Grand Theft Auto is an overrated franchise, and so are open world games

Since the third Grand Theft Auto installment every one has since been released with a great deal of hype and universal praise, probably unrivaled within the video game industry. Great games from renown franchises such as Super Mario, Zelda, Call of Duty, and to a lesser extent Final Fantasy are always met with critical praise and hype. But a new Grand Theft Auto game takes it to a whole new level, none of these other games get coverage on the same scale, while GTA will be in the newspapers, the radio shows, and the nightly news. And none of these games will be met with bylines such as 'taking video games into mainstream culture'.

I can understand some of this, but a lot of it I don't. Both work hand in hand, the hype is built on high praise, while its universal praise only feeds the hype. The end product is a franchise that sells millions into double figures. The only GTA game I have ever completed was the third one, it was the first full on 3D GTA game, and the one that kicked off the sandbox genre. I have played all of the others, but never completed them, and I have to confess, I have only played GTA 5 for a short spell, but I have watched it enough to make a judgement.

And it hasn't changed my mind on what I think about the series, and neither do I think it actually does anything different in comparison with the others. Let me first say that I have enjoyed every single GTA game, they are extremely enjoyable and entertaining, unlike many games they can tell a narrative, and they are the best of their own genre, and they have helped bring the video game industry into the mainstream. But I do think the whole thing is vastly overrated, 'the jack of all trades but the master of none' is the best way to sum up a GTA game, and never should it be put into any top ten game series of all time list.

GTA is without doubt a technical marvel, its high production value shines through, from the large map(s), to the voice acting, the radio shows and soundtrack, the variety of different gameplay elements, and the graphics (which are the most impressive I have seen of this generation). Like all open world games Its biggest success is that it gives the player the illusion of ultimate freedom within the world that the game exists, in GTAs case this is true, but it comes at a cost.

I have always preferred open world games in terms of online interaction, better known as MMORP (massively multiplayer online roleplaying game). I like building up a character, and using your abilities with other players to get through the game, it's more of social interaction experience more than anything. But back to GTA, its vast openness takes away a core gameplay element. When I play GTA, never do I ever feel a moment of tension, never do I feel like I am being mentally challenged, although the maps of a GTA game are vast as they are, and despite the fact that it all looks good and accessible, for the most part they act as a setting and nothing more. Which is the biggest problem I have with open world games (sandbox). In fact the only open world game I have ever really loved is Ocarina of Time and the Final Fantasy games, and even those are not an out and out open world games in the truest sense.

I like games which are focussed on one kind of gaemplay engine, I also like games which have some linearity in them, I like games which have levels and structures within them, and where the setting isn't just a backdrop, it acts a character within the story. Let's take Ocarina of time again, throughout the setting of Hyrule you have to go through different dungeons to progress into the story, each provided a big challenge and a variety of different puzzles. In all the Tomb Raider games (and to a lesser extent the new reboot) you have levels where you have to use your brain, as well as shooting a lot of enemies to progress further, there was real reward as you progressed. The brilliance of the original games that they made the most simplest of tasks appear impossible.

The problem with open world games is that the content of the game is reduced to endless tasks which feel like mini games.