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I was skepticle when I heard how great a game Dragon Age: Origins was. I had no doubt it would be a fun and enjoyable RPG, but from everything I heard, It was the freakin' Messiah. That all RPG's would pale in comparrison. I hesitated on purchasing this title for fear of massive dissappointment (see: Fable II, which was awesome, but no here near what it was hyped as). But one day, My Family spots this Game for under $20, and decided to get this for me as an early Birthday present.

Honestly, Dragon Age origins has proved to be one of the best games I have ever played, minus one or two TINY complaints. It controls well, the graphics are beautiful, the party members have personality, unlike in a lot of games I've played lately, and I truely cared about them. This is a case where a game was made out to be the next evolution, and it actually delivered that.

So I began to wonder, has anyone else experinced this? Has anyone hesitated on getting a game because they were afraid it wouldn't live up to everyone's extremely high praise of it, only to later check it out and see that the hype was well deserved?

Bioshock.

Bioshock, yeah, that one lived up to the hype for me.

Half Life 2 and its expansions did too. I didn't play them until a few years after they'd come out, because my computer had never been good enough to run them, but after getting a new rig I picked up the Orange Box and, well, the rest is history.

Mass Effect and Dragon Age also didn't disappoint, although Mass Effect 2 did slightly.

I also didn't try Civ 4 until recently, and holy crap is that game addictive.

On the flip side, personally I was disappointed with Deus Ex. Totally didn't live up to the "every time it's mentioned, someone will reinstall it" hype.

Yeah, Half-Life 2 and so on were another one. Hyped by a couple here as so damn great, I couldn't buy it after a few mediocre first areas, but when I finally got to playing it in February 2010, I ate through all of it quickly. Excellent games.

Dragon Age, Half Life 2, Portal, Mass Effect 2.

Also please, please get rid of the red text. It is obnoxious and unnecessary.

Dragon Age for sure. Batman: Arkham Asylum... Bioshock, Red Dead Redemtption.

^agree with the smoking baby.

Oddly enough, I wasn't impressed with GTA IV.

Also, blast from the past---the x-wing series of games lived up the hype for me, and always did. Hell I'd love to play them again

bhamv3 said:

Half Life 2 and its expansions did too. I didn't play them until a few years after they'd come out, because my computer had never been good enough to run them, but after getting a new rig I picked up the Orange Box and, well, the rest is history.

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I had a similar experience with HL2. I didn't buy it until well after it came out, but I still had the same system when I finally did. It wasn't really up to the task, and my framerates dropped to single digits when I used the gravity gun, but the game still lived up to the hype. I think I've played it through 4 times now, which is a lot more than any other game from that period on.


Psychonauts definitely impressed me as living up to the hype. It is truly brilliant story-telling, even if the actual gameplay is as hit and miss as the hype says. I really wasn't expecting to love it as much as I did. I thought I'd enjoy it, but I didn't think I'd find it downright charming.

Espy said:

Dragon Age for sure. Batman: Arkham Asylum... Bioshock, Red Dead Redemtption.

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Oh shit, Red Dead Redemption. That game was fantastic.

As far as HL2 goes, I still pull that sucker out once in a while and play through it. It never fails to impress.

Fallout 3

The hype was unbelivable. The game, simply, DELIVERED.

Id...disagree with Fallout 3. It was a good game in all respects, but I adored FO 1 and FO 2 and I felt like I was playing a souped up Oblivion mod, as good as it was.

I'd never played Fallouts 1 and 2, but Fallout 3 impressed me. Pity I can't run it without freezes and crashes once every hour, on average.

EDIT: Oh and the mods! The wonderful wonderful Fallout 3 mods!

So far, the games that fall under that category (tons o' hype AND lived up to it) for me are:
-Myst
-Riven
-Diablo II
-The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
-Shadow of the Colossus

Games whose hype I have yet to test:
-Bad Mojo
-Psychonauts
-Grim Fandango

--Patrick

I don't own either one yet.

