If you decide to try shooting for the gold medal than you can choose out of three events: shotgun skeet, 10m air pistol and 25m rapid fire pistol, and once again the difference in difficulty between these contests is considerable. In shotgun skeet you don't lead the target like in real life and it usually pays off to simply wait for the clay disks to enter your line of sight and then swing it while you fire; nonetheless it is by no means an easy endeavor and timing is everything if you want to hit both targets flying towards each other at different levels and speed.

Much easier is the shooting contest in the 10m air pistol, because here time is not of the essence and you can prepare for as long as you want before firing. While moving the crosshair and aiming is fairly simple it is paramount to be extra careful in the beginning when determining your accuracy. If you fail to pinpoint the center of the target it's going to be more difficult to hit as you'll constantly have to fire sideways taking into account your initial accuracy. The 25 m rapid fire pistol contest is arguably the easiest of all shooting events even if you have just a couple of seconds to aim and fire at the five targets; it's crucial to control your breathing in the beginning but if you achieve that your crosshair will always be smoothly positioned in the center and all you have to do is swapping targets.

Aquatic sports are so boring I don't even feel they are worth mentioning; they use the same mechanics as the track events but less challenging and stripped by any real depth and excitement the real life sport presents. To make the long story short the 50m Freestyle, 100m Backstroke, 100 Butterfly and 100m Backstroke are so similar that if you are not familiar with the swimming style you'll find yourself wondering in what event you're competing. Again you have to count in your head the seconds to avoid a false start or becoming a runner up behind the pack, but once you launch into the water it's all reduced to tapping two buttons as fast as you can. Diving 3m Springboard and 10m Platform are a walk in the park, with an easy launch and just one button to press during the descent for scoring high makes and to achieve a clean entry.

If we are to discuss about the way Beijing 2008 presents field events than I can't help but mentioning that the only difference between the contests is the visual one, in terms of gameplay you are required to do exactly the same thing for achieving various results. Pole vault, long jumps and triple jumps are virtually identical, each time you are supposed to tap two keys to build speed and another one to take off once you reach the "power lock". It's not easy to come up with unique schemes for so many events but the lack of originality and innovation is so acute in these events that it becomes frustrating. At least the high jump requires a bit more control and coordination but in the end there are the same two buttons to be pressed alternately.

Things turn from bad to worse if we progress with the field games, the "shot put" and the javelin throw are so incredibly difficult that simply throwing the object without a foul feels like winning a medal. The discus throwing is much easier and after trying those awful events it is almost certain that this contest will bring a smile on your face and help you complete this segment of games on a positive note. Frankly the best results came for me with the hammer throw but this exercise seems slow and tedious and it's hard to feel any satisfaction even when the hammer goes further than the 70m mark. The bottom line is that this chapter of field games combines the most annoying features of Beijing 2008: button hitting frenzy and guessing when is the best moment to release the object meant to be thrown without committing a foul.

There are six events that could not be integrated in the main categories and they are piled up in the "Others" section, which is without any doubt the worst in Beijing 2008. Cycling is not the most exciting game in real life but here it is as boring as hell, maintaining speed and occasionally swapping the athletes that lead the pack can't keep a gamer wired for 16 laps. Weightlifting is a routine that will leave you clearly unimpressed, while Judo is bound to increase your heart beat greatly; it's not because of the adrenaline rush or the spirit of competition that close combat usually generates, but an incredible amount of frustration for not knowing what to do next. Even if you happen to know something about this sport and ippon, yoko or koka are more than some strange foreign words it's virtually impossible to guess the right sequence, without any clear indication of this otherwise atrocious tutorial.

Speaking of irritating contests in this videogame it is only fair to say that Kayak takes frustration to a whole different level, navigating in the stormy waters is itself a huge challenge with the unresponsive controls. A very bright spot in this section is the "Archery" event, one very easy to understand from the beginning and quite rewarding once you master all the factors involved; time is of the essence as the target is gradually shrinking and wind speed is a crucial element you have to reconsider before firing the arrow but overall it is a relaxing competition where you can clearly see the progress, which is quite a luxury in most of the events presented in Beijing 2008. Table tennis concludes the events presented in this chapter and while it has one of the few useful tutorials, the sheer size of the athlete becomes a problem as it completely blocks the view, preventing you from seeing the incoming ball.