So Bad It's Good

[theSovietConnection]

Quite simply, I'd like to know some of the Escapist's favorite cult hit video games, those games that were just so bad that you couldn't help but like them.

To start off with an example, my favorite in recent memory is Deadly Premonition. No matter how much I knew I shouldn't like the game, I could not help but like it. Every little bad thing about it just seemed to add to it's charm.

 

[Evonisia]

So bad it's good? Hmm...

Well, Silent Hill 4: The Room is pretty bad.
The exploration is cut down to the point where there are invincible enemies who stun lock you (they can only be knocked down for a few seconds).
The last half of the game is a repeat of the first half but you can't run back to your apartment to recover health because it's been cursed.
The amount of puzzles is minuscule.
Enemies have too much health given the always claustrophobic setting.
Ending is dependant on how you escort a character who can barely fight but you must protect for half the game.
The character is unsympathetic and much like Harry Mason he's just supposed to be somebody for you to plaster yourself onto. Heather and James were characters in their own right which we spent the game following to see what they were doing.

But I still really like it. The call backs to the previous games are well received. I must say that the first person mode is nice. Some of the characters are engaging and the way Henry tries to make contact with the outside world offer a very interesting mystery. The Room is a good framing device for the story and for all the hatred towards the Cult I must say that The Room gets it right. Silent Hill 3 suffered because Heather was being torn between Cultists rather than her just taking them on and Silent Hill 1 was just silly because Harry had no business with the Cultists besides getting his daughter back yet it kept trying to tell us about about their prowess.

So yeah, Silent Hill 4: The Room, a bad game with an interesting story but I love it.

 

[Neverhoodian]

Streets of Sim City. The game was buggy as hell, the controls were awful, the visuals were ugly even back then, opponent AI was rock stupid, and the whole thing just gave the impression that it was horribly rushed (which it probably was).

In spite of all that, I spent many happy hours playing it. You could customize your cars with all sorts of crazy weapons and upgrades. There's nothing quite like launching yourself ten stories high with a power jump, then flying through the air with the hover ability. It also provided some good old cathartic destruction. Not only could you blow away rival cars, but the various buildings were also destructible. It supported user-created content as well. You could import your cities from SimCity 2000 to drive around in, or lacking that you could use the SimCity Urban Renewal Kit that was bundled with it.

It also had a rockin' soundtrack. Some of it isn't stuff I would normally listen to, but it worked well with the insanity that the game provided:

Spoiler

 

[Sack of Cheese]

Senran Kagura for me. It's super silly and repetitive, yet I can't help but like it.
The novel segments are well written at least and each character, as generic as they look, has their own depths. (And by depths I don't mean cleavage.)

 

[Smooth Operator]

I guess my most recent entry to that library would be Deadpool, it's cheaply made, it's real damn stupid but also real damn silly. Was not at all worth the launch price and for people who get offended every time there is a day in the week this would spell severe brain trauma.
But being what is essentially an M rated Bugs Bunny flick I love the silly thing (just don't spend more then 15-20$).

The other one I recently reinstalled was EDF: Insect Armageddon on PC, which is again a really dumb game with the cheapest design possible, worst of the series, and the PC port is just skirting the edge of usable.
But what little money they had to make the game went into the right places, so you are fighting gigantic bugs, robots and space ships in a city that is almost completely destructible, and the bugs move just the right way to make it look creepy/awesome while you blow them and the city away with cannons and missiles riding over them with a jetpack or on foot.
Really cheap dumb fun and sadly the only series of it's kind, if someone picked this idea up with proper PC and modding support it would be insane.

 

[TheSYLOH]

OK lets hit for obscurity points.
Warhammer 40k: Fire Warrior.
By any standards this was a stupid and bad game.
Yet it was oddly faithful to the warhammer 40k lore.
It even had a novelization that was equally stupid, but actually made sense in a weird sort of way.
Try it, at least you'll know how bolter should work.

