Team Talk | What game do you enjoy, but most people hate?

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There’s no accounting for taste, so almost everyone finds an outlier or two when exploring new games. Here we’ll champion the software that made us question how soft we were, forgiving issues aplenty to see beauty among beasts.

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by Sam Sant

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@SlamShotSam

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by Team PTC

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@pass_controller

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Sam | Mighty No. 9

My pick for most underappreciated game of 2018, Metal Gear Survive, immediately comes to mind but we’ve already been there and talked that. Might No. 9 is a game which, true to this article's slightly hyperbolic title, most people genuinely do hate.

Whether it was down to poking fun at anime fans (see below), failing to deliver on promises made to the very audience that crowdfunded the project, or responding to the whole controversy with - and this is a direct quote from director Keiji Inafune - “It’s better than nothing,” the disdain is/was warranted.

With that in mind, I did what I could to be objective when it hit my inbox for review back in the summer of 2016. I must’ve managed that, as, despite having glaringly bad narrative and presentation, I found the gameplay to be a redemptive blast. Fast and fluid with a unique combo system, it's accessible at a base level and rewardingly challenging for anyone looking to take things a step further.

Acknowledging the heady highs and miserable lows of Mighty No. 9, I settled on a respectable score of 7/10, which prompted an oddly elated response from the PR representative and, with that, the first hint that I’d enjoyed it far more than most.

The offending trailer has an impressive 45,000+ dislikes on YouTube.

Liam | Star Wars Battlefront (2015)

I’ve already come to the defence of perennial punching bag Fallout 76, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to further dump on my credibility by sticking up for EA and DICE’s Star Wars Battlefront reboot.

While I never played the original games, I can understand why those who did weren't happy with what was on offer in the 2015 iteration. With no proper solo campaign and integral multiplayer content locked behind an eye-wateringly expensive season pass - like bloomin’ space battles! - there’s no denying Battlefront was light on content at launch. That’s before even mentioning the lack of Clone Wars content.

Still, that didn’t stop it being fun to play. The arcade-focused action, where jet-packs were the norm and firing from the hip is just as accurate as aiming down sights, was a welcome change of pace from needing to consider the likes of bullet drop and recoil in most modern shooters.

The presentation is also stunning, with weapons, vehicles and outfits looking and sounding like they’ve been ripped straight from the movies. It’s a shame Battlefront got off to such a rocky start, as we had the beginnings of something really special on our hands.

Let’s just hope EA and DICE get things right with the seque- oh, erm… Third time’s a charm?

Chris | Brink

Brink was not a good game. It wasn't particularly well designed, nor was it well balanced. It was a hodgepodge of numerous other shooters, with an abrasive and wholly undesirable personality thrown on top.

If you were to take the very best features from Team Fortress 2, Quake, Doom, Halo and Call of Duty and blend them together, you could bake the most delectable gaming cake. You could, or, you might instead turn the oven up to max, slap the mix directly onto the shelf, leave your house for a few days and come home to find a charred mass of Brink sitting amongst the burnt remains of what was once your kitchen…

Matches played out in one of two ways; you were on the winning team, or you were on the losing team. This might sound par for the course, but most often the result was decided before the first shots had been fired. Some maps heavily favoured attackers and others defenders, so victory was just down to luck.

Lag, bugs, a dearth of both players and usable weapons (amongst the trash ones) only grew the list of substantial annoyances. Brink wasn't quite perfect, then, but does that really mean it's a bad game? Well, yes, it does, but I had fun with it anyway.

James | DmC: Devil May Cry

An old controversy perhaps, but, with Devil May Cry V right around the corner, this particular topic made me think of the bold creative choices Ninja Theory made when rebooting Capcom’s beloved franchise back in 2013.

Dante didn't have long, white hair and the dialogue was arguably even more cringe-inducing (at best) and offensive (at worst), but the game managed to be the perfect entry point for me after only scratching the surface of DMC4 beforehand.

The setting was probably the star, being a surrealist take on what it might look like when a world of demons collided with the modern world of men, conveyed in increasingly abstract and exciting ways. It really looked great for its time, then even more so in its 2015 re-release.

One highlight saw you take on a particularly hateful and toxic news anchor in his office, the fight being reported on through narration as you took out low-level goons before facing off against the man himself, displayed in the psychotic form of a giant, floating digital head...

While the game wasn't necessarily what diehard fans were looking for, it undoubtedly struck a chord with me, to the extent that I completed it and then kept coming back to unlock more combos and enjoy the simple act of wailing on enemies.

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What seemingly ghastly game gave you a good time? Let us know in the comments below.