The Official Videogame of the 2008 Beijing Olympics lives up to the standards set by every other Olympic videogame released so far. And that isn’t a good thing. It is brutally difficult and features outdated button mashing controls to produce one of the most frustrating games we have seen in a long time. On top of all of that, long load times and clunky menus make restarting when you fail (and it will happen a lot) a chore. Find out all about it in our full Beijing 2008 review.
Quick Hits
- Title: Beijing 2008
- Platform: Xbox 360
- Publisher: SEGA
- Developer: Eurocom
- ESRB Rating: “E” for Everyone
- Genre: Summer Olympic Sports
- Pros: Graphics
- Cons: Load times; high difficulty level; very repetitive; outdated controls
There are 36 events in Beijing 2008, including a number of track and field events, swimming, gymnastics, and even cyclilng, archery, and judo. The game doesn’t use any real athletes, but there are 30+ countries to choose from.
Beyond that little “back of the box” spiel, however, there isn’t much positive to say about Beijing 2008. You can choose the events you want to participate in, or you can play through all of the events in the Olympic mode. Unfortunately, the game uses a bass ackwards attribute system where your athletes are weak and uncoordinated during the qualifying stages, but as you qualify they level up and can perform better. Does that make any sense? It makes simply qualifying harder than the actual Olympic events.
Perhaps the game’s biggest flaw is that you can’t get into and out of events quick enough. This game is brutally difficult and it would be nice if you could quickly restart or switch events. Instead, it takes a solid 30-45 seconds of load times and cinematics before you actually get to an event. If you want to restart an event, you have to sit through (or skip) the cinematics all over again so it takes a good 10 seconds just to restart. That is too long. It kills the addictive “just one more try” aspect of the game, which is usually what makes difficult games bearable.
Gameplay
SEGAThe gameplay in Beijing 2008 is a throwback to every other track & field and/or Olympic game ever and, thus, is a pretty massive failure. The games break down into one of a handful of styles. You have to tap buttons really fast, move the control sticks really fast, or tap buttons and directions in a simple rhythm game. The rhythm stuff is used in some track events and gymnastics, and is far too simple and easy to really be fun. The button tapping events, track and swimming, are ridiculously difficult in that they wear out your hands ridiculously fast, and even playing at your best are super, crazy, mind-numbingly, insanely difficult to actually win. To top it off, there is never any indication of when these events actually start. You are simply waiting for the starter’s pistol. This results in you either getting too excited and starting early, or starting way too late and losing the race before it even starts. Diving and cycling events require you to rotate the analog sticks, which prove to be a real pain in the … hand. Cycling in particular is especially painful as some races ask you to rotate the sticks for 4 solid minutes.
This game is just too darn difficult. It is not fun. It is the completely polar opposite of fun. The controls are too difficult and just end up being painful. And the requirements to actually win an event are almost always unreasonable. Failure isn’t a possibility; it is an inevitability unless you put some serious time into learning how to play. That blows.
Graphics and Sound
The one bright spot in Beijing 2008 is the presentation. The graphics look quite good and the athletes are nicely animated. The venues also look fairly decent. One interesting touch is that when you begin the Olympic Games mode, you can play with the fireworks during the opening ceremony. My favorite Olympic sport is shooting off fireworks, go figure. The sound is pretty much forgettable all around. Not bad. Not good. Just sort of there.
Bottom Line
SEGAI’m not sure if the controls were an intentional nod to every other Olympic videogame ever, or maybe it is simply because no one can think of a better way of controlling these events, but the button tapping and control stick swirling found in these games is easily the worst way to control a videogame ever. It is completely outdated, and wasn’t ever really all that much fun to begin with. Beijing 2008 ups the ante with load times and obnoxious menus, a strange attribute system, and a ramped-up overall difficulty level that saps any semblance of fun the game might have had. This is a bad game, pure and simple. If you want button mashing, crazy difficult Olympic-style events, get Track & Field on the XBLA instead because Beijing 2008 is a disappointment.
