1. Duke Nukem Forever (2011)

Absurdly long development times are perceived as harbingers of doom nowadays, and 2011’s Duke Nukem Forever serves as the poster boy of such a perception. Development spanned 15 years for Duke Nukem Forever, and it’s still in the Guinness Book of World Records today for that reason. Not releasing an entry in over a decade will no doubt poison a franchise, but the game’s quality also failed to garner optimism for ole’ Duke. For one, Forever’s design was outdated without actually, you know, being good. The pacing tries to ape Duke Nukem 3D, but falls on its face due to the lack of viscerality the former had and the incredibly repetitive level design. Duke Nukem Forever soured players with its cringy humor too, yet I believe it could’ve been charming if some creativity was put into it. Remember how cool it was to run into a corpse of Luke Skywalker in Duke Nukem 3D? Or the unique visual aesthetics of levels like the “Escape From LA” stage to the 2001 Monolith on the moon? Duke Nukem Forever failed to use its raunchy referential charm in creative and fun ways, leading to a boring time embarrassingly cringing at the screen for many players.

2. Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Another 4th game in the respective series with a troubled dev cycle was Dragon Age: The Veilguard. While The Veilguard didn’t bomb quite as hard as Duke Nukem Forever, its tone is similarly to blame for its meager performance. Unlike the gritty (and very bloody in the case of Origins) realistic medieval tone of the previous Dragon Age games, The Veilguard is lit up in bright purples and sanitized almost like an ‘E for everyone’ title at times. Even the enemy designs lean in the cartoony direction with dragons that hardly instill any sense of fear or urgency. But it’s the awkward writing and dialogue that really disappointed a lot of fans. Instead of working you way through an origin story through blood, sweet, and tears, your character is just instantly accepted as ‘the hero’ of the narrative. Teammates rarely argue with you and often feel more like cheerleader social workers than elite warriors. At least the combat feels satisfying, but many have lamented the series distancing away from RPG mechanics since Inquisition, and The Veilguard is the series at its most streamlined and RPG-lite.

3. Mirror’s Edge Catalyst

Unlike Duke Nukem Forever or The Veilguard, Mirror’s Edge fans don’t mind a return to the series in the style of Catalyst. The main reason Mirror’s Edge has been dormant since 2016 is because DICE and EA have been focusing almost exclusively on reviving the Battlefield franchise. And thanks to recent gaming trends of big companies not giving small series’ a chance, it’s unlikely we’ll see another Mirror’s Edge title. But Catalyst didn’t exactly do everything right. The story was incredibly bog-standard, with characters that fell flat for a majority of players. The main reason to play the game was the excellent parkour movement, and that’s something Catalyst opened up substantially thanks to its more open structure. However, many locations felt copy-pasted, adding a sense of bloat that didn’t exist in the first game. Catalyst is still recommended by fans of the short-lived series, but its bump in quality from the first game, as well as DICE being busy elsewhere, doesn’t leave a lot of room for a series return.

4. Bionic Commando (2009 reboot)

Bionic Commando’s gritty 2009 reboot effectively killed the franchise due to a paltry 27,000 US units sold in its first month. Capcom’s top brass criticized the outsourced dev team for being difficult to work with, affirming their hesitancy to outsource overseas that would reverberate throughout the company for years. We previously cited Bionic Commando as an example of nonsensical story twists in games, and for good reason. This reboot is laughably campy despite its attempt at high stakes grit. The dude’s arm is his wife for crying out loud. But it wasn’t just story that players couldn’t take seriously, it’s also the janky movement with the arm rope slinging and the average shooting and combat mechanics. I’m glad the Bionic Commando reboot exists, if for the memes and campy ‘B-movie’ quality alone, but it also helped convince Capcom to shelf the series, and that’s a shame considering how iconic the original 2D titles were.

5. Saints Row (2022)

It’s been three years and I still haven’t encountered anybody who likes the Saints Row reboot. On paper, the ingredients for a decent Saints Row experience are there. But the exucation is severely half-baked. The open world design is uninspired with a plethora of repetitive side missions. Even the humor is disappointing, something the series always differentiated itself with. Saints Row was always known as the more goofy GTA, with well-written gags and scenarios that managed to get a chuckle out of gamers. But the reboot is anything but that, going for a more serious tone in-between jokes that fall flat on their face. Seeing how poor sales were and the terrible critical reception, it’s very unlikely we’ll see a new Saints Row anytime soon.

6. Lost Planet 3

Lost Planet 3 is undoubtedly the black sheep of the series. It’s the only entry developed by an outsourced western team, it didn’t heavily feature mechs in combat, and was panned by critics and the fandom alike. If relegating mechs to a minor role wasn’t enough of blow to fans, the repetitive side missions, bland level design, and less fluid combat sealed the deal. At least you’re still fighting Akrids in a snowy environment, but besides that, the game is hardly recognizable from the past two entries.

7. Crackdown 3

I’m not going to pretend that the Crackdown series was a household name worthy of GOTY discussions or anything, but the first two titles showed a lot of promise for the arcady GTA/Saints Row alternative. Crackdown 2 in particular was just a ton of fun to let loose and enjoy the bonkers open-world mayhem in. And the third game had a lot of hype leading to release, with none other than Terry Crews starring as the main city-destroying protagonist. But even longtime fans couldn’t find much to enjoy with Crackdown 3. The world map lacked variety, basically feeling like the same three nighttime city blocks copy/pasted throughout. The missions and gameplay don’t do much to make up for level design either, forming a repetitive loop of basic tasks over and over again. There’s not even anything fun to collect; with ability orbs comprising the majority of world secrets. I don’t even think Crackdown 3 would be appealing if it released decades ago; it’ll be a miracle if we see another entry any time in the near future.

