12 Most Surprising Metacritic Scores Of 2018
10. Fallout 76 (52)
No matter how sceptical you were of Bethesda's ability to deliver on the promise of Fallout 76's multiplayer mayhem, few could've anticipated that it would score anywhere below 65.
It in fact went on to land a stunningly bad 52, making it the worst-received AAA retail game Bethesda Game Studios has ever made, and among the worst they've ever published.
Like seriously, even freaking Knack got (slightly) better reviews.
The flaws, of course, were myriad: the sprawling world felt empty and lifeless, multiplayer wasn't fun, the scarce semblance of a plot was boring, it ran like hot garbage on consoles while forcing players into always-online connectivity.
Considering that critics have been routinely condemned for being too generous with their review scores for Bethesda's technically roughshod games, this was clearly the straw that broke the camel's (or rather, the critic's) back.
And the game's disastrous public perception sure didn't stop there, resulting in one of the most jaw-dropping and unexpectedly embarrassing AAA launches of the entire generation, if not beyond.
Naturally Bethesda has kept pretty quiet since Fallout 76's release, but it's certainly got many fans worried about how both Starfield and The Elder Scrolls VI - which will be running on the same game engine - may turn out. Expectations have been lowered, to say the least.