Name three games, one that met, didnt meet and exceeded your expectations!!

Hey all, im a long time lurker but haven't posted much on these forums, basically I have been thinking about this on the run up to the new year. This year has been a great one for gaming, one of the best since the golden oot/halflife 1one of '98 :D. So on to my choices for this year.

Game that met:Mass Effect, OK so it does have some graphical and slowdown glitches but overall its a great game, it truly feels like yourwatching a Hollywood move at some points, sure the combat could have been a little more in depth but for the type and length of the game it suits perfectly. I am a huge fan of sw: kotor and jade empire and this game is just as good. Well developed characters and a in depth rpg elements make it my goty.

Game that didn't meet: Halo 3, ok so thehype for thisgame was incredible, people expected agod like fpsgame and ended up getting a merely very good one. So the reason it didn't meet my expectations is the simple fact no matter how good it was it couldn't. I feel it is the same for a lot of gamers for a lot of games. Take oblivion for example, up to its release people we heralding it as the second coming and when it was released people were inevitably disappointed. Halo 3 is however one of my favourite games of the year, especially online.

Game that exceeded: The Orange Box, for one reason, portal. This game was imho the best of the year :D. It is original and very fun, we NEED to see a longer stand alone sequel for this valve!! Of course episode 2 was great and I haven't as of yet got into tf2, waiting on my new pc :(, grr hurry up dell!!. But I have heard good things.

Ok so these are my choices, Id like to hear from some of you guys and gals regarding your own choices, please give reasons if possible :P.

Bonus question: What game do you wish you could wake up to on Christmas that doesn't exist yetor is still in development, for me GIEF MOARSHENMUEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!! :D. I need closure and to kick Lan Di's ass.

Met = Bioshock

not = Stalker

Exceed ETQW

That met: CoD4...even if the SP is much too short

That didn´t met : SoF Payback...man,what a lame game

That exeeded : This year?None!But I played Prey this year and if I look at the cleverness of the Level-design,CoD4,Halo 3 and the rest look pretty flat and uncreative...

Met = Jeanne D`Arc

Didn't meet = Zelda Phantom Hourglass (even though I still love the game)

Exceeded = Contra 4

Met: Super Mario Galaxy. I always knew it would be a great ride that would bring tears of joy to my eyes.

Didn't:Oblivion. There were people praising how godly it was and, you guessed it, I got dissapointed.

Exceeded:Skate.WhenIboughtIwasn'texpectingtohavesomuchfunwithit.

Met: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune -- Very enjoyable with awesome graphics and some fixed camera angles that make the game feel very cinematic.

Didn't meet: Assassin's Creed -- So so much hype, so many promises, so much disappointment.

Exceeded: COD4 -- I simply can't stop playing the game. The multiplayer is unparalleled and the campaign just absorbs you. They threw some twists into the story you just didn't expect and I was left going "Wow" quite a few times.

Exceeded: Halo 3. I hated Halo 2 a lot and I remember the review saying something about it not being very different from Halo 2 which was in turn, not very different from Halo 1. I was expecting to hate every second when my uncle got it, but surprisingly, only the first two levels sucked and the second last one.

Didn't meet: Bioshock. As a Deus Ex fan (I know, different developers, I know), I was excited about Bioshock being another FPSRPG and all the hype around it as an incredibly atmospheric shooter with open ended environments, unique AI, RPG elements, and a great story only added to my enthusiasm. I found the AI to be incredibly stupid, the environments to bevery linear, almost no RPG elements, and the gameplay being so boring, I couldn't really get absorbed by the atmosphere.

Met: Super Mario Galaxy. With the most unique and mind-bending levels not to mention best graphics for a Wii game, and great music, the only thing bad was the story line, but that was to be expected.

Met: Crysis - I got everything Crytek promised: huge non-linear, fully destructible/interactive environments, challenging AI, cutting-edge graphics, very-fun-to-use-and-experiment-with suit features...basically, it's the ultimate sandbox FPS.

Didn't meet: BioShock - it's a great FPS and still one of the best games of the year, but slightly disappointing. It wasn't as deep or open-ended as I expected and the storytelling failed to completely immerse me into the fantastical gameworld. I never truly had a feeling of knowing what went on in Rapture, I never connected with any of the characters, they always felt distant.

Exceeded: The Orange Box - Episode Two was pure Half-Life awesomeness (the last level is probably the most action-packed Half-Life level ever), but Portal and Team Fortress 2 completely blew me away. I fully expected some clever portal-based puzzles, but I didn't expect a superb storyline filled with some of the best and funniest writing ever. Team Fortress 2, on the other hand, is the most addictive thing since Civilization. I can't stop playing it.

Met: Uncharted

Exceeded: Super Mario Galaxy

Didn't meet: Mass Effect, even if marginally.

Exceed: Overlord &Fantasy War.

