People say I’m too harsh on games, and my standards are super high. I maybe living in the past though I have criticized old games too. I then realized the real issue is we’re using different definitions for a bad game.

When I call a game bad, I mean a few things. The first is a game that’s broken that doesn’t work correctly and has bugs and glitches. The game can also be completely unplayable. Some glitchy games I enjoyed and ranked them highly like Metro: Last Light. I remember falling through the map several times and the game freezing.

I also have a further definition of bad games. A game in a series that drops the ball below series standards, is a bad game. Generic games and dumbed down sequels don’t get a pass. The game fundamentally maybe functional or fixed, but it still is a big regression. Call of Duty 3, Crysis 2, Condemned 2, Deus Ex: Invisible War, FEAR 2, Mass Effect: Andromeda, MOH Rising Sun, Red Faction 2 and Splinter Cell: Conviction are examples.

One of the things I hear is “it’s not a bad game, it’s a bad (series title) game”. The issue I have with this is they’re saying a game is meh or generic. If it was a good game, they would be saying it’s different from the other games, but a cool new direction for the series. Fallout 3 is a good example of this.

There is also a set of games that had a good base but just weren’t as good as the game before it. Usually, these games tried to do something different than others and just wasn’t as good. They’re not as good they’re just ok. 007: Everything or Nothing, Burnout: Revenge, Splinter Cell: Double Agent, MGSV and NFS Carbon come to mind. The difference between the the groups is the later had the soul the earlier games had they just had issues from the new stuff they added.

There’s also the argument of ‘“It’s not a bad game, it’s just not for you”. I would agree, if it was a genre I’m not a fan of. But this is usually said when someone is pointing out obvious issues with a game. Just because someone chooses to play it and has fun doesn’t take the issue away.