Gaming moments that no one really likes

While there is an endless list of things that we love about our beloved hobby, there are certain things that no one likes about gaming. These are particular gaming moments that you don’t see coming and give you a virtual sucker punch whenever you’re immersing yourself in the latest titles.

Quick-time Events

Huskies don’t belong in the heat; fish don’t belong out of water; and for all that is good and graceful in this world, quick-time events do not belong in games.

There is nothing exciting or engaging about sequentially pressing a button in order to get the timing right when jumping a gap or opening a door (I’m looking at you, Alan Wake).

I don’t think any gamer knows why QTE’s are still around; didn’t rhythm games go out in the early 2000’s?

Do I really have a choice?

UAV Missions

OK, realism in military shooters is cool, there’s no doubt about that. But placing UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) missions in every FPS out there is not really a moment one gets excited about.

There’s nothing worse than shooting up some generic-looking fools, everything is really awesome and exciting, and then suddenly, you’re thrown into a top-down black and white bombing missions with scrambled radio chatter.

Well, maybe there is something worse…

yawn.

Unskippable cut-scenes

There is a special circle in hell for people who develop games without the ability to skip cut-scenes and story moments. Don’t get me wrong, I love deep engrossing character development and narrative moments that captivate you within the events of the game, but once I’ve seen it, I don’t need to see it again.

What’s worse is that some intro videos have to be watched from beginning-to-end in order to access the main menu – you might as well grab some popcorn and sit back every time you start up Borderlands.

When you see Otacon calling, just get some popcorn, he'll be a while.

Horrific acting

Video games have reached a pivotal point, as most triple-A titles have the budgets and production values often rivalling that of some Hollywood films, and in doing so, the level of acting and performances have increased drastically over the last couple years.

Sadly, some games haven’t picked up on the emphasis of good storytelling and in-game performances, and that’s fine given that some games place a focus on other element of the experience, but some titles just ruin the fun with painful attempts.

50 Cent: Blood on the Sand is an example of this – decent action game, but ruined by cringe-worthy acting and dialogue from ‘Fiddy’ himself.

The discussions between the rapper-turned-video-game-star and his pitiful sidekick, Lloyd Banks, make for one embarrassing premise of a story, as 50 and his cronies set out to find a diamond-embedded skull stolen by Middle-Eastern terrorists. If you’re not going to at least come up with a somewhat appealing plot, don’t bother.

Despite being rappers, Lloyd and Fiddy are not very good with words.

Unbalanced difficulty spikes

Some developers feel that random spikes in difficulty result in a well-rounded experience – they are wrong. Gamers are known for embracing a challenge, and we all love to make our gaming play-throughs worthwhile, but throwing in a random punishingly difficult segment can tarnish an experience faster than Kurt Darren singing our national anthem.

While the Ninja Gaiden series is known for its difficulty, Team Ninja got a little too excited with one of their bosses from Ninja Gaiden 2. Never has a giant butterfly-winged woman caused so many broken controllers.

What are the gaming moments you don’t like? Let us know in the comments below and in the MyGaming forum.