10 great games ruined by bad combat

8/11/2019 10 Great Games Ruined by Bad Combat

1/9

10 Great Games Ruined By BadCombathttp://www.gamescdkey.com/news/10-great-games-ruined-by-bad-combat

In any game that lets you fight against enemies, how the combat is handled can make or break the

entire experience. A game with no plot and bad graphics can be forgiven if it has an incredible

combat system. However, if fighting the bad guys is no fun, then it can be irredeemable no matter

how compelling the story. There can be any number of reasons for why a games combat can be

disappointing. Floaty controls, clunky animations, sloppy movement and convoluted skill systems

can all lead to an unpleasant experience. Other times, the actual combat can be adequate, but

totally lacking in variety. Either way, its hard to find the strength to push through and complete a

game when its overly light on the entertainment front. Ranging from duds that could have been

great, to classics that should have been better, this list takes a look at games with disappointing

combat that otherwise did almost everything right. Each game might be worth a play for the things

it did well but, ultimately, every entry fell short of its full potential.

10 Risen 2: Dark Waters


2/9

Risen 2 has a truly great premise for an action RPG. The game combines classic Caribbean pirate

themes with dark fantasy, filled with monsters and voodoo. A lot of the game works brilliantly,

serving up one of the best atmospheric experiences of 2012. The game has some beautiful

environments to explore, and is marked by a fantastic sense of humour throughout. Unfortunately,

the combat was an absolute mess. Featuring overly long recovery animations and many

unblockable enemy attacks, Risen 2 s combat just wasnt any fun. Worst of all, the main character

just felt sluggish, with difficult to execute dodges and a ridiculously long transition between

standing still and running. What shouldve been some awesome swashbuckling action just felt like

slowly wading through mud while waving a sword.

9 Mass Effect


3/9

The first Mass Effect game really set a new standard for epic sci fi storytelling in video games. With

its intergalactic exploration and revolutionary dialogue system, Mass Effect was an astoundingly

good experience. Unfortunately, there were two facets of the gameplay that held it back somewhat.

For starters, the inventory system was horrible. Thanks to the games habit of throwing every bit

of useless crap at you constantly, the inventory management was fiddly and time consuming. It

was the games combat that really held it back though. The recharging weapon idea was cool on

paper, but just felt too slow and frustrating during intense gunfights. Mass Effect was very combat

heavy, and the system just wasnt as smooth and polished as those seen in many non RPG action

titles. Fortunately, Bioware felt the same, revamping the combat in time for the sequel. The new

combat may have been a bit generic compared to the first game, but it was also far more

streamlined, satisfying, and fun.

8 Alan Wake

With its Stephen King inspired story and strong characterisation, Alan Wake was a well made,

spooky

narrative

experience.

The

game

also

made

good

use

of

light

and

dark,

entwining

the

theme

into both narrative and gameplay. The mechanic of using light was an interesting one, and it mostly

worked quite well. However, just about everything else in the combat wasnt great. The dodging

was unreliable and clunky, while the guns felt like you were firing BB pellets. The intention was to

make the player feel under real danger, but this was at the expense of high levels of frustration.

The fights were also wildly unbalanced, with long stretches of the game being far too easy,

interspersed with occasional difficulty spikes when confronted with groups of four or more

enemies.


4/9

7 Morrowind

Morrowind is still considered by many to be the greatest entry in the Elder Scrolls franchise. With

a weird, richly detailed world, and less hand holding than is now common in AAA releases,

Morrowind is widely considered to be a quintessential RPG experience. Its a shame then, that the

combat pretty much sucks. The Elder Scrolls isnt a series known for having a daring, complex

combat system, but Oblivion and Skyrim were vast improvements over Morrowind. The definition

of clunky, Morrowinds combat was unsatisfying and inconsistent, particularly when using melee

weapons. This was made even worse by the frequent surprise attacks from some particularly

annoying monsters. Were not naming any names, but if you played the game then you know the

terror of seeing a certain winged shadow appear in front of you

6 Bioshock Infinite


5/9

The Bioshock series strength has never been in its combat. The games have excelled in creating

worlds that drip with atmosphere, and tense, scary moments, but the fighting just isnt anything

special. Thats not to say the combat is particularly bad. The act of combining antiquated weaponry

with fireballs and lightning bolts can be very fun, and occasionally exhilarating. Despite this, the

combat in Bioshock can often feel like a necessary function to progress the storyline, rather than

being a fundamental part of the experience. While it still worked well in Rapture, it was in Bioshock

Infinite that the cracks began to show. The floating city of Columbia was a beautiful place, but there

was never much time to admire it thanks the constant fights against swarms of robots, rebels and

patriots. The huge focus on combat in Bioshock Infinite just didnt match up to how fun the actual

gameplay was, making the continuous battles fatiguing and often frustrating. In fact, we truly

believe that more stealth and platforming, sprinkled with occasional gunfights would have made

for a far more effective and refreshing way of journeying through Columbia.

