Rate the Game: Week 109

[M-A-G]

Good morning, everyone. I hope your last week was less tumultuous than mine. On the bright side, we're all still here. Which means we get to rock on with this party we call Rate the Game, now in its 109th week! The hits keep coming and they don't stop coming...until Week 125. Also, we should address whether last week's Dead Island was a hit or not. Let's see how it measures up to other zombie-killing fests by taking a gander at the leaderboard!

<select><option selected="">Rate the Game Results

<option>1. (TIE) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (4.8)</option>
<option>3. (TIE) Hitman: Codename 47, Mass Effect (4.75)</option>
<option>5. Goldeneye 007 (4.72)</option>
<option>6. Super Mario Bros. 3 (4.7)</option>
<option>7. Silent Hill 2 (4.66)
<option>8. (3-WAY TIE) Chrono Trigger, Portal, Red Dead Redemption (4.5)</option>
<option>11. (3-WAY TIE) Mega Man 2, Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (4.44)</option>
<option>14. Super Mario Bros. (4.41)</option>
<option>15. God of War (4.4)</option>
<option>16. Mega Man X (4.36)</option>
<option>17. (TIE) Metal Gear Solid, BioShock (4.33)</option>
<option>19. Perfect Dark (4.3)</option>
<option>20. (TIE) Shadow of the Colossus, The Last of Us (4.28)</option>
<option>22. Super Street Fighter 2 (4.15)</option>
<option>23. Sonic the Hedgehog (4.14)</option>
<option>24. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (4.125)</option>
<option>25. Super Mario 64 (4.07)</option>
<option>26. (TIE) Grand Theft Auto 3, The Legend of Zelda (4.06)</option>
<option>28. NBA Jam (4.05)</option>
<option>29. (13-WAY TIE) Super Mario Kart (4.0)</option>
<option>- Sonic the Hedgehog 2</option>
<option>- Super Metroid</option>
<option>- The Simpsons</option>
<option>- Castlevania: Symphony of the Night</option>
<option>- Donkey Kong Country 2</option>
<option>- Resident Evil 4</option>
<option>- Super Smash Bros.</option>
<option>- Banjo-Kazooie</option>
<option>- EarthBound</option>
<option>- Fallout 3</option>
<option>- Mirror's Edge</option>
<option>- Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3</option>
<option>42. Final Fantasy 7 (3.94)</option>
<option>43. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time (3.92)</option>
<option>44. Mega Man (3.89)</option>
<option>45. (3-WAY TIE) Contra, Castlevania, Devil May Cry (3.86)</option>
<option>48. Half-Life 2 (3.85)</option>
<option>49. (TIE) Half-Life, Infamous (3.83)</option>
<option>51. (TIE) SimCity 2000, Final Fight (3.8)</option>
<option>53. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (3.77)</option>
<option>54. Batman: Arkham Asylum (3.76)</option>
<option>55. (TIE) Double Dragon, Max Payne (3.75)</option>
<option>57. Tetris (3.69)</option>
<option>58. Mortal Kombat 2 (3.67)</option>
<option>59. (3-WAY TIE) Diablo, F.E.A.R., Alan Wake (3.66)</option>
<option>62. Mortal Kombat (3.65)</option>
<option>63. Doom (3.625)</option>
<option>64. StarFox (3.61)</option>
<option>65. Resident Evil (3.58)</option>
<option>66. (3-WAY TIE) Ninja Gaiden, Shinobi, Burnout Paradise (3.5)</option>
<option>69. Dead Space (3.4)</option>
<option>70. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (3.39)</option>
<option>71. Resident Evil: Nemesis (3.38)</option>
<option>72. (6-WAY TIE) Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Condemned: Criminal Origins, Crash Bandicoot, Wolfenstein 3D, Left 4 Dead, Dead Island (3.33)</option>
<option>78. Gears of War (3.27)</option>
<option>79. (TIE) Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Borderlands (3.22)</option>
<option>81. (3-WAY TIE) Quake, Duke Nukem 3D, Darkstalkers (3.2)</option>
<option>84. SoulCalibur (3.16)</option>
<option>85. Pac-Man (3.125)</option>
<option>86. Killer Instinct (3.11)</option>
<option>87. (TIE) Virtua Fighter, Rock Band (3.09)</option>
<option>89. (5-WAY TIE) Time Crisis, Tekken, Earthworm Jim, Metroid, Halo 2 (3.0)</option>
<option>94. Guitar Hero (2.875)</option>
<option>95. Streets of Rage (2.84)</option>
<option>96. Altered Beast (2.8)</option>
<option>97. Bayonetta (2.75)</option>
<option>98. (3-WAY TIE) Dead Rising, Gauntlet, Assassin's Creed (2.71) </option>
<option>101. (TIE) Silent Hill, The Sims (2.6)</option>
<option>103. Tomb Raider (2.55)</option>
<option>104. Halo: Combat Evolved (2.5)</option>
<option>105. (TIE) Twisted Metal, Crackdown (2.42)</option>
<option>107. Gran Turismo (2.3)</option>
<option>108. Ghosts n' Goblins (2.14)</option>
</select>

Unfortunately, it's nowhere near contention for the top of the pack with its 3.33 average but it's got some OK company to hang with in the 72nd spot on the list, including fellow zombie shoot-'em-up Left 4 Dead. Both those titles sit higher than Dead Rising on top of that. Look at all of this lovely data we're giving you. We do this in the name of science!

Time marches on and all that so we have work to do. We now go to the bowl for its weekly obligation in giving us a new game to rate. What's in store for us in Week 109?

