The most overrated and underrated games of all time

Overrated - These are in my view the most overrated games of all time. Are these terrible games, absolutely not. I actually love some of them, but I admit they have serious drawbacks or just plain overhyped.

10. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - when called "epic masterpiece" the game is not overrated, when called "greatest game ever", the game is overrated.

9. Donkey Kong Country - excellent graphics and sound which sunk the Genesis, but it is an average platformer. It is still a great game, just not a top 10 SNES game. The sequels do improve the series however. I love this game, but it is overrated.

8. Elders Scrolls IV: Oblivion - I love this game as well, but it is also overrated. It has serious flaws such as monsters leveling up with you (you never feel like a God or overmatched with a low level character) and lack of choices during quests. Limited soundtrack as well.But it is a beautiful game and easily modded for PC.

7. Prince of Persia (the original) - horrible controls, almost unplayable. Same goes with the sequel. It did spawn later greater games.

6. GTA: San Andreas - highly overrated, overrated story, horrible pacing, although this game allowed alot more freedom than other games, certain items seem really really out of place. GTA IV is better (and that game is overrated as well).

5. Call of Duty 4 - great shooter with epic moments and fun multiplayer, but not Game of The Year 2007. It does nothing revolutionary and if it wasn't for the nuke and the gritty ending, it would have been just another military shooter.

4. Gears of War - shows whats wrong with gaming today, good concept, terrible story and terrible characters with love for ultraviolence, and while the gameplay and graphicsare great, its over before you know it. The sequel is just as overrated.

3. Mortal Kombat - if it weren't for the fatalities, would this game and series be as popular? They need to kill this series.

2. Halo: Combat Evolved - tough call between no. 1 and no.2, could have put this at no.1 but another fanboy called for a FFVII remake...lol. Halo is clearly the most overrated series in gaming. All it is is go into a room or an area...kill, kill, kill, next area...kill, kill, kill....next area maybe with a vehicle...kill, kill, kill...repetitive repetitve repetitive.....but it gets overhyped while smart shooters like Deus Ex and System Shock 2 get overshadowed. Master Chief is a symbol of video game marketing, not video game greatness. And don't get me started on Sony's almost equally overrated version of Halo...the Killzone series.

1. Final Fantasy VII - Nothing defines overhype like this game. I think it is a good game, but by far it is not "the greatest game ever", its not the greatest RPG ever, and it is not even the greatest Final Fantasy ever. I can say everything about this game is overrated...the story, the characters, the soundtrack, the artwork, the gameplay. While it is the first 3d game in the series, that is the only thing revolutionary about it. When there are great moments, they a ruined by horrible script or bad pacing. The game has great themes, but doesn't know which to really center around effectively. I say although this game did indeed help bring jRPG's to the mainstream, it also lead to the genre's decline due to lack of innovation.

Underrated

5. Beyond Good and Evil - excellent story, excellent heroine, excellent game

4. Orge Battle 64 - took everything that made Ogre Battle less fun and threw it out, like loss of money during missions. It has a servicable story but great gameplay with great units to develop.

3. Lost Odyssey - stunning story, excellent characters, great artwork,and the dreams transcends the gaming medium.....wow. Can't believe the reviews this game got, although they did have a bad version.

2. Eternal Darkness - one of the best survival horror games, love the sanity aspect, great story, great villain, and great twists like deaths of some playable characters.

1. Okami - when announced that this game was an action RPG like Zelda set in Japanese mythological settings...gamers didnt listen, when it rightfully won GOTY in 2006 from IGN (over Oblivion, Gears of War, and Twilight Princess), gamers didn't listen...when released for the Wii...gamers didn't listen...so despite a studio making an excellent game, they go unrewarded and fold...good job guys.

Most overrated,,,, all GTA and Halo games. Good games but they get more hype than they deserve.

Most underrated.... Advent Rising (xbox) A few bugs but this was a really good game!!!

Overated: Halo (all of them), they're fun to play but not that amazing.

