Top 5 Mobile games to ''Avoid at all costs''

Mobile gaming has reached the peak of its popularity in this modern digital age; everyday millions enjoy playing Angry Birds on the way to work or sharing with their friends in beating that one tricky level in Candy Crush. However mobile games have also become victim to several sly tactics and trends and the following five games are prime examples of this. Avoiding these games on you IPhone, IPad or PlayStation Vita will save your time and money in more ways than one.

5. Real Racing 3 (IOS)

What is considered one of the premier racing franchises on IOS devices has taken a hard left turn in Real Racing 3. Make no mistake; the game is still fairly enjoyable, the racing is good, the tracks are vast and varied and the game looks brilliant on an IPad but it’s all spoiled by EA’s awful micro-transactions. To carry on racing and reach the winners circle your best bet is to keep your car repaired at all times; but nine times out of ten you will receive damage of some sort and have to pay out a repair fee via credits or real world money. These in-game-credits are deliberately scarce, baiting players to fork out real money to progress faster. Avoid Real Racing 3 and avoid paying out for any of its micro-transactions and maybe when a fourth entry is released EA will have learned their lesson.

4. Ridge Racer (PlayStation Vita)

Ridge Racer for PlayStation Vita is the perfect example of how NOT to do a racing game on Vita; put in minimal effort into improving the racing itself and leave out all the features you’d expect from a title in the long-running series. And yet Namco had full downloadable content packages ready to go and claim a bit of extra cash after customers had already paid full price for the retail game. Even then the download packs were made up of mainly recycled content from 2007’s Ridge Racer 7; three years later and the game still ranks as not only one of the worst games on PlayStation Vita but also arguably the worst launch game of all time.

3. Call of Duty Black Ops Declassified (PlayStation Vita)

Call of Duty Black Ops Declassified seemed like the PlayStation Vita’s saving grace when it was first announced, considering how the Call of Duty brand has risen to become the biggest name in gaming entertainment. But upon release it fell down in just about area; the ten single-player missions could be completed in little more than an hour, the multiplayer was riddled with connection problems and glitch exploiters and the other modes were far too barebones to justify the price tag. But the drawbacks didn’t end there; the enemy artificial intelligence was awful, the controls were fiddly and unresponsive and the technical presentation failed to show off the Vita’s potential at rendering console level graphics. Above all else Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified was a squandered opportunity and a lazy effort across the board from Nihilistic Software.

2. Final Fantasy: All the Bravest (IOS)

Practically every Final Fantasy game in the series relies on deep story-telling and thrilling combat to appeal to series fans; that is, all except for this one. At first it seems like a cool idea with characters from throughout the series all battling together but when you reach under the surface, it’s clear that the game comes nowhere close to putting Final Fantasy on a mobile device. All the Bravest is as basic as it gets; scroll your finger across the touch-screen and win, that’s it. There’s no proper strategy, no story to keep to you invested but there are numerous micro-transactions for reviving characters and resetting cool-down timers. This game is a disgrace to the Final Fantasy name and should not be in any mobile owner’s collection.

1. Star Trek Trexels (IOS)

Where Real Racing baits players to pay out real money, Star Trek Trexels makes swindling your wallet its prime objective at all times. It lures you in with its potential; being a cross between Galaxy Commander and Tiny Tower you are tasked with running the Starship Enterprise, exploring planets and carrying out various missions. But all of these are designed to extract every last bit of loose change from your pocket in some way shape or form. Multiple wait timers and paywalls plague the game from top to bottom, some which ask you to pay to advance to the next set of levels. The in-app purchases are outrageously overpriced, going from £3.99 for a pack of in-game-currency all the way up to £120 and as for the gameplay itself, all you’ll be doing is tapping on cubes that appear on screen. Avoid this game at all costs! Even if you’re a huge Star Trek fan this game will be remembered as one of the most shameful and downright greedy games ever to be released on a mobile device.