Thank you for the caveat at the start of the post. What's frustrating is how often backlash is directed against good games rather than bad (or nonexistent) criticism. People should not get upset at their very good game for not being the elegiac masterpiece they were promised in the release-day reviews.

civlization? burnout? wtf u never even hear about those games..this list sucks.

yeah lbp might be overrated but what do you mean "LBP : wheres the game"? have have you even played it?
its one of the best games out this year.

wheres gears 2? forget about that? yeah its a great game but a lot will admit it is overrated

Mass Effect came out last year.

Normally you'd expect Rob's comment to follow Arsenal55's, but the fact that it precedes it is perfect.

wasted time

Braid was overrated!? you've got to be joking!

Burnout Paradise!?

No Gears of War 2?

Waste of time and a rubbish list!

Infact Left4Dead should be in top 5.

I feel like this list is WAY out of touch with what real gamers think. Who wrote this? Do they play games? This list could be entitled "Most Enjoyable Games of 2008" and it would be more accurate.

Gears of War 2 wasn't overrated, was it? The only people hyping it were Cliffy "Don't call me Cliffy B.!" B. and his gang.

I have too many hours in L4D to think it deserves to be on the list, but I can see why people would think so. After all, it's more or less the same sort of formula seen in Diablo and Counterstrike. Just the same moment over and over again.

But zombies, man!

I understand that you are placing criticism on good games, and I'm not saying they are flawless but Burnout, Left 4 Dead, Grand Theft Auto 4, MGS4 and Braid? Come on man, have a steamy cup of reality! I mean, half of these games are a steal for their price, especially Burnout that releases quality content on a regular basis FOR FREE. On top of that, the game's $29.99! Why don't you go play some Superman 64 or Barbie Horse Adventure for a day and we'll see how the page turns and how some people just don't appreciate games like they should.

gears 2 should have made this list.

this guy clearly knows nothing about Games. your reasons are stupid. You are narrow minded. therefore. your opinion is insignificant.

What's interesting is that even the most disappointing games of 2008 are really, really worth playing and some might even find them very, very good (except probably Wii Fit which some purists might not even consider to be a videogame).

After all I loved and still play Civ IV Colonization because I'm just built that way as far as gaming goes while I am sure I will never touch MGS4. This just shows how the videogame industry has grown and managed to produce real gems during 2008...

Okay, I am not going to sit here and say that Mass Effect (I'm Assuming you meant the PC version, as the 360 was out last year) was some kind of perfect masterpiece of gaming, as it was very clear that it not only had some technical problems. And while the main story was fun, I would have liked to see more side quests and branching of the stories.

But, sir, I take a high offense at you claiming it was set in a "generic sci-fi universe". Generic??? Are you insane man. This was one of the best sci-fi universes to grace any video game. The mythology is not some thrown together back story that cries "Ooh, aliens!" This was a finely crafted universe with subtle political intrigue, great backgrounds, and truly memorable moments (like when you have to order one of you soldiers to die in order save you mission, and there's no way around it). You may not like sci-fi and that's fine. But you clearly have no right to decide what a generic sci-fi universe is, or is not. Leave that to the people who can actually comprehend the subtle nuances that fill this rich and completely original sci-fi universe.

BTW, I agree that Gears 2 should have been on this list. Great game, with some really fun parts, but truly this game has been overrated since they announced it way back when.

~ComplexedOne

I totally agree with the Spore call. Age of Conan came out this year, didn't it? I'd have put that on the list.

I disagree about Mass Effect, and I'm not so sure about Left4Dead. It was hyped as a one-of-a-kind multiplayer experience, and I think they suceeded at that quite well.

YOU SUCK! this is a useless article by a useless person

Yeah, I don't know about Mass Effect's sci-fi universe being generic, but the level layouts sure were.

Can't really disagree with anything I've played on this list except left 4 dead which hasn't gotten old for me yet.

Also, I love how these lists are such comment-bait :)

As much as I love Spore, I will be the first to admit that the hype was overwhelming. The implication was that we would have 5 incredibly deep games instead of the 5 casual shallow games we got. I played through the Civ stage for the first time in less than half an hour just out of boredom.

Man, what is with some of these comments? I am sure Sci-Fi is thankful for the hits but its too bad the IGN forums discovered Fidgit.

In any case, I gotta go with Complexdyne on the Mass Effect comments. That game had a ton of problems, but its setting and story were not one of them. And I liked the Mako sequences, I must be the only person that did. :(

And Burnout, yea. I would've put it higher, actually. Some other examples: DMC4 (maybe it was just early in the year or something, but it was a pretty weak action game that took itself way too seriously), Ninja Gaiden 2 (actually more disappointing than overrated, but it was not a worthy sequel to one of the best action games ever made), and Warhammer Online (the rush to praise this game as a worthy foe to WoW obscured its serious design flaws).

