10 Brilliantly Written Characters Ruined By Game Mechanics

10. Roman Bellic - Grand Theft Auto IV

When people hear the name Roman Bellic, the first thing they think of isn't Niko's cousin, but an inconvenient phone call in the middle of a police chase asking you to go bowling.

Like any other character in the Grand Theft Auto series, Roman Bellic is neither a good man nor a bad man. He's a gambling addict and gets people in trouble, but at the end of the day, he truly cares about his friends and family.

Portraying this type of dynamic through cutscenes alone is tricky, which is why the makers of GTA IV decided to use one more mechanic to really drive Roman's affability home. The only problem is that their solution backfired horribly.

Early in the story, Roman will call the player and invite them to hang out, with bowling being his go-to activity. The intention here is to show that Roman cares about Niko and wants to help him get accustomed to living in America.

However, in practice, the calls get really annoying really quickly, especially if you are already busy with something else and have to make room for Roman, just so he won't get mad at you.

Well, at least we got some great memes out of it.