8. The Order: 1886

Everyone talked about the life-like graphical fidelity of The Order at the time of the PS4’s launch. It was the defacto tech demo game for the console for good reason, showcasing impressive lighting and texture details. But hardly anything noteworthy could be said about any other aspect of the game. I can’t in good conscious call The Order a bad game; it’s just that it wasn’t much of a game to begin with at the asking price. The campaign takes around six hours to complete with little more than some collectibles to warrant further play sessions. It’s not just that it’s brief though, the content is somewhat superficial with its many quick-time events and bog-standard cover shooting. It’s one of those games that’s fine to rent for the story and setting, but you’ll forget about in a couple weeks. While The Order never developed into a series, it was initially planned to be one, with a sequel on the docket until the studio, Ready At Dawn, shuttered in 2024.

9. Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days

Finally, we have the controversial cult classic, Kane & Lynch 2. This game was bound to have mixed reviews from its inception. Despite how it appears, Kane & Lynch 2 is a highly unconventional art piece of a game. The camerawork is intentionally amateurish and, at times, nauseating, in an effort to simulate cop cams or body cams. Plenty critics called out the camera as terrible and superficial, but it’s also the element that appealed to its fans the most. It’s really the five hour campaign and repetitive cover shooting that resulted in the general poor reviews and lackluster sales. And with IO Interactive moving on with their enormously successful Hitman games and upcoming James Bond title, it’s unlikely Kane & Lynch will get another opportunity to gain a following beyond that small cult classic crowd.

According to Weerasuriya, a 10-page pitch was written for follow-ups to The Order: 1886. Among the new features for the sequels would have been large-scaled battles and multiplayer. Two sequels were part of the pitch: The Order 1891, and The Order 1899. The story for what would have become a trilogy was already mapped out by Weerasuriya. There were even plans to take the franchise further into the future, with a script also being ready for a story in the series taking place some time in the 20th century.

However, as we know, sequels to The Order: 1886 would never be made. Back in February, Ready at Dawn studio co-founder Andrea Pessino had spoken about how proposals for sequels were ultimately rejected by Sony owing to the middling critical reception for the game. Despite the rejection, however, Pessino noted that the studio ended up avoiding a bullet, since working on a sequel would have meant “signing our life away” for Ready at Dawn.

“It would have been an incredible sequel, I can tell you that for a fact,” said Pessino. “We pitched the sequel to Sony regardless of [the critical reception] and, in a way, it’s better that they passed because if we thought we were going to be screwed before, man, with the sequel, we would have signed our life away.”

According to Pessino, Ready at Dawn already went through quite a bit of trouble during the development of The Order: 1886, including missing out on payments due to missed milestones, which was owed to having to work on different aspects of the game than was originally planned. This largely came about because the shooter was being developed as one of the landmark releases for the PS4 in terms of visual fidelity. Pessino also notes that a sequel would have likely had a smaller budget.

“We were going to do it just because we wanted to deliver it to the players but we would have been…,” said Pessino. “Terrible budget, budget would be small, we would have been completely at the mercy of any decisions and things because we had no leverage whatsoever.”

“We were not in a position to negotiate a reasonable contract; they could have done whatever. But we would’ve taken it because we wanted a chance to redeem the franchise. All of the groundwork was really, really good, I can tell you that for a fact. There was so much there that just needed to be built on.”

The Order: 1886 is available on PS4, and can be played on the PS5 through the use of backwards compatibility. For more details, check out our review from back then.

In an interview with MinnMax, Pessino spoke about how the studio had pitched a sequel to The Order: 1886, describing it as “an incredible sequel”. However, Sony passed on it, referring to the move as Ready at Dawn potentially having “signed our life away” with the sequel.

“It would have been an incredible sequel, I can tell you that for a fact,” said Pessino. “We pitched the sequel to Sony regardless of [the critical reception] and, in a way, it’s better that they passed because if we thought we were going to be screwed before, man, with the sequel, we would have signed our life away.”

Pessino also revealed details about Ready at Dawn’s relationship with Sony; since The Order: 1886 was set to be a big landmark title in terms of visual fidelity for the PS4, Sony had insisted on milestones to be met. These milestones were missed, however, when the studio had to work on other aspects of the title, leading to missing out on payments. As such, working on a sequel would have led the studio into a worse position than they already were.

“We were going to do it just because we wanted to deliver it to the players but we would have been…,” said Pessino. “Terrible budget, budget would be small, we would have been completely at the mercy of any decisions and things because we had no leverage whatsoever.”

“We were not in a position to negotiate a reasonable contract; they could have done whatever. But we would’ve taken it because we wanted a chance to redeem the franchise. All of the groundwork was really, really good, I can tell you that for a fact. There was so much there that just needed to be built on.”

The Order: 1886 was originally released in 2015. While its short length and limited interactivity played an important part in its middling critical reception, the game still had an interesting story that ended on a cliffhanger. Creative director Ru Weerasuriya had also mentioned the potential for a sequel to the game all the way back in 2016.

Curiously, the turn of this last decade saw rumours popping up about a potential PS5-exclusive sequel to The Order: 1886. However, with five years having passed since then, little more has come up about the game.

After its work on The Order: 1886, Ready at Dawn worked with Meta to release a slate of VR titles. After the success of VR game Lone Echo, the studio was acquired by Meta, and released Lone Echo 2. Ultimately, however, the studio was shut down last year.