Where's Fallout 3?
I didn't hate it, but it fits in here just as much as L4D in terms of disappointment factor.
(Possible spoiler: don't comment on this unless you've finished it)

On #8: I read something you wrote similar to this, being critical about not being able to restart in Burnout Paradise, and when I first started playing the game I thought the same, then I wondered why I thought this way. I think this is dictated by habit; we've gotten this option handed to us in most games and so scream when it isn't included by default. The lack of restart, I think, forces the player to think about this game differently. It's odd that you are negative about the lack of real physics but then reality isn't so important when you have to drive back to where you were. That made me rethink how I played the game because the game really isn't about reality. It's all about chilling out and not being obsessed with a single race. It's about if you lose a race you move on to something else and maybe come back to it later. From this attitude the game is a great success. And with the lack of success of its peers, it was greatly needed and holds up in a genre that has become lacking of late. I was one who refused to believe the good reviews until I finally broke down and bought the game. Despite its simplicity or perhaps because of it, this is one of a few games that made me rethink gaming.

On #4: After playing (watching) the demo of MGS4, my lack of faith in game reviewers returned. Maybe this will start a new trend where direct to DVD movies are remarketed as video games.

On #1: GTA4 advanced the franchise in minor rather than major ways. Storywise, I think the developer took a safe step back rather than push the envelop and deal with criticism. The game felt like they were trying to sell copies rather than push the series forward. This is an unfair criticism based on their past success but one that the developers created for themselves. They moralized too much in the game instead of just showing us their world. And oddly with such an open world, they forced it to be as linear as possible. With any other name this game would have been great. But as part of the GTA franchise, it seemed like baby steps forward yet a big jump back. Maybe I'm just still upset that I couldn't find a tank. Still GTA4 is a great game, but not an heir to GTA3.

I think RumBanana is saying it best. At some point gamers seem to have turned into the fat comic guy from the simpsons.
You want something to change your life for 59.99 or less. The gaming community seems to get worse with every major release. Games like HAZE need to be mentioned as over hyped. The games on this list were all fun and enjoyable for different reasons...sure it didnt change my life and cause me to have visions....BUT IT IS JUST A VIDEO GAME.

Re MGS4. I liked the game except for the cutscenes. Well, I could even tolerate some of the early cutscenes, because it was amusing to wander around the plane with the robot. I have to admit that cemetery thing at the end has to rate as both the silliest and stupidest scene ever "filmed".

Anyhow, I never played MGS. I played part of MGS2 and got bored. I liked MGS3 but wasn't really wowed by it. I finished MGS4, and thought it was just about as good as MGS3, though obviously not many people agree. I'm not a fanboy by any means, I just was impressed by the attention to detail in the levels, the graphics, and the general amount of design that went into it. Obviously there were some elements that didn't work very well, but it seemed to me in the end to be a reasonably worthy offering.

Because of you Mr. Chick, today's emotions are but the scurf of yesterday's.

Also your content submission letters confuse the crap out of me.

One of my favorite things about Fidgit comments is trying to figure out which group of fanboys caught wind of the article. Here, with the cries for LBP and against Gears2, it's clearly some mature PS3 community.

Tom, you attract some very angry people to this site.

I don't really disagree with any particular game on the list, but I absolutely agree on Mass Effect, Burnout Paradise, and Left 4 Dead. I can also understand Metal Gear Solid 4, but I'm a long-time fan of the series so my opinion on the game is critically tainted.

The critical reception for Left 4 Dead kind of boggles my mind. It's a fun game for a little while, but I don't see the unrelenting praise for it that I've read in a number of reviews.

Do we get a Favorite Games of 2008 list?

Your list is boring. Did you just throw a bunch of big games together and attack them? LittleBigPlanet isn't overrated. MGS4 isn't either. GTA IV I will say was disappointing compared to the last few GTA games. Burnout Paradise definitely doesn't belong on this list.

If you hate all these games this much I think you need to find something else to waste your time on.

Brian I think you've missed the point of calling something overrated though I think the first 2 games you highlighted says something about you.

I pretty much agree with the list though I wouldn't really count mass effect as a 2008 game and I think there's already been a fair amount of backlash against gears 2 so it isn't really as overrated as something like mgs4 (can we stop pretending this has universal appeal?).

Tom Chick is a troll of the lowest order!

wheres gears of war 2? i wasnt a fan of the mgs series but i loved mgs4, resistance was a bit over hyped 2 but lpb wasnt that game is fun as hell ppl r just 2 lazy 2 actualy use the game 2 built things so they get bored

Come on people this is the person's list of games they can't even buy or play and instand they want to cry about it. GTA4 overrated? Maybe but it had a huge sell an thats pretty damn good.

Little Big Planet? Seriously?

Someone's not familiar with their gaming history. Little Big Planet modding is comparable to Quake!

I just want to say in regards to a game being overrated it means nearly universal high scores with barely a mention of its flaws, I dont think L4D, Mass Effect, or Burnout should be on there. L4D has gotten modest to good scores. Ive only seen two reviews go above a "9". Mass Effect has constantly been critiqued for its driving sections and the loading in elevators. I think calling the SciFi world generic is bollocks to the highest degree. I have yet to see a more in depth story within the confides of a single game and I will go out and say there maybe more information in Mass Effect about the universe than the entirety of the Star Trek universe.
MGS4 I found it hard to say it was overrated except for a couple reviewers. Most kept the game away from a 5/5 or anything above a 9 for the same reason I would have, the hodgepodge of gaming that you got and the distinct lack of gameplay cohesion through the various Acts. As a Metal Gear fan I personally found that to be a poor choice since every other MG game has had you in one location for the most part and staying there to the end. Makes it more dramatic in my opinion.

