10 Video Games You Hated Before You Even Played Them
For better or worse, you pre-judged the hell out of these games.
First impressions are so, so important where any form of entertainment media is concerned - hook potential customers quickly and you're guaranteed commercial success, but give them a reason to doubt you and you're going to struggle.
On the flip side, fans of any major IP are a fickle bunch, liable to outrage and tantrums on the turn of a dime, whether justified or based on only the most superficial information.
But we've all been there, pre-hating a game from an underwhelming teaser trailer or gameplay reveal that just didn't give us what we wanted.
Perhaps it felt like a lazy attempt to update a classic IP, a desperate effort to appeal to a wider audience, or simply made story decisions many fans didn't agree with.
Whatever the reason, these 10 video games all received more than their fair share of hate before they'd even hit stores.
In some cases the vitriol remains more-or-less justified, while in others the final release totally vindicated the developers and their boundary-pushing approach.
If there's anything to be learned here, it's that keeping an open mind is a good thing, though you also shouldn't trust video game publishers to do the right thing for art's sake alone...
10. Doom (2016)
It can't be understated just how utterly underwhelmed Doom fans were by the initial reveal of Bethesda's 2016 Doom reboot.
As the first major entry into the FPS franchise in 12 years, what should've been a glorious revival was met with outright hostility by many, who felt that the extremely slick gameplay footage - especially the QTE-looking glory kills - suggested the IP was getting a cynical "reimagining."
It didn't help that the multiplayer beta was horribly received by the majority of fans, and when major outlets revealed they wouldn't be getting their review copies until release day, the writing seemed to be on the wall that a dud was on the cards.
But then, to the surprise of just about everybody, Doom 2016 received heaps of praise from critics for its fluid gameplay, brutal gore, and successful updating of the franchise while retaining its intense core.
Ultimately Doom was a major critical and commercial success, bringing the dormant series back to life and ensuring a sequel, the similarly well-received Doom Eternal, was given the greenlight.
As much as the skepticism was mostly understandable, we were all so, so wrong about this one.