This year has been an eventful for gaming, marked by the release of incredible games and a slew of titles that failed to meet expectations. From games crippled by technical issues to the ones that suffering from lackluster gameplay, the year has seen its fair share of disappointments. Among these, a few stand out for their poor reception by players and critics alike.
Starting with The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, this title promised an exciting Middle-earth adventure as one of the series’ lowliest of characters but ended up delivering a game plagued with unpolished design, rampant bugs, and graphics of a bygone era. Its stealth mechanics were uninspired, the missions repetitive, and the overall experience was marred by a frequent emergence of game-breaking issues. Despite its ambitious attempt to explore a beloved universe, it fell short in execution, making it one of the worst-rated games of the year.
Another notable disappointment was Crime Boss: Rockay City. Despite its appeal of nostalgia and a cast decked to the brim with familiar A-list Hollywood actors, it failed to deliver a cohesive experience. Frequent bugs distracted you from the gameplay, and the missions often devolved into chaotic shootouts, undermining any potential charm the game might have had.
Redfall was another major letdown, especially given the high expectations set by Arkane Studios’ previous successes. The game, touted as a significant Xbox exclusive of 2023, was underwhelming in its execution. It lacked the polish and engaging gameplay of Arkane’s earlier titles, leading to a bland vampire-hunting experience.
Of course, who could forget The Day Before? The game has a strong shot of going down in history as one of the worst video games ever, both for failing to live up to the hype and scamming players.
In the sports gaming genre, NBA 2K24 and Madden NFL 24 struggled with their respective releases. NBA 2K24 was the frequent target of criticism for for its technical and mechanical issues, especially on PC where it’s an inferior experience. To date, it remains one of the worst-reviewed games on Steam, surpassed only by a handful of titles, including Overwatch 2 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.
Finally, the Nintendo Switch faced challenges running AAA games designed for more powerful consoles. The ports of games like Mortal Kombat 1 highlighted its limitations. These ports resulted in compromised and significantly reduced gameplay experience as well as graphic quality. In particular, the port of Batman: Arkham Trilogy to the Switch was a notably poor attempt, with Arkham Knight, in particular, suffering from extremely low performance and rendering the game nearly unplayable.
Of course, while these might have been one of the worst games to release this year, a handful of others “only” fell short of expectations or launched incompletely. Diablo 4, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, and Overwatch 2, are examples of “incomplete” games that needs more polish. The biggest example is Starfield, a significant missed opportunity for Xbox. With high expectations as “Skyrim in space,” it failed to live up to the hype. Instead, it turned out to be a bland sci-fi game with a lackluster story and few enjoyable elements. The discrepancy between what players expected and what was delivered was stark, making it one of the most disappointing releases of the year.
Cities Skylines 2 was another game that launched in a less-than-ideal state. The game’s buggy, content-barren release is an obvious setup for future DLC exploitation, disappointing fans. The omission of basic features, like bicycles and bike lanes, only to tease them as potential DLC, was seen as a transparent and underhanded strategy.
Forspoken, while not great, wasn’t as bad as some make it out to be. Still, it deserves an honorable mention for basically forcing Luminous Productions to close up shop and diverting resources from more DLC content for Final Fantasy XV – a divisive if incomplete entry in the long-running JRPG franchise. Square Enix’s decision to prioritize Forspoken over the completion of Final Fantasy XV’s DLC content was a move that disappointed many fans.
Ultimately, 2023 has been a year of stark contrasts in the gaming world, with some titles soaring to new heights while a handful of others have unfortunately sunk to new lows. The games that struggled this year were characterized by their broken gameplay, unmet expectations, and questionable development decisions, providing a stark reminder of the challenges inherent in game development and the high standards of a discerning community.
