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[Alex]

Black Ops 2 is my first COD game I've sunk hefty time into since 2 on the PC, and a very minor stint with 4, I like it a lot myself but I'm probably not quite as picky.

It's also been kind of fun as it's sort of returning to new territory for me again, too. Sold a ton of my games and a few systems, trying to focus more on reliable titles (I also needed more pick up and play games, as I found myself thinking after playing a metric fuckton of Mario Kart 7 online instead of other things I "needed" to be playing)

Also, I chose to get it on a console as opposed to the PC! I AM LIVING ON THE EDGE! Even if PC is my primary platform, I've been a little too OCD with sticking to it lately, so it's been nice to justify this kind of a game on a console again (massive userbase, friend plays it, want to use a controller for multi).

 

[Tain