The Most Overrated

The Most Overrated

Over the years we have seen many video games being sold at our local stores, some of the driving forces behind them are masters of the genre, whereas others are just trying to replicate the success previous developers have had. In this thread you can talk about which video game developer you personally think is the most overrated and should not receive the amount of attention or praise that they already do. Keep in mind that this is not a place where we can take part in virtual hatred and start a war because somebody does not agree with your own personal opinion. Instead it should be a place where you can analyse which designer needs to review their methods of development and improve on those, or the actions a company can do to make sure that their designers get the equipment they require in order for them to do their job right. And since I am the person that created this thread then I shall start the discussion.

Cliff Bleszinski

Who thinks that guy needs to get some therapy?

As much as I hate Gears (and believe me, I frickin' hate it), I actually have a bit of respect for CliffyB. Sometimes he tries to act cooler than he really is (Ice T, seriously?), but his overall outlook on gaming is pretty solid, and he's a fan of some pretty good franchises (which causes me to be even more baffled by the games he chooses to make).

Anyway, if I were to vote for an overrated developer, I'd probably go with Molyneux; that guy's a total delta bravo.

The FPS genre, especially recently, is full of overrated games. Call of Duty, Battlefield, Halo, they are all incredibly overrated and they do not deserve the praise they get imo. And yes Gears is also a very overrated game.

Anyway, if I were to vote for an overrated developer, I'd probably go with Molyneux; that guy's a total delta bravo.

djsundowner

Yep...Molyneux's gotta bemy pick, also...

The FPS genre, especially recently, is full of overrated games. Call of Duty, Battlefield, Halo, they are all incredibly overrated and they do not deserve the praise they get imo. And yes Gears is also a very overrated game.

Shenmue_Jehuty

Rockstar, out of all their games I only found San Andreas and Max Payne to not be sleep inducing.

Mass Effect series and SMG 1 & 2. So... Bioware and Nintendo (this gen only)

As a game designer Cliff is quite simple and yet sometimes confusing. Nearly all of his games involve you shooting someone or something, and this coming from a person who was heavily influenced by Shigeru Miyamoto is a little disturbing. I don't dislike Cliff him because he has done work on Gears which is entertaining if you are feeling blood thirsty and Unreal Tournament which is the same thing. Yes Cliff your games are good to play and yes they do sell well amongst the gaming audience, but if you want me to think that your name is going to be in the hall of giants then i'm afraid no.

Rockstar, out of all their games I only found San Andreas and Max Payne to not be sleep inducing.

doomguy9

Max Payne was an interesting game because it drew heavily on the noir films that were popular in the 50s. It wasn't some shooter that was depressing and made you kill people for revenge. San Andreas built upon the franchise and included several excellent elements that we didn't see in other games. Yes it stuck to the GTA formula like the others but that does not mean it was a terrible game. It deserves the praise because of how much effort went into it.

Rockstar. The only game of theirs I really like wasn't even developed by them (L.A. Noire.)

(worst one I've played recently? Metal Gear Solid 4. Cinematics? Brilliant. As a stealth game? Pathetic).dicelord

I agree that MGS4 was ridiculously overrated, but my reasons are the opposite to yours. I thought the gameplay was very solid and the stealth challenging without being too frustrating. MGS was never a 'proper' stealth franchise like Thief or Hitman, but I thought it always had competent and engaging stealth elements, and MGS4 is no different in this regard.

On the other hand, I thought the cinematics were atrocious. Awful plot with some of the most embarrassing writing and dialogue ever inflicted upon the unsuspecting public, all delivered via hours upon hours of horrid cut-scenes and boring codec messages. Yuck.

Oh, and Rockstar is one of the best developers around and Vice City one of the best games ever released. I have to seriously doubt your taste if you can't see any quality in their output.

Cliffy is a pretentious wanker,but Gears 1 had an awesome, very well designed campaign that apparently flew over most people's heads. Gears 2 was just crap.

The most overrated are Halo, Dead Space, Assassin's Creed 2.

The FPS genre, especially recently, is full of overrated games. Call of Duty, Battlefield, Halo, they are all incredibly overrated and they do not deserve the praise they get imo. And yes Gears is also a very overrated game.

Shenmue_Jehuty

I like Cliff B. Am I the only one that doesn't think this guy's cocky? I see him as confident.. and he shows a lot of appreciation and respect for other developers and the gaming industry. In his interviews, he hits all the right notes, talks about what matters, and he does care about the fans and it shows in his games. Just because one doesn't like the kind of games he makes, shouldn't make you hate the guy. I think people are still upset over his transfer from PC to consoles, but whatever.

Its probably not strictly in the debate as such. But Streetfighter 4 ? and now Marvel v Capcom.... I mean come on poeple ?? Why dont we just do a remake of pong. How is anyone still entertained by 2d comic art and static backgrounds with a few camp voiceovers and way too much hair product ? Never understood it when it started, still dont understand it now.

[QUOTE="doomguy9"]

Rockstar, out of all their games I only found San Andreas and Max Payne to not be sleep inducing.

MemberUnknown

Max Payne was an interesting game because it drew heavily on the noir films that were popular in the 50s. It wasn't some shooter that was depressing and made you kill people for revenge. San Andreas built upon the franchise and included several excellent elements that we didn't see in other games. Yes it stuck to the GTA formula like the others but that does not mean it was a terrible game. It deserves the praise because of how much effort went into it.

