Six games everybody hated that sold millions anyway

Xbox 360's least deserving best-sellers, in theory

Everybody knows that online reaction and review scores don't necessarily correspond to game sales, but when you're hitting F5 half your life, it can be easy to forget.

There's a whole ecosystem of wallet-armed brains beyond the spiky fortifications of gaming proper, brains that often base their judgements on marketing materials and brand recognition alone. Don't believe us? Glance down this list of games that should have sold bugger-all, yet somehow didn't.

1. Homefront

Log had rather mixed feelings about Homefront, likening it to a shining steel trophy (the multiplayer) buried beneath a pile of fetid meat (everything else). Those misgivings coalesced into rage, post-release, when the online component turned out to be ridden with bugs. THQ's punishment, for such sordid carryings-on? A comfortable profit, with 2.6 million sales across March to May 2011. Crytek UK's making a sequel, don't you know. It could be developing Timesplitters 4 instead.

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Comments

31 comments so far...

  1. Homefront was awesome online. I can still remember the first time i played it. Connection was great always full lobbies.

  2. Hmmm have most of them.In the case of COD and Resi. think it is a case off people expected so much more given they are both long running series'.Didn't mind Resi.5,have it,but prefer 4.The new COD on the other hand i have hardly played it.Didn't mind the Force Unleashed either better than 2 i thought.Plus isn't it human nature to Love to Hate,lol.

    Hated the Homefront SP and finished it that quick i traded it in the same week i bought it,lol.Could have been so much more,the graphics where nice,but that is about it,lol.

  3. September 2009 to February 2009

    I think that's the wrong way round ed

  4. I think that's the wrong way round ed

    Indeed sir. Fanks!

  5. Seems I'm the only person who liked the Homefront campaign, yeah it was short but it had a decent premise and the story was compelling and rich. It's certainly no worse than the campaign on Battlefield 3. I'd be interested to see what they do with the sequel. Especially now Kim Jong-il has died, I'm hoping that he's still features ..... as a ghost.

  6. I own Star Wars: the force unleashed and quite enjoyed it - granted it isn't the best star wars game ever but it is an ok game none the less.

    I also own Resident Evil 5 - again this is a good 'action' game and although it isn't a 'horror survival' game like the previous instalments it is still an ok game and I have enjoyed playing it. I would have preferred it to carry on the Resident Evil 'Horror Survival' game play but that being said it is still quite a good Action game

    I also own all of the Call of Duty games from CoD4 onwards - with all the Map Packs too (except W@W) and I really do enjoy them - they are great fun as an arcade style FPS. Fast paced, fun and frantic gun on gun action with a lot of options and playing styles as well as many different game modes that can be enjoyed by many different skill levels etc.Personally I think that everybody 'hates' it because it is successful - everyone prefers the underdog! even if it isn't as good, fun or playable.

    The only other game I own is Transformers: the game. to be honest this is also the worst of the games that I own on this list. I love Transformers and did when I was a lot younger too - I also actually enjoy the movies as well but this game was a disappointment to me. Theoretically it should have been great. You get to play as a Transformer and can transform too. Graphics aren't that bad but not as good as they could have been - very bland scenery but the Transformers are good. Gameplay is also quite boring. I think the only reason this sold was because of the Transformers name - certainly not on its gameplay!!

    Of the four games (I know Call of Duty is a franchise and all the games are different but they are listed as 1) I own, the only one I haven't enjoyed (or even completed) is Transformers. In terms of hours spent - Call of Duty wins hands down and beats MANY not on this list either. Resident Evil 5 comes next and I have replayed it many times too to unlock various different things and starwars after that. Despite completing it I have not replayed it or tried to get all the gamer points either.. Yet!

  7. Thought the Homefront story was pretty forgettable myself.Plus all the npc's hanging about and you can't talk to a single one of them.Not very immersive.

  8. Seems I'm the only person who liked the Homefront campaign, yeah it was short but it had a decent premise and the story was compelling and rich. It's certainly no worse than the campaign on Battlefield 3. I'd be interested to see what they do with the sequel. Especially now Kim Jong-il has died, I'm hoping that he's still features ..... as a ghost.

    To be honest I have never played Homefront but I did play the MP demo and was not overly impressed by it. At least BF3 has a great multi-player even if the SP campaign seems like an after thought, is very linear and boring - at least it looks good!

  9. Seems I'm the only person who liked the Homefront campaign, yeah it was short but it had a decent premise and the story was compelling and rich. It's certainly no worse than the campaign on Battlefield 3. I'd be interested to see what they do with the sequel. Especially now Kim Jong-il has died, I'm hoping that he's still features ..... as a ghost.

    I'm pretty sure that in the opening cutscene of Homefront they went through a timeline where Kim Jong Il dies in 2012 anyway...

  10. Seems I'm the only person who liked the Homefront campaign, yeah it was short but it had a decent premise and the story was compelling and rich. It's certainly no worse than the campaign on Battlefield 3. I'd be interested to see what they do with the sequel. Especially now Kim Jong-il has died, I'm hoping that he's still features ..... as a ghost.

