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Gamers for the most part, tend to be the most closed minded individuals. No matter what our beliefs or politics are we can all agree that change, when it comes to our favorite genres, is rarely welcome. We all like our FPS's to be action packed, our platformers to have tight control, our RPG's to be sprawling and epic, but what happens when a developer changes up our beloved formula and tries something new. We've all been there, developer A changes the best game mechanic of our precious game B and the forums turn into something resembling a digital wild animal park. Now, what happens when the risk pays off? In todays feature, we will examine the top 3 worst game design ideas that turned out to be awesome.

Only boss fights in new team Ico game?

3.That's right I said it, the idea of an empty world with only bosses puzzled many gamers, me included. Every game before it had a sprawling world, colorful characters to interact with, side quest and much more. SOTC wasn't going to have any of that, needless to say, I was disappointed. Not say that I still wasn't excited but the adventure that I thought team ICO would provide just didn't exist. Or did it?

When it was released in 2005 critics and gamers alike loved it. SOTC didn't need any of the aforementioned side quest, extra characters, or towns. The world that creator Fumito Ueda brought to life existed on its own. With its beautiful but sometimes awkward character animations, cryptic language, and seemingly desolate landscape, SOTC conveyed emotions most games could only dream of. Then of course the Colossi themselves, their sheer size was astounding, each with their unique weak spot and way to destroy them was simply fantastic. After beating the game I, along with all my friends, where floored by how great this simple concept was executed. It wasn't hard to accept that I was flat out wrong about it. Shows how much I know.

 

So Metal Gear Solid 3 takes place in the 60's?

2. Metal Gear Solid 2 for the PS2 was one of the most anticipated games of 2001, Kojima promised to take full of advantage of the PS2 hardware taking gamers places they've never been. There was no reason to doubt Kojima, MGS 1 was fantastic, pushing the PSone to it's limits.  The E3 2000 trailer blew every one away, my friends and I waited for what seemed like hours as the trailer downloaded on our slow high school computers, we couldn't wait to get our geeky hands on it. More than a year later the game was finally released, I had it pre-ordered for months, and for the first few hours it lived up to the hype. That was of course before he showed up, you know who I'm talking about, the whiniest video game character in history, of course I'm talking about Raiden. He was so whiney that he'd probably fit in with the cast of Twilight. Kojima pulled a fast on all of us, he didn't show footage of MGS 2 for months and when he did show footage, he inserted Solid Snake in parts of the game where you control Raiden, but I digress. The point is that as a MGS fan I didn't want to control Raiden and most fans would whole heartedly agree. Kojima did too, his next Metal Gear Solid game was to feature Snake as it's protagonist but it's setting was kept closely guarded. From the footage it clearly looked to take place in the early parts of the Cold War. How could this be? According to the MGS story, Solid Snake was born in the 1970's, he had no part in the Cold War. Kojima was hiding something, we just weren't sure what it was.

Three years after the Raiden debacle Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater was released, it was then and only then that gamers knew for sure the true setting, Russia circa 1964. What would happen to all of Solid Snakes high tech gadgets? No Otocon? No Meryl? Damn you Kojima, damn you straight to hell. But wait, this game is actually turned out pretty good. Naked Snake turned out to be more of a bad ass then even Solid Snake him self. It makes sense, it turns out that Naked Snake is not only Solid Snake's father, but the ultimate solider, the solider that every one in the Metal Gear universe wishes they where. Kojima made Metal Gear Solid awesome again, my faith in gaming was restored. Although I won't get into a full review of MGS3 here, those who listen to our NerdCast know how much I love MGS3. It has arguably the best story out of the four MGS games, the best boss battles, best music, and most interesting side characters (i.e The Boss, Volgan, Big Boss). What seemed like a developer gone mad turned out to be one of the best games to ever come out for the PS2.

 

Metroid Prime going FPS?

1. It had been more than 8 years and an entire console generation since a new Metroid game was released. Super Metroid was for many, not only the ultimate Metroid game but the best game they've ever played. It had atmosphere, great music, solid jumping mechanics, that Metroid sense of desolation and progression. All of this with a seemingly low powered console.

Nintendo introduced the Gamecube in 2000 with a slew of cg trailers, one of which was for a new Metroid game. Nintendo handed over the reigns of the Metroid series over to American developer Retro studios. There weren't a ton of gamers who had heard of this American studio but most trusted Nintendo with their decision. The one thing gamers knew for sure was that it would be extremely difficult to translate one of the best 2D games ever over to a 3D world. Then Nintendo announced that the new Metroid would not only be fully rendered in 3D but it would be played from the first person perspective. Once again the Internet fan boys where outraged, how would a Metroid game work in first person? Super Metroid was at it's best when you where jumping and exploring, but how in the world would this work in the first person? I was skeptical to say the least, the turmoil going on over at Retro studios only made me more nervous. Projects where being cancelled, people where being laid off, Metroid Prime seemed doomed.

Finally in November of 2002 Metroid Prime was released, by that time my nerves had calmed but only just slightly. I still wasn't sure if Retro studios would pull this one off. Of course not only did they pull it off but they created my one of my favorite games of all time. It was all there, the atmosphere, the sense of desolation, weapon upgrades, and attention to detail unlike I had ever seen. When something exploded close to Samus, you could see her blue eyes in the reflexion. Retro Studios understood, they got what made a Metroid game great then transferred it nearly to perfection in a 3D world. Metroid Prime became one of those rare games that I wish I could experience for the first time all over again.

Don't agree with me or do you have your own take on our feature? Please send us feedback by using the form on the left side of this page, leaving a comment at the bottom of the page or send an email to sportsnerdsmail@gmail.com

Jr.