Gee Tom, you sure didn't write a very popular posting this time ;)

I can say, most confidently, that Left for Dead should be higher on your list. It was fun to play with someone else, but the premise of the game is like golf and you are the golf ball. Your objective is to make it from one safe room to the next. You put yourself around while shooting double-plus undead. I think Dead Space did a much better job of putting a much more interesting game over "go here, click that, then go over there and repeat."

Mass Effect was really fun, but the dopey dune-buggy-with-a-big-gun driving around the surface of a planet was a joy killer. We can fly in spaceships across the galaxy but we have to travel around the surface of a planet in a wheeled vehicle? Huh?

I initially liked GTA IV but the driving controls were the most frustrating of anything I've played of late. I should have spontaneously turned into a big green monster, ahem, from all the times I got mad during driving sequences. Needless to say, after being able to rent the game for a week, I returned it in 3 days.

I haven't played any of the other games. I'm not spending $300 so I can play MGS.

MGS4 isn't something you want to really pay alot for but it is something you got to play once, I did and beated the game in a day (Pretty much to a day to finish the damn thing) I wouldn't say that game was overreated, not until it was out for awhile then you started to see all kinds of videos. I'm waiting to see what the full version of MGS4 looks like (Keep in mind it was a 100GB game an had to be compress to 50GB) something we see alot in 360 games.

FAR CRY 2!!!

WHY CANT I MOVE!!!?!??

Sheesh, people. There are some intelligent people here, and a lot of, shall we say, less than. This list is one person's opinion. As such, everything he says is absolutely correct. Those people who say "in fact" or some such really need to look up what opinion means. In fact (this time used correctly), the poster's comments are simply their opinion, with no more "factual" basis than the list. If you disagree, fine, it's all good. But leave the taunts and insults on the elementary school playground, all right? Anyway, of the games on the list I am familiar with, I tend to agree that most of them were kinda hyped beyond expectations, but that's the name of the advertising game these days.

This is a great list. He didn't say these were horrible games, but overrated.

Little big planet is a great classic side scrolling type game!
I'm still looking for hidden items !
What do you mean where the game? Tons of developers levels, Make your own levels, or play some one elses levels online.

You can restart a race in burnout, you just need to come to a complete stop. This is all explained in the game's manual. Read it.

Good call on all your picks, Tom, and your reasoning is spot on. I can't say I played all the games you listed, but of those I did, your assessment matches my own.

@KELON

All that does is end the event, with you where you are parked. If you try a race, and just barely fail -- There you are at the finish line, and you have to drive back. Even if you decide 3/4 of the way in that you want to restart, if you park to stop the race, you still have to drive 3/4 of the way back.

There is _NO_ restart in Burnout Paradise, presently. Just Quit.

So, in the same post, you're saying that these are the most overrated games, even though you think some of them are great? Clearly they're not overrated if they are great games.

Also, it's very hard to tell that you actually liked any of these games, so I think you're full of it. It'll be interesting to see which games you put on a pedestal tomorrow, after you've shamelessly slammed them here, sometimes without any sufficient explanation.

epthegeek, I'm not going to sit here and debate what the word "restart" means. I'll just say that the list maker should read the manual before saying a game is overrated.

I'm not sure why I read these articles. I know that I will always disagree with what is posted here. A few days ago there was an entry that said Farcry 2 was actually good(which it not, no game ever called Farcry has ever been good)

And now I read about how bad Mass Effect(which is a 2007 game anyways) and Left 4 Dead are overrated. Left 4 Dead is a great concept, executed amazingly well and a real blast to play. Its very replayable at the moment and once valve opens up the last two levels for multiplayer and adds maybe another campaign or two its gonna get even better. And honestly its reviews have not be perfect, its a good game and its got good reviews.

Gamerankings says that Mass Effect averaged 91.1% in reviews so my initial thought that maybe it wasn't criticially acclaimed enough to deserve a spot on this list is misguided. An enjoyable game with jarringly out of place buggy sections, maybe because nowadays if sci-fi games don't some equivalent to a Warthog then they simply no longer cut the mustard with large sections of the gaming community.

I don't think the question is how MGS4 and LBP made this list, but more how you didn't put them first and second, closely followed by GTA4. Although I have to admit that the ability of Braid to turn every previously sane reviewer into some sort of arthouse fairy was quite amazing. I think it managed to do this even better than flow could.

I think that Left 4 Dead and Burnout Paradise suffer from the Halo reviewing syndrome; the games are reviewed for their multiplayer or co-op factors only. A lack-lustre single player experience doesn't end up affecting the overall score, as the reviewer is so blinkered by his/her love for the multiplayer aspect that the game as a complete package isn't considered.