Underrated: Freedom Fighters

Overrrated: Warcraft 3, Assassin's Creed
Underrated: Battlefield 2142

I don't know about underrated,but the most overrated was Mario Galaxy.

Overrated: FF7

Underrated: Tombi

Over: GTA4, Gears 1 + 2

Under: DOW2

Overrated: Oblivion Underrated: hmm....between one's like Velvet Assassin, KOTOR 2, and MOH:Frontlinemoose_knuckler

Overrated - Final Fantasy VII, completely agree with the OP's points regarding this one. I've tried many times to get into it, but I completely lose interest. Usually around the point I have to dress as a whore to gain entry to the mansion. :|

Underrated - The Darkness, one of the best stories I've played in a game, characters were awesome. And the atmosphere is like no other game I've played.

Overrated : COD 4

Underrated: The Witcher - best RPG of the last 3-4 years, better then Mass Effect, better then oblivion.

Also Underrated : Stalker - Masterpiece, still play it o this day, unmatched atmosphere, unique gameplay and setting.

To the guy who says half Life 2 is terribole in everyway, saying it is overrrated is one thing, but terrible in everway? get a clue or a brain. Certainyl a step above Halo, COD's of the world, in its story telling, pacing, immersion.

Overrated: F.E.A.R. 99% of the "scare" moments aren't particularly creepy especially after I played the cradle level in Thief Deadly shadows, the game has a horrible middle, poor sense of atmosphere and I fail to see how its graphics were considered benchmark setting considering its aged harder and faster than most other games.

Underrated: Psi-ops, by far one of the most fun games on the old Xbox with a perfect fusion of psychic powers and gunplay that has yet to be matched since

[QUOTE="moose_knuckler"]Overrated: Oblivion Underrated: hmm....between one's like Velvet Assassin, KOTOR 2, and MOH:Frontlinetexasgoldrush

Most overrated:

Zelda, any game really.
Anything made by Valve.
Halo Series
Call of Duty Series
Tekken
Okami (At least among its fans)

Most underrated:

Final Fantasy VII - Seriously, look at it's average critic score. It deserved way better for its time.
Dead or Alive - Flashy and sexy, the only two things I care about in fighting games.

Over: Half-Life 2. It's terrible in every way. NBSRDan

wow, I disagree bigtime there.

Halo is very overrated IMO, as is PC adventure The Longest Journey

DOOM II: Hell on Earth, IMO the best game ever (PC version) is very underrated as it lives in the shadow of its nearly as good predecessor DOOM. Brilliant devious level design, addicting atmosphere, and the unveiling of Super Shotgun, LAN play, and classic monsters like Arch-Vile, Revenant, and Mancubus make thisTHEMasterpiece by Id's team of all-stars.

overrated : Final Fantasy 12, Doom 3 (better graphics DO NOT make a better game)

Underrated or unknown to general public : the Lunar series, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Sonic CD, Final Fantasy 9, Grandia, Valkyria Chronicles

I've never understood the love for Wii Sports. At first I was intrigued considering it was unlike anything I was accustomed to playing, however after a few hours of repeatedly swinging the controller, the novelty factor eventually wore off. I've even played it with some friends in the hopes of enjoying it more but for some reason that didn't prevent my interest level from waning. Overall, I couldn't help but feel that it was no more than a neat little tech demo.

I appreciated the scope and what they were trying to do in the GTA series, but the cars still handled poorly and the fighting and shooting mechanics needed more work. They did make a marked improvement in four, but I could never figure out the devotion to a game where you killed people with poor shooting and driving mechanics. Get a game that was tighter and pretend all the enemies are hookers and cops if it means that much to you.

For under rated, I always felt like Psychonauts deserved more love. Great art design, unique level design, and a funny story? Yes, please.

I am going by gamespots scores and not the user votes.

Over: FF7 (I could never get into this game)

Under: Uncharted: Drakes fortune, skate 1 and 2.

Overrated: Zelda TP, Final Fantasy VII

Underrated: Siren, Final Fantasy VII