This generation has thrown up both great games, good games, bad games and utterly terrible games. There is also an even worse category, however, and that is the overrated games. Games that are hyped up by their respective players and journalists to the point that many believe in their very hearts that the game was amazing and genius. While some of these games are not bad games, they may be good games that have had their good parts overblown to make it seem so great that nothing compares. Others meanwhile, are just bad but due to various reasons, are thought to be great nonetheless, with their bad points being ignored.
Gears of War – This was one of the games that I found myself jumping on the hype train for. After owning a PlayStation 3 for long enough, I went and got myself and Xbox to see what everyone was raving about and join in on the fun. Disappointed was the first word that came to mind. There was not one thing that I can put my finger on as being unique or interesting enough to warrant a sequel, let alone two sequels and a prequel. Characters seemed very monotonous and the same could be said for the plot of the story. It occurs to me now that, had this been a first person shooter primarily, the game would have been panned by critics and gamers alike, however the game was in third person and received much acclaim. Chainsaws and a gun combined seemed to be the most memorable part of the game and even that isn’t exactly revolutionary, someone blatantly listed cool and gory combinations and chose the best one. Everything seemed a bit ‘meh’ from the game and it certainly didn’t deserve the hype that many an Xbox player gave it.
Gran Turismo 5 – Just down right boring. Seriously, this game was not worth the amount of money I had put down for it. While the graphics were stellar and there were a large range of cars on offer, there was always an air to the game that it lacked interesting features. Sometimes, winning a race did not feel rewarding regardless of how difficult it was due to the sheer numbness that I felt at the virtual wheel of my virtual car. I kept thinking, “Why did I wait so long for this game?” I then responded with “Because I am a sucker for graphics.” On release, there was not even damage to the cars which made you almost invincible! The multiplayer on the game was exactly the same and could not save the game any more than the range of cars could. There was no soul to this game that I could speak of and it astounds me to this day that it could sell millions of copies worldwide.
Dishonored – Don’t get me wrong, this was a good game by any standard, but not as good as many people were making out. Dishonored gives the player a large amount of freedom to do what the game wants you to in the way that you want. So Corvo must go and assassinate one person, which you can take many routes to get to in a relatively big area, but no matter what, you have to get there and dispose of (or save) that one person with little to nothing in between. A more open world game would have suited the powers and decision making more than what is on offer here. Add into it a very predictable plot and supposedly numerous endings, which equates to about three which each have minor variations which apparently means there are more than three. The gameplay and powers of the game were to be commended and there were times where I felt that it did things that no other game has successfully given me (swimming up a pipe to enter a building… AS A FISH) but the story took me out of the world.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots – This should not have been a game. Put quite simply, while the graphics, story and gameplay were very good throughout and there were nice additions such as camouflage and other toys, there was far too little to DO. I was increasingly frustrated by the cut scenes. OK, this is not an unheard of complaint with Metal Gear Solid 4, but seriously, it impacted the amount of fun I could have had drastically. If Kojima had wanted to tell me things in his most bloated and unnecessary way I am quite sure that a film studio would love to take him up on it. Leave it out of games. There has been an argument focused on whether story is the most important thing within the games we play, and I agree that story should be one of the first things that is put into the game ahead of graphics, but not when it comes at the cost of actually PLAYING the game. I payed for a game and not a film, I want to be in control of the game and not watch it pass by. That is what YouTube is for guys.
This was my reaction too after the third hour of cut scenes
Resistance 3 – This game has been one of my pet peeves since its release in 2011. Why may you ask? Well, upon playing through the game, I found myself gradually feeling more and more annoyed at it. While on comments across the internet, many gamers lavished praise on the game, I sat and tried my best to like the shooter. What I kept finding was ridiculous enemy spawning, which was noticeable in the first few levels when I found myself relieved at beating a second large group of identi-kit enemies only to be set upon by a third group dropped from a ship, the same ship as the past two times, and a generic shooting experience overlayed with a decent story that was seemingly explored through various cut scenes and not in the gameplay itself. There were some saving graces in the game, the variety of guns and their specialties felt interesting, even if there were times when they ended up aiding the mindless shooting, in addition to generally good graphics in both gameplay and cut scenes. One of my most memorable fails from the game was during the giant spider boss fight (which in itself isn’t even unique) where, upon landing the killing shot to my enemy, the game glitched and prevented me from doing anything but exploring the small boss area until I got bored and reloaded my save from before the fight.
These are my examples of the games, I accept that some may disagree and complain but this is my opinion. Give your most overrated games in the comments below!
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