Arrghh, appologese for my negative attitude but I personally think Unreal 2 is a pretty average affair too. I'm just not sold on graphics or engine or even story. I've out grown games for games sake now, and innovation or the need to think is the only way to hold me interest.
Doom 3 was good (for a while at least) for me because it genuinely was creapy. First game sinse Alone in the Dark (which was very creapy for its day) to make my skin crawl a little. That effect soon wore off, and then it was a run of the mill FPS, but it was special for those first few hours of frightener moments.
I know this problem lies with me. I get bored being subjected to the same thing over and over, which is why to keep my sanity I hop between writing music, making games, drawing, RC, film making, websites, playing games etc. One thing I can do though is analyse why I feel like this about games and figure out what I think is good. If I'm lucky, it'll rub off on my games.
The only FPS I still play is painkiller simply because it has a great graphics and effects, a huge number of enemies, superb weapons (all weapons are combos (e.g. minigun + rocket launcher, stake gun + grenade launcher) which makes fighting more dynamic. It's just fun. Combat is intense, diverse, creative and absolutely non-stop. It has nothing to it except immense combat. Here's a link to a post I made about it:
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=38255&b=2
Also Battlefield 1942 and Operation Flashpoint for multiplayer.
But enough bitchin now. I think I was just surprised that such high praise can be given to a game which is undeniably more of the same. It might be done really well, but how many times do you want to be spoon fed the same dish with a better looking sauce?