For more details about The Order: 1886, check out our review from back when it first came out. We gave it a score of 7 out of 10, praising its impressive visuals but also criticising its over-reliance of quick-time events and the abrupt end to its story.

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes

Serving as a prologue to Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain released the year after, two-hour long Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes introduced fresh stealth and traversal mechanics, manoeuvres that became staples in MGSV’s proper release. Set a few months after Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker in 1975, Ground Zeroes follows Snake’s infiltration of American black site Camp Omega as he attempts a daring rescue. Renowned for presenting newfound immersion to the series, the main complaint with Ground Zeroes is it was just too short.

The Order: 1886

Despite its frustrating overreliance on then-outdated QTEs, The Order: 1886 oozed style and atmosphere. It’s steampunk story set within a vampire-enriched Victorian London expressed deep imagination too. Perhaps its sky-high expectation was ultimately it’s undoing but there’s enough here to warrant a sequel. Interestingly, developer Ready at Dawn have since been acquired by Meta, and Sony themselves renewed the IP as recently as December 2021 – a VR sequel, then, surely isn’t out of the question.

]]> 606230 https://gamingbolt.com/top-30-most-disappointing-video-games Fri, 19 Apr 2024 11:33:12 +0000 https://gamingbolt.com/?p=584200 You know the saying – A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is bad forever. What about those games that disappoint, no matter the development time and resources allocated? What about those sequels which can’t measure up to their predecessors, let alone stand out as noteworthy titles on their own? Such titles are common in the games industry, especially given the sheer number of sequels and blockbusters year in and year out. Check out our top 30 picks for the most disappointing games.

30. Mirror’s Edge Catalyst

The fact that the world of Mirror’s Edge had such untapped potential, to the point that many desired a sequel years after its launch, is a testament to its impact. The first-person parkour model would be in other titles, most notably Dying Light, but the focus on platforming and skill-based jumping, not to mention the gorgeous dystopian world, helped it stand out.

So when DICE finally announced Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, which offered a more open world, the excitement was palpable, even if it was revealed to be a reboot. While it retained the fluid movement and responsive controls, the world felt barren, the story rudimentary and the ending inane. DICE has no plans to return to the franchise, and for all its appealing aspects, Mirror’s Edge is pretty much dead.

29. Rise of the Ronin

As a fan of Team Ninja’s Nioh series and even finding some enjoyment in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, it’s sad to see how Rise of the Ronin turned out. On the one hand, it’s earned some praise for its combat and even the directions you can take the story. On the other hand, critics have expressed disappointment with its open world, English voice acting, story and visuals.

While there were plenty of comparisons to Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Tsushima, I feel that they’re both distinct enough and trying to do their own thing. So why is Rise of the Ronin so underwhelming? Well, for starters, it’s a PS5 exclusive in development for seven years, with Sony’s support, which lends certain expectations. This isn’t to say that all reviews were equally hard on the game, as indicated by the 76 Metascore, but ranking fifth in physical sales for the UK at launch and dropping to 14th place the next week is nothing short of disappointing.

28. Need for Speed (2015)

Years of requests for a new Need for Speed Underground title and Electronic Arts delivered…sort of. Employing real-world legends like Ken Block, it was ultimately about a cast of street racers struggling to get noticed. While the customization and visuals received praise, the uninteresting story, AI prone to rubberbanding, multiplayer and lack of certain features (including drag racing) soured fans. There was also the always-online requirement with no option to pause. It would have qualified as one of the weaker games in the franchise, but then Payback happened and drastically lowered the bar.

27. Biomutant

When a game like Biomutant promises a massive world with choices and consequences, extensive character customization, vehicles, deep combat mechanics and much more, it’s hard to not get hyped. The fact that it was five years in the making, with Experiment 101 consisting of former Just Cause developers, further contributed to this. However, all those intriguing bits turned out to be incredibly shallow, from the story and combat to the mission design and annoying narrator. An update helped improve things, and with a million units sold in a few months, it was far from a flop, but it still has a ways to go.

26. The Order: 1886

Ready at Dawn’s The Order: 1886 received extensive attention for its graphics, with gorgeous facial animation and lighting. The presentation also received significant praise, but everything else left much to be desired. The campaign was ephemeral, with the disappointing story (despite such an intriguing setting and premise) and over-reliance on quick-time events bogging down the overall gameplay. Ending on a cliffhanger with no prospects for a sequel didn’t help either.

25. Exoprimal

Piloting exosuits to battle hordes of dinosaurs sounds like a good idea in theory, but what is live service? The developer’s to join the trend resulted in Exoprimal, which featured a story focused on time traveling, simulations run by a rogue AI called Leviathan, and so much dino slaying. The story felt disjointed, with the characters getting little development, and the lackluster map variety and repetitive objectives brought the experience down. The developer has expanded on the different modes at least while also adding new Alpha variants of Exosuits (Beta variants are coming soon), but its launch state was just so underwhelming.

24. Star Fox Zero

Not that Star Fox had the best run since peaking with Star Fox 64, but Zero had PlatinumGames involved. Surely, the Wii U controls would allow for a compelling shoot-’em-up experience. As you’ve probably guessed, that isn’t the case, as the controls were criticized for their unwieldiness. It also didn’t help that the experience heavily mirrored Star Fox 64, though some critics enjoyed the approach. With less than 500,000 copies sold, it flopped hard, and there hasn’t been a follow-up ever since.

