People get too hung up on game review scores. In the game biz most places that review games give them a score a game on the 10 point scale. Often these scores will either make or break a game since most people view anything less than an 8 inferior and unworthy of playing. I'll admit I was this way once but then I started playing some "bad" games. Often these games have some flaw in the game play, graphics or animation that detracts enough from the game to lower the game's score.

The first "bad" game I tried was Quake 4 for the 360. This game got a 6 and was panned as a bad port of the PC version with frame rate issues and boring textures. The game artwork was too similar to the latest Doom release. I chose not to buy this game at full price because of the score even though I was a big Quake fan. I waited and bought a used copy for almost half the price. Once I played through the game I could understand the score but the game was still fun. It was a classic Quake game with a nice twist. The online multiplayer sucked but that was mostly because there was no one to play. The frame rate dropped in one area but that was the only place I noticed. The humans did have very similar uniforms as we saw in Doom and some of the environments looked similar but they both take place in a future Sci-Fi realm. Overall I'd still recommend this game to any fan of ID games.

The next "bad" game I played was Ninety-Nine Nights. This hack and slash action game was compared to Dynasty Warriors for it's kill lots and lots of bad guys game play. The other big gripe about this game was the lack of a checkpoint system. If you died at the end of level (that could take you 45 minutes to complete) you had to restart from the beginning. Branded a button masher this game got 4s and 6s from western game reviewers but did better in Japan. This game is absolutely beautiful with great graphics and a well weaved story. The game is difficult at first but as you pick up more items and level up your character the game becomes much easier. You will see a couple flaws in animations but they are very few. I felt this was the best game I played last summer are well above average.

I have recently been playing Bullet Witch, another bad game. This one has been labeled as having bad AI, poor graphics, bad spells/casting system, bad levels design, one hit kills and short game play. For the most part this is all true. The graphics in some places look really good but in others are just boring and plain. The levels embrace barriers to herd you along and often you have to back track to complete a level. The AI of your enemy improves as you get further in the game. The soldiers you fight with are nothing more than decoys to keep everyone from shooting at you. There are many times you will die and wonder what happened. There are a few times you will get shot and lose all or 75% of your life. I thought that spell casting system was good but most spells are useless at the easier levels. I find I only use spells if I can't easily mow everything down with my gun. I tend to save my magic for the bosses. I do like the health/magic recharge system and the story is very detailed. By no means is this a good game and I probably would not recommend it to anyone but I have had some fun and am still playing the game. On Hard the game is a challenge to play. I'm using a lot more magic and changing how I play the game verses on the easier difficulties.

As you can see some of these "bad" games may just be fun for you. When you can easily rent a game from Blockbuster or GameFly why not give some of these games a chance. You might find some new genre that you really enjoy. Take any game review with a grain of salt because they might just be tired of this genre or are a bit picker than most because they play so many games.