10 Recent Video Games Critics Hated (But Players LOVED)

Though video game publishers put an awful amount of stock in the Metacritic scores of their releases, there's really no accounting for taste - we all like what we like.

And while it's fair to say that the majority of critically scorned video games quickly fade into the cultural ether, there are those few that manage to find an audience no matter that the reviews fell far short of the expected mark.

These 10 video games all reviewed much worse than just about anyone was hoping for, whether disappointingly received or outright panned, and yet the response from general players was a lot more favourable.

From examining the Metacritic user scores and Steam reviews of these critically pummelled games, we're able to glean a picture of those rare titles that were loved by a large portion of players even with dozens of negative reviews dismissing them.

In some cases it's as simple as players being less burned-out on certain types of games than critics, while elsewhere players benefitted from day-one and post-launch patches which weren't available during the review period, ensuring their experiences playing the game were quite different.

Whatever the reason, though, these critically besmirched games fared way better with gamers at large...

Days Gone was one of Sony's most anticipated AAA exclusives during the PlayStation 4 generation, though ended up releasing to wildly lukewarm reviews, netting a paltry 71 Metascore.

This paled massively compared to other PS4-exclusive blockbusters like Bloodborne (92), Uncharted 4 (93), Horizon Zero Dawn (87), God of War (94), Marvel's Spider-Man (87), Ghost of Tsushima (83), and The Last of Us Part II (93).

Critics complained that Days Gone failed to be more than a fairly cookie-cutter open-world action game, offering up a generic, unremarkable sandbox, matched by a mediocre story and uninteresting lead character. Many also felt the game's critical path massively outstayed its welcome.

Yet it fared far better with general players, with almost 10,000 Metacritic user votes awarding it an 8.4 average score. Additionally when the game hit PC it received an 8.7 score, as well as a "Highly Positive" rating on Steam from over 20,000 players.

While players are generally far more forgiving of over-familiar mechanics and aesthetics than critics, that surely can't entirely account for the critic/player disparity here.

Despite selling relatively well across PS4 and later PC, Sony decided not to press forward with a sequel, reportedly due to the disappointing critical reception.