23. Thief (2014)

One of the most beloved cult classic stealth series of all time, Thief was considered as revolutionary for PC players as Metal Gear Solid for consoles. So when Eidos Montreal announced a reboot, there was excitement and perhaps a little trepidation, especially after Garrett’s old voice actor was replaced. A dull performance was the least of the game’s problems, with the level design, AI and story all feeling out of sorts. While opinions settled more on the slightly above side, Thief (2014) couldn’t match up to the original games in player freedom and choice.

22. Days Gone

The praise for Days Gone, Bend Studio’s open-world zombie survival title, cropped up most when it was free on PlayStation Plus. Full credit to the team for sticking with it and adding sizable new content and features, but that’s not the launch version. The latter was roundly criticized for its excessive bugs, performance issues and loading screens (that too after delays for more polish), to say nothing of the bland story and awful dialogue. The open world, the motorcycle maintenance mechanics, the shooting – nearly everything had its downsides.

Make no mistake – there were some positives, from the immense undead hordes to the progression, and it notched up some impressive sales numbers, topping the UK physical charts for three weeks in a row and outselling the combined total of Bend’s previous games. However, it was nowhere near the high bar set by first-party Sony titles. Perhaps for this reason, the publisher didn’t greenlight a sequel and directors John Garvin and Jeff Ross subsequently left the studio. As beloved as it is now, there’s no denying that Days Gone underwhelmed at launch.

21. RAGE 2

For its time, RAGE was trying to do something technologically ahead of its time courtesy of id Tech 5. However, it faced criticism for its overall story and forgettable characters, not to mention the aggravating cliffhanger at the end. The fact that it launched after the more successful Borderlands, which captured the Mad Max feel of a post-apocalyptic wasteland far better, also didn’t help. Nevertheless, it did receive some praise for its visuals, combat, side missions and AI.

With RAGE 2, Avalanche Studios decided to go for a more traditional open-world first-person shooter with vehicles. You had the usual enemy camps to clear, some points of interest and enemy convoys to assault, while the story was a paint-by-numbers “gather the MacGuffins” before a showdown with the big bad. The combat and visuals were still worthy of praise, but everything else felt further downgraded over the original, and it had microtransactions.

20. Immortals of Aveum

Coming from a new team with a five-year development cycle and emphasis on a single-player campaign with no microtransactions, Immortals of Aveum was a noble endeavor. Problems arose with the overall story, graphical issues on consoles, iffy dialogue (with the cast trying its very best to elevate it), and controls. With the emphasis on fast-paced mage combat, encounters could feel repetitive, ultimately underwhelming despite some impressive set pieces. Again, it received updates and new content while attracting a following, but Immortals of Aveum failed to leave a mark.

19. Shenmue 3

A sequel that fans (and creator Yu Suzuki) craved since the second game’s release in 2001. An announcement years in the making with $6 million in crowd-funding. A launch finally happening four years later, mired in controversy due to Epic Games Store exclusivity and a publishing deal with Deep Silver. Shenmue 3 finally arrived in 2015 and was panned for its outdated mechanics and storyline that ended on yet another cliffhanger. While some found the antiquated mechanics to be the appeal, it ended up feeling inconsequential and just another chapter in the ongoing story which would likely end.

18. The Callisto Protocol

Spiritual successors to classics from the original creators never fail to generate attention, as seen with Striking Distance’s The Callisto Protocol. This Dead Space tribute sported gorgeous visuals punctuated by over-the-top and grotesque death sequences. Delays and declarations of crunch didn’t help, nor did the performance issues at launch. Of course, despite all that, the experience was dragged for being overtly linear with shoddy melee combat, no option to skip the death scenes, a short playtime, heaps of unrealized potential and ultimately, not measuring up to the legacy of Dead Space.

17. Rainbow Six Extraction

After the success of the limited-time mode Outbreak in Rainbow Six Siege, Ubisoft did what any self-serving publisher would do – spin it off into a new game and monetize it. Extraction would take a while to launch, initially announced as Rainbow Six Quarantine in 2019 (and eventually abandoning the name for obvious reasons).

It would finally arrive in January 2022 after multiple delays and revealed itself as a session of interconnected areas with procedurally generated objectives and enemies. The sparse content, terrible objectives, bad AI, laughable story and repetition sadly made for a dull experience. While the developer would tout three million players in the first week (likely in no small part thanks to Game Pass), you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who remembered it past the first month.

16. Crackdown 3

Before Microsoft pushed cloud gaming via Game Pass, it hyped the computational powers of the same and how they would revolutionize gaming. Crackdown 3 was an example, touted as having a fully destructible open world. It eventually relegated into a separate mode, which quickly died out, while the base campaign launched after years of delay and generated ire for its archaic, repetitive design. Could you have some mindless fun? Sure, but it was a far cry from what Microsoft hyped the project to be and far from the next big leap for the franchise.

15. Resident Evil 3 (2020)

Resident Evil 3: Nemesis has always occupied a weird place due to its shorter length and unorthodox features (like the titular villain). Releasing in the shadow of the brilliant Resident Evil 2 didn’t help – unfortunately, that same fate awaited Resident Evil 3 remake. Despite some fantastic visuals and combat, it was more notable for omitting areas (city hall, the clock tower and more were nowhere to be seen) or changing some of the original’s most iconic moments.

Barring the final sequence, none of them felt like an improvement. The fact that Mercenaries wasn’t included, but we got Resistance, a terrible asymmetrical multiplayer mode, didn’t help. Even with sales at 8.4 million, Resident Evil 3 is considered the weakest of the modern remakes.

