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Metal Gear Solid 2

Riding on the coat tails of the overwhelming hype that preceded its launch in 2001, “Metal Gear Solid 2” was met by critic's with praise and accolade, proclaiming it a cinematic masterpiece and a revolutionary experience. However, while the graphics indeed were gorgeous and some of the game play implementations interesting, “Splinter Cell” on the Xbox was simply still the better military, stealth, espionage game. Additionally, “Splinter Cell” wasn't hampered by ridiculously long cut scenes and one of the most ridiculous, incoherent, convoluted storylines ever devised. Having Raiden, an androgynous beach blond wuss, replace Snake as the story's central protagonist didn't help “Metal Gear Solid 2's” cause at all either.

Halo 3

Another game that achieved such high sales and high score by critics due to the hype surrounding its launch (huge viral marketing campaigns, clever ads, etc.) “Halo 3” was a fun game, but hardly a game deserving of such huge praise. While the lure of finishing Master Chief's story was indeed appealing, the storyline really wasn't that good and the ending lacked the finality that gamer's were expecting. While the game play was fun, both it and the graphics were severely underwhelming for being the franchise's debut on a next generation console. It did bring a few welcomed features to the table such as map customizer, replay camera, and four player co-op, but the arrival of “The Orange Box” and “Call of Duty 4” quickly eclipsed this disappointing and overrated installment in the “Halo” series.

Final Fantasy VII

As good of a game as “Final Fantasy VII” was, I don't think it's even possibly for a game to be as good as the cult following, movie spin offs, line of action figurines, prequels, sequels, etc. would suggest. Despite all it did to herald RPG's into 3D, there's really no arguing that the Messianic qualities that many endear it with is largely undeserved.

Legends of Zelda: Twilight Princess

“Legends of Zelda: Twighlight Princess” was an enjoyable game, but for the first time, it became painfully clear just how repetitive the franchise was becoming. Despite the implementation of new controls using the Nintendo Wii's motion sensing capabilities, everything else felt painfully familiar. You still play as a kid named Link, you still have to rescue a Princess named Zelda, you still get the boomerang and the hookshot and you still have to explore the Forest Temple, the Water Temple, etc. While the graphics look sharp and the game play is polished, while playing “Twiglight Princess”, don't be surprised if you find yourself feeling like you've played this game before. You know. Back when it was called “Ocarina of Time” and on the Nintendo 64.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

The last installment on the Playstation 2 was nothing short of disappointing. While the production value behind the game was as grand as ever, the game play fell incredibly short of the bar that the previous spin off, “Vice City,” set a few years earlier. Everything was bigger and more customizable, but Rockstar traded quality for quantity. The missions were mundane and repetitive (punctuated admittedly by a few memorable ones) and a great deal of the additional content (including stupid mini games, pointless car customization, etc.) ultimately detracted more from the game than it added. “San Andreas” was no “Vice City.” It may have been bigger than “Vice City,” but it certainly wasn't better.