Top 10 Video Games That Get SUPER Repetitive

Welcome to WatchMojo and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the Top 10 Video Games with the Most Repetitive Gameplay.

For this list, we’re looking at games that make you do the exact same thing over and over again. Many of these games are still a lot of fun, but that doesn’t mean they offer up meaningful variety.

Let us know which one you could play forever in the comments.

Since the Batmobile first ran Bane into the sea during “Arkham Asylum,” fans were clamoring for the Dark Knight’s famous car to return to the series. The terrain of “Arkham City” didn’t allow it, but “Arkham Knight’s” Gotham was designed specifically with the Batmobile in mind. While driving the car through Gotham at night is one thing, spending hours buried in mandatory tank combat is another. Like using the Batmobile as a tank to take out hundreds of unmanned drones wasn’t strange enough, the game also throws three stealth-tank boss battles at you. The Batmobile got old fast, and it’s even worse when there’s no way to beat the game without relying on it.

Dumped on a tropical island in the middle of an apocalypse, you’re left fighting to survive while running errands for the small groups of survivors you come across. And those errands are far from unique. You’ll find yourself mowing down zombie hoards and retrieving important items for deliveries, and that’s about it. This, along with the constant glitches, is why “Dead Island” is best experienced with a group of friends – it’s the only way to get through the mind-numbing repetition and broken gameplay. We should’ve known from that reverse trailer that we’d be going back in time and repeating ourselves constantly.

The frenetic multiplayer that makes “Plants vs. Zombies” such an enjoyable series is just as crazy as always and certainly isn’t “Battle for Neghborville’s” downfall. The boring repetition comes from its PvE mode, newly added for this title, which offered a story-based campaign for any diehard fans. You could team up with a few friends for fast-paced action in some unique maps, but there’s very little to motivate you to keep going. All the quests are samey and dull, while many of the game’s varied classes don’t work well in this mode. Plus, if you do decide to go it alone, you’ll be relying on some pretty shoddy AI.

There was a lot riding on “Destiny” when it came out since it was esteemed developer Bungie’s newest IP. But it definitely missed a few marks, most egregiously that its weak story made it difficult to get invested in the repetitive mission structure. “Destiny” and its sequel may have improved the formula drastically over time, but you’ll still get stuck doing the exact same tasks – sometimes the exact same missions with all the same voice lines and enemy spawns – many times over. If you’re not into going through identical combat scenarios, even with other players to back you up, then it’s doubtful you’ll ever enjoy “Destiny.”

The third and fourth games in the “Far Cry” series are so similar, it’s not even funny. While the formula works and makes for a lot of fun, especially in “3”, “Far Cry 4” has identical gameplay to its predecessor. You’re still wreaking chaos and slowly taking back the map for the Golden Path, but everything you do is exactly the same as what you were doing in the last game with a fresh coat of paint. Of course, there are plenty of people out there who loved “Far Cry 3’s” gameplay and loved having more of it. If you enjoy platforming up dozens of identical radio towers, knock yourself out!

It might look great at first glance, but just beneath the surface of all those gorgeous graphics is a game nobody wants to play. “Final Fantasy XIII” was meant to be a return to form, but instead it became a stagnant, much-to-linear shell of the series’ best entries. Very few of the areas were open to wider exploration, and players spent most of their time inching forwards through large maps by battling groups of similar foes. The combat system wasn’t great, either; it wasn’t as robust as other turn-based RPGs, nor was it as dynamic as real-time combat. Combine this with a convoluted plot and mandatory grinding, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.

The story of “Days Gone” might eventually pick up after one of the longest and dullest intros in gaming, but the gameplay never really develops. You can upgrade your bike, sure, but you’re always going to be driving through the mud, doing fetch quests, and taking out Freakers. The game’s story drags on for far too long with these mundane quests, and you spend a lot of Deacon’s time trying to win over factions that he himself doesn’t like and doesn’t want to be a part of. On the other hand, the bike handling is pretty smooth, so if you enjoy riding around the Oregon wilderness then “Days Gone” might be right up your alley.

Rare’s giant, open-world pirate game made a lot of promises – and at launch, it didn’t deliver on any of them. Players were given a huge ocean to explore full of islands and pirate coves, but there wasn’t actually anything to do aside from menial, radiant quests digging up buried treasure and wiping out legions of skeletons. Since then, the game has been drastically improved, but when you’ve got potentially infinite playtime on your hands, no developer is able to provide infinite and diverse activities. So, fun as “Sea of Thieves” might be now – and especially if you team up with some friends – you’re still always going to be repeating yourself.

Much like “Sea of Thieves,” “No Man’s Sky” was an always-online, empty mess upon release – only, it didn’t encourage teaming up with other players to explore those lonely planets. Instead, it was down to you and you alone to fix up a space-worthy ship and head off into the stars, only to be worn down by the constant resource hunting. You need enough resources for everything, and many of them are gathered by just pointing your mining tool – which regularly overheats - and waiting until you have enough of what you need. Today you might be able to play with friends, but it’s still a grind.

Since the beginning, “Assassin’s Creed” games have mostly followed the same structure of doing a few story missions and then carrying out an assassination, generally of a high-profile historical figure. But this was especially true of the first game, which saw you do the exact same mission sets many times over. Sure, the assassinations themselves were set up differently, but the busywork missions Altaïr needed to do to actually get to the interesting bits was a chore. All that changes are the guards get better at recognizing assassins and therefore more aggro, but otherwise, you’re just going through the motions.