More of the same, but worse.
I am pretty indiscriminate about what I play. Games show up in my mailbox, I play them, usually find something of worth and then send them on their way. It should come as no surprise that a significant portion of what I play amount to below average games, but even then almost every game has at least one or two redeeming features; something to hold on to that will get me through to the end. I enjoy playing videogames enough that I really don't mind having to overlook three terrible things to get to one good thing. But what if it were four terrible things, or five? Or ten? And what if there was no good thing waiting at the end? Turning Point crossed a line that I did not know was there: it has no redeeming features. It is bad right on past depressing, past deplorable, even past despicable. It is so bad that it's not even funny.
Making a complete list of Turning Point's failings would be pointless, they are both innumerable and unoriginal. This is the first time, though, that they have all been in the same game at the same time. Turning Point is a catalog of atrocities stolen from other places: muddy textures, laughable AI, poor level design, unclear objectives, you name it, it's here. A few of my favorites: completely unresponsive controls; frame rate issues in a game that the XB360 could run while standing on its head, unplugged; and regarding the game's engine, every Unreal 3 game so far has had a problem getting all the textures loaded in time for the level to be displayed. Even Gears of War, a game made by the people who wrote the engine, would have an occasional second or two of ugliness before everything popped in. On several occasions I waited at the beginning of a level because it looked like it wasn't finished loading textures, and they never came in. Whether this was a bug or if it was just that ugly, the effect was the same.
The setting and plot must have been born out of a late night board meeting of stripe suited yes men. It's World War II, but with a twist! What if the Nazi's invaded the main land? The effect is the same: the player is saddled with the same weapons, enemies and scenarios as every other World War II game ever, except worse. AND IT'S STILL WORLD WAR II! It's a wonder the Nazi's even found the United States, they can't find cover or shoot an enemy, seemingly enjoying taking a bullet to their hundreds of identical faces. Perhaps the AI has become aware of the travesty it has been shanghaied into and instead of putting up a fight has chosen suicide, though even that makes Turning Point seem more interesting then it is.
I make it a point to finish as much as possible of a game before reviewing it. Games can take wild turns in the final acts, either for the better or for the worse, and I feel that I need to see as much as I can before giving an informed opinion. I will confess to not finishing Turning Point, but it is not entirely my fault. On the last level, in what I am assuming is one the final areas, my xbox red ringed without warning. If it could speak, these would have been its final words, "What is this? There are dozens of better shooters and you saddle me with this? You might as well be playing nothing. As a matter of fact, screw you buddy, I'm done! You can take your abuse out on that tall, black console sitting over there that hasn't been turned on in 2 months! "
The kind gentleman from Microsoft who I spoke to asked me what game I was playing when the system died. I lied to him.