<iframe src="https://giphy.com/embed/4a1uKDd1rylm9RpEfX" width="480" height="222" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/4a1uKDd1rylm9RpEfX">via GIPHY</a></p>

I was wondering when we'd get to this one. We're not out of the woods yet when it comes to horror and gruesome imagery. This week is the third installment in Konami's classic survival horror series, Silent Hill 3. This would've helped back in October you fucking bowl. Anyways, we have to rate this sucker. Both of its predecessors are already on the board, with the first game occupying the lower pits since the beginning and the sequel sitting pretty in the elite top. So where will the third game end up? Joining the first game? Sharing room with the sequel amongst the cream of the crop? Or will it get lost amongst the just average somewhere in the middle? It's up to you to determine its fate so lets rate this sucker. Until next week.

[ClockShot]

Nope. Never played it.

[M-A-G]

Fun fact: Silent Hill was number 1 on the leaderboard for a brief moment...because it was the first Rate the Game we did.

[Destor]

so it was also last place

[M-A-G]

Just two of many of my trinkets that demonstrate my love for this game. That Robbie the Rabbit sticker is getting worn out. It's been on that phone for about 4 years. I might need a new one.

https://i.imgur.com/eVLPADw.jpg

[Lock Jaw]

Never played it.

[screech]

Never played it (or any Silent Hill game, for that matter)

[DAMN iNATOR]

Gave it a 4. It was the start of the decline for the series but still pretty fucking good.

[DAMN iNATOR]

so it was also last place

Wow, look at deep-thinking Destor over there.

[M-A-G]

Gave it a 4. It was the start of the decline for the series but still pretty fucking good.

This one's my favorite of the series and probably the best one, in my opinion. The decline of the series would be when Konami took it out of the hands of Team Silent and gave it to any Tom (Hulett), Dick, and Harry who knew little to nothing about the it. The comics, the first film, and Silent Hill: Origins was where the shitshow really began. All things being fair, Team Silent did leave Konami but that doesn't wash Konami's hands of their ineptitude.

[DAMN iNATOR]

This one's my favorite of the series and probably the best one, in my opinion. The decline of the series would be when Konami took it out of the hands of Team Silent and gave it to any Tom (Hulett), Dick, and Harry who knew little to nothing about the it. The comics, the first film, and Silent Hill: Origins was where the shitshow really began. All things being fair, Team Silent did leave Konami but that doesn't wash Konami's hands of their ineptitude.

I liked SH2 significantly better. Again, SH3 was great, just not as great as 2. For as great as it was there were some minor bits I feel that foreshadowed how bad things would get starting with The Room.

[M-A-G]

More of my knick-knacks. Some of these would've been more appropriate for the other games, like the blanket, but fuck it. I love these games. The first 4 at least.

https://i.imgur.com/4TRzU6y.jpg

Halo of the Sun

https://i.imgur.com/QwoXmEq.jpg

Robbie the Rabbit

https://i.imgur.com/8lvwSIs.jpg

Maria

https://i.imgur.com/qUHcwnf.jpg

What's going on with that radio?

[Big Vic]

Can't wait for this game no one played to be ranked over Megaman 2.

[DAMN iNATOR]

That's not true. 2 people have played it.

[M-A-G]

Hopefully OssMan played this one, too...and also gives it a 5....

[M-A-G]

Damn, only 2 people on board this time around. It hurts, not gonna lie.

I feel like playing through it again, now that it's been brought up for this week. It was legit the first game that actually scared the shit out of me. It's incredibly disturbing as the imagery and spot-on sound design blends together to create something that immerses you in terror and unease almost non-stop. Everything looks sharper here and the controls are a bit tighter than the first game and the puzzle design doesn't treat you like an idiot. The soundtrack is some of the best music in games and I dare you to play some of it on a long drive down an empty road at night. Heather is probably the best protagonist of the series as she has the best responses to all of the lunacy around her, plus her back story ties into the plot perfectly. It really gets the series back on track after a fun detour with the second game and focuses on what it's really about: occultism and its subsequent effects. This was a hard act to follow and The Room certainly fell short but, man, the series REALLY stumbled off the cliff after that and never touched these heights again. I know it's a toss-up for people between this and Silent Hill 2 but you can't go wrong either way, in my opinion. Just my two cents.

[DAMN iNATOR]

I don't know, I felt more scared by SH2. I think a lot of it had to do with the creepy environments, overall ambience, and just how often you're left to walk around in silence, hoping your own thoughts or a random enemy OUTTA NOWHERE doesn't make you soil yourself in fear.

[M-A-G]

I don't know, I felt more scared by SH2. I think a lot of it had to do with the creepy environments, overall ambience, and just how often you're left to walk around in silence, hoping your own thoughts or a random enemy OUTTA NOWHERE doesn't make you soil yourself in fear.

2 had some genuine moments of "WTF?". The apartments towards the beginning of the game and the prison were really unsettling, the former because of how fucking dark the halls are and it's your first interaction with Pyramid Head. The prison has this oppressive dirty vibe to it and the hallway with the invisible creatures making those noises gets under your skin. The sudden appearance of a Lying Figure squirming its way out from under a car is also a good way to rattle your nerves. The third game's nightmare environments were more out there, I think, and I'll never forget the Mirror Room in the hospital. Like, I said, I don't fault anyone picking either game over the other because there's so much good shit in both. None of the games post-The Room ever recreated anything close to the sense of dread and shock and fear like any of these games did.