A Fun Multiplayer Experience
Sports games always offer the most fun multiplayer experiences and London 2012 is no different. No matter how shoddy the Beijing 2008 game turned out to be, I remember having loads of fun playing the game with my family. London 2012 offers the same type of experience and is sure to be a family favorite for weeks to come. There’s an online option available, although I feel the most fun can be had when all 4 players are playing the game on one console.
Not
A Shallow Single Player Experience
London 2012 offers a career mode where it’s your objective to get as much medals for your country as possible. You participate in multiple events during the two weeks the Olympics are held in hopes to make your respective country proud. It’s the most basic career mode in a sports game and it feels boring just playing the game alone. London 2012 is a very fun multiplayer experience and this is how the game should be played. The single player mode is nothing special and you don’t even get to unlock anything special while doing it. If you live alone, it’s better to play this game online or not at all.
Only Worth A Rental
There’s no doubt London 2012 can be a fun game to play, although you may get bored with some (if not all) of the events once you have played through them multiple times. I had a blast going through and trying out all of the events in the game the first day I played it. On the next day, I improved on my times and scores from some of the events. It’s a thrill trying to get a new World Record even though it’s only in a video game.
It was until the third day I played the game that I got bored of it quick. Sure the Olympic Games are yet to happen and I could relive some of the moments from the Games, although I feel most people may not play the game once the real Olympic Games are over. This is what happened when I played Beijing 2008 four years ago. I never touched the game ever again when the Olympics were over and swapped the game pretty much immediately.
Shoddy Character Models And Jerky Animations
London 2012 does not feature any real athletes in the game and you have to settle by playing with some real ugly looking character models. You won’t see the likes of Michael Phelps or Usain Bolt here that’s for sure. Overall, the character models don’t even look like real humans anyway. They pretty much resemble lifeless mannequins at best.
London 2012 is also a game without any motion-capture animations. The way athletes move in this game look very unrealistic and fake. The worst culprit is while you’re playing the Table Tennis event. Most modern sports game have motion capture technology in them so you’ll know how ugly this game looks straight away…
Verdict
With the real Olympic Games just under a month away, London 2012 is the best experience you can have without actually being there. Most of us won’t have the chance to actually compete in an Olympic Games so this is the best alternative. Bear in mind the game is downright boring if you play it alone and it’s a game you may not play ever again once the Olympic Games are over. Still, if you have friends and family over, the multiplayer experience is very fun and worth the price of admission.
[Editor’s Note: London 2012 was reviewed on the PS3 platform. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]