henke on 4/12/2015 at 07:29
Ok, I already covered games I like that did poorly with the critics, now for the games that got good reviews and probably sold well, but which get a lot of flak online.
Assassin's Creed 3 - Ubisoft already gets a lot of flak for releasing the same game several times a year, but even among the much maligned AC series, AC3 is perhaps the most hated one. Maybe because of the tutorial which stretches on forever, maybe because the story went completely off the rails with this one? I don't know, I loved the setting though, more so than any of those in the previous games.
Far Cry 2 - much maligned by fans of Far Cry 3 for being clunky in a lot of ways, but it's actually a wonderfully immersive open world and a sense of depressing bleakness that not many other games can match. (yes, that's actually a good thing)
Far Cry 3 - much maligned by fans of Far Cry 2 for being too gamey, but in terms of gameplay it's actually one of the best stealth-action games ever made.
Syndicate - much maligned for being an FPS and not an isometric real-time tactics game. It's actually a great FPS though. Sleek, stylish, and the hacking powers gives it a nice twist.
Watch_Dogs - probably most hated for not being as different as a lot of people hoped it would be. Indeed, it sticks closely to the Ubisoft Open World Game Template™. Icons, towers, camp takeovers, crafting, terrible writing, etc. For a lot of people it's simply irrelevant that the gameplay is actually really good.
A lot of Ubi games on here! I could probably throw in SC:Conviction as well, but I haven't heard a lot of hate for that one recently and I think nowadays most people see it for the solid stealth-action game it is.
demagogue on 4/12/2015 at 09:31
Far Cry 3 is on my list of games that would most benefit from a 'minimalist mod' that strips out all the popups, artificial restrictions, gamey side quests, and most of the plot and objectives for that matter, and it just gave you an open island where you could sneak in and hit each compound as you saw fit.
Boil it down just to its gameplay and the world and it'd be a great game, certainly for replaying.
Harvester on 4/12/2015 at 10:47
Quote Posted by icemann
Hexen was disliked?
Sure Hexen 2 was disliked by some. But the first one? Come on.
Hexen has fans, and people who thought it was okay. But it also got some pretty strong dislike, on TTLG too. Not just 'I personally didn't like it' but more like 'How could anyone think this is fun?' and claims that I'm objectively wrong for thinking it's a good game. The puzzle based gameplay was frustrating for some people in a way that a game that's simply a mediocre FPS can't be. In the past I have been notably surprised by the vitriol it got from some people on TTLG. Some people actually hated it with a certain amount of passion. Compare that to the Ubisoft games mentioned here. They don't really get a lot of hate, just feelings of 'meh' and 'same old same old'.
But yeah, it has fans too, and people who thought it was decent. It's not like everyone hates it, or it wouldn't have gotten a sequel.
icemann on 5/12/2015 at 07:13
I loved the game. Still do. It took what was done with Heretic and turned it up to 11. Great game.
Shadowcat on 5/12/2015 at 23:30
I'm struggling to think of anything that matches the title. There are plenty of flawed/criticised games that I like, but I wouldn't exactly describe them as "much maligned", with the clear exception of "Trespasser" (which is an excellent game despite everything).
The best I can come up with is "Leadfoot". All the reviews I read at the time seemed pretty down on it for some reason, but I thoroughly enjoyed it because, with all the jumps and such, it was the closest that Ratbag's serious dirt-track driving sims ever got to the crazy driving of "Powerslide" (and the two different classes of vehicle were great, as each was a radically different experience to drive). I'm still not sure that counts, though.
Stingm on 5/12/2015 at 23:41
I would like to add an expansion to the list. I think Aliens Vs Predator 2 : Primal Hunt was a very maligned game. It had its flaws yes but was over all an excellent game. Especially if you consider that 3rd law only had 7 months to develope it.
Manwe on 5/12/2015 at 23:48
I used to love Road Rash 3D for the ps1 which was very poorly received at the time. It probably wasn't a very good game but I absolutely loved it. I still listen to the awesome soundtrack to this day.
