Popular consensus is one of the many tools at gamer's disposal when they want to decide what new game to pick up. Alongside review scores and population metrics like Steam charts, the general discourse surrounding the quality of a certain game is often the chief deciding factor for a gamer's purchasing decisions. In the case of long-running game series, this often results in lists ranking games of a particular series against one another, and almost every series in gaming has one or two black sheep that have been shunned by their communities.

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It is also common for gamers to fall prey to confirmation bias when dealing with games that are perceived in a particularly positive or negative light. That can often lead to games being unfairly maligned due to popular talking points or even outright falsehoods.

10 Considered Worst: Fallout 3 Is A Shallow RPG

Fallout 3 brotherhood knight banner.

When Fallout 3 was released, it garnered excessive critical success and was beloved by the general gaming audience for its tone, music, and above all, VATS. The game's slow-motion called shot system was a fun mechanic that was center stage in all discussion of the game in the immediate time after its release.

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When the honeymoon period ended, however, the game started getting a reputation as a fairly inept shooter mixed with a shallow RPG. These complaints only got more prevalent after Obsidian's Fallout New Vegas was released shortly afterward.

9 Should Be Worst: Fallout 4 Is A More Shallow RPG

Fallout 4 Power armor on workstation.

While Fallout 4 made a great deal of progress in making the shooting aspects of its gameplay more fun, it made the RPG elements even less appealing than they were in Fallout 3. Replacing skill-based and stat-based conversation options with a Mass Effect style conversation wheel made playing out a particular kind of character much more difficult. Gone are the low-intelligence playthroughs that could see players making a complete fool of themselves. Gone too are the brainy characters solving the final quest with a logical flourish. In their place was a sarcastic protagonist who spent the majority of the game's runtime making houses.

8 Considered Worst: Assassin's Creed 3's Story Is A Disappointment

Ratonhnhaké:ton with a hatchet in Assassin's Creed III

The storyline of the earlier Assassin's Creed games took place in two separate settings, one featuring a historic assassin going through a battle with the Templar Order and the other dealing with Desmond Miles, a man in modern America who was abducted by the Abstergo company. This tale of intrigue showed players that the historic setting was actually Desmond reliving his ancestor's memories through a machine called the Animus in an effort by Abstergo to find and secure ancient relics of a lost civilization that predated humanity. This modern story culminated in Assassin's Creed 3 to a disappointing response. There was no great victory over Abstergo, Desmond didn't get his life back, and nothing really felt final about the finale.

7 Should Be Worst: Assassin's Creed Unity Is Unfinished

Assassin's Creed Unity lineup banner 4 assassins.

Nearly every aspect of Assassin's Creed Unity is undercooked. From plotlines and character dynamics that don't develop in any meaningful way to the main plot and themes being forgettable. The gameplay itself was badly bugged, so it was hard to take Unity seriously. While a common refrain amongst fans has been that many of the bugs have been fixed, this doesn't make up for how badly broken the game was at launch. And while the game still has some bugs, it is far more the plot and characters that make it fail. The love story between Arno and Elise is shallow, the mentor character's heel turn is immediate without any buildup, and the main villain should have been Shay from Assassin's Creed Rogue. None of these things had time to breathe before the credits started rolling, leaving gamers disappointed.

6 Considered Worst: Dead Rising 3 Lost The Magic

Dead Rising 3 Nick Ramos from behind.

The Dead Rising series became known for the juxtaposition of its colorful settings and its grim stories. It was also known for memorable leading characters and difficult time-based mission structures. This all changed with the release of Dead Rising 3, which thoroughly let fans down in several of these regards. The main character was forgettable and plain and the setting was washed out replacing a shopping mall or Las Vegas analog with a boring brown cityscape. On top of that, the timed missions became so easy that failing them was essentially only possible by choice.

5 Should Be Worst: Dead Rising 4 Killed The Magic

Dead Rising 4 Frank west Banner.

Where Dead Rising 3 failed, Dead Rising 4 face planted. In the pre-release marketing, Dead Rising 4 was said to be "returning to its roots" in an effort to win back the people that found the third game lacking. In some respects, that was true. The game certainly returned to form with the colorful and cheesy setting of Christmas-time Willamette. But it also dropped psychopaths altogether, the series' staple boss fights. It also gave up the timing mechanic entirely and had far fewer interactive objects in the environment than even the very first game in the series. And on top of all that, they returned to the original main character, Frank West, only to radically change his personality, voice, and sense of humor. Dead Rising 4 was Dead Rising in name only.

4 Considered Worst: Ground Zeroes Is Barely A Game

Metal Gear Solid Ground Zeroes, Snake with goggles

A common criticism of Konami in 2014 was the length and breadth of their latest installment in the Metal Gear Solid series. Taking around an hour to complete the main story and having a scant few other side missions to play through, the gaming community felt cheated even at the lower-than-normal price the game was sold at. Despite the length of the game, many gamers defend the game to this day because of its excellent gameplay. Many gameplay elements that would later be found in The Phantom Pain were first introduced here, and due to the focus on one environment rather than an open world, they are largely handled even better.

3 Should Be Worst: Metal Gear Solid 4 Is More Of A Movie Than A Game

Metal Gear Solid 4 Old Snake.

It is hard to really choose a bad game in the Metal Gear Solid series, but no discussion of that kind can be had without mentioning MGS4. There is a massive story in this game and many over-the-top moments. That being said, it had little actual gameplay. The first and second chapters are the only ones that have traditional sneaking through areas with guards and patrols. After that, the game gets weird and tries a lot of new ideas in the few moments of gameplay it had left. The rest of the time is filled with cinematics that can go on for dozens of minutes. While it should be commended for its risk-taking, MGS4 has the least Metal Gear Solid gameplay in the series.

2 Considered Worst: Dark Souls 2 Made Controversial Changes To The Formula

Dark Souls 2 Knight entering Majula.

Dark Souls 2 has been scorned by a healthy population of Dark Souls fans ever since it launched. Complaints about the implementation of core features like poise and invincibility frames combined with distaste for level design and reused ideas gave fans of the series good reason to avoid the title. Despite this, the game added many things that made the series better.

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Dark Souls 2 was the first game of its kind to allow for easier matchmaking with friends by use of a password ring and also allowed for using the full moveset of a weapon, regardless of which hand it was held in. These features and others blended vitality into the formula and have become common features in future games in the series.

1 Should Be The Worst: Dark Souls Remastered Is Lazy

Dark Souls remastered knight lighting fire banner.

Many gamers conflate loving something and thinking it is perfect, and this fact often gets exploited. In the case of Dark Souls, many gamers loved the game regardless of its flaws, and thus, when it came time to remake it, the game was left almost completely untouched. Lacking the mod support of the original version on PC, not fixing many of the major issues with the game, and not adding much to the experience it is unclear why any gamer would think of Dark Souls: Remastered as anything other than the worst game in the series.

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