5 Overrated Video Games Everyone Else Seems to Loves

Overrated video games are always confusing, especially when everyone else seems to love them. Like most gamers, I tend to consult online reviews and fellow gamers before purchasing the hot new release. Most times, if a video game is rated well on sites such as Gamespot the odds are good that I will find some resonating value in it-but exceptions always exist. Below are my top 5 overrated video games, and how it their popularity utterly baffles me.

Overrated Video Game: Guitar Hero - I wish I was an awesome musician in a fun garage band as much as the next person, but I can't seem to wrap my mind around the legendary success of this franchise. This probably stems from the fact that I find my inability to play well very frustrating; adding to that a tendency to be sore from the awkward play-style using both the guitars and drum set, and I am completely put-off. Many of these video games in the series have fantastic, eclectic collections of music-truly something for everyone-but a video game shouldn't require a hilarious group of friends to be entertaining. If the social aspect of playing with a "band" of friends is the basis of the appeal, then the video game itself is certainly overrated.

Overrated Video Game: Mass Effect - I reviewed Mass Effect 2 earlier this year, and while I can agree with the fundamental value of this video game and I won't question the popularity of either chapter in the two-game series, I just don't get it. Perhaps the problem is that I don't care much for the Sci-Fi genre, but I do enjoy a good RPG and that is essentially what Mass Effect is. I hear fellow gamers rant and rave about the amazing cast of characters and the interactive plot-line, and I experienced the impressive graphics for myself. And yet, I found myself spending the bare minimum amount of time play-testing Mass Effect 2 to complete my review-and I have since heard from everyone consulted that the sequel surpasses the original in every way.

Overrated Video Game: World of Warcraft - WoW is one of the most popular MMO-style video games ever released, and it has quickly become the poster child for online, social games which essentially suck the free time-and life-out of all its addicts. I have been a subscriber on three different occasions for varying lengths of time, playing both on the "Horde" and "Alliance" factions. Compared to other MMOs, WoW is rather unchallenging; having sampled dozens of similar video games, I found leveling in WoW to be both easy and horribly repetitious. The Player vs. Player system is terrible compared to alternative MMOs, and the cartoon-style graphics just seem ridiculous. While I won't challenge the success of WoW, I certainly do consider it an overrated video game.

Overrated Video Game: Halo - I don't even know where to begin with this one. Apparently, I didn't receive the memo which explains why the Halo franchise is the go-to title for First-Person Shooters. The longevity of the series and the tremendous amount of fans among gamers is staggering, and the subsequent sequels only continue to promote the notion of awesomeness. Halo 3, which was released in September 2009, has an impressive 9.0 Editor's Choice score on GameSpot, making it one of the highest rated FPS video games available for the Xbox. Regardless of this high rating, I prefer alternative FPS titles such as Half Life and Combat Arms. Even with all the hype surrounding the Halo franchise I continue to see it as an overrated video game legacy.

Overrated Video Game:Starcraft - This real-time strategy game is "one of the best ever" according to my husband, but I just don't see the massive amount of appeal which keeps so many gamers addicted. The original title in the series was released in 1998, and the overwhelmingly anticipated sequel Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty released in July of 2010. The amount of hype this sequel generated is some of the strongest I have seen in 20+ years as a gamer, which certainly says something for Blizzard's creation. Mission length and inclination towards repetition lost me in the original version, and I don't have high hopes Starcraft II.

Sources:
GameSpot, "Video game news, reviews and entertainment."