Don’t get us wrong — none of the following games is bad. A couple are quite good, actually. But every year the hype machine writes checks it can’t cash, and a few major games inevitably don’t live up to what we hoped they would be. 1 ‘GoldenEye 007’
The coveted remake of the Nintendo 64 classic has finally arrived, with Daniel Craig filling in for Pierce Brosnan, but the remake seems more interested in retelling “GoldenEye” the movie than tipping its hat to “GoldenEye” the game. Gone is the sense of the absurd that made the original special, with multiplayer modes especially cleansed of idiosyncracies in favor of a generic “Call of Duty”-style system. What’s the point?
2 ‘Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II’
Starkiller’s return had been hyped for months, and the trailers looked amazing. Too bad the dual lightsabers and cut-scenes were the only good parts. Overall, it was fun to play, but left you wanting way too much more. Maybe the upcoming downloadable content will help make up for it.
3 ‘No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle’
Super assassin Travis Touchdown whipped out two beam sabers for this zany revenge story. While the graphics were much better, something just felt wrong about the entire adventure — too much jumping around, too many extra characters, and the just-plain-odd twist ending.
4 ‘Super Scribblenauts’
The sequel to The Examiner’s 2009 game of the year maintains the brilliant premise of its predecessor — write anything you can think of, and it pops into existence for you to play with — but focuses on expanding its range rather than shoring up the basics. What good is creating a leather house if a Frisbee is still treated as a weapon, hurting those you throw it to?
5 ‘Fable III’
The revolution has come, but it didn’t last very long. Planning and leading the revolt was amazing, ruling was boring, and the last fight felt easier than the first boss battle. A “Fable” game should feel like an epic quest — and this one, while fun, just wasn’t long enough.
