Games you feel a sense of shame for never finishing

[aTOMiC]

Sure we've finished lots of video games, marched through to the end in triumph but how many games have you played that you gave up on or just lost interest in?

The list of games I've completed is quite long but there are a few that I never saw the end.

Return to Castle Wolfenstein - Got hung up probably half way through the game and due to several PC operating system re-installs, Wolfenstein somehow managed to get lost in the shuffle. I still have the game so all hope is not lost.

Alien vs. Predator - Enjoyed the game at first but something I can't quite remember kept me from finishing it.

Thief II - Loved Thief I and was thrilled to begin the second version but never progressed beyond the first couple of levels. It would be cool to go back and finish that one.

Half Life II - Episode One - After completing HL2 I immediately went out and bought Episode One but haven't cracked open the box.

MDK - Had lots of fun at first but at one point became distracted and it fell to the wayside.

Rise of the Triad (old school) - Great gameplay and an engaging premise but after several levels I lost interest. Probably got caught up in making Duke Nukem 3d custom levels.

Never finished any Tomb Raiders.

I'm sure there are more.

[I'm Murrin]

FF1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7. Screw FF12.

[Brother Charn]

Dark Heart of Uukrul. An old Broderbund software title, that I played on the Apple IIc.

It was a great game - 4 characters (warrior, paladin, cleric, and wizard) dungeon-crawling the ruins of an old underground city. It had a lot going for it.

I got almost all the way to the end, killed the main baddie, but could never figure out the last puzzle, the sequence that "lit the beacon" to signal that the realm had been saved. Never figured it out, either.

So sad. I played that game for weeks, and figured out ALL the other puzzles, which were HARD, in a time before there were such things as internet chat forums and hint books.

dw

[Cagliostro]

Great topic.
Final Fantasy VII, VIII, IX, X, XII. I've beaten X-2, and all the FF Tactics I've played, but I just can't seem to finish the others. I don't know why not.

Ultima IX. I blame the fact I couldn't even play it on my pc when I first bought the damn thing, and I blame bugs for not wanting to continue it when I could finally play it. I've loved the prior Ultima's, but never got to the end of this one.

Warcraft III supplimental thingy - Throne of Frost or something like that? I can't remember. I keep wanting to, but I can't work up the willingness to go through all that again.

Star Ocean on the PS2 - End of Time or something like that. I got a huge chunk through it, but never finished it. It is definitely a long game.

Psychonauts - again, most of the way through, never finished.

Okami - I don't know how close I got to completing it, but damn is it a huge game.

It seems pre-PS2, I used to generally finish games. Now I can't seem to do it anymore. Is it a time thing or is that I don't have the time anymore?

[Worm of Despite]

I've beat Chrono Trigger, so that's all that matters. Haven't beat StarCraft, but then RTS games have never been my thing.

[Rigel]

I've never finished FF3, despite having gotten to the last dungeon several times.

Not to mention Super Mario Brothers, despite having beaten 2 and 3.

And, my biggest shame of all...

Fallout 2. I loved the first one, and I've preordered the 3rd, but I couldn't ever seem to get into this one.

[Cagliostro]

I can't remember if I ever finished Fallout 2, to be honest. I know I did finish 1, but like you I started to lose interest.

[AjK]

Hexen. I was pretty c0cky after finishing all the Doom series including add-ons up through that point (prior to the generation of true 3-D engine variants) and Heretic ... never died, found all the secrets, et cetera. For some reason I got stuck later in Hexen, couldn't get something to open and then my Hexen playing just died on the vine. I never got into the ID games after that. True sense of shame. Must fall on sword and banish myself to Zork II...

[JazFusion]

In no particular order:

Half-Life 2: one of these days.....

Ultima 7: I just got bored. Really. I did.

Neverwinter Nights: I quit just as it was getting interesting, somewhere in the 3rd chapter.

Fallout 2: I was having lots of fun, until my son spilled coffee all over my laptop and fried it. I never reinstalled it on my tower.

FF6: see above.

Warhammer 40K Dawn of War: Honestly, I only played the first few chapters because I just wanted to make armies and destroy Orcs. Thereafter I just played online. Though I fully intend to beat it one of these days.

[[Syl]]

Ninja Gaiden (NES). My friend loaned it to me, saying it was impossible to beat. A couple weeks later and I make the mistake of telling him I only had to beat the last boss (it was a hard freaking game). He demanded it back, and I never saw it again.

Battletoads (NES). Adding further shame to it, I could never make it all the way through without using the warps.

Final Fantasy IX (PS) Didn't like it. Quit maybe a third of the way through. Felt it was a big, cliched disappointment after IX.

Final Fantasy XII (PS2). See above

[Holsety]

Cho Ren Sha. It's the first freeware SHMUP I ever played, but I never actually managed to beat it despite a huge amount of time put in. I got up to the final boss's second form (of three forms) but no further.

The original Metroid. I suck hard at metroid. The only real difference is lack of diagonal aim but it's enough to screw me over (too many short enemies!)

I have beaten Zelda II: The Adventure of Link but i never beat the original Legend of Zelda. Which is funny because most consider Zelda II to be the hardest game in the series. You get used to killing the normal dark nuts, then they start pitting you in regular matches against blue dark nuts with laser swords. You get used to them, then in the last dungeon they pit you against the fucking phoenix knights. I did beat Zelda II but I straight out ran away from several of the phoenix knights.