    I'm pretty sure that in the opening cutscene of Homefront they went through a timeline where Kim Jong Il dies in 2012 anyway...

    How prophetic of them. Have North Korea been launching "communication satellites" recently? Better watch out America the ghost of Kim Jong-il is comin to get ya!

    Also, them featuring his death in a timeline does not rule out the possibility of him returning as a ghost. Unless of course the timeline specifically stated that there was no way he could return as a ghost and I don't think it did.

  11. I think including Zumba Fitness is a bit pointless, after all most game reviewers look like Log (no offense mate) and aren't really the target audience for this type of game. My girlfriend is a very critical gamer, and a Zumba and aerobics instructor, and thinks the 360 version is actually pretty good in terms of both Kinect response (which she normally hates) and as a work out.

    And I played Homefront round a mates and spent the whole time thinking "I've seen this story before, oh that's right they hired the script writer for Red Dawn and he's just changed the names." Terrible game, written by an overly Jingoistic paranoid survivalist.

  12. I'm one of the few that quite enjoyed RE5. Of the others I've only played The Force Unleashed and CoD - the fact I didn't go on to play TFU2 or Black Ops & MW3 speaks for itself.

  13. Resident Evil 5 was my first and last step into the series. I have to say I really did enjoy it and it is one of my top co-op games. The rest are all marmite for me, they are all games that I would pick up cheap to try out. I stopped at MW3 for CoD because I had a really bad case of deja vu, didn't enjoy any of it.

  14. Despite being a 'letdown', RE5 was still a great game. Homefront was just dismal. I won't be going back to that for a sequel.

  15. Despite being a 'letdown', RE5 was still a great game. Homefront was just dismal. I won't be going back to that for a sequel.

    Even if it has the ghost of Kim Jong-il? He's so ronery and sadry arone.

    Be honest you have changed your mind now and you have already pre-ordered Homefront 2 - The Legend of Kim Jong-il's Gold

  16. So a game that you yourself scored 8 out of 10 is one of xboxs least deserving best sellers oxm? Contradicting yourself much.

  17. But this isn't purely a feature about games we didn't like selling well - as noted in the intro, it's also about games other people don't like selling well. :)

  18. homefront wasn't that bad.. the online was amazing it just needed more maps. the single player could have also been good everyone knew it was going to be all about multiplayer... its like faulting BF3 for the single player sucking=\

    I think crysis 2 and brink deserve the homefront spot as they were both garbage all around.

    the sequel to homefront looks real good. I might get it.

  19. oh and your forgot fable 2 and 3... both were trash and neither compared to the original. neither game lasted more then a week and the co-op was mediocre. neither game had much replayablility either. both games had pretty bad stories compared to the first on the original xbox as well...

  20. I absolutely loved Homefront campaign, and I havent even played it online yet. Its rated up in my top ten games, why am I the only one...?

  21. Call of duty is the reason why timesplitters 4 isn't being made. :cry:

  22. But this isn't purely a feature about games we didn't like selling well - as noted in the intro, it's also about games other people don't like selling well. :)

    Also a point surely worth making is that sometimes a game can be a good game, but not a good representation of the series. RE5 is a great example, its a great game in my opinion, but with only one or 2 small changes, you'd never know it was a RE game, hell, most of the time it is more like Dead Island than RE.

  23. I think that's the wrong way round ed

    Indeed sir. Fanks!



    you are welcome :D

  24. Resident evil 5 is a brilliant game IMO, just started using this site again recently much better than CVG there is a lot of idiots now on that website.

  25. Resident evil 5 is a brilliant game IMO, just started using this site again recently much better than CVG there is a lot of idiots now on that website.


    Welcome back we just got rid off one idiot on here,he used to post a lot on cvg.They tend to be a good,civil,bunch on here.

  26. Resident evil 5 is a brilliant game IMO, just started using this site again recently much better than CVG there is a lot of idiots now on that website.


    Welcome back we just got rid off one idiot on here,he used to post a lot on cvg.They tend to be a good,civil,bunch on here.


    f**k you.

    Hunnymuffin. Mwah.

  27. :lol: Alright i retract my statement,they are the most argumentitive,condescending,unruly,bunch off people ever amassed anywhere. :wink:

  28. :lol: Alright i retract my statement,they are the most argumentitive,condescending,unruly,bunch off people ever amassed anywhere. :wink:

    Of, not off.

    We're also grammar Nazi's. Except for Bezza, who I think is secretly and Grandma Nazi with a hankerin' for computer savvy paedo bears.

  29. Sorry i always get my off's mixed up,and my where's. :oops:

    Who's grandma nazi ?.

  30. Hey I just got attacked by nazis in total war, they are not my friends. Nothing against any grandmas though, unless they are nazi grandmas, in which case they can die too. Harsh? They shouldn't have attacked.

  31. I imagine Nazi grandmas must all be dead by now?

    But yeah, I think you guys are all good :-)