Meet my expectations: Civilisation IV: Beyond the Sword.

That's 3 games, I cheat, I like to be positive. :P

This is hard, there are quite a few.

Met: Have to name a few; Twisted Metal 1 and Resident Evil 1. I totally thought these were going to be the godliest gaming experiences of all time and they ended up being so. Going from2D 16 bit to this was mind blowing. Splinter Cell Pandora's online multiplayer. I was so hyped for the most complex and unique online play and it actually lived up to it! No other online game is even worthy of being in the same sentence, hands down. These all probably even exceeded but I'll leave them here.

Exceeded: Prince of Persia Sands of Time. Looked like a nice game and Ionly bought it because it was free with Splinter Cell (which I sold on eBay for profit)and my wife and I wanted another fix after finishing Ico.Once I played it, it completely blew me away.It became my favorite game of the PS2/GC/XBox generation and maybe of all time. There is no other game that is so beautiful and plays so perfect and effortlessly. It is not too long, not too short, and you don't need to be in a specific mood to play it (like scary survival horror games). Also, Shadow of the Colossus- didn't know how unique this game would feel until I actually played it- amazing! Silent Hill 2- had no idea a game can be so scary and disturbing- I loved being there!

Did not meet: Kind of obvious, Twisted Metal 2 and Resident Evil 2 suck compared to the original but I was hoping. I hated the atmosphere and setting of TM2 and some of the stuff in RE2 turned me off. Also, RE2's setting and atmosphere are childs play crapcompared to RE1. I was readily set to be dissapointed with the Prince of Persia sequels and didn't even buy them til they were $10.

Met: Metroid Prime 3.Superb game,easily the best of the Prime trilogy.

Didn't meet: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.Found it disappointing,boring,and is my least favorite of my franchise.

Exceeded: Kirby's Adventure.Best 2D platformer I've ever played; was only expecting a good (not great) platformer.

Met- Uncharted- I had really high expectations for this game and it delivered on every level.

Didn't Meet- Bioshock- Don't get me wrong, Bioshock was a really good game, but it could have been so much more. The story and the linear gameplay really drug it down for me, but I still really enjoyed the game... it just wasn't as great as I thought it would be.

Exceeded- Ratchet and Clank- I had never played a R&C game before Tools of Destruction, and I absolutely freaking loved it. The game was fun, had a great story, succeeded at being funny, and had some face meltingly good graphics.

Met: Crysisand the Orange Box.

Didn't meet: Mass Effect, Kane and Lynch, CoD4

Exceeded: The Witcher

A nice collection of answers here, Im getting cod 4, crysisand the witcher for xmas so ill put my views of them up wed/thurs, glad to see people are liking them. Especially cod4,looking for a good multiplayergame to replace wow, just recentlyescaped its clutches:P.

Keep the answers coming :Dand also:

OOta letdown??! Blasphemer!!!!!!!!!!! :P :D

Met: Forza. I can`t still believe how great this newcomer of a racing game is. Unbelieveable racing phyisics, race courses, car selection, customization and graphics. Hands down my alltime favorite racing game.

Didn`t: Huh. Out of all games it`s Forza 2. Still a good game, but it`s lacking in race course variety, to many laps to race (6-9 laps per race) and you can`t use alot of your favorite cars in the races you want.Lancers & Imprezas can only be played in Asian courses and equalHP rated races. No tuning up your favorite cars to it`s highest levels and racing them on other race leagues. You can`t race your 2001-3Toyota MR2 Turbo Twin Bar against those Ferrari 355/430, Porshe 911/GTR3 andDodge Viper..etc races.

Exceeded: Three way Tie. Castlevania Portait of Ruin, Mega Man X Maverick Hunters & Metal Slug 4 (Metal Slug Collection). Yes I know these games are in my alltime favorite genre (2D action/adventure/platforming/shooting), but to me these oldschool sequels/remakes are amazing. These games bring back to me the great feelings of the good old days.

Met: Command and Conquer 3, Phantom Hourglass

Didn't meet: Any Pokemon game for GBA or DS

Exceeded: Advance Wars: Dual Strike, Age of Empires III

Met Expectations:
Crysis
Call of Duty 4

Exceeded Expectations:
Super Mario Galaxy
The Witcher
Orange Box (especially TF2 and Portal)

Didn't Meet:
BioShock
Unreal Tournament 3
Assassin's Creed

Complete Letdown and utter Disappointment:
Windows Vista
Hellgate London
Dark Messiah of Might & Magic

Met: Super Mario Galaxy. I knew Nintendo wouldn't let us down!

Didn't Meet: Halo 3. It was a fun game, but it just feels like Halo 2 with better graphics.

Exceeded: NiGHTS Journey of Dreams. I bought it yesterday. I've put over 8 hours into it, and I'm loving every minute of it! :)