5 The Secret World


6/9

We wish The Secret World became more popular than it did. One of the few MMORPGs that can

claim to be truly original since World of Warcrafts release, The Secret World is set in a universe

where just about every conspiracy and legend is completely true, making for an exciting place to

explore. Thats why it was crushingly disappointing when it emerged that The Secret World had a

combat system that was about as dull as you can get. While it was initially fun to come up with a

good build, combat quickly devolved into tapping the same few button cycles over and over and

over again. The repetition wasnt helped by the floaty animations, or attacks that lacked any sort

of oomph. While most MMOs feature their fair share of repetition, the battles in The Secret World

bring a whole new level of mind numbing boredom to the genre.

4 Game Of Thrones

Unless you count the excellent mods for Crusader Kings II and Mount & Blade: Warband, there


7/9

hasnt been a decent Game of Thrones video game yet. Considering how entertaining the CKII mod

is, were certain that an official Game of Thrones adaptation could have the potential to be truly

great. The action RPG simply titled Game of Thrones came close to brilliance. The characters were

expertly written (though poorly voiced), and the story genuinely did justice to the franchise.

Unfortunately, the gameplay was absolutely horrible. The combat was a weird blend of The Witcher,

Assassins Creed and The Sims, in which you queued up attacks in real time and sort of watched

them be performed in order. There was an interesting idea hidden away in there somewhere, but

the game sadly just couldnt pull it off. Although the story would be of great interest to any fan of

the books or show, wed recommend just reading the plot online over slogging through this title.

3 Mirrors Edge

Mirrors Edge was a truly excellent game, featuring a unique aesthetic and smooth free running

gameplay. While the game received decent reviews on release, six years later it has widely been

recognised as something of a modern classic. The majority of the game was magnificently realised,

but the combat was Mirrors Edges low point. The melee combat was a bit sloppy, and overly relied

on

the

trial

and

error

of

anticipating

the

timing

of

punches

and

gunfire.

Fortunately,

the

combat

wasnt a big part of the game, and it was almost always encouraged to just run from fights (other

than one or two compulsory segments). However, it did serve as an unwanted break from the

wonderful platforming, unnecessarily disrupting the games flow.

2 Gothic 3


8/9

Gothic 3 was an attempt by developers Piranha Bytes to make the dark fantasy themed RPG series

more accessible to a wider audience. Many of the major changes were great, such as the vastly

improved graphics and more cohesive quest design. Unfortunately, the combat was totally watered

down in comparison to its predecessors, turning it into a hack and slash athon that was lacking in

the first two games strategic depth. It was extremely unsatisfying, particularly when factoring in

the clunky animations and bad AI. Ultimately, Gothic 3 wound up disappointing both long term

series vets and newcomers alike. Attempts at simplifying the combat were jarring to fans of the

originals, while the bugs and lack of oomph left many wondering why the Gothic series was so

revered in the first place.

1 Alpha Protocol


9/9

One of the most disappointing releases of all time, with a few changes Alpha Protocol couldve

been a masterpiece. Alpha Protocol puts the player in the shoes of a field agent, blending stealth,

actions and RPG elements. The poor combat played a large part in the games mixed reception.

With a badly designed cover system and terrible enemy AI, Alpha Protocol featured sloppy,

unpolished fights, totally outshone by other contemporary titles that blended action and RPG

elements. Alpha Protocols biggest flaw though, was its weird mix of weapon stat upgrades and

action gameplay principles. For example, if you havent levelled up your pistol skills, then its almost

impossible to hit an enemy even with a direct hit. This sort of system worked in games like Fallout,

with its V.A.T.S mechanic, but in Alpha Protocol it proved to be a broken mess.

PC Game CD Keys:

EA Games CD Key http://www.gamescdkey.com/publisher/ea.html

RPG Games CD Key http://www.gamescdkey.com/pc games/rpg game.html

ACT Games CD Key http://www.gamescdkey.com/pc games/act game.html

FPS

Games

CD

Key

http://www.gamescdkey.com/pc

games/fps

game.html

Adventure Games CD Key http://www.gamescdkey.com/pc games/avg game.html

Racing Games CD Key http://www.gamescdkey.com/pc games/rac game.html

Sport Games CD Key http://www.gamescdkey.com/pc games/spt game.html

FTG Games CD Key http://www.gamescdkey.com/pc games/ftg game.html

RTS Games CD Key http://www.gamescdkey.com/pc games/rts game.html

SLG Games CD Key http://www.gamescdkey.com/pc games/slg game.html

10 great games ruined by bad combat

Documents