Has there been a game that has been badly received..

Yep

Final Fantasy X-2 seems to be universally loathed, yet it's my favourite Final Fantasy game. Something must be wrong with me. :(

True Crime New York City come to mind. I LOVED that damn game. I played way too much of that, I think I played abour 70-ish hours of it.

@DonutFever said:

Brutal Legend.

This is my answer as well. I can't not like a game so full of talented artists and funny people. And that soundtrack was phenomenal.

@SlightConfuse said:

Put me on the alpha protocol team. Game was pretty fun. Hope they can do another one

That's a negative on the Alpha Protocol... it didn't sell well enough and critically wasn't received well.

I, too, really liked Alpha Protocol.

I had alot of fun playing this game.

@mandude: If I remember correctly Rage got in the 80's on Metacritic, which I wouldn't consider badly received. It also received a good number of "Best Graphics" awards.

@Ben_H said:

Star Wars: Episode 1 - Jedi Power Battles

Wow dude now this is a game I forgot about. If it was badly reviewed I am right there with you. Had a lot of fun with it.

Duke Nukem Forever, Kane and Lynch 2:Dog Days, and Ninja Gaiden 3.

FF7 I guess since every time final fantasy comes all I hear is hitching about it.

Easily my favorite JRPG this generation and near the top of my list of favorite RPGs this generation.

The Jedi Power Battles thing brought up a couple more for me in that PS1 era:

Fighting Force

Jackie Chan Stuntmaster

I first heard about The Adventures of Bayou Billy from a "Top Five Hardest NES Games" list and later watched this video by Spoony saying how terrible the game is.

I thought the game really interesting, so I bought it from a local video game store and gave it a shot. Spoony's video helped me set my expectations of the game and I truly enjoyed my time with it. The variety of action in the game doesn't smooth over the gameplay flaws, it didn't hamstring my experience. In fact, after I first beat the game, it looped back to the first level and I kept playing with the lives I had left. I can't name another game that I would jump back into with that kind of fervor after I completed it.

Duke Nukem Forever (2 star review from Jeff), Velvet Assassin (1 star review from Brad)

I loved Brutal Legend

FFXIII and FFXIII-2

Duke Nukem Forever, Kane & Lynch: Dead Men. And I guess Deadly Premonition, if it counts as having been "badly received".

PS: Also, since we're talking about games that have been received poorly, things like Final Fantasy VII don't count, nor it's a matter of personal taste.

Halo?

Alpha Protocol

WET

The Saboteur

Alpha Protocol was pretty great. It probably wouldn't have received such harsh reviews if it was from a higher profile developer.

I also quite liked Two Worlds. It had a lot of problems, but if you're a fan of open world RPG's, there was a lot to like. The world itself was much more interesting to explore than Oblivion's and the combat was much more in depth (if you could look past the terrible animations and hilarious voice acting).

@LiquidPrince said:

FInal Fantasy XIII. In fact, I'm going to play that right now. Later.

/synchronized dance

DRIV3R

Mafia II ... It's so good! Sure there doesn't need to be an open world... but why not?!

Several. I also don't care how a game is received by and large with a few exceptions.

The Saboteur - which reviews were pretty middling if I remember...

RAGE didn't review super well did it?

C&C: Generals (I don't know what it reviewed like actually, but it's my favorite Command and Conquer, and whenever somebody mentions Generals on the Bombcast the guys just laughs it of)

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising.

On the opposite end, I have one game that I can say without a doubt: Fallout 3 - that game was bad, it had poor and generic visuals, poor animation, bad gameplay, middling writing, and a horrible main quest... Yet pretty much every reviewer praised it to high heavens.

Grabbed by The Ghoulies.

Dead Rising 2

Tons, but last year I fell completely in love with Harmony of Despair. I know it's not really Castlevania-y, but there's a billion pieces of loot and a good collection of characters that play very differently and have little quirks in the way they level up.

I put about sixty hours into that game and if other games hadn't come along I could have probably put another ten or twenty.

It also has some fucking awesome/terrible metal versions of old Castlevania tunes.

Driver 3 (I refuse to spell it Driv3r) was like that for me. The on foot sections were complete dogshit, as was most of the story, but just messing around in the free roam mode was amazing. I mostly just spent my time getting into countless car chases which all ended with a spectacular crash.

@AjayRaz said:

DRIV3R

Alpha Protocol. Game was pretty sweet with branching possibilites. Nier...the musical score is one of the best out there I personally think.Plus, playing it on multiple new game plus modes give different endings.

Brutal Legend & Deadly Premonition comes to mind on having less than stellar reviews yet worth the time to dive into them.

Does Mass Effect 3 count?

@ShiftyMagician: Hey man, I was just joking. Take a chill pill. Hell, I put down kane & lynch. The things you day about Duke are things I feel about Kane & Lynch Dead Men. So yes, I do find it possible to get enjoyment out of things other people don't like so much.

@AlianthaBerries: @Peanut

Maybe we should try to get a game going of Tenchu Z at some point in the future. I'd love to run around in some coop again for a second. My 360 headset is ... some where around here... but I use Skype for all my gaming anyway since my PC is hooked up to my TV.

Call of Duty 4

@mandude said:

RAGE is one of my favourite games in recent years.

The masters of first person shooters making a masterful first person shooter? I fucking loved Rage. So awesome.

Probably too many to count. Most notably for me would be God Hand and the SaGa franchise as a whole.

Enter The Matrix comes to mind immediately as well as Tenchu Z. There are plenty others, but I can't recall names right now. (I love the Souls games... BUT CMAAAAAN FROM SOFTWARE, MAKE ANOTHER TENCHU!)

Brutal Legend and Dragon Age 2

I fucking love Brutal Legend.

Also, Champions of Norrath: Return to Arms.

and Alpha Protocol.

oh, and Deadly Premonition.

@xobballox: Oh my god, I didn't even remember Enter the Matrix until you mentioned it just now. That game was awesome. And it had the strangest cheat mode ever.

Dynasty Warriors series.

@Dixego: The cheats were ridiculous, I remember spending like 30 minutes to put in a cheat to be able to use a katana. I loved that game.

@DonutFever said:

Brutal Legend.

id say its more underrated than actually disliked. the multiplayer for that game is so much fun

Dynasty and Samurai Warriors. They're almost always shit on, but I can't get enough of them.

I suppose Metroid: Other M counts, too.

@xobballox: I remember doing that too. It was totally worth it. Also, killing agents when you weren't supposed to.

@Peanut: @Aleryn: @Grimhild: Highfive for Tenchu Z fan club. I spent so long with that game and bought it 3 (maybe 4?) different times. I wish it was on PC or PS3 because I don't have a 360 anymore :( I would probably still play it if it was.

I'm totally with the people who said Mirror's Edge, one of my favorite gaming experiences of all time, and the Deadliest Warrior games for XBLA (not good games but an INSANE amount of fun when played with friends).

I'm sure there are others. EDIT: Enter the Matrix as well