10 Video Game Franchises With ONE Game Everyone Hates

For an entire generation of PS2 owners, the SOCOM series was their gateway drug into online multiplayer on consoles, with the first two entries into the series boasting immensely addictive SEALs vs terrorists multiplayer shooter action.

While many of the following sequels and spin-offs were polarising, it wasn't until SOCOM 4 that the wheels well and truly came off the enterprise.

In the titles leading up to SOCOM 4's release, it became increasingly clear that developer Zipper Interactive was chasing the glory of the Call of Duty franchise, resulting in the more contained, straight-forward multiplayer sorties being expanded into larger affairs, albeit with more arcadey, fast-paced gameplay than most fans wanted.

It didn't help at all that SOCOM 4 released a day before the 2011 PSN network outage, which ended up lasting over three weeks and effectively left players holding a disc they couldn't use - unless they wanted to try their hand at the atrocious single-player campaign, of course.

Even fans able to look past the network issues were left with a game that didn't really feel like SOCOM at all, causing it to flop badly enough to kill the series outright. Many sure would love to see a reboot, though.