And yeah, someone has clearly posted this on a PS3 forum somewhere; a place (hopefully) far far away where words like 'opinion' and 'disagree' don't exist. You're just plain wrong, Tom, and when all those people that bitched at you get to school tomorrow this article is all they'll be talking about.

(Although if you had have actually left this until the true end of the year you could have included Prince of Persia, which for a game that appears to play itself it is scoring incredibly high. I know people don't want a challenge in their games anymore but this is starting to get ridiculous. But then you couldn't have put Colonization on this list as revenge for repeatedly beating you like a small child, eh?)

You should do your homework. or at the very hire hire someone who will.

Mass Effect Last year not 2008
Braid- Gee I guess being one of the best selling XBOX Live games EVER means all the people who are enjoying the game are wrong???

It's a shame the internet is polluted with crap articles such as this...

this is just a BS list with AAA games to create controversy and get more page hits.
antoher EPIC FAIL for fidgit!

this list fails. i just wasted 2 mins reading this junk...

Wow, horrible list, I don't know who in their right mind would host this bull-ish on N4G. It's supposed to be News 4 Gamers, not bull-ish for gamers. Tom Chick needs to write her list of overrated cocks she's sucked.

@ the Author. Hey douche bag, Gears of War 2 is the most overrated piece of shit of all time

I HATE THIS WEBSITE THE STUPID WEBSITE MAKES YOU RETYPE THE WHOLE GODDAMN COMMENT IF YOU MESSED UP THE LETTERS AT THE BOTTEM.

WHAT? Little Big Planet is one of the best games of all time, at the very least game of the year!

Well aren't you cool Tom Chick.

You basically denounced every game that tried to go outside the box and be innovative.

Have fun with your First person Testosterone oriented games. With a name like Tom Chick I can see why you must try to prove your 'manhood'.

Me, I'll take MGS4 over Gears 2 anyday.

--------

Second, Mass Effect came out in 2007 genius.

i dont think these games were overated except maybe a few. Your saying the games are overate so why dont you rate them yourself if you even played them all

@mxdan:
Did you ever figure he might've been talking about the PC version?

As much as all of you hate what he's saying, it's the truth. Oh yeah, its called opinion, not fact.

Are you kidding me? Did you just randomly select a list of games to denounce as "overrated"?

I'm still trying to figure how Colonization got on this list....Let alone calling GTA IV "uninspired"? And Mass Effect, really?

Furthermore, when I think of overrated, I think of bland game play. Not, "buggy gameplay." And how can a game be overrated, yet still be "great?"

I'm so confused.....

And why are some of you concerned about what we think of his list? Can't we have an opinion about his "opinion?"

My idea of Little Big Planet is that it's a fun, 80s convieved platformer with quasi-3D graphics, that would have sold better on the PS2 with little to no graphics or content degradation! How's that for overrated?!?

where's HALO 3????? That's the biggest overated game ever!

@Chuck

"As much as all of you hate what he's saying, it's the truth"

Oh yeah? Wheres the proof buddy. MGS4 was the best game I've ever played.

Grow up guys...This was just a joke...

If you play games with a controller, all the while "thumb loving" knobby little ANALog sticks you have some profoundly repressed homo-erotic issues to contend with. Seriously, consoles are to games what Cliff Notes are to novels. Which reminds me, if I hear one more time how epic a story MGS4 is, I might hurl a little in my mouth. Do the millions of console-trolls out there even read? I'm betting if they do, the Twilight series is at the top of their summer reading lists. Lest I forget, Gears of Snores 2 and all the other "rinse and repeat" ripoffs, passing for entertainment, will rot your wee little troglodyte, gamer-stained brains simply by touching the box children. Oh yeah, as for the list - does it please you to bait so many fire eyed, keyboard clanking, console kids? Shame on you Fidget. PS, to all the haters - if you play around with my name (add a letter, subtract a letter, what ever floats your boat) you can get me back but good!! You go girls.

As a consumer whore, I very much realize that some games receive WAAAY too much hype. I do not understand, however, why this is bad. There are plenty of fantastic games out there that have gone remarkably un-hyped, and as a result they are completely ignored by a majority of the gaming community.

Games that are, in your opinion, over-hyped, are in fact just trying to do what everything in this capitalist market is trying to do: compete. It does not seem very fair to criticize these companies for trying to promote their product.

Expecting every game to live up to your wildest expectation is ridiculous, and commenting on this over-hype like it is a bad omen to the industry couldn't be farther from the truth. Hyping games, especially over several entertainment mediums, is a huge sign of progress for the gaming industry.

I personally cannot wait when the day comes that video games are the most popular form of entertainment. And you, as a gamer shouldn't wait either. So appreciate hype for what it is: progress.

well this guy is a piece of shit of a human being isn't he.

And where is FarCry 2 on that list ? It should be on rather high positions in both of them.

For those who think that by calling them overrated he means they suck:

"Many of the following ten games are great. A few came close to being on my top ten list (to be posted tomorrow). I would call a couple of them works of genius."

For those that question if Chick is well informed or knows what he's talking about:

"Tom Chick has been writing professionally about the videogaming industry for over fifteen years..."

probably for longer then some of you have been alive, and he wouldn't still be writing about it if he was shit at it.