 

[Zantos]

OK lets hit for obscurity points.
Warhammer 40k: Fire Warrior.
By any standards this was a stupid and bad game.
Yet it was oddly faithful to the warhammer 40k lore.
It even had a novelization that was equally stupid, but actually made sense in a weird sort of way.
Try it, at least you'll know how bolter should work.

I might have to check out the novelization, I definitely agree the game was so epically bad I just couldn't stop. Until I did, but when I figure out what I did with my PS2 I might give it another bash.

For my contribution, I'd say Two Worlds. I already said it was a game with lots of missed potential on a separate thread, but for some reason I can't bring myself to not play. Is it the wacky problems you have to solve? Maybe. Is it the truly abhorrent writing and voice acting that makes it impossible to go through even the most solemn dialogue without bursting out laughing? Probably. But my favourite part is that below hard difficulty there is actually no penalty for dying, so you can just lunge at things until the problem is solved if you feel like it (otherwise known as the Imperial Guard method). Bonus points for the fact you can accidentally do something 20 hours in and have never realised you could do that until then.

 

[theSovietConnection]

Streets of Sim City.

Hah, there's a title I haven't seen in years. I only was ever able to get that game working once or twice before it refused to ever start up again. SimCopter was an absolute blast though, especially if you knew how to get the Commanche.

Another one I can't believe I forgot to mention would probably be Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing. Always fun to see how you could break that game.

 

[Tiger King]

OK lets hit for obscurity points.
Warhammer 40k: Fire Warrior.
By any standards this was a stupid and bad game.
Yet it was oddly faithful to the warhammer 40k lore.
It even had a novelization that was equally stupid, but actually made sense in a weird sort of way.
Try it, at least you'll know how bolter should work.

I really enjoyed that game.
it was clear from the start that the game had a limited budget, but lore wise I feel they fulfilled!

the novel was by Simon Spurrier, one of the better authors for black library but sadly he moved on to other things.

I haven't read fire warrior but I was hugely impressed by lord of the night.

the main thing I liked was that it made you an outsider to the imperium and as a newcomer that is a great position to be in.

 

[josemlopes]

The other one I recently reinstalled was EDF: Insect Armageddon on PC, which is again a really dumb game with the cheapest design possible, worst of the series, and the PC port is just skirting the edge of usable.
But what little money they had to make the game went into the right places, so you are fighting gigantic bugs, robots and space ships in a city that is almost completely destructible, and the bugs move just the right way to make it look creepy/awesome while you blow them and the city away with cannons and missiles riding over them with a jetpack or on foot.
Really cheap dumb fun and sadly the only series of it's kind, if someone picked this idea up with proper PC and modding support it would be insane.

EDF 2025 is really good (if you are into that kind of games) as it even manages to be a legit good game (while keeping all the batshit insane stuff from the originals).

Sure stuff like this still exists...

... but lets just call that a feature for now.

OT: Necrovision.

Its honestly a shitty game in the vein of Painkiller in WW1 but the fact that the boss of the very first level is a fucking wizard out of all things and by the fourth hour you will be already driving mechs (to fight bigger spider mechs), using an overpowered claw magic thingy, killing some weird ass demons and piloting dragons I can safelly assume that the guys that did this game simply didnt gave a fuck.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

So bad it's good? Hmm...

Well, Silent Hill 4: The Room is pretty bad.

I could reference the movie The Room but instead I'll admit that I enjoyed Silent Hill: Downpour. Based on what I understand of Silent Hill's fanbase, I can almost guarantee someone will read this and vomit a bit in their mouth.

It's OK because I can do the same with Sonic fans. I've played Sonic games since I was a kid with friends who owned a Genesis but the first Sonic game that I wanted to play through to the end, to the TRUE ending, was Sonic the Hedgehog...on the Xbox 360. I beat that sucker and plan on getting the PS3 version so as to play through it again on my current platform of choice. Secret Rings and, Black Knight were loads of ass though in my opinion.

 

[josemlopes]

...but the first Sonic game that I wanted to play through to the end, to the TRUE ending, was Sonic the Hedgehog

Ok, nothing wrong with that...

