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

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  (#12) God of War

  • 2005

  Since the first entry was released in 2007, the God of War series has become something of a poster-child for PlayStation. However, examining the games closely reveals some major flaws that are most painfully evident in the third game. While the presentation was still second to none, 2010's God of War 3 felt like the developers had focused solely on visuals, and completely disregarded gameplay. 

  Conflict was the same mindless action from the previous two entries, and there were few character customization options available. Even worse were the quick time events that were used to finish off bosses, as it wasn't really satisfying to take down a massive titan with a single press of a button. 
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  (#3) Gone Home

  • 2013

  Gone Home set the standard for "walking simulator" games when it first came out in 2013. While it's still one of the best examples of the genre, it doesn't ask very much of the player, and offers little replay value. Players explore their character's parents' home, turning on lights and fondling a bunch of emotionally-significant objects and letters.

  While the '90s nostalgia is heavy, there's nothing to do in the game other than walk around and look at stuff. While the story features plenty of strange foreshadowing and none of it pays off. The ending feels too weird to be realistic, and yet it is not creepy enough to be fascinating. 
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  (#15) The Last of Us

  • 2013

  When it was released in 2013, The Last of Us was widely considered one of the best examples of video game storytelling ever. Unfortunately, that's somewhat false praise, as video games aren't exactly known to have engrossing, original stories. In reality, if you've seen basically any zombie movie, you know what happens in The Last of Us. There's a hero who lost everything, and who places all his remaining affection on an innocent youth, a special character who is immune to the virus, and a bunch of unsavory survivors who might be more dangerous than the infected. To be fair, the virus turns people into fungi monsters, not zombies, but is there really a difference? 

  On top of that, the gameplay was just plain bad. It didn't feel good to use the weapons, and oftentimes, players were given exactly enough ammo to get through a situation alive (don't miss, even once). While the game certainly looked pretty, it had all the depth of a later-season episode of The Walking Dead. 
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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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  (#11) Final Fantasy VII

  • 1997

  While Final Fantasy VII is often considered one of the best Japanese RPGs of all time, many fans were put off by some rather strange design choices. The classic battle system was redone, and players could only control three characters at a time (as compared to four in previous installments). A plethora of characters felt out of place, and many were just flat out annoying. However, the biggest sin was the overwhelming and downright confusing story.

  The writers seemingly abandoned subtlety in favor of trying to be as dramatic as possible at every turn. This made for a mess of a plot that was under constant worry of going nowhere. Now that the 1997 game's early 3D graphics look dated, there's not much in this game. 
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  (#14) Horizon Zero Dawn

  • 2017

  In part because it's a PS4 exclusive, Sony fans were all over Horizon Zero Dawn when it first released in 2017. To be fair, the game is visually enthralling, and features a ton of fantastically-designed animal/machine-hybrid enemies. However, the story and gameplay weren't there to back up the stellar graphics. 

  The game follows a fictional group of "native" people, and freely throws around offensive words like "brave," "savage," "primitive," and "primal." These words have a horrible history attached to them, one that both players and game devs seemed more than happy to overlook. Today, native people live all over the modern world, so associating native groups (even fictional ones) with primitivism is both lazy and exploitative. This wasn't helped by the fact that the main character is remarkably fair-skinned, and would look more at home at Coachella than in the wilds. 

  Gameplay wise, the mechanics were basically cribbed from the Assassin's Creed franchise, and while the world was beautiful, the lack of objectives and collectibles made many of the environments feel empty. It's a good game to play if you want to show off your new 4K HDR television, but if you're looking for for a fun time, you'll be sorely disappointed.  

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