O - Overrated! My Top 10 Most Over-Hyped Games

Every two or three times a year, the gaming media go mental-ape bonkers, the licensed magazines have preview after preview and fanboy geeks the world over work themselves up into the frenzy. I'm talking about the hype, expectation and ultimately the disappointment that comes with overrated games. This may annoy some avid gamers, but some games which are said to be great are, well, not that great at all. Hype has surrounded them so much that even when they turn out to be a little bit poor, the people sucked into the circus gladly ignore the faults. Here are my top 10 overrated games, they may not be bad, but they are certainly not as good as they are made out to be. I can already see my TPE colleagues nodding ferociously at some of the titles listed.

Carlos was always crap at parking SUV's

#10 Grand Theft Auto 3 (Plus variations) - Let's get this straight, GTA3 is a good game, it really is. But, it is not the be-all and end-all. It's own spin-offs, Vice City and San Andreas were a bit better too, but again so so overrated for what they actually are. The premise of sandbox that the original had has been curtailed quite a bit, some sections have to be completed for you to progress, and this takes a bit of the magic away. Also, and this is a repeating theme here, there is a lot of wandering about doing nothing. Irritating. Very good games oh yes, but not very great games.

#9 FIFA Football (Series) - Another year, another FiFa football game gets released, preying on the hardcore soccer fan to splash out on yet another full priced title, but in all honesty in the last 5 or 6 years it has been almost the same game. Each revamp adds updated teams, players, stadia and a few new extras but nothing significantly different from the game before. In the age of the next-gen consoles, downloadable content (DLC) would fill in the gaps to cover the next season with ease. It's a deliberate marketing ploy to con the masses and not a new game at all. Red Card!

#8 Gran Turisimo (Series) - Billed as the 'real driving simulator', the GT games have been top notch that's for sure; terrific visuals and sound, great real-life cars and customisation options. But, and this is a big but, it's not that real at all. I could choose a few arcade racers that play more realistically primarily due to your vehicle sustaining crash damage. This does no happen in GT, in fact any kind of crash at high speed feels like the game has just paused for a second. If it were never marketed as being as close to real racing, I would have let it go, but it's made to be something it is not. Grrrrrr!

#7 The Simpsons (Franchise)- The longest running American sitcom is really showing it's age now, but the video games it has licensed have been shoddy almost from the start. The first Simpsons arcade adventure jaunt was pretty good, the comedy was still fresh and it was a nice thing to see Bart and co in pixels. Since then, no matter how much they were marketed, Simpsons game have been mediocre to say the least. The list goes on from Bart's Nightmare, Simpsons Wrestling and the pitiful Krusty's Super Fun House. The games, like the show as it is now are poor, time to pull the plug on Homer for the last time methinks. Doh!

#6 Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty - Raiden. Things looked so promising for this in the first previews, the graphics looked gorgeous and the story seemed telling, but it had so much to live up to. Raiden! Unfortunately, even with all the grandeur surrounding the sequel to MGS, it was a bit of a disappointment. No big shocking moments like the first, far too many lengthy and complicated cut-scenes and a final boss which did not give that awe of menace like the first. In fact, Metal Gear Ray was, lame. Raiden?? Oh, and there is another thing that bugs me about this game, and many others too. Can't think what it may be.... RAIDEN?!!??

Ever the ladies-man, Kano stole another heart

#5 Mortal Kombat - Before you all go mad, sending me rude comments, remember I did say this is a list of overrated games, not bad games as such. The first MK really is really overrated in my opinion, and I'll briefly explain why. Image capture was the visual highlight of it, and the gruesome finishers were the cherry on the cake. However, the general moves you had at your disposal were extremely samey with each character, making for rather boring and unskilled bouts. The backgrounds were jerky, and the clay-mation image of Goro didn't fit with the rest of the fighters. It was raved about so much, but really only because of the bloodiness.  Take that away (Snes version!), and you are left with a bog standard beat 'em up with a few cheeky specials. Now you understand why MK isn't in my B list, doncha?

#4 The Sims (plus expansion paks) - I never understood why this game was and is so popular. You basically live the life of someone else, forgetting the fact you already have a life in reality! The Sim's can be funny in parts, and the sheer size of the game is impressive, but most of the time you are playing catch-up with the basics of keeping your guys alive and healthy. How anybody finds the time to party, dance, sing and all that is beyond me, as it takes almost an hour just you go to the toilet, or 3 to cook and eat a meal. Stupid game far does not deserves it's popularity or hype. It sucks!

#3 Call of Duty - Another massive selling title that I just cannot get my head around why it is so universally praised. Well, mostly. It's a first person shooter, a good one at that, with a noble theme indeed. But that's where it ends. I mean, people queuing up to get the latest update? Black Op's? Mad, because basically it's the same game engine with a few new maps and couple of new weapons, that are not dissimilar to what you had before. It's OK, multi-player is fun yes, but really is it such a big groundbreaker? I think not.

#2 World of Warcraft - I have an idea, let's spend hours of precious time walking around a 3D map, not really doing much, talking to a few people then going to bed. Wake up, and do the same thing again. Sorry WOW fans, it is a dull, time consuming game and add to this the endless add-on's and subscription charges, it's very expensive way to waste your entire social life. Graphically and technically impressive of course, but it's so evilly subversive and cultist it's damn scary. Never have I known a game which causes couple to get divorced. Play a WRPG that lets you keep your life intact. Fallout maybe?

The pigs fancy dress party was about to be gatecrashed

#1 Angry Birds - The king of overrated games, this has made millions for it's clever creator on the iOS platform, and now it's transmogrifying with brands like Star Wars onto the home consoles, internet variations and handhelds. Like a spreading virus, it's everywhere, mopping up the cash of the populous. Think about it; it's such a basic game. Ok, that does bring a fair amount of playablity to it, but it's just sooooo so repetitive, humourless after about 10 minutes and just plain tiresome after about an hour playing. It sells in massive amounts, people are glued to their iPhones but when it comes down to it, it's a throwaway game with a clever hook. Everyone has been suckered. 


Hhmmm, bit of a rant that so it turned out, but hey it good to get some little annoyances off the chest once in a while. What are your overrated video games, the ones that simply don't deserve the plaudits in your opinion? Do you disagree with any of my picks? Drop me a line, would be glad to discuss this topic, as too any of the topics before. Mario and Sonic go at it tomorrow, along with a few others. P is for Platform games!


Bug...'Out!