14. Wolfenstein Youngblood

MachineGames delivered not one but two excellent Wolfenstein titles, reviving the franchise for a new generation with some incredibly cinematic storytelling that remains impressive to this day. How did it follow these up? Why, with a co-op title focusing on B.J. Blazkowicz’s daughters, Jessie and Zofia. The initial gameplay showings weren’t terrible, and the prospect of venturing to Paris to take out Nazis was appealing.

Unfortunately, Wolfenstein Youngblood fundamentally failed to capture what made the previous games so successful. Enemies were bullet sponges, causing players to constantly run out of ammo, and the missions were forgettable, with bizarre hub-like stages that felt utterly unnecessary to the campaign’s flow. Throw in terrible AI when playing solo and microtransactions, and it felt like a poorly conceived side story rather than a proper follow-up to MachineGames’ hits.

13. Forspoken

You want to believe that Luminous Productions had good intentions when designing Forspoken, first announced as Project Athia. Boasting a premier writing staff and billed as a two-year PS5 exclusive, it could have been the developer’s next big thing. While the combat wasn’t terrible, it did little to uplift the barren open world and dull activities.

The initially awful dialogue and plot also weighed it down, but even as things improved over time, the story was over quickly. It wasn’t long before the developer declared that Forspoken’s sales were “lackluster” and by May, Luminous was reorganized and merged into the publisher.

12. Mighty No. 9

Also considered one of the worst games ever made, Mighty No. 9’s development history would have suggested otherwise. It was helmed by a new team at Comcept who promised a spiritual successor to the Mega Man franchise when the developer had effectively kept the series on the back burner.

Then the delays happened, and that whole second Kickstarter campaign to fund a completely different project. By the time Mighty No. 9 launched, it was beset by performance issues, terrible voice acting, lack of content and an overall feel that screamed “cheap imitation” rather than spiritual successor.

11. Skull and Bones

Before its multitude of delays that whittled any faith that anyone had in the developer to deliver a competent pirate game, Skull and Bones had some potential. Its first announcement trailer gave the vibe of an Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag but a stronger focus on naval combat that fans had demanded for years. Of course, then the delays happened, followed by reports of reboots, behind-the-scenes issues, incompetent upper management, leadership departures, etc. When Skull and Bones was close to launching – for real this time – Yves Guillemot made the baffling decision to call it a quadruple-A game instead of the tried and true “triple-A.”

Upon launch, and to no one’s surprise, Skull and Bones was a live service grind for “loot”, punctuated by increasingly dull missions and tedious back and forth. Good thing it sold for $70 and included microtransactions. The results were telling – less than one-fourth of Sea of Thieves’ launch sales in the UK and allegedly 850,000 players, including those who played the free trial.

10. Marvel’s Avengers

Marvel’s Avengers didn’t have the best of reveals, competing against the first-ever gameplay of Final Fantasy 7 Remake on the same E3 showcase. Nevertheless, despite how many felt about the lack of resemblance to the Marvel Cinematic Universe actors, it didn’t look terrible either. Live service was seeing a downturn, but with Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal at the helm, how could it go wrong?

Cut to the underwhelming beta and full release, and the distinction between Marvel’s Avengers and a title like Marvel’s Spider-Man became clearer. Despite unique kits for its heroes and some decent visuals, the mission design, objectives and loot were subpar. Post-launch support added some new heroes and content, which did little to raise the player count, and it was subsequently delisted from storefronts in September 2023.

9. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3

While one may joke that Call of Duty is a disappointment year in and year out, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 felt especially egregious. Reports indicated that it was to be an expansion to Modern Warfare 2 focusing on the Mexican cartel that underwent a reboot into a full-fledged game. Calling it that feels dirty due to the painfully short campaign with its lackluster and ultimately inconsequential story that sets up yet another sequel.

Perhaps even worse is the Open Combat Missions, promising sandbox-style action but coming off as lazy with simplistic objectives. Multiplayer was knee-capped out of the gate with the focus on remastered maps for its core 6v6 modes, and despite some solid gameplay, the age-old issues of skill-based matchmaking (or at least how COD approaches it) and connection issues still cropped up. Zombies was the only good thing about this release, but that’s been abandoned after some lackluster updates. At least the microtransactions continue to roll in.

8. Anthem

After the mess of Mass Effect Andromeda, it was the turn of the main BioWare team to produce something special. It was…a live service looter shooter, which emphasized co-op over the developer’s tried and true single-player story-driven approach. As impressive as the initial gameplay reveal seemed, it was reportedly fake – Anthem’s development period was plagued with issues, from crunch to terrible management.

The result is a mess, with poor characterization and dialogue, bad mission design and objectives, a baffling lack of quality of life, performance issues, bugs, glitches, unimaginative loot and a barren endgame. Despite changes and updates, Anthem’s attempt at a do-over was ultimately rejected by EA, and support is effectively dead (though servers remain available).

7. Ghost Recon Breakpoint

Speaking of an underwhelming launch, we have the developer going from Ghost Recon Wildlands, which grew into something great to Ghost Recon Breakpoint and its removal of AI teammates, looter shooter elements, bland open world, bullet sponge drones, bugs, glitches, the list goes on. Why did the developer suddenly want to adopt a shared world shooter approach with the franchise (besides live service revenue)? No one knows, but it was disastrous. The developer would eventually claw a good game out of it, one that still fell short of Wildlands, but at least offered a more tactical experience without worrying about gear scores.

