Every four years the world unites to behold the spectacle which we call the Olympics, and right about that time we gamers get another button mashing game offered to us that claims to give us the same Olympian experience at home.
Track and Field/Olympic games have changed very little in the past 20 years. This shows one of two things: that they keep on selling so why bother changing them, or that developers just can’t figure out a better method for implementing them. Running the hundred metres (as well as nearly every other event) is accomplished the exact same way as it was on my Grandfather’s Commodore 64 years ago… jamming on the buttons as fast as humanly possible, hoping that your fingers (and the gamepad) hold up to the onslaught long enough for you to finish the event. Is there not a better way? Nearly everyone I know has to default to some sort of “tool” in order to compete, be it the old marble-trick, or a ring. Only the purists (read: masochists) such as myself continually choose to inflict pain upon themselves in the way the game intends. Why do developers continue to insist that we interact with games this way? It just hurts, plain and simple, and if you don’t think it does; talk to me after you do the 100m breaststroke.
Athens 2004 does go and change up a few events from the normal button-pressing frenzy though. There’s the analogue stick controlled 1500 metre (my fingers thank you), and the analogue-stick-spinning discus, and even a Dance Dance Revolution-themed floor exercise routine, (although this should have been expanded upon greatly). Developers should take note of these events and really try to come up with more creative methods of input for the events: we gamers like variety! And no, I don’t mean furiously tapping the L1 and R1 buttons (as you do during Men’s Rings in the game)!
Game controls aside (hey, it’s probably never going to change) Athens 2004 is really a mixed bag when it comes to sports-themed games. When you play the game you progress your way through events that you can choose on your own or in predefined groups. With over 25 events to choose from, you get quite a dose of the events featured in the summer Olympics. The thing is though, with such a huge storage medium being used nowadays, and with the relatively short amount of time per event, why not include them all? No diving, no synchronized swimming, no cycling. Everyone has their favourite events and there’s sure to be some fans left out in the cold (heat? It is summer after-all).
Besides a lack of a true representation, other issues come up that could also be addressed. Though it looks like they took actual models of the stadiums that are to be used at this year’s games, you get only a painfully small look at them. The events themselves offer very little in the way of visual variance. Most of the time you’re forced to keep your eyes on an ever-changing meter on the screen anyways, so maybe in the long run it doesn’t really matter. Since Olympic-themed games only come along once every four years you expect the graphics to improve slightly, and they have. Like I said though, more attention could have been put into showing off the venues, not just a very short flyby before the event. On the sound front, of course there isn’t any music during the events or anything, and mostly you just hear the roar of the crowd (but that’s expected). You do get some voice over from a commentator during your events, but if you play the event more than twice you’ll hear everything he has to say.
I’ve always wanted a sports game that really catered to my own personal favourite sports (track and field), but I guess I’m still going to have to wait. Baseball, hockey, basketball, football and soccer fans are continuously offered wonderful games with great franchise modes. Tennis fans got the great Tennis 2k2, and Top Spin tennis games. What do track fans get? Disjointed, pain-inducing mashing-fests that aren’t much fun to play unless you’re with a group of four others also going through as much pain as you are. Just once I’d like to see a game like this go all the way and give us the full experience.
Don't have a game like this and are in the market for one? Hey, they can be fun... just make sure you have a group of friends on hand, and maybe some ice (for your fingers). If you already have a track and field game, Athens 2004 is just more of the same.