I think you misread my post. I meant to say that the only Rockstar games that deserved the praise in my opinion were Max Payne and San Andreas.
Their games are by no means bad but definitely overrated. I mean GTA IV getting a 10/10, seriously?

I don't get the hate against Cliffy either. Maybe not so much here, but elsewhere there's a lot of it. I think a lot of it comes from the fact that these are sort of bro-tier games. Ones meant to be played with friends sitting in the same room. Which is exactly the kind of game the industry needs more of. Anyways, as for overrated. Dice, Bethesda, and and Bioware. (I won't mention Activision because we all know why) A lot of the hate is from them forgetting where they came from and who made what's happening today possible.

Dice needs to remember that they started as modders, and if they respected that and showed a lot of support for the mod community they could rely on having fans that will remain loyal and buy their products. Instead they're alienating who brought them to where they are for short term profit and most likely a lot of DLC. People wouldn't need to complain if they made modding the gaming accessible. It's why BF2 was praised. I mean, you've got the crazy mods that make the game even more absurd like portable miniguns that fire high explosive rounds, to Forgotten Hope 2, to Project Reality which was a nice sort of in between from casual to ArmA 2 with Ace. A sort of introduction into sims if you will. A Battlefield 3: Project Reality would be insane and could actually bring the competition against ArmA 3. Especially if they offered support, they could not only have casuals, but the sim fans as well. They could absolutely crush the market if they did that. Hell, I'd pay for it if it was good enough. Especially if they treated it like a high quality expansion. If I was activision I would **** myself. I mean imagine reading: Major Game Publisher Electronic Arts and game Developer Dice help small mod team create an "alternative expansion pack" to Battlefield 3. (better yet) A fifth of the profits are going towards charity. That could generate enough positive press that the entire world would explode into candy and cartoony hearts.

Bioware needs to learn to have multiple franchises. They could seriously have made a lot of money if they kept Dragon Age like the first one, or better yet, made it harder and more complicated with a lot of math involved. Then, instead of Dragon Age 2 that they had released, instead make that a separate IP. That way, not only do they have more to work with, but they can keep both the skilled and casual gamers happy.

Bethesda just needs to stop dumbing things down. Leave things like they were in Morrowind and add in a more complex combat system. Like a melee system where it would be like Batman Arkham Asylum, Assassins Creed, and Mount and Blade had some sort of super baby. Oh, and they need to kill the Gamebryo engine. I don't care how much you modified it, it's still terrible, especially the utterly broken physics and horrible animations. It is also buggy as hell and a pain in the arse to work with sometimes. That is not something that can be debated. It is simply a fact and you should be ashamed of yourself for thinking otherwise you terrible person.

Also, everyone needs to stop it with mutliplats. Multiplats between consoles is fine. But stop dumbing things down for consoles. Make different games for them. I'm tired of games that would have been awesome had they taken advantage of all the controls available to a pc player.

Finally. STOP BEING GRAPHICS WHORES! HOLY **** ESPECIALLY ON CONSOLES! I WANT FOUR PLAYER SPLIT SCREEN DAMMIT! I DON'T CARE IF THE GAME WILL LOOK TERRIBLE! IT'S THE GAMEPLAY THAT COUNTS!

I think you misread my post. I meant to say that the only Rockstar games that deserved the praise in my opinion were Max Payne and San Andreas.
Their games are by no means bad but definitely overrated. I mean GTA IV getting a 10/10, seriously?

doomguy9

I understand now, although Rockstar deserve the attention they receive. Most of the Rockstar games are made by Rockstar North which is in Scotland and the United Kingdom isn't exactly a gaming hub unlike the United States. Majority of designers and staff here get paid small wages and are required to work long hours every day. They don't do it for the money, but for the passion instead. They are motivated to represent their country in the game industry. The same can't be said for America where most people only do it for a job which involves playing lots of games and getting paid a respectable sum. GTA IV took 5 years to develop and cost over $100 million in development which probably is a record in itself. It is only logical that it receives a 10 since some games out there with 2 year development phases often get a 9.5 score for the lack of gameplay.

Guys/Girls

Remember that this thread was created to discuss games developers instead of the organisations. I'm not saying that you mustn't talk about Electronic Arts or one of their franchises, but instead talk about the people who helm the projects instead.

That being said I think people should stop giving Peter M (Fable) so much negative attention. If you knew the games that he did early on in his career and played them, then you would think of him in a different perspective.

As for over-rated I always think Halo. Halo is an average FPS that caught on when online gaming was just becoming a big deal, backed by a massive marketing campagin from microsoft. Just my opinion :)

Infinity ward and Rockstar. Way too overrated. Their games arent fun at all.(minus Call of duty 2, 4 and the GTA series of course)

The elder scrolls games. Of the ones I play their stories are not good and their combat is not much more than button smashing.

Well, I can't say Gears Of War is overrated for I only play the first game (detest it with a passion). To me, overrated is when group, someone or a product is good, but not the greatest thing on this planet. The word is so horribly abuse & misuse to the point that people will use it for hate. For you hate certain games, doesn't make it overrated. That's like me saying I hate fighting games so they're totally overrated & that's wrong. I'll say that Devil May Cry is one of the most overrated gaming series for good gameplay & boss battles. But everything else is not so hot. Call Of Duty 4 is one of the most overrated games of all time for it's so easy that anybody can earn kill-streaks with their eyes closed. Those who say that First Person Shooters is totally overrated are the ones who never play before & joining the hate train just for the sake of it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQQS_OfKhdU&feature=channel_video_title I'm didn't do this to start a flame war at all & want to bring intelligent discussion on this topic.