Top 5 overrated video games of all time – Part 2

By: Jason McCarthy

  |   September 12th, 2012   |  

Uncategorized

4. Gran Turismo

Ever since I was little, I have loved playing with cars. Nothing felt more satisfying then humming the sound of the engine with occasional screeching sounds while rolling my toy cars over every possible surface, be it a leg, dining table, floor, father’s leg (yes I remember doing that and getting slapped badly as a result. Oh boy, I sure need to delete this memory from my head.)

Upon growing up, this desire only got stronger and God bless the gaming industry for caring about us car freaks. Car racing games became prevalent in the market, giving people plenty of options to choose from to quench their thirst for getting in the driving seat of beautiful cars, listening to the sound of the engine and manoeuvring the car around some of the most breath-taking locations.

I happened to pick up my first Gran Turismo game for PlayStation One nearly a decade ago after hearing a lot of good things about it and I sure was not impressed. I gave the franchise another chance in the PlayStation 2 days and once again got disappointed. Upon the release of Gran Turismo for the PlayStation 3, I assumed that because the developers had taken such a long time to come up with the latest title in the series, the game must have undergone some serious improvements, but Polyphony Digital disappointed me yet again, something that I had gotten used to by now.

The simulation racing game series is hailed by many as one of the best in the genre, with the fans considering the game to be extremely close to reality.

I will not sit here and point out the many driving mechanics that are significantly unrealistic. Instead, I’ll simply share my opinion about the game that has enjoyed huge critical acclaim.

The very first title in the Gran Turismo franchise made it clear that the developers were not interested in offering a fun game. Putting the players in the driving seat of a car and expecting him to drive around the same and rather boring tracks over and over again to land top place in the race can hardly be considered entertaining.

The gameplay remained as bland as ever with each new Gran Turismo game and when the fifth title in the series arrived, it seemed to have hit an all-time low. After spending 5 hours on the game and clearing the C and B-Class races, I felt as if I’ve been doing the same thing over and over again. The most the game ever did to offer a bit of variety was to reverse the direction of the tracks. Seriously?

I did read somewhere online that there are about 31 different locations to drive in the game. If that really is the case, why is a player made to drive across the same three-to-four tracks over and over again for countless hours? Just how long do the game makers expect a player to endure the torture of monotonous and boring gameplay before being given access to a different location?

With the likes of Need for Speed in the market, Gran Turismo hardly deserves the sort of attention that it usually ends up getting. In my opinion, the game is seriously overrated.

Disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the editorial policy of Wishfree.com.