15 Critically Acclaimed Video Games You're Too Embarrassed To Admit You Hate

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. 

Passage was one of the first indie games to receive widespread press attention when it came onto the scene in 2007. Unfortunately, it wasn't much of a game. The "story" sees the player advance through time as their character progresses through life in the space of just five minutes. At one point, players can choose to bring a love interest along with them, which makes it impossible to fit through some passages, but is nonetheless pretty sweet. At the end of the game, the character expires (as does his love interest, if you chose to bring her). 

Critics felt that Passage contained several emotional moments that made it stand out as a piece of art, rather than simply a game. Others argued it was a tremendously boring game that was also pretty ugly. While both arguments are well supported, it's hard to describe the game as fun, which one of the main draws of video games in the first place. 

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. 

Like it or not, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare changed the face of online first-person assault games forever. However, the same cannot be said for 2011's CoD: Modern Warfare 3, which was a tired rehash of the things that made the original so successful four years prior. 

Modern Warfare 3 was the first game in the series to be released after the heads of Infinity Ward left the company under controversial circumstances. Despite the praise that the third installment in the Modern Warfare series received from critics and frat types, the old creative talent was noticeably missed. The story from the previous two games wrapped up on something of a flat note, with all excitement removed from the most dramatic moments due to poorly-scripted events. The multiplayer disappointed in a similar manner by keeping everything almost exactly the same as it had been in Modern Warfare 2.

One of the big hooks of the Modern Warfare story has always been gritty, intense sequences of first-person tragedy. In the first game, players are forced to control a soldier who survives an atomic blast, and who crawls around hopelessly for a few minutes before succumbing to the end. The second game made players take control of international bad guys who wage assault on an airport, which was perhaps a little too gritty, but still received a ton of press attention. Then, in Modern Warfare 3, the Eiffel Tower takes out a bunch of people. While the scene was meant to be devastating, it played out as more outlandishly goofy. 

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. 

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.