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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games.
Bad Day L.A.
Generally unfavorable reviews
Based on 24 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 51 votes
Read user comments
Rate this game >
Game Info
Publisher: Aspyr Media
Developer: Enlight Software
Genre(s): Third-Person Action, Adventure
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: M (Mature)
Release Date: August 29, 2006
Summary
From the demented and brilliant mind of American McGee, renowned for his artistically extraordinary vision embodied by "American McGee's Alice", comes American McGee Presents: Bad Day L.A., a third-person action/adventure game with a tongue-in-cheek comedic twist. Set in modern day Los Angeles, Bad Day L.A. combines a fantastical art style, groundbreaking collaborative gameplay elements and a heavy dose of dark satire to create a truly unforgettable experience. In Bad Day L.A., players are thrust behind the shopping cart of a homeless man turned city-saving crusader, Anthony Williams, a reluctant hero who left behind the privileged life of a successful Hollywood agent after losing his self-respect. Anthony survives in his cocoon of destitution and isolation until Los Angeles comes under attack from zombies, terrorists, earthquakes and other untold disasters. Facing complete annihilation, Anthony is reluctantly forced to begin a cynical quest for salvation. Using only his street smarts and the environment to stay alive, he must save the very city and its citizens he despises, and, in the end, escape what has become a very Bad Day in L.A. [Enlight Software]
Cheat Codes & Hints: GameSpot Hints & Cheats
Also On The Web: Official Website
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
2404.org
A great game idea and an interesting story and scenario are not all that is required to make a fun game, yet that’s mostly what Bad Day LA has going for it. While McGee is absolutely worthy of the praise people heap upon him, he has allowed a game which fails to impress on nearly all levels to be released with his name on it.
Read Full Review >Worth Playing
For all its initial promise, Bad Day L.A. just isn't much fun in the final analysis. The humor is lowbrow and, at times, downright mean-spirited.
Read Full Review >PC Gamer UK
Great style but absolutely no substance. [Christmas 2006, p.70]
Gaming Nexus
Bad Day L.A. has all of the ingredients to become a memorable action game, but somewhere along the way the developers mixed in something sour to create one of the most disappointing games of the year.
Read Full Review >Edge Magazine
Bad Day LA is the game people often say they want and then ignore when it arrives; it prizes ambition over execution and flair over finesse and both pays the price and reaps the rewards for daring to do so. [Sept 2006, p.82]
Gamer 2.0
Clocking in at less than six hours it’s hardly entertaining, hardly funny and hardly worthy of your time. In fact, it’s a dreadful disappointment.
Read Full Review >GamerNode
American McGee, you blew us all away with Alice, but somewhere after that you turned down the wrong road. Please find your way again.
Read Full Review >Digital Entertainment News
Bad Day LA is a game that could have been so much more than it wound up being. In the end it feels rushed out the door and lands squarely in the bad end of the game spectrum. Take a pass.
Read Full Review >Jolt Online Gaming UK
We really do have to implore you, don’t let your curiosity get the better of you. Bad Day L.A. is dire.
Read Full Review >GameSpot
Bad Day LA has all the subtlety of a hammer, and the occasional commentary on the absurdities of modern life is drowned out by a constant barrage of uninspired vulgarity. Even the game's shock value rings hollow, and it doesn't distract from the fact that this third-person action game is short, ugly, and sloppy.
Read Full Review >GameSpy
A lot of chaos, sloppy gameplay and few laughs. To quote an adage that turns out to be especially apt for videogames: dying is easy; comedy is hard.
Read Full Review >IGN
There's little redeeming about a title that originally held such promise. Instead of being showered with creative gifts, hilarious jokes, and unflinching social commentary we get bludgeoned with tired toilet humor, witless satire, and artless gameplay. Let's just keep it simple. Don't buy this game. It's terrible.
Read Full Review >GameShark
If the game added a [few] more side missions that weren’t so repetitive, a lot less curing zombies and healing folks, and toned down the stereotyping racial humor, the game could have been fun to take a run through. Unfortunately, it’s the exact opposite of that.
Read Full Review >Game Revolution
You can turn down the volume, but you’re better off turning down this game. That’s harsh, but so are the graphics, the A.I. routines, the missions, the gameplay, and the characters.
Read Full Review >GameDaily
This third-person action game is filled with jokes that fall flat, shoddy production values, and offensive stereotypes.
Read Full Review >PC Gamer
This is a Red Alert on the Bad Game Threat Advisory meter, a third-rate ripoff of "Postal" so tasteless that I wanted to scrub myself with Lysol after getting up from the computer. [Dec. 2006, p.56]
G4 TV
Bad Day L.A. aims for the biting wit of the "Dave Chapelle Show" but ends up more akin to the jackassery of "Mind of Mencia." Just sort of sad and unfunny.
Read Full Review >Computer Games Magazine
Whatever you call it, it's guilty of one thing: not being funny. In fact, it's offensively unfunny. [Dec. 2006, p.70]
Games Radar (in-house)
We really wanted Bad Day L.A. to live up to its potential, which makes its suckitude feel even more than just bad; it's like a betrayal.
Read Full Review >PC Zone UK
An unpolished, bland mess of a game that doesn't deserve a single megabyte of your hard disk space...It ends up looking like shit as well as playing like it. [Mar 2007, p.68]
eToychest
All the action is staged on truly horribly designed levels that go out of their way to prevent exploration as clumsily as possible.
Read Full Review >GamingExcellence
If you watch Soul Plane three times in a row, or enjoy a nice plate of crap from time to time, then Bad Day L.A. is a hit for you, otherwise, avoid it like you would someone walking down the street covered in dog crap.
Read Full Review >1UP
It arrives looking like the work of someone who understands neither why we play games (to be entertained, not jerked around) nor the culture he's trying to parody.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this game is 8.1 (out of 10) based on 51 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
American M gave it a0:
It's not a terrible idea for a game, to be fair. Just a terrible game. I don't know why McGee keeps putting his name in the titles of these things. It's getting increasingly like selling dog-crap sculptures in your own image.
Mr. Orange gave it a0:
More American McGee crap. Stay away, very far away.
Dr. Oxford PhD gave it a0:
This game is bad in every way it is possible to be bad.
Dark Stalker gave it a0:
This game is the biggest piece of @#$! I have ever seen. I expected more after the brilliant Alice. I was very disappointed.
Julian M. gave it a7:
PEOPLE! Tell me, what do you want from this game? It's a nice action game with good atmosphere and crazy humor. If Anyone liked South Park and the Simpsons - take it. It's not a game for long midnights. One session should take about 30 min - 1 h. And then it gives lots of fun and laugh.
alk.: gave it a7:
Oh c'mon! It's a good game! Of course - it isn't wonderful, but I personally like a sense of humor in it.
Dude Dude gave it a7:
I like this game. I will admit that the gameplay is short and not so entertaining at times. Also the jokes can suck and be really racist, but its creative and entertaining to see some of the worst things happen in one day. Not that I'm a sick person who enjoys earthquakes and biological attacks, but in this video game you can have a laugh or two.