6. Resident Evil 6

After Resident Evil 5, impressions of the franchise weren’t exactly the most positive, with many feeling it veered too much into a more action-heavy approach. Even if Resident Evil 6’s trailers were full of action, there was still the hype behind seeing so many fan favorite characters (and Jake) tearing it up together. The result offered some pretty good combat but flopped in multiple ways. The characters felt off, and the overall pacing of walk a few feet, cutscene, rinse, repeat was a killer. While Resident Evil 6 saw decent sales, its critical reception was in the gutter, but thankfully, it led to the rebooting in Resident Evil 7: biohazard.

5. Payday 3

Considering the ups and downs that Payday 2 saw, it was in a pretty good spot by the time Starbreeze stopped producing new content. Payday 3 would have been the perfect opportunity to start over with a fresh new slate, avoiding its predecessor’s mistakes while ushering in a new age of heist-focused co-op gameplay. Of course, it wasn’t to be with the always-online requirement and lack of an offline mode souring fans early.

This would come back to bite the development team when server and matchmaking issues ensured fans couldn’t play for days. Even after their resolution, the sequel faced heavy criticism for removing features present in Payday 2, whether it was the pre-heist planning map, text chat, or just the option to unready. Sales were below expectations, and given the poor reception, Starbreeze has replaced its CEO to try and turn the ship around. Thus far, it doesn’t look like it’s happening anytime soon.

4. Redfall

Arkane Austin, which specialized in immersive sims like Dishonored and Prey – didn’t inspire too much confidence when it was revealed to be working on a co-op looter shooter. The lack of an offline mode or progress for other players except the host in co-op also didn’t help. On the bright side, the state of Redfall made both issues feel like water under the bridge.

Horrendous AI, performance issues, bugs galore (including catchy music playing during serious scenes), horrible bosses, a dull story, lackluster characterization, bad mission design – everything went wrong. You may argue that expectations were low, but Redfall sunk lower, and still flounders despite some major updates.

3. Battlefield 2042

This one hurt for longtime fans of the franchise, especially coming off of a relatively disappointing Battlefield 5. With no campaign, Battlefield 2042 promised a return to everything that made the series great, wrapped in the veneer of modern combat and massive 128-player battles. Reports emerged of troubled development, and the beta earned some ire, but fans were still hopeful.

Cue the disappointment and savage response on Steam, with the sequel becoming one of the lowest-rated games in the platform’s history overnight. From the removal of the class system to the visuals, destructibility, map design and the scoreboard – that damned scoreboard – Battlefield 2042 was a letdown in every way. It’s improved over the years but is still a far cry from the series’ peak.

2. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League

Before it was revealed as a live service looter shooter with a boring mission design, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League had a suitable amount of hype. How could fans not be excited when it was Rocksteady’s first new game since 2015’s Batman: Arkham Knight? After its disastrous showing last year, it was delayed almost a year from its original release. Maybe it would add an offline mode and tone down its live service elements, including but not limited to microtransactions and a battle pass.

As it turns out, none of these things happened, and when Suicide Squad launched, it was begrudged for its terrible mission design, repetitive gameplay and boring endgame. After Warner Bros. admitted that it fell short of expectations, Rocksteady would focus on fixing the plethora of network issues and bugs while prepping the first post-launch season. Unsurprisingly, Season of the Joker was another miserable disappointment with its utter lack of story content, boring “new” missions, annoying grind to unlock the Joker as a playable character and audacity to charge for immediate access.

1. Mass Effect Andromeda

Of all the games to disappoint over the years, this one probably hurt the most. It’s not like Mass Effect Andromeda was the next mainline title in the franchise or one that had the budget and resources of Mass Effect 2 and 3. However, as the first new entry in five years, fans looked forward to it all the same. The potential for a new story and setting with an open-world twist also sparked interest. When Andromeda launched, it was quickly clowned for its bugs, facial animation and dialogue.

Those who dived deeper discovered barren planets, uninteresting characters who couldn’t hold a candle to the original heroes and a low-stakes plot. The underwhelming critical reception and sales wouldn’t outright kill the franchise entirely (as evidenced by the recent Legendary Edition and upcoming sequel), but it was the first time that fans began to question BioWare. Of course, Anthem happened, and the rest is history, but Mass Effect Andromeda hurt more.

THE LAST OF US PART 2

We had to start with this one, because it’s hard to think of many games that have ever been as divisive as The Last of Us Part 2. From a gameplay and design perspective, there’s little to dislike about this stealth horror action-adventure gem, but its story was one that continues to provoke strong reactions one way or another to this day. With half-true spoilers leaking out before the game came out, The Last of Us Part 2 seemed like it was on this path even before launch.

METAL GEAR SOLID 5: THE PHANTOM PAIN

Hideo Kojima has a knack for directing games that people are either going to love or hate (except, of course, when he creates ones that everyone just universally loves), and MGS5 is surely one of those divisive works, which is putting it mildly. From not being a finished product to controversial narrative decisions, there was plenty about The Phantom Pain that rubbed many the wrong way. At the same time, gameplay-wise, it was nothing short of a revelation, so you’re also going to get plenty of people telling you that it’s one of the best stealth games ever made.

BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT

You know a trilogy is an all-timer when its weakest instalment is supposedly Arkham Knight, but compared to just how ubiquitous the love for Arkham Asylum and City was, Knight definitely had way more detractors. From predictable twists and revelations related to the central villain, to a bloated open world with an excess of repeated side activities, to, of course, is controversial implementation of the Batmobile, Arkham Knight stumbled in enough areas for many to take issue with it.