Finally, these are his opinions and by some of you saying stuff like "Gears 2 was shit. LBP rocks obviously!" you are saying your own opinion too. Sure alot of people may agree with you, perhaps even the majority, but alot of people will disagree too.

Absolute fail. Some games on this shouldn't be here at all.

I shake my head at you putting:

LittleBigPlanet
Left4Dead
MGS4
GTAIV
and
Burnout

on this list. So basically you fucked up big time.

It's cute how you made a list just to create controversy for your gaming blog that nobody reads.

Hhha Anon, that's true. What a cute attempt

Good luck finding readers! ^.^

At least he got Braid right. I can't believe some of you fools paid $15 for that garbage AND liked it.

The guy is obviously paid by Microsoft... for this horrible "top 10 over-rate games"

Note there are basically no 360 games... MAss Effect is a year + old and Left 4 Dead... well it is on Comp and 360... Ps3 and wii games.. ONLY ONLY THOSE SYSTEMS.

Psshhh ! Reviewer! You are lame...
Halo and Gears should be there too... LBP > Them.

0/10 wouldn't be trolled again.

What a crock o' shit

Well it's pretty obvious Bruce has been very busy writing all these negative comments!

...you guys read it.

if this review is an indicator of this site's potential, i bet fidgit will have its plug pulled by sci-fi within 6 months. i'm not even arguing about the selection of games here. i think the writing style is horrible and WHERE'S THE SUBSTANCE? good lord man. go back to school and ask for a refund from your english teacher.

GTA IV has a "setting for a poorly told story and uninspired gameplay, and the subject of a system-shattering PC port."????

WTF? Go make midget porn, you'll get more attention that way. Useless website with a useless list that doesn't even have accurate information...

Oh! Oh! Look at how contrary I can be! I'll pick popular games and say I don't like them!

Tip: If you're going to take something most people think is very good, and say it's not so good, you should probably provide more than a single sentence to explain. As it is, your list looks like nothing more than an attempt to be the cool, edgy kid who doesn't like the same music as everyone else.

An far more interesting follow-up would be a list of games which you think are well-rated and deserve it.

I feel like this is a very sad cry for attention. Ignorance shouldn't be rewarded.

You know what? I don't think a single PS3 exclusive should be on that list. Unfortunately most PS3 games don't get the same hype that M$ throws millions of dollars for advertising of the exclusives they make. Compared to most 360 and PC games, PS3 games are barely hyped at all, but still better games. Unfortunately M$ doesn't realize that money doesn't solve everything.

Mass Effect PC was released on 2008 morons.

Other people have said it right. You are stupid. I'm sorry.

Example: How can you not recommend one of your favorite games of the year?

You don't even seem to grasp the language you're writing in. If you were one of my students, I would counsel you to think about a career that doesn't involve much writing.

I always wondered what hack journalists did when they realised that they forgot to do an article at the last minute. Now I know. Keep up the sub-standard work!

I'm from Ruliweb
hey are you kidding?
your must change title

>>>> The best games of 2008

but.. only one, Little Big Planet is so bad.

Wow! Braid? Really? Making you think is a bad thing, huh?

I don't see how aby of the games besides Wii fit (overrated in my opinion) and Spore (SLIGHTLY overrated....ONLY SLIGHTLY) made this list

Terrible, terrible list. Just because MGS4 and LBP didn't sell that well (since it's on PS3 and naturally won't do as much wonders as games on other consoles do) they become overrated? Please...

MGS4 was amazing, nevermind the long cutscenes, that's what MGS was popular for. Even then, the cutscenes were gorgeous.

LBP, true it had some hiccups here and there but it's awesome. The main missions are really fun and quitea number of the User content are really worth a try and definately more harder and challenging than the main game.

GTA4 was also amazing, it could have been a little overhyped but it was still great.

Pretty bad list if you ask me.

this is probably the worst list i have ever seen

Haha, you got Kotaku'd! There'll be Turkey on the Chick family table this year!

You are full of shit, rich smooth creamy shit, you just wanted to hate on the most popular games of the year, your article fails at so many levels, it's just controversial for the sake of it

@OROCHI: since when MGS4 didn't sell well? are you kidding me? it's over 5 millions sold in USA and the number one most PS3 game sold in japan. LBP on the other hand...

No heat, no vehemence here. But I will correct you sir, MGS4 was my first MGS4 experience, first time I'd ever played MG at all. And I absolutely loved it, cut-scenes and all. Kojima did a brilliant job with the last saga of Solid Snake, and from all the friends of mine who've played the series religiously, they indicate it would've been impossible to wrap up all the loose ends without having that much info/cutscenes in it. I believe it's presence on your list is wrong.

Morne

Whoever wrote this is an idiot and obviously not a gamer.Only two he got right was Civilizations and wii fit which aint really a game its just a gimmick for people too lazy to exercise for real.

What a pile of shit from a microsoft butt buddy!

Nay-saying does drive traffic.

We, the gaming community, collectively see what you inadvisably did there.

