Popular Video Games That Have Aged Terribly
Some manage to stand the test of time, proving that their mechanics and style will be popular in the face of everything else. However, some games fall behind, just not being able to compare with the modern mechanics present across their respective genres, often feeling outdated and awkward by comparison.
Assassin’s Creed
The original Assassin’s Creed has suffered a lot over the years, primarily due to the advances the series has made. While it’s undeniable that Assassin’s Creed does what it does well, Ubisoft refined it to a point that the first game is nearly obsolete in comparison.
The combat, while weighty, is slow and clunky, often taking far too long. The parkour is again decent, but clunky and unresponsive at times – the “character auto-grabbing the wrong thing” issue being most prevalent before Ubisoft smoothed it over. Actual stealth mechanics are really non-existent outside of blending in with the crowd or positioning yourself on the other side a piece of the environment and hoping for the best, Ubisoft not opting for the sneaky approach that would later be perfected in the sequels. And whilst that might not be a bad thing, returning to the series after playing the future games makes the whole thing very jarring.
What really suffers is the core gameplay. Assassin’s Creed doesn’t have much to offer, with most of the missions being centred around dull follow quests, listening quests or pickpocket quests – all mission types that have withered with age. Combine that with the assassination missions feeling a little bit ‘meh’ after the time that has passed, and you’re left with a game that was the pioneer of the series and a total game design-changer… until it was outdone immediately and left to wrinkle.
Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Some will argue to the death that Morrowind is the best Elder Scrolls game, period – and they do have a point, to some degree. Its story and overall mechanics are pretty solid, and way more immersive that the other games in the series. But when it comes to actually playing the game, it needs a lot of work.
The combat is unreliable and requires a certain precision that can be difficult to master. The game can often feel obtuse with a lot of stuff not really feeling quite right. Add onto that outdated graphics that can be off-putting to a degree when faces begin to look a bit rubbish. Oblivion had melty faces, but at least they showed some degree of emotion, even if it was abject horror in response to their painful existence.
The game has a solid core, but actually getting to the centre is painful in terms of controls and actual combat gameplay. Age has taken the playability of the game down a notch, but the actual game could do well as a remaster. As it is, actually manoeuvring is just too difficult.
Hitman: Silent Assassin
Silent Assassin is often regarded as one of the best Hitman games, second only to Blood Money, but trying to pick it up and play today can be… impossible. Trying to play it as a stealth game – the genre that the game is most famous for – is extremely difficult.
Not only does Agent 47 handle horribly, he’s so slow that a mobility scooter would be more efficient. Trying to sneak up behind someone and garrote them going at the speed that the continents are shifting is infuriating. Not to mention the fact that if you mess it up and get spotted, you are absolutely screwed when it comes to maintaining a low-key feel.
To that end, it’s often more beneficial to just shoot your way through the problems. Disguises only work if you don’t stand near people, but if you’re trying to move past someone, almost anyone, then your movement speed alone can also get you caught instantly.
Hitman 2 is great when you get the levels that benefit its mechanics, but as a whole, it’s not nearly as good as we all remember.
Tomb Raider
Tomb Raider defined a genre and managed to do so much at the time. It was one of the best platformers, a great action game and had looked great for the time around which it was released. it is a classic video game and has defined the medium as a whole and will go down as one of the pillars of gaming. But it’s not done well for itself…
Playing today is one of the toughest and most obtuse gaming experiences you can have. The controls are some of the most bizarre around, and Lara handles like she’s a minecart. The game also struggles with its depth perception and timing, with some of the intended jumps in the game appearing to be impossible despite being totally doable once you fling yourself in their general direction.
Not to mention the glaring problem of the game having very few save points and an unrelenting difficulty resulting in each level taking an incredible amount of patience. It’s understandable that these mechanics are relics of the past, but they in the modern gaming climate, they are painful to bear.
Uncharted
The first Uncharted was a great game when it came out. It had the perfect blend of comedy and action combining into the perfect Indiana Jones-inspired treasure romp. But with the advancements the series made in both aesthetics and gameplay, returning to it really begins to highlight the wrinkles this original has developed.
First and foremost, the shooting is pretty bad. Aiming is way off and can often feel unintuitive with the cover-based mechanics often resetting the reticule whenever you come out of combat, skewing your precision. Combine that with some rather unimaginative puzzles and a fairly boilerplate series of boxed-in enemy encounters, and the game pales in comparison to what came after.
It’s one of the rare scenarios where the sequel managed to outshine the original, making the return to the first game a little bit jarring as it highlights everything that was lacking. It’s still a great game and the remaster does wonders to fix a lot of the problems, but it still feels outdated and aged when all things are considered.
Source – Whatculture