Random Critically Acclaimed Video Games You're Too Embarrassed To Admit You Hate (15 items)

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  (#8) L.A. Noire

  • 2011

  The basic premise of L.A. Noire made it an interesting game to experience, but there were too many underlying flaws for it to be truly remembered as good. The story was often intriguing, and the visuals were — at the time — some of the best ever seen in an open world game, but some of the main features were underwhelming.

  The biggest issues came from the investigation options. Talking felt very much like a guessing game, as (in the original release) players were given the option to generally "believe," "press," or "doubt" the people they were interviewing, without really knowing what these choices entailed. Sometimes, pressing a person amounted to asking them if they were telling the truth, whereas other times, it meant assaulting them. There was no way to tell what would happen until you tried. 

  Then, there was the fact that you were penalized for taking down civilians. While it would have arguably been out of character for authorities to terminate unarmed civilians, that's the main thing people want to do in Rockstar's games, so taking that feature away made the open world feel shockingly oppressive. What comes next, forcing players to obey traffic rules? 
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  (#9) Halo 3

  • Sep 25 2007

  Halo 3 cemented its place in first-person history thanks to its truly outstanding multiplayer experience (and the insane amount of advertising that preceded its release in 2007). Even so, many people bought the game to see the end of Master Chief’s story, and in this respect, Halo 3 was far less enjoyable.

  The campaign was much too short, and contained too many open spaces where nothing really took place. On top of that, poorly-designed support AI made playing the game alone something of a chore at times, especially on higher difficulties. Levels such as “Cortana” were both unbalanced and extremely annoying, and the more-or-less cliffhanger ending left much to be desired. 
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  (#13) Borderlands 2

  • 2012

  The original Borderlands offered players something radically different from the majority of games that were on the market in 2009. It featured a distinctive art style, and managed to blend a high-octane shooter with RPG elements in a way that felt natural and unintrusive. The success of the original led to a sequel that received even more praise from critics, even though it didn't really deserve it. 

  For the most part, 2012's Borderlands 2 was the same game as its predecessor. Sure, there was twice as much of everything, but once the initial novelty had worn off, the game relied heavily on its humor to entice players, as both the repetitive gameplay and dull missions were uninspiring. If you didn’t find it funny, then everything else that was wrong made it something of a slog to play. 
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  (#5) Assassin's Creed

  • Nov 13 2007

  With the exception of the first two games in the series (and arguably Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag) all the post-2009 Assassin's Creed sequels have added very little fun to the franchise's proven formula. Almost every installment places the player in a new setting, and there's usually a few new mechanics thrown in, but most of them aren't exactly what you'd call fun.

  The hook has always been the open-ended parkour system, but more recent installments also make players engage in tower defense mini-games, fill out uninspired skill trees, and manage a team of assassins by assigning them to various contracts. While the series used to be all about assassinating people, it now feels more like a full-time job, one that comes with a lot of busy work. 
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  (#6) Grand Theft Auto IV

  • Apr 29 2008

  Grand Theft Auto IV is one of the most critically-acclaimed games of all time. Upon initial release in 2008, the game became the fifth game to ever receive a perfect 10 score from Gamespot, and it was regularly described as "The Godfather of video games." However, the entry also managed to upset many long-time fans of the series.

  While all the Grand Theft Auto games are set in realistic cities, the fourth installment took things too far. The appeal of the franchise comes from players' ability to wreak totally unrealistic havoc in a normal, everyday location. With GTA IV, Rockstar decided to make players really live in the city before they're allowed to terrorize it.

  The opening few hours of the story are incredibly slow, as players work a minimum wage job as a taxi driver, go on lame dates to bowling alleys, and waste time on fictitious social media websites. The main character doesn't even get a small device until like four hours into the game. Anyone hoping to avoid the main story by exploring the world was severely disappointed; 75% of the map is barricaded off, and you have to beat over half the game to access every portion of the city. 
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  (#1) Destiny 2

  • 2017

  Destiny — Developed by Bungie and published by Activision, the former's 2014 release after splitting up with Microsoft wasn’t exactly well-received by critics and fans. The developers set out to change this with 2017's Destiny 2. While the company did address some of fans' concerns about the franchise's lore and storytelling, the improved reviewer scores made it seem like this was a far superior title.

  The truth is that it is essentially the same game as its predecessor, with the same boring fetch quests that have you taking out visually similar enemies in different locations. The weapon mechanics are almost identical to how they were before, and it's arguable the whole thing could have been a full-price expansion to the original. 

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