American McGee presents: Bad Day L.A. (2006)

Why did I just complete a second playthrough of this game? Let's blame the 2L year of law school for melting my brain and forcing me to indulge in the morbid fascination I’ve had with Bad Day L.A for years. This is a frequent entry on "worst games of all time" lists, and while it is not a great experience, it is far from the broken mess one would expect. The controls are responsive (if uninspired) and it's filled with memorable moments. Its biggest sin (and judging by the other entries on these lists, the worst mistake a game can make) is that it is simply not funny, the script featuring bad jokes with non-existent comedic timing. That immediately undermines much of what the game hopes you will find entertaining and makes the crasser jokes even less savory (e.g. punting a baby, racial stereotypes). The rote gameplay does not help matters, with lazy level design and repetitive objectives that never take advantage of the game’s outlandish set-up.

Bad Day L.A. is not broken. It is boring, failing to deliver much in the way of “fun.” Fortunately, it is quite short and the attempt to send-up so many W. Bush-era fears does have an amusing throwback quality now. Playing this game did not make my day any better, but it surprisingly did not make it any worse. It is a fascinating bomb that squanders a premise full of potential on the least inspired gameplay imaginable. Now that it is abandonware, give it a shot if you’ve ever been similarly curious about this notorious flop.