Fie on your non-article, sir. Enjoy the fraction of a cent that my visit has brought you.

i think this list blows donkey balls

Looks like someone wanted to stir up controversy.

wow. you're an idiot

Troll much?

MASS EFFECT CAME OUT IN 2007!!!!

FIDGET FAILS!!!

GOOD JOB WITH THE QUALITY CONTROL GUYS. LAST TIME I COME HERE.

See, these are just his opinions.. even though they are full of shit and this person is clearly an idiot, they are just opinions.

**You'd have to be an idiot saying there is no game in LBP. I think you confuse unlimited gameplay with no gameplay at all.

Although I'm a regular to the Dvice side I saw this article on Kotaku. I have to admit I find it ironic that you have Mass Effect on there considering the amount of advertisements SciFi put into it. Not to mention Mass Effect came out in 2007 or so. Your reviews sound like you just read a bunch of other reviews (metacritic.com) and tried to sum them up.

Braid? I am not convinced you played it. "You need to have a stomach for old-school platformers" Not really, it only LOOKS like old school platformer, and does not play play like. (Example: you can't die from falling in pits, you just rewind time) "mental brick walls?" Yes, some of the puzzles are hard (that made the game even more awesome) but my friends and I solved them all without game guides. They took some thought. Perhaps Wii music would be more up your ally?

Ron, not every site is IGN or GameSpot and dictates content based on advertising dollars.

And Mass Effect came out in 2008, actually - on the PC. I'm not sure if Tom never played ME on the 360, or what, but its entirely possible his first go-round was with the PC version.

lol ur top 10 sucks dude. mgs 4 is not overrated.

Learn to write, Tom. Like this-
"It's a great showcase for zombies that can run and co-op gameplay, but it's as fast, slick, fun in groups, and gratifying as chasing a greased pig (take that however you will). "

That's a frankly terrible sentence. You're all over the place. I have no idea what "it's as fast, slick, fun in groups" means. Still, that's nothing next to this gem-

"I would call a couple of them works of genius. But I think they're the most overrated games of the year for the simple fact that I'm surprised at how well received they were"

...okay. So it's really the ten surprise hits of 2008 then. Still, on the bright side, there's not much else I can disagree with, because you barely bothered to write an explanation for why these games are on the list. Good work fella.

U SUCK BALLS DOUCHEBAG FUCKIN QUIF Tom Chick SUCKS BALLS

Clearly an idiot wrote this article.

@alpha24

"At some point gamers seem to have turned into the fat comic guy from the simpsons."

I disagree- the only person who has turned into the fat comic guy from The Simpsons is the fat comic guy from The Simpsons- all subcultures have their sub-subcultures like this, it's just that the gamer (and, for that matter, comic) one is more visible because there's more of us who know how to work the internet, and/or have to go to the internet for their coverage because there's little or none coming from the other outlets.

If football fans used the internet as much as gamers did, then you'd see similar posts like that from them, as well.

U SUCK BALLS DOUCHEBAG FUCKIN QUIF Tom Chick SUCKS BALLS

U SUCK BALLS

ANYONE NOTICE ONLY 1 NINTENDO GAME ON LIST,AND ITS NOT REALLY A GAME.CONSPIRACY.TOM CHICK IS SUCKING NINTENDO BALLS FOR MONEY.HIS WRITING STINKS LIKE AN UNWASHED ASSHOLE.

Your list is rubbish. Learn how to play some games before you post a useless list like this.

You know what else is overrated? Your ability to rate.

Good luck with the flame. Grab some Ass bandage, it's going to be a long ride.

Tom, this is solid list, but I'll echo some dissent about Burnout Paradise. While not far into the game, I haven't found anything indicating that it ever wants to complete specific races, only that you complete a certain number of them in order to advance your license. The obsession with completing one race is against the game's design, and is the result of our increasingly OCD habits as gamers.

The argument against paradise is if certain races are so good that you simply do not want to ignore them, and I accept that as a valid point.

Eat up all the Hits your page is getting....Your a sad individual for making this list!

u suck hairy sweaty balls

I get it now, you switched your lists on accident, well, that's an easy mistake for a noob like you. You meant this was your GOTY, and the GOTY was overated stuff? See, it's easy anyone can troll.

u suck hairy sweaty balls

I blame Kotaku for having this be a featured article.

Anyway, I love the list and would only change order placement. I would also add a runner-up list, and have Gears 2, Home, Far Cry 2, and Devil May Cry 4 noted.

SUCK MY BALLS TOM CHICK SUCK MY BALLS TOM CHICK SUCK MY BALLS TOM CHICK SUCK MY BALLS TOM CHICK SUCK MY BALLS TOM CHICK SUCK MY BALLS TOM CHICK

Nice list. It's good to see someone being honest about the fact that some games are truly over-hyped. MGS4 is the real pick of the litter here. Yes, it has its moments, and the graphics are stunning, but the bloated self-important story overstays its welcome at nearly cutscene break, which comes way to frequently. This is one of those games that I think gets highly rated, since people are afraid to admit they just don't get it. I just don't get it.

Did you even play LBP? And saying L4D isn't good because it's not...gratifying? What? Come on, Tom...

