the expectations I have for it are unreasonable, there is still a higher than likely chance that something within the game will be disappointing. Whereas a game that I have little to no expectations on can be decent, but since I don’t have those preconceived ideas of what it should be, it’s easier to impress.

Let me use two of the examples I talked about above. Fallout 4 not only had a lot of hype for me, but it also had the weight of Fallout 3 to live up to. There are so many things in FO4 that if done a little differently, or things tweaked the wrong way, it could have diminished my experience. Most gamers, when they buy into the hype or are just naturally looking forward to a certain title, have unfair expectations of the game. To the point where one little detail is not what they were expecting it creates a snowball effect that the game won’t be able to recover from.

Now, take my Deus Ex: Human Revolution example. I had zero expectations of the game. I knew I’d be able to shoot stuff and that was about it. Since I had no expectations for the game even a mediocre experience would have been good enough. So when I really enjoyed it, it was that much sweeter. The ability to do missions different ways, different playstyles and dialog options, etc. It was the completely package. I really, really enjoyed that game.

I know personally I am easier disappointed by a game I was looking forward to than I am on a title I buy out of the blue. It’s easy to build up the expectations of a game, jump on the hype train and expect a perfect 10/10 experience. Yet, realistically there are very few 10/10 games. So when a title doesn’t live up to that perfect moniker then it’s seen as a disappointment. When in actuality it’s not all the game’s fault. Sometimes tempering my expectations is actually the best thing I can do for an upcoming title. Sure there are some duds mixed into the low expectation games, but that’s OK because if I go in with low expectations and the game isn’t very good then I got what I was expecting. The ones that buck that trend, those are the ones that make it worth trying.

As we come to the close of another article looking back we have covered quite a bit this week. From great games to duds, to those hidden little gems that we weren’t expecting. It’s ironic that you and I both seem to get the most from the games we weren’t expecting to like. It’s completely counter intuitive to the developers marketing plan and full on hype machine. I think there’s something to be said though about taking a chance on a game and just loving the experience it offers. With all that said, do you think it’s important for gamers to give more games a try? To get out of their comfort zone of the games they know and try something else once and awhile? After all, if you go into a game with little to no expectations and find out you love it that’s just an added bonus right?

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Nicholas: Before I address your final question I just wanted to say that what you said regarding unrealistic expectations and one bad detail resulting in a snowball effect that a game can’t recover from really rings true. I think that’s currently where I stand with Need For Speed and I find myself desperately trying to find a way to love the game and appreciate it like I did the Underground series.

To your last point though, I completely and whole-heartedly agree. Gaming is so vast nowadays that gamers really do owe it to themselves to experience something they’re not used to. I look back at my decision to buy the Xbox 360 and not just stick with Nintendo and the Wii as one of the best moves of my gaming life – it enabled me to step away from the Mario and other first-party Nintendo titles I was used to playing for so long and jump into a whole new world of experiences and franchises. Going one step further, deciding not to just stick with racing titles and exploring games like Saints Row and Assassin’s Creed II were also big steps too and they’ve allowed me to connect with characters, settings and stories that Forza and Need For Speed just simply wouldn’t have provided.

We’ve said it before and I’ll echo it hear again – it’s a great time to be a gamer. Whether you’ve jumped in with the new generation or even recently with the new influx of holiday titles, just at the 2-3 years that the current consoles have been available for there is already an impressive and amazing series of games to experience. If you’re feeling like gaming is getting a little stale, pick up that game you’ve been eyeing out but never bought or try something completely left-field. The point is, there’s so much out there to enjoy. Most importantly though, don’t expect too much and buy into the hype, let the game do the talking, you’ll hopefully be pleasantly surprised.

Tune in next time for the next instalment of Game On or Game Over. If you have any ideas for our next article, feel free to contact Andy or Nicholas on Twitter.


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About the author

Nicholas Simonovski

Events and Racing Editor at Stevivor.com. Proud RX8 owner, Strange Music fan and Joe Rogan follower. Living life one cheat meal at a time.

About the author

Andy Gray

From the frozen land of Minnesota, I was the weird kid that begged my parents for an Intellivision instead of an Atari. My love for gaming has only grown since. When I’m not gaming I enjoy ice hockey and training dogs. I’m still trying to get my Elkhound to add to my Gamerscore though, one day this will happen.