There have been numerous well-reviewed games onXboxconsoles over the years, including Halo, Gears of War, and non-exclusives like Red Dead Redemption 2. So, it isn’t like every game that’s released on a Microsoft system gets negative reviews from critics. That said, plenty of them do, and many of those deserve it.
Yet, there have also been some Xbox games over the years that have garnered poor critical response, despite actually being good games. In plenty of these cases, reviewers have seemingly become too focused on a few issues with the game and ignored the rest of the greatness the title provides. Here are several examples of games that reviewers have poorly treated.
Fable Anniversary is a remastered version of the original Fable. It significantly boosted the graphics of the game, making character models and environments much more detailed. Along with improving the game’s looks, the developers made some quality-of-life changes, too.
As a result, it’s a solid way to experience the original Fable, which was already a great game. Yet, the Anniversary version didn’t get a lot of good reviews due to some technical issues. While the frustration regarding glitches is understandable, it shouldn’t have hurt the reviews as much as it did.
Spartan Assault isn’t of a similar quality tothe best Halo games, but it’s better than its review scores suggest. The game is an isometric twin-stick shooter that has you blasting enemies away while controlling Spartans.
Despite being very different from the main games, it captures the Halo aesthetic through both its looks and sounds. Plus, running around and shooting in this game has a nice feel to it. So, it’s a good shooter that’s worth playing, as long as you don’t expect it to be the level of Halo 3.
Dragon Ball Raging Blast 2 isn’tthe greatest Dragon Ball game ever, but it has stiff competition in that regard, as there have been a lot of them. Yet, you don’t have to be the best to still be good, and Raging Blast 2 is a really good 3D arena fighter.
The visuals are fantastic, and the core fighting feels very smooth. Plus, the roster is very impressive, as most of the characters from Dragon Ball Z and the movies have made it into the game. All of these things mean that the Xbox 360 game deserves a better rating than it received from most critics.
Batman is gone in Gotham Knights, so Nightwing, Batgirl, Red Hood, and Robin have to protect Gotham in his place. This serves as a cool and unique idea for a game. The developers do a decent job of delivering on the premise, too. It isn’t a perfect game by any means. There is too much repetition in side quests, and the story could be better.
Overall, though, it’s a good action-adventure game with some well-written dialogue and smooth combat. It definitely is better than some reviewers would have you believe.
You have to give High on Life credit for doing something different, as it’s a game where all of your weapons talk. They each have distinct and humorous personalities. Some may find it annoying, but they’re generally humorous. In fact, the game itself is quite funny. Rick and Morty creator Justin Roiland was heavily involved in the project, and that is clear from some of the voices and style of humor.
It doesn’t have the most perfect or smooth shooting mechanics, but the core gunplay is still solid. Therefore, with clever writing and decent enough combat, this game deserved a bit more love from critics.
A second game in any series is going to garner certain expectations if the initial instalment is really good. And if it doesn’t live up to those expectations, then the reception won’t be great. This is perhaps what happened with Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2.
The game isn’t as good as the original, due to its short length and uninspired story. However, it still deserves better review scores than it received. After all, it still provides very exciting lightsaber gameplay that makes you feel like the strongest force-sensitive character around.
Manygames these days include dialogue optionsand player choices. Alpha Protocol uses the concepts better than most. You really feel like you’re making impactful decisions while playing through this game.
The shooting mechanics and AI aren’t amazing, but they’re serviceable, while the writing and customization options are strong. Therefore, there is more to like about this game than dislike. Nobody is arguing that it should be considered the best game of its generation, but it deserves more respect than critics gave it.
Goat Simulator is one of the oddest games of its generation, and it’s initially hard to know what to make of it. After all, you’re terrorizing a suburb as a goat by running, jumping, bashing, and licking things. There is a certain scruffiness to the game, and it doesn’t always feel smooth to play. This likely hurt the review scores.
However, the game is entertaining and very creative. In how many other games can you see a goat bounce off a trampoline and then do a backflip? That’s just one of many original things you can do in Goat Simulator.