Tom Chick just won "Idiot of the year - 2008". Congratulations

I wasn't a fan of Metal Gear, yet I bought 4 and loved it

Thanks for the GTA IV post, that games PC port really disappointed me.

Very controversial, but a fair debate.

I just read his "best" games list. Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts , Far Cry 2, Sacred 2, Saints Row 2 (essentially a slight ripoff of GTA).....Nuff said.

Really, this is embarrassing.

This list is made of fail. You must not have even played LittleBigPlanet if you don't see the game in it. Unbelieveable.

The author contradicted himself by saying that some of these games are works of art or are genius, yet he finds them overrated. Wow, you truly are amazing. Let me guess, you're a Rockband, Mario Kart, Gears 2, and iPhone fan. Your mom must be proud - maybe this year you'll move out of her basement

sucks

I for one agree with the list, LBP is the biggest pile of shit ever produced, a game designed for morons.

So this is what it's like to get linked to Kotaku, the biggest piece of trash excuse for gaming journalism on the internet.

Obviously a a 360 fanboy who hasn't played any of these games

i dont think this person who wrote the list even played these games.

obviously went to IGN and found the highest rated games, then pointed out one CON of each game.

I can do this too! Give me a job Sci Fi

Yeah, this is a pretty solid list. I love of few of these games, but they were totally over rated.

How much money you want to bet that this list was created from a bunch of disgruntled people that have never played or even own those games.

Those same people should probably stop making stupid lists up all together, and get back to playing Pong.

This list is shit, you just picked the best games fo the year and slated them,

Ross - Because Wii Fit is a good _game_? Lol.

wow, whoever made this list doesn't know a single thing about any of the games listed.

you sir are an idiot

you have ruined your reputation and all future lists/ comments are ignored

This is honestly the dumbest list I have ever seen. there were a lot of great games on that list. The author of this is a pathetic little man.

It's like a L4D moment, after you've thrown one of those grenades with the blinking red light. Mention the word "overrated" and you'll be swarmed by drooling fanboys flocking en masse to the defense of their digital obsessions.
Listen to their zombie-like moans "you sir are an idiot" "you CLEARLY don't know anything about games" "Learn how to play some games"
You have to marvel at the level of dumb. Is this the infamous Kotaku effect?

The word is "overrated" you mob of unspeakable imbeciles. It doesn't mean that the games are bad, just that they have been hyped to high heavens and the results don't always match the expectations IN THIS JOURNALIST'S OPINION. Simple as that, yet a civilized response is too much for your undeveloped brains.
Movies, videogames, music, you see these zombies everywhere there's criticism. Useless fanatics.

U SUCK BALLS

Ha, you utterly suck.

@Me: I know it did sell quite well (I am a megafan of MGS I admint o_O) but I'm guessing it didn't probably sell as well as expected of Mr Tom Chick over here =(

I'm down with GTA. I got bored pretty quickly with it.

I don't have time for some nerdy, well articulated response to this, and frankly the OP doesn't deserve it. This list sucks. Wii fit has more credit comming to it as an experience, and LBP was on the money. I hadn't even heard of Braid till probably 12/8. Where did that game come from and how can something that didn't get as much hype before launch as it did after be overrated?

obvious troll is obvious

Wow... I love how the comments contradict each other, one person says you're a Nintendo fan boy, while another thinks that Microsoft is paying you. The list was good, and the fact that all these people got so angry kind of proves how overrated these games are... good job!

How do you make money on the web?

-You make a controversial list
-Start flamewar with as many nerds as possible
-Get Hits
-???
-Profit...

"This commercial for Tom Chick's blog post tomorrow where he'll have half the games on this list...on that list: brought to you by Tom Chick" p.s. Tom Chick thanks you for the clicks (suckas!)

Mass Effect, LittleBigPlanet, and Spore are the most overrated games ever made. GTA IV, Burnout, Left4Dead, and Wii Fit are just awful. I dont know why Braid, MGS4 and Civ4 are there, now those are great games.

My idea of Little Big Planet is that it's a fun, 80s convieved platformer with quasi-3D graphics, that would have sold better on the PS2 with little to no graphics or content degradation! How's that for overrated?!?

Bah ... Left 4 Dead is awesome and I'll be playing it for ages -- not overhyped at all.

Tom Chick, you are not even worthy of cleaning Hideo Kojima's shoes.

Just looking for attention slatting some of the best games of the year. Slow news day?

Do I agree with GTA4? Yes! But calling MGS4, L4D, and Braid overrated is rubbish.

Tom Chick, you are not even worthy of cleaning Hideo Kojima's shoes.

Just looking for attention slatting some of the best games of the year. Slow news day?

Do I agree with GTA4? Yes! But calling MGS4, L4D, and Braid overrated is rubbish.

You shouldn't be allowed to use the internet. Mass Effect is a great game and so is LBP and GTA IV. And others on this list. Either you've never played any of the games or you completely suck and can't even beat them on the easiest difficulty so you get pissed off and make dumb lists of games your terrible at. You epic phail.

eat a dick!

