8 MORE Video Games Critics Hated (But Players LOVED)
1. Earth Defence Force 4.1 The Shadow Of New Despair
Earth Defence Force games don’t have the biggest gulf between critic scores and user scores, but your dedication in our last list’s comments section of saying how much you loved the series while admitting it was kind of a hot mess was so endearing I had to throw it in at number one.
Almost all of the Earth Defence Force Games critically hovered close to a 69 Metacritical score while the user assessments came in at between 7.5 and 8.2 if we’re just sticking to Metacritic. On Steam, and PlayStation, though, it becomes clear that players bloody loved the Japanese sci-fi third-person shooter series. While not every entry is a winner, Earth Defence Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair was particularly adored, rating at 4.63 out of 5 on PlayStation, just beneath that on Xbox, and coming in at a podium finish on Steam with a 10/10 from just under 7,000 reviews.
While critics sledged the cheesy dialogue, rampant bugs, and rudimentary gameplay, even going as far to say that the game isn’t so bad it’s good, it’s just so bad that it’s bad, players whole-heartedly disagree. The series has an enormously loyal fanbase who know they’re in for a campy, buggy time but that it’s all part of the fun and the humour and joy of co-op more than make up for it.
Said players included those of you who popped into our comment section saying the game is awesome and feels like Starship Troopers with just the right notes of satire and b-movie vibes.
Just to get super confusing with it, Earth Defence Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair is a 2016 remaster of Earth Defence Force 2025 which came out in 2013. There was also a reboot called Earth Defence Force 5 which came out in 2017 so if you aren’t in the know just take it as there’s a lot of names for games which are extraordinarily similar.
No matter the entry, though, the critical scepticism and fan love across the series is pretty consistent.