7. Call of Duty
The Call of Duty series began as a relatively somber first-person shooter set in World War II, sharing stories of heroism and sacrifice in extraordinary circumstances. When it morphed into Modern Warfare, however, Infinity Ward started taking bigger creative risks with it. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare saw a nuclear explosion level an entire city, which felt pretty risque at the time, but Modern Warfare 2 took things to a whole new level with its infamous "No Russian" level where players take part in a terrorist attack on a civilian airport orchestrated to spark a new World War.
The series kept up this tactic, and given the often confused narratives of these games, it raised the question of whether COD was the right game to be exploring such weighty themes, or whether the developers were just seeking notoriety. Curiously, more recent installments have arguably gone in the opposite direction, with this year's Call of Duty: WW2 drawing criticism for its refusal to explore the horrors of the conflict in its cinematic campaign.
6. Hatred
Postal was originally placed higher on this list, but the sheer terror that Hatred offers moved it up a couple of spots. This game foregoes a lighthearted tone in favor of something much darker. In Hatred, you play a psychotic killer who wants nothing more than to wipe people out for the hell of it, which you achieve by blasting them at close range with an AK-47, or perhaps using a knife in a very visceral manner. The game is not for the squeamish, and has received countless negative reviews from critics. In fact, we're not sure who Hatred is for, even though it holds a bafflingly positive rating on Steam.
5. Bully
Bully is actually one of the least controversial games Rockstar has ever made in terms of its content. You control high-school student Jimmy as he tries to settle in at Bulworth Academy. He forms alliances with some groups, getting into fisticuffs with others. The story is quite interesting and the environment evokes a very particular and telling vision of the education system, while most of the things you can do are extremely benign. So, uh, what happened?
The problem was that the game was called "Bully". Bullying is a huge problem and the provocative title gave opportunistic controversy-chasers like US lawyer Jack Thompson and reactionary print media another opportunity to rip into Rockstar, who were already in their bad books for games like Grand Theft Auto. Rockstar walked into this one, really.