FALLOUT 4

For about a decade or so, Bethesda consistently delivered genre-defining open world RPGs with the likes of Morrowind, Oblivion, Fallout 3, and Skyrim, but Fallout 4 was definitely a step down from that. It was, of course, still a great game in its own right, thanks in large part to its compelling world, but there were many who felt that it shed too much of what made Bethesda RPGs great, from the simplified progression mechanics to the poorly implemented dialogue wheel.

STARFIELD

In hindsight, the consensus on Fallout 4 has grown a lot stronger with time, and it’s fair to say that Starfield has contributed to that by being significantly more divisive. With renewed emphasis on player choice and role playing mechanics and a rich sci-fi setting, there’s a lot to love about Bethesda’s space-faring epic. At the same time, it’s also got its fair share of detractors, drawing criticism for the segmented structure of its world, how much emphasis it places on procedural generation, its technical issues, and more.

GRAND THEFT AUTO 4

Even Grand Theft Auto 4, one of the highest-rated and best-selling games of all time, can end up being a divisive game- which, in fact, became clear within weeks of its release back in 2008. Its move to a new engine, its compelling story, and its obsessively detailed open world drew widespread praise, but GTA 4 also represented a shift in tone for the franchise, with a larger focus on grittier storytelling, in sharp contrast to the goofier, over-the-top style of its predecessors (and its successor). For many, that felt antithetical to the whole point of the franchise.

DAYS GONE

Days Gone’s fandom has continued to grow in the time since its release. Its systemic open world is one that constantly encourages players to engage with the plethora of content it has on offer, and from its bike-related survival-lite mechanics to the Freaker hordes, it uses its post-apocalyptic setting in some really interesting ways. It was, however, a technically rough game, and that roughness translated to some gameplay and storytelling areas as well, which meant there were many that it just failed to stick the landing for.

RISE OF THE RONIN

Team Ninja’s first crack at the open world genre hasn’t enjoyed the sort of widespread acclaim that the developer saw with, say, the Nioh games. Rise of the Ronin launched recently for PS5, and was on the receiving end of criticism directed at its generic open world, rough storytelling, and technical deficiencies. It does, however, have plenty of staunch defenders, thanks in large part to its excellent combat (typically enough for a Team Ninja game) and the consistently enjoyable traversal mechanics.

DARK SOULS 2

Probably the weirdest and most experimental of all FromSoftware Soulslikes, Dark Souls 2 is considered by many to be the legendary studio’s black sheep. It’s received plenty of criticism for everything from larger issues like its level design and inconsistent difficulty balancing, to relatively smaller one, to frequently unreliable hit detection. It is, however, also one of the more mechanically interesting games in the series. Is it rougher around the edges than its peers? Perhaps- but to many, that’s what makes it stand out more.

RESIDENT EVIL 3 REMAKE

After 2019’s RE2 remake, expectations from Resident Evil 3’s own remake were sky-high, but the game ended up falling short of many of them. Nemesis wasn’t at all the terrifying pursuer enemy many had hoped he would be, significant portions of the original game had been cut out, and for many, the game was just too short. At the end of the day, it was still a fun, well-produced, polished survival horror game in its own right, but by not hitting the level of quality that most other Resident Evil games have in recent years, it became a notable low spot in the series a fair few that played it.

THE ORDER: 1886

Sony’s first-party output was firing on all cylinders in the second half of the PS4’s lifecycle, but is early efforts were much more hit-and-miss. The Order: 1886 was a perfect example of that. Ready at Dawn’s third-person shooter was an absolutely gorgeous looking game, on top of boasting a fascinating setting and solid, cinematic storytelling. That endeared it to many, but it was also deemed by a large section of its player base to be not only too short, but also bland and unimaginative from a gameplay perspective.

FINAL FANTASY 16

Final Fantasy games are pretty much guaranteed to always be divisive, and Final Fantasy 16 continued that tradition. Are you going to find a large number of fans who’ll swear by its stylish combat, stellar production values, and standard-setting boss fights? Absolutely, you will. You will, however, also find just as many people who’ll call out the game’s complete lack of that tradamark Final Fantasy goofiness, its extreme streamlining of role playing mechanics, and how bland many of its side quests were.

SILENT HILL 4: THE ROOM

Silent Hill 2 was the last time we got a Silent Hill game that was universally liked (unless you want to count P.T.), but Silent Hill 4: The Room is perhaps the most divisive of them all. It’s a game of incredibly high highs, but also depressingly low lows. It’s got weirdly designed puzzles, frustrating design choices, and key narrative beats that just don’t hit at all, but it balances the scale with some genuinely chilling psychological horror, top notch visuals (especially for the time), and memorable story moments.

MASS EFFECT 3

Mass Effect 3 is surely an obvious pick for a list such as this one, to the point of being unavoidable. After the incredible heights BioWare touched with Mass Effect 2, expectations from the trilogy’s conclusion were in the stratosphere, but thanks to a controversial ending and much less emphasis being placed on choice-and-consequence mechanics than expected, the backlash against the RPG shooter was strong. Mass Effect 3’s fans, however (of which there are a fair few) will tell you that, in spite of those issues, thanks to its tight shooting mechanics, thrilling set pieces and combat encounters, and an excellent cast of characters, it was still one hell of a game.

DEATH STRANDING

It makes sense to sign off with another Hideo Kojima game. With Death Stranding, Kojima and his team once again ended up delivering the sort of game not many had expected them to, and that once again proved to split opinion. To many, Death Stranding’s surreal post-apocalyptic world, its collaborative and asynchronous multiplayer, and its zen gameplay loop make it an unforgettable experience. Then again, there are those who, simply put, just find it a bit… boring. With Death Stranding 2 coming up, it should be interesting to see how Kojima Productions builds on the first game’s foundations.

