Top 10 Most Hated Video Games Ever of All Time
#10: “Call of Duty” series (2004-)
Top 10 Call of Duty Games
“Call of Duty” has been around for so long and become so big that its haters have been spewing the same complaints since the late 2000’s. We even did our own list as to why the franchise is hated back in December 2017, and with every new release, it’s the same issue - why buy a sixty-dollar game when a new game is out next year, and the year after that, and the year after that? Not a lot has changed with the formula since it perfected its mechanics back in the old days of “Modern Warfare”. But despite all of the criticisms, folks still flock to the store to buy their copies every year. Sure, “Vanguard” is reportedly the worst-selling entry in the series, but we all know it still sold millions of copies.
#9: “Mighty No. 9” (2016)
Top 10 Mighty Video Game Gods
With Capcom not producing any “Mega Man” games throughout most of the 2010’s, fans were looking to Keiji Inafune for some kind of spiritual successor. There was promise behind “Mighty No. 9” during development, but as we got closer to launch, things got ugly. Inafune would launch a Kickstarter for another game while “Mighty No. 9” was still in development and had suffered several delays. Then, there was the bizarre shift from beautiful 2D visuals to plastic-looking 3D models. And of course, there were the PR disasters about making “the bad guys cry like an anime fan on prom night” and the game’s lack of quality being “better than nothing”. In other words, much goodwill was burned here, and “Mighty No. 9” was regarded as one of the worst games of 2016.
#8: “Battlefield 2042” (2021)
Battlefield V Review - Does it ACTUALLY suck? - MojoPlays Review
Given how much time it had been since “Battlefield V”, the state of “Battlefield 2042” has left fans frustrated beyond comprehension. This was to be the epic return of the only rival to “Call of Duty”, and it bombed in the worst ways possible. First off, we’ve all seen the various compilations of bugs and glitches that were present at launch. Secondly, the game was missing a variety of features, some being as basic as a scoreboard! Since launch, “Battlefield 2042” has repeatedly been going against the wishes of its player base, so much so that many have gone back to 2016’s “Battlefield 1” and even “Battlefield V”.
#7: “Halo 5: Guardians” (2015)
Top 10 Halo Campaign Missions
Even though “Halo 5” saw glowing praise among gaming outlets at launch, longtime “Halo” fans have voiced their displeasure with the game since launch. To fans, much of “Halo 5’s” story felt convoluted and added nothing of substance to the lore. Sprinting was met with overwhelming backlash for how it nearly turned the game into “Call of Duty” and had no use for “Halo’s” style of combat. And then, the way the Covenant makes this surprise return after collapsing…just…what? None of it made any sense, and it’s understandable why folks have grown frustrated with developer 343 Industries, especially with “Halo Infinite” lacking any real post-launch updates.
#6: “Mass Effect: Andromeda” (2017)
10 Biggest Changes in Mass Effect Legendary Edition
“Halo” is not the only sci-fi gaming franchise to have its fans lash out. “Mass Effect: Andromeda” arguably got the worst of it, and it’s all thanks to that “BioWare magic”. Having cobbled most of the game together within eighteen months before launch, BioWare had shoved out a title with broken animations, a wealth of bugs and glitches, and a formula that borderline abandoned the special aspects of previous “Mass Effect” titles such as the Paragon/Renegade morality system. Since then, “Andromeda” has been polished into a better state than it used to be in, offering a more playable experience and showing its intended execution. Still, most folks will voice their displeasure for the changes made here.
#5: “Fortnite” (2017)
Top 10 Epic Games That Aren't Fortnite
Much like “Call of Duty”, “Fortnite” is hated by many hardcore gamers for a multitude of reasons. The most common reason behind the hate is because of its popularity, with some claiming it’s influencing the gaming industry for the worst. Others hate it because of publisher Epic Games, its recent controversies over the years, and its association with Chinese enterprise Tencent. As for the game itself, some will point out the lack of identity and reliance on licensed content to generate revenue. It is a very contentious game to discuss, and yet even critics will log into the game just to nab that Goku or Spider-Man skin.
#4: “Sonic the Hedgehog” (2006)
Top 20 Sonic Games
There have been a plethora of bad Sonic games, but none have managed to be as awful as the infamous “Sonic ‘06”. For years, people have harped on about how terrible this game is, even after the likes of “Sonic Forces” and “Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric”. As time has gone on, a small section of the Sonic fanbase has argued about potential redeeming qualities, but it still doesn’t forgive the buggy mess, poor voice acting, dumb story, abysmal controls, frequent and long loading screens, and that one damn kiss scene that was all kinds of WTF. There is so much wrong with this game that it is a blight no Sonic fan will ever forget.
#3: “Fallout 76” (2018)
5 Key Differences Between the Fallout Series and Games
“Fallout 76” was already a contentious game upon reveal. A “Fallout” game focused on multiplayer? It doesn’t make sense, but we’ll give it a shot. Oh…oh, how the mighty have fallen. With broken designs, grindy progression, and an astounding collection of bugs and glitches galore, “Fallout 76” was a complete disaster at launch, so much so that it has left a glaring stain on Bethesda Game Studios’ name while the studios under Bethesda Softworks (i.e. id Software and Arkane) were putting out bangers. To some, the improvements have been enough to warrant a revisit. To others, well, the recent Pitt expansion spells doom for future BGS titles.
#2: “Aliens: Colonial Marines” (2013)
Aliens: Colonial Marines: Everything You Should Know
Had it not been for “Alien: Isolation”, “Colonial Marines” could have very well killed off any career the “Alien” IP had in video games. “Colonial Marines” was more than a mess; it was a straight murder of the Xenomorphs, and not in a fun way. Shoddy visuals, incompetent AI, and poor technical performance ignited a storm of accusations from fans and critics, claiming Gearbox Software had lied to the press about the state of the game and committed false advertising. Why anyone would want to play this for themselves outside of the realm of conducting an analysis is beyond us. Before we reveal our top pick, here are a few Honorable Mentions…
“Mario Party 9” (2012)
Top 10 WORST Mario Party Mini-Games
Forcing Players to Move as One Was a Total Buzzkill
“Dynasty Warriors 9” (2018)
Top 10 Dynasty Warriors Style Games
Fans Weren’t Happy With the Shift to an Empty, Open World Design
“Metroid Prime: Federation Force” (2016)
A “Metroid” Game Without Samus? And We Need Friends? Gross.
#1: “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial” (1982)
10 HATED Video Game Characters Who Got BETTER With Time
Today, we spew vitriol at poorly-made games and bad business practices, but the current game market has never seen a catastrophe as big as “E.T.”. Everything about this game spelled disaster - the five-week rushed development done by one person, the financial sacrifices made to get it out the door, the way it was marketed as a Christmas present, everything. Imagine waking up Christmas morning to open this, firing it up on your Atari 2600, and being greeted with a game as abhorrent as this. Bugs and glitches, ear-piercing sound effects, and confusing gameplay lead to massive waves of customers returning their copies and scaring parents from spending exorbitant amounts of money on anything remotely similar to it, thus plunging the market into the Video Game Crash of 1983.
