2. Grand Theft Auto: This series suffers from many of the issues others on the list have had. Each game begins in a different city with a completely different set of characters, most of whom are based on some sort of stereotype or cliché. The gameplay remains largely unchanged since the release of Grand Theft Auto 3, the first 3-D incarnation of the series. Sure they’ve tacked on flying and some have featured RPG-esque leveling but for the most part it’s a combination of car theft and shooting. The plots aren’t anything to write home about either. Every time someone mentions rumors of a Grand Theft Auto movie I cringe. You can find better characters and storylines in nearly any story that deals with the seedy underbelly of city life. Perhaps the best feature of a Grand Theft Auto game is that every time a new one is set to be released it helps take the heat off other developers.
1. Guitar Hero/Rock Band: Hailed as a great party game, unless you’ve shelled out the incredible amounts of cash it takes to buy a broad range of songs you’re going to run out of crowd pleasers pretty quickly. It might be great if you’ve got a whole cadre of gamer friends swapping instruments and taking turns, but for the non-gamer it’s good for a few minutes before they’re eyeing the plastic guitars with disdain and suggesting a game of Cranium instead. It’s a game that is ultimately better enjoyed in a friend’s living room rather than your own. It’s a big investment, especially when you consider that the basic package gets you only a handful of songs, most of which you’ll probably not care for and buying tracks from your favorite bands gets expensive quickly. It’s a style of self-perpetuating game play if you’re not doing it with a crowd. Generally the only reason to play it is to get better at it, there’s no storyline and no intrinsic benefit to playing.