Mother 1. I have never played it. But I really should have already. I'm sure it's worth it. And I think there's a good english patch for the GBA version.

Final Fantasy I and II. They're the only FFs (besides XI, does that count?) I haven't beaten.

Cave story. I have beaten it. I have a best time in hell of something like 4 minutes and 5 seconds though, while I need under three minutes if I want every easter egg in the game.

Similarly I have beaten castlevania POR, even on the hard level 1 challenge, but I have not unlocked OAA and tried a level 1 run with him. Nor have I done a fresh hard level 1 challenge.

Also, this isn't my story, but here is a very epic, touching video about a japanese guy's failure to complete Megaman 2 because Airman won't be defeated. I myself got stuck on the flying dragon boss as a kid, someday I will go back and beat Megaman 2 all the way. If you like the video you might enjoy this one too:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbX6yTKHkCU&feature=related

The ironic thing is that the freeware game I Wanna Be The Guy has much harder versions of two bosses that have killed me countless times in the past (Metroid and the flying dragon of megaman). But somehow I have beaten those versions, but still not gone back to beat the originals.

[Cagliostro]

Y'know what...I might have never finished Ultima 7 either. It was a huge huge thingy, and I don't remember how it ended. I know I beat Pagan though, which I believe to be Ultima 8.

[sweetbread]

I never finished ANY of the Ultima games, just lost interest in 'em.

Ditto on Hexen; I got to a point where I got "STUCK" unable to go any further, from there, lost interest.

Quake 2 and Quake 4. Quake 2 I lost interest after having my savegame information nullified in one of their updates..... Quake 4 I just couldn't get into. I hate the Strogg storyline in the Quake series..... bring back the OLD Quake, which was like walking through a nightmare, complete with Trent Reznor's music and all...

FF2 (Japanese version on Famicom, not American FF2 on SNES). That was ONE TOUGH COOKIE. Never did it.

Hmmmm.... any that I'm forgetting.... oh yeah:

Alone in the Dark (the original one, from like 20 years ago). Scariest damn game I've ever played.

The list goes on. But I dont.....

[Fullmetal660]

KOTOR I & II

[AjK]

..... bring back the OLD Quake, which was like walking through a nightmare, complete with Trent Reznor's music and all...

You are right on the money with this one, sweetbread! I don't think I ever soiled myself more times in the course of a single game than with Quake.

[Marv]

Halo 3.

Any of the Doom games.

Rome:Total War (I have completed it but never without using cheats).

[matrixman]

Blade Runner - a 1997 adventure game that handsomely recreated the look of the movie. Really liked it, but got sidetracked by something else and never found my way back to the game.

Star Wars Episode I: Pod Racer - beautiful graphics, great sense of speed. Was well into the game, but then just stopped playing, maybe because the tracks became too hard towards the end - too hard for someone with my less-than-fanatical gaming concentration and mentality, at any rate.

Quake III: Arena - I never even got around to playing the official game, only the demo. Which was shocking considering that I'd previously worshipped at the altars of Quake and Quake II. The problem for Quake III was that a new religion named Unreal Tournament had come into town at the same time, preaching holy fury and holier graphics. I was converted. But there is still a twinge of regret that I didn't give Quake III another chance.

[JazFusion]

Ditto on Hexen; I got to a point where I got "STUCK" unable to go any further, from there, lost interest.

I completely forgot about Hexen! I had the same problem, too. I kept getting killed by centaurs, got frustrated, then couldn't get out of some level and gave up. I obtained a "copy" of it recently to play through it again, but my laptop fried.

I also forgot to add Doom 3 to my list. I'm pretty heavily Doom obsessed, but Doom 3 just never did it for me.

[Kevin164]

I spent hours on QuakeIII on the capture the flag level in space. I can't remember its title something like qctf3 or whatnot. That one level rocked when it was full of 30 combatants. Use the jump pads and circle in on campers sitting all exposed on the highest perches of the level. The best I saw was two guys taking on 25 and winning.

[Nav]

Star Wars Episode I: Pod Racer - beautiful graphics, great sense of speed. Was well into the game, but then just stopped playing, maybe because the tracks became too hard towards the end - too hard for someone with my less-than-fanatical gaming concentration and mentality, at any rate.

I did eventually finish that one, but near the end the tracks did get super hard. You needed to know where all the shortcuts and pitfalls were, and a large slice of luck, to stand any chance. I don't think I managed any better than third on Grabvine Gateway though.

Halflife and Halflife 2. To be honest, I don't think can legitimately claim to have started Halflife as I never even made it out of Black Mesa. I had no guns just the crowbar, I kept getting lost and falling down holes and then my laptop died and I couldn't face reinstalling and sitting through that train ride again.

I've had Halflife 2 for over a year now, in the Orange Box. I pick it up and play for while and I normally enjoy it, but it's never really pulled me in so I don't feel compelled to carry on. I think the last thing I did was cross underneath a big bridge.

Same goes for Bioshock. I wanted to love it, I really did but I just can't face picking it up again. At the point I'm at, big daddies are too hard and the plasmids too awkward or not effective enough so it really sucks the fun out of playing. I've heard that if you persist the game opens up again when you get some more powerful weapons, and I'd love to finish the story, but I've actually loaded it up a couple of times, only to thing "nah" at the menu screen and play something else.