...on the Xbox 360.

Spoiler: Oh, I see...

 

[The_Lost_King]

Indigo Prophecy/ Fahrenheit is the best worst game ever. It goes balls to the walls crazy half way through and that makes it amazing. The matrix battles are the best part. You can't call it a good game but you can call it an amazing terrible one.

 

[shrekfan246]

It's OK because I can do the same with Sonic fans. I've played Sonic games since I was a kid with friends who owned a Genesis but the first Sonic game that I wanted to play through to the end, to the TRUE ending, was Sonic the Hedgehog...on the Xbox 360. I beat that sucker and plan on getting the PS3 version so as to play through it again on my current platform of choice. Secret Rings and, Black Knight were loads of ass though in my opinion.

To its credit, it's one of the only games I can think of where the ending actually technically erases its own existence. Usually writers wait another game or two to do something like that.

Advent rising

I wouldn't really say Advent Rising was a bad game, just that it could've used more time in development.

...

And an actual conclusion to its story.

Slowing down time so you could run around punching everything to death was the kind of awesome not many other shooters have let me feel since. :/

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Indigo Prophecy/ Fahrenheit is the best worst game ever. It goes balls to the walls crazy half way through and that makes it amazing. The matrix battles are the best part. You can't call it a good game but you can call it an amazing terrible one.

I was mostly disappointed that there was no divergence in the story based on choice until the very end. Most of what you do in that game is pass time until the plot shoves characters forward.

 

[Fasckira]

I think the clearest example from memory would be Two Worlds. I turned the game off several times out of sheer frustration when I first got it but then I decided one rainy day to push through, and once you get past the bugs and the glitchy nature of it all theres actually a really decent game lurking underneath.

Sure, its boasting hilariously bad voice acting, a questionable storyline and iffy mechanics, but its loveable.


"Ah, rain again."

 

[RedDeadFred]

I think the clearest example from memory would be Two Worlds. I turned the game off several times out of sheer frustration when I first got it but then I decided one rainy day to push through, and once you get past the bugs and the glitchy nature of it all theres actually a really decent game lurking underneath.

Sure, its boasting hilariously bad voice acting, a questionable storyline and iffy mechanics, but its loveable.


"Ah, rain again."

Agreed. Yes there is a lot wrong with it but underneath it all, there is a pretty fun game. Also, first time my character said that, I nearly jumped out of my seat because of how much louder it was than everything else. I liked that the game didn't hold your hand at all. You really could screw over your game if you weren't careful. One time, I murdered a whole town (I don't remember why, one of the teleporter people pissed me off or something) only to realize that a character necessary for completing a quest had lived there. The bodies all stayed around so I decided to try and resurrect them all (had to learn an entire new tree of magic for that). Amazingly, it worked and I was able to continue the quest as if I hadn't just massacred everyone.

 

[Fasckira]

One time, I murdered a whole town

I did that way too often on my second play through to cut out the fetch-quests. That in itself does work in its favour - why shouldn't you be able to slaughter the quest giver if you know he holds what you need and you're not feeling particularly morally balanced?

Speaking of resurrection though, I was a bit upset with the Necromancy quest line. I got really excited at the idea of uncovering this deep quest line only to get to the point where the head honcho says "Yeah, you're good, but your destiny lies elsewhere, you cant go any further".

I spent way too long trying to match armour sets too, it was pathetic.

 

[Evonisia]

So bad it's good? Hmm...

Well, Silent Hill 4: The Room is pretty bad.

I could reference the movie The Room but instead I'll admit that I enjoyed Silent Hill: Downpour. Based on what I understand of Silent Hill's fanbase, I can almost guarantee someone will read this and vomit a bit in their mouth.

Yeah it's convenient that it shares it's name like that. That's a shame I didn't think the fanbase hated Downpour all that much. It's my third favourite behind 3 and 2, currently in my fourth playthrough to get all the achievements done on the 360 version (only need Surprise, some side quests, kill 10 weeping bats, kill 25 with the shotgun/pistol).