Interesting list. I think Star Wars Force Unleashed deserved a place, not because it isn't brilliant, just because it was delayed so long and hyped so much it could never live up to expectations.

Does Wii Fit deserve to be there? Calling it a game could be the mistake. I've cancelled my gym membership and have had so much more fun keeping fit.

James

Just wait til all these commenters find out you gave the original Deus Ex a negative review, Tom! I think their heads will a'spload!

For all you guys apparently new to reading, it's OK to disagree with Tom's assestment. But keep in mind he didn't say these were bad games. He's saying most of them were really good games that didn't quite earn the kind of ludicrous praise they all were given from someone. I'm sure that every single person who commented in this thread can think of at least a couple games everyone told them was brilliant, but which they just didn't really get or enjoy.

This article is as much about the hyperbolic nature of coverage for big games or indie darlings found in the gaming press as it is about the quality of the games in question.

Wow. I like how everyone here just got trolled.

From one gamer to many, stfu fanboys.

Jesus, people need to untwist their panties. Like a lot of you (and the author of this list) I really like most of the games mentioned. The point is that they're OVERRATED, NOT BAD.

Yes, GTA IV is massively overrated. I loved it, but looking back, it wasn't the best game of all time, not even close. However the reviews suggest it's the second coming of Jesus.

Similarly, Spore in my opinion was a big pile of steaming crap. A bunch of annoying mini games slapped atop a great idea. If it hadn't been so hyped and made by Will Wright it would have been slaughtered at review. But it wasn't, and thus is overrated.

LBP reviewed really well and I enjoy it immensely, but at the same time it has yet to live up to it's potential. I look at the user levels and the popular levels are still populated by much of the same levels that were there on day one, many of which are total crap. So for me it's not the revolution that I was promised but I really enjoy it, thus qualifying it as overrated in my opinion.

People who are fuming after reading this list need to calm down. The list is an opinion, much like my take on it. More importantly overrated is not the same as bad.

I just want to add that I loved the irony of the guy who said the author was narrow minded because of the games on the list. Simply delicious.

what do u mean by where is the gameplay on little big planet. are u crazy there are thousand if not soon to be millions of levels out there online for free to play. and if u havee a problem with those create ur own

Mindless wastrels! Put down the baby bottle of beer and read: It's a job--the reviewer writes his OPINION about a GAME. Then mini mental myrmidons write in and complain. Then the site makes money from the traffic. You become insapient cash cows by commenting, thus showing ignorance. If you disagree, go somewhere else. You want some cheese with that whine?

why is it that in the other scientific articles there are like 4 coments, but when we deal with video games, holy cow, its bigger than the presidential debate.

i agree, half the games on this list should go in the 10 best games of 2008, and the other half still dont belong on here. i can name 70 other games that were way worse. like animal crossing, bully, cabelas big games hunter.

and come on? spore? that games frikin awsome! whoever made this list was obviously either retarded or on crack.

if they think these games stunk, why didnt they put call of duty: world at war or halo 3 on here?

why is it that in the other scientific articles there are like 4 coments, but when we deal with video games, holy cow, its bigger than the presidential debate.

i agree, half the games on this list should go in the 10 best games of 2008, and the other half still dont belong on here. i can name 70 other games that were way worse. like animal crossing, bully, cabelas big games hunter.

and come on? spore? that games frikin awsome! whoever made this list was obviously either retarded or on crack.

if they think these games stunk, why didnt they put call of duty: world at war or halo 3 on here?

and i meant the last 2 games i mentioned sarcastically, i love those 2

i love you
everything you have written is so perfect, especially about gta4

mass effect was out in 2007, and its a great game.
this looks more of a your personal preference list, most people will disagree.

Mass Effect came out on PC in 2008, retards.

What a load of rubbish! Please get a life! So where do you justify this "LIST"! Your two line comments are a joke!

Really guys... I don't agree with every game on here either but I don't think you all have a basic understanding of what the word OVERRATED means.

Also it might help if you READ the description preceeding the list "Many of the following ten games are great. A few came close to being on my top ten list (to be posted tomorrow). I would call a couple of them works of genius. But I think they're the most overrated games of the year for the simple fact that I'm surprised at how well received they were. I wouldn't recommend any of these without a few important caveats." ... yea...

This list was been created by some kind of idiot...
Mgs4?? Lbp?? Braid??? Mass Effect???? L4d?????
IDIOT!
Dont like fuckin noob critics,and writers...

Wahahahaha... so funny you guys get hooked by someone's list that is not meant to offend anyone at all... Are you guys all childish? Who cares seriously?

He said "Overrated" games not "games I hate". In the header he also said "Many of the following ten games are great", If you read it that its.
So what's the deal with most of the comments? Why does anyone care?

A great list. Bad to mediocre games that people are brainwashed into praising due to marketing and hype.

I love Braid but can understand it being inaccessible to some.

Great list, these bastards cost me lots of money. I resold Left for Dead, Gears of War 2, and Metal Gear Solid. MGS4 was the worst game I've played in years. I'm waiting next year for your list before I buy any games.

ghfjgh gdhgh g hgh