Of course, each of these approaches caters to different kinds of audiences, but in recent years – the industry has seen a shift wherein the length of a game becomes a bullet point in the marketing of a game itself. A prominent example of this kind of marketing is Techland’s Dying Light 2: Stay Human which claims to have 500 hours worth of content. Another example of such behavior was Bethesda’s showcase of its upcoming Starfield, which is said to have over 1000 planets that players would be able to explore during their space travels.

But does more always amount to better? Well, not necessarily. Like most things, there are two sides to this argument as well. You see, unlike movies or TV – the cost associated with a purchase of a game is dramatically higher. Furthermore, prices of games are getting higher and higher, with Sony and most major multi-platform publishers asking upwards of $70 for their hottest current-gen games. So when you are spending that kind of money on a product, you’d naturally want it to last a while. You’d want to have it last more than just a weekend, and when viewed through this lens – a longer game offers a better value proposition than a shorter game.

But for a long game to work, it needs to nail a handful of things. Let’s take the example of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which is an excellent action RPG that’s bursting with engaging content throughout its gargantuan open world. The developer has filled the landscape with different types of activities such as character-driven side-quests and adrenaline-pumping monster hunts. But most of this side content is optional, and anyone wanting to make a beeline through the critical path can do so without noodling around the open world so much. And even if you venture off the beaten path and pursue these side activities, you will be rewarded with useful gear, engaging stories that are just as interesting as the main story, and much more.

Sectioning out the main content clearly from the side content like this without compromising on their quality allows different players with different amounts of free time and attention spans to enjoy the game the way they choose. So, completing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt can be a pretty lengthy endeavor if you want it to or it could be a relatively brief one at least when compared to other contemporaries of the genre. Either way, you are getting a great experience on both ends which is what ultimately matters.

Compare that to something like Odyssey, which is also a sprawling open-world RPG filled with oodles of content. But unlike The Witcher, this open-world forces players to invest copious amounts of time into pursuing side-content by gating story-critical missions behind arbitrary power levels. As such, completing the game can quickly become an exercise in pain – since there’s a clear distinction between the many grindy fetch quests peppered throughout the game and the main missions that advance the story forwards. Having such a grindy progression system makes a game artificially bloat up in length, which makes getting through the game straight-up not fun. To add fuel to the fire, such stingy progression systems and artificially elongated games can’t be enjoyed by most players who don’t have a lot of free time – even if they may have a lot of interest in the game’s premise or setting.

Pacing is also important in the case of a lengthy game, especially when the gameplay doesn’t evolve much over the course of the campaign. A good example, in this case, would be Red Dead Redemption 2, which is a great game with a lot of merits – but mandatory sections like Guarma adversely affect the game’s pacing as they don’t contribute much to the overall plot and instead subject players to one shootout after the other. Kojima Productions Death Stranding also suffers from the same issue – as the game’s story beats are scattered far away from each other and the supporting gameplay isn’t as thrilling as fans have come to expect from modern AAA releases.

But what about games that aren’t expansive trudges through a litany of distinct locales? Short games can use their length to their advantage and craft experiences are more focused in their scope – both from a narrative and gameplay perspective. Something like Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice can serve as a good example here, as it uses its short runtime to firmly establish an intimate connection between the player and the protagonist. Supporting gameplay elements like the combat and puzzles aren’t as fleshed out as a longer game, but that works well for the game’s relatively short runtime and you don’t get bored of these one-note mechanics.

But that comes with a catch, of course. Having experiences that last for just a handful of hours is fine if the game isn’t full-priced, but if that isn’t the case – such experiences become a hard pill to swallow despite their many merits. Good examples of this would be Max Payne 2 and The Order: 1886 just to name a few. Each of these games has a ton of great things going for it – but those qualities can get undermined when you try to evaluate these games against the money you’re spending on them. Something like Dishonored can get away with having a short campaign, since the game is built around repetition and obtaining a mastery of the handful of levels – but that isn’t the case with the examples I mentioned before. The price of a game can be a non-factor for a utopian world, but practically speaking – these are factors that the majority of gamers consider before a purchase.

To conclude, both long and short games have their own sets of pros and cons – and none can be termed definitively better than the other. Everything depends on the quality of the experience that a game delivers within that runtime, and whether you’re left wanting for more after the credits roll or not. With subscription services like Xbox Game Pass becoming more and more popular as of late, the runtime of a game is starting to become a non-factor for many more people than before which should hopefully, nudge developers to focus on what matters the most instead of trying to market their games around the amount of content they offer for the price tag.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

THE ORDER: 1886

There’s no denying that The Order: 1886 didn’t exactly do justice to its premise, but at the same time, this is the sort of premise that could really have come into its own if it had been given the chance to build on its foundation and learn from its mistakes. The 2015 title looked gorgeous and transported players to a vividly imaginative setting, and we would have loved to see that idea being expanded and built upon in a sequel that worked to address its predecessor’s issues.

The Order: 1886

Ready at Dawn’s supernatural action adventure title is an odd title, one that never really hit its stride and ended too soon. Nevertheless, the art design and universe were incredible, and the controversial black bars on the top and bottom of the screen disappear when playing on a 21:9 monitor (since that is the game’s aspect ratio). It just makes you wish for a PS5 update all the more, just to see how much better the game would look at higher resolutions natively.