Rate the Game: Week 112
 

Let's say we close out May with something good, huh? It's Rate the Game: Week 112 and I am your host, M-A-G. We inch ever closer to the end of this ride as we head into the dog days of summer. I recommend staying indoors where it's nice and cool and your favorite console welcomes you to enjoy its wares. Speaking of which, last week's Golden Axe ran through our trial by fire. What does it look like after coming out the other side?

<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. (4-WAY TIE) Chrono Trigger, Portal, Red Dead Redemption, Silent Hill 3 (4.5)</option>
<option>12. (3-WAY TIE) Mega Man 2, Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (4.44)</option>
<option>15. Super Mario Bros. (4.41)</option>
<option>16. God of War (4.4)</option>
<option>17. Mega Man X (4.36)</option>
<option>18. (TIE) Metal Gear Solid, BioShock (4.33)</option>
<option>20. Perfect Dark (4.3)</option>
<option>21. (TIE) Shadow of the Colossus, The Last of Us (4.28)</option>
<option>23. Super Street Fighter 2 (4.15)</option>
<option>24. Sonic the Hedgehog (4.14)</option>
<option>25. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (4.125)</option>
<option>26. Super Mario 64 (4.07)</option>
<option>27. (TIE) Grand Theft Auto 3, The Legend of Zelda (4.06)</option>
<option>29. NBA Jam (4.05)</option>
<option>30. (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>43. Final Fantasy 7 (3.94)</option>
<option>44. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time (3.92)</option>
<option>45. Mega Man (3.89)</option>
<option>46. (3-WAY TIE) Contra, Castlevania, Devil May Cry (3.86)</option>
<option>49. Half-Life 2 (3.85)</option>
<option>50. (TIE) Half-Life, Infamous (3.83)</option>
<option>52. (TIE) SimCity 2000, Final Fight (3.8)</option>
<option>54. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (3.77)</option>
<option>55. Batman: Arkham Asylum (3.76)</option>
<option>56. (TIE) Double Dragon, Max Payne (3.75)</option>
<option>58. Tetris (3.69)</option>
<option>59. Mortal Kombat 2 (3.67)</option>
<option>60. (3-WAY TIE) Diablo, F.E.A.R., Alan Wake (3.66)</option>
<option>63. Mortal Kombat (3.65)</option>
<option>64. Doom (3.625)</option>
<option>65. StarFox (3.61)</option>
<option>66. Resident Evil (3.58)</option>
<option>67. (3-WAY TIE) Ninja Gaiden, Shinobi, Burnout Paradise (3.5)</option>
<option>70. Dead Space (3.4)</option>
<option>71. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (3.39)</option>
<option>72. Resident Evil: Nemesis (3.38)</option>
<option>73. (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>79. Gears of War (3.27)</option>
<option>80. (TIE) Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Borderlands (3.22)</option>
<option>82. (3-WAY TIE) Quake, Duke Nukem 3D, Darkstalkers (3.2)</option>
<option>85. SoulCalibur (3.16)</option>
<option>86. Pac-Man (3.125)</option>
<option>87. Killer Instinct (3.11)</option>
<option>88. (TIE) Virtua Fighter, Rock Band (3.09)</option>
<option>90. (5-WAY TIE) Time Crisis, Tekken, Earthworm Jim, Metroid, Halo 2 (3.0)</option>
<option>95. Guitar Hero (2.875)</option>
<option>96. Streets of Rage (2.84)</option>
<option>97. Altered Beast (2.8)</option>
<option>98. Bayonetta (2.75)</option>
<option>99. (3-WAY TIE) Dead Rising, Gauntlet, Assassin's Creed (2.71) </option>
<option>102. Saints Row (2.66)</option>
<option>103. (TIE) Silent Hill, The Sims (2.6)</option>
<option>105. Tomb Raider (2.55)</option>
<option>106. Halo: Combat Evolved (2.5)</option>
<option>107. (TIE) Twisted Metal, Crackdown (2.42)</option>
<option>109. Golden Axe (2.33)</option>
<option>110. Gran Turismo (2.3)</option>
<option>111. Ghosts n' Goblins (2.14)</option>
</select>

That might have been the fastest editing I've done to the leaderboard in a while. Golden Axe can't muster up enough love and sadly ends up just above the two permanent residents of the bottom of the list. Spot 109 is a rough hand but what can we do?

Well, we can move on to, hopefully, better and brighter things. 14 games still await our judgment so let's not keep them waiting. Bowl, get on down here...

<iframe src="https://giphy.com/embed/VLuAGF5KLIzaCOVC6a" width="480" height="222" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/VLuAGF5KLIzaCOVC6a">via GIPHY</a></p>

And there we have it. It's quite the doozy we have on our hands here for Week 112. Your game to rate this time around is the hard-as-dicks hackfest fantasy adventure, Dark Souls! It's got a reputation, no doubt about it, but where on the scale does it land for you? Is it too much to handle or did you dig its atmosphere and RPG gameplay? Tell us all about it and let's close out May with a bang. Until next week!

Never played it.

Nuh-uh.

Never going near this title. Nope. No way.

Never played it.

3

There was really nothing on the market like it, when it came out. Felt so good beating a boss or area for the first time.

They say Souls games are really hard but fair. They hadn't perfected that at this point, because there are some absolute bullshit areas and bosses in this game. Also, there was a whole area of the game that felt rushed and not as well crafted as the rest. They probably hit a deadline.

Man, the art direction and atmosphere though. This is my favorite type of fantasy. Where the world itself feels bleak and oppressive, and merely existing in it fills you with dread.

This post is sponsored by the Knights Who Say "Ni"
 

Damn, this has to be a record for me. 3 weeks in a row of Rate the Game where I haven't played the game in question.

You really need to play more games :-\

the game popularised an emerging genre. anything less than a 4 seems unreasonable

This post is sponsored by the House of Lancaster
 

Anymore weeks like this and I might steal your thunder. :p

I'm pretty sure I have played the remainder of the pile...I think.

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Oh, thank Lzzy. Destor comes in to save the day and spare me from having to do a do-over for this week. Although I'm not sure helping to inspire a slew of frustrating, hard-as-dicks games is something to praise. We had enough of that shit on the NES and I'm getting too old to be stressed out like that.

given the popularity of the genre there's clearly something to it. elden ring has been selling CoD-esqu numbers after all. its not like anyone is forcing you to play them. its like battle royales. i couldnt care less about them but i dont begrudge their existence.

I fucking do.

Because of Apex Legends, we're not getting a Titanfall 3 anytime soon, if at all.

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I honestly can't remember the last game I played on the highest difficulty setting. It might've been Ultimate Alliance 3 but I was leveled up so much from my previous games that it didn't matter. I might go the rest of my life just playing stuff on the beginner setting. Something like Dark Souls would give me an ulcer.

well i dont play shooters so i dont have a dog in the race lol