--Patrick

Daikatana

Fallout 3 did fast travel well because just like Oblivion, it required you to visit the location first, so it kept the "exploration" feeling beautifully without making it boring as hell.

As for Terrik's opinion, that's exactly why opinions are what they are: I really disliked Fallout 1 and 2 but adored Fallout 3. So there you go.

PatrThom said:

Games whose hype I have yet to test:
...
-Grim Fandango

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It's a crying shame that Grim Fandango isn't available via digital distribution. I imagine there are some issues running it on Vista/Win7, but it really deserves a chance at finding a new audience. It's joystick controls are just begging for a version on XBLA or PSN.

There's a comprehensive overhaul mod for Fallout 3 called Fallout Wanderers Edition that uses a motorcycle for fast travel. You don't actually get to ride it, it just makes the idea of traveling quickly more comprehensive and immersive.

Not sure if that's what you're looking for.

Portal 2. I'm from THE FUTURE!!

I think the biggest issues with a vehicle in Fallout are:

- Where do you get fuel for it? The scarcity of oil was what caused WW3 and those nuclear ones explode at the drop of a hat, not to mention irradiate you.

- What do you do if it breaks down/gets destroyed? Viable car parts can't be that common and I highly doubt you could replace the whole thing if it gets destroyed. If you could, EVERYONE would have them.

- A working car/bike is going to attract the attention of every raider for miles. There's a reason only the military has working vehicles and that reason is because only they can protect them.

Now to get back on topic... I'd say Fable 3 FINALLY delivered on the hype that the series has had for years.

The car in Fallout 2, the Highwayman, ran on power cells.

Frankie Williamson said:

The car in Fallout 2, the Highwayman, ran on power cells.

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Yeah, but that was before it was established that Cars = Explosive & Radioactive in Fallout 3. And while it did address the possibility of it getting stolen, it never had any repercussions for if/when you had a shoot-out near it.

Grim Fandango.
Morrowind.
Fallout New Vegas.

I would say Oblivion, because I spent a LOT of time on that game, but in comparison to Morrowind it kinda disappointed on the whole character building/itemizing aspect of a RPG.

Above all else, Mass Effect 2. I expected it to be better than the original but this good? Seriously, I'm on my 6th playthrough on Insanity with a renegade engineer femshep. This game is orgasmic. And the DLCs, ohhh yeah.

Dragon Age was great as well, despite it's shortcomings, I do expect nothing but awesomeness from Bioware though. I thought their Awakening DLC fantastic.

Assassin's Creed 2. This game was really special to me, I went back to my homeland mere a few months before I played this game. To be able to climb up the towers that I visited in RL was a surreal experience. The fact the steets of Firenze was the same in RL was fun as hell. Overall, the gaming of the game really impressed me.

The original Bioshock, though a gimped System Shock 2 with amazing graphics. I didn't expect too much but I played literally 3 days straight. I expected mediocrity when they went so strongly on the advertising front, I was impressed.

Oblivion. Sure, it's no Morrowind to some but seriously, a huge fantastic world where you can roam about and lose yourself? This game overhyped to the moon and back. I put down easily 200+ hours in this game. And the mods? Oooooh the mods. Anyone else counting the days to 11/11/11 Skyrim launch? I am.

Fallout 3. This game was SOOOOO overhyped. Was it really a Fallout game? Not really... it's more of a spiritual successor, but the world, a huge fantastic world with a Oblivion-like approach. I was impressed to say the least.

Jay said:

Assassin's Creed 2. This game was really special to me, I went back to my homeland mere a few months before I played this game. To be able to climb up the towers that I visited in RL was a surreal experience. The fact the steets of Firenze was the same in RL was fun as hell. Overall, the gaming of the game really impressed me.

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Oh yeah, this too. Playing in Venice was... surreal.

Dave said:

Portal 2. I'm from THE FUTURE!!

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DNF & HL2 Ep. 3... i come from the end of time.