Go into any Best Buy or GameStop and you’ll realize gamers have a lot of choices to put into their disc tray. From 75-hour long Japanese RPGs to Bejeweled, the array of titles out there for us to enjoy is mind-boggling. How do you know which one is right for you? Do you take the opinion of your friends and what they think? What about all of the many video game blogs on the internet? Most of them hype the shit out of one thing or the other, and frankly, I’m sick of hearing about one and not the other. Here’s my pick for most overrated video game known to man, and then my most underrated video game:
OVERRATED -
For my most overrated game, I have to go with the Madden 09. I’ve had to listen to my good buddy Dalyn talk about Madden 10 for an entire year after he was tired of playing 378 games of online Madden 09, and even more for a few seasons offline. I learned about the new lighting/weather engine, group tackling, and all of the shit they were putting into the Be A Pro mode.
Then, when release day came around, we made a special lunch trip up to the game store in the nearest mall to pick up his copy. Jump to four months later and Dalyn was officially burned out on Madden. After over 400 games you can only play something for so long before you eventually get fed up with its cheap tricks and fluky plays. Dalyn was the type of guy that had bought every Madden game since ‘94. A few years hanging around me completely changed all that. I started to introduce him to interesting titles like Heavy Rain, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, the amazing detail of Killzone 2 (at the time), and the incredible story telling and action/puzzle sequences of the Uncharted series.
I taught him that there are more experiences (better experiences) and more fun games than just Madden; that you shouldn’t put so much hype into a yearly football game. Video games are about entertainment. And sure, you could be entertained by playing Madden 400 times in a row, but would you do the same thing for a movie? Would you watch the same movie over and over again? What about music? Would you listen to the same album 200 times in a row? I couldn’t.
From the dawn of time it feels like the guys at EA have been pumping out game after game, year after year of this crap. I personally can’t see myself ever buying a game that is essentially the same teams, the same controls, the same pretty much everything. “Oh wow, you guys put in a new weather engine……whoop-de-fucking-doo. Oh, awesome! You added in “group tackling”.” Hey I know! Why don’t you take a fucking year off EA and add in a shit-ton of content instead of wasting my time playing the same shit as last year with a roster update. You want $60 dollars again? Oh yeah, I can’t wait to spend that money again next year. Give me a break.
UNDERRATED -
For underrated, I have to go with the No More Heroes series. Ask around to any of your gamer buddies and they’ll look at you and go, “What the fuck are you talking about? A Wii game? Shut the fuck up!”
These games from Grasshopper Manufacture are epically fun, over the top, and completely bloody violent. So why in the hell have you not heard about them? Sadly, these games are on most peoples’ dust collector console called the Nintendo Wii. You’ll quickly change your tune when you completely annihilate a worthless henchman, chop him into small bit-sized pieces and hear his luscious scream as it fills your speakers. I usually have a little pre-cum soil my pants when this happens.
The comedy and style in the game is also worth a mention. Taking a crap to save your game is incredibly funny and awesome. Thank you Suda 51! Changing into a mech warrior and battling over a city like Godzilla is even more awesome-r. That’s right. I just fucking made up a word to describe No More Heroes.
Video game throwback lines to other titles, interestingly quirky but fluent control schemes, and an open world in the first No More Heroes are unheard of on the lesser powered white console. The game just oozes style in this kind of modified comic book Kill Bill world with over the top blood, shooting neck holes, and dudes splitting literally in half from a glowing samurai lightsaber.
It’s really a shame that hardcore gamers out there everywhere have not played No More Heroes or know what it is because they either have this stigma that there are no good games on the Wii, or their mind has been warped into buying the same old shit-tastic game year after year (look at Madden or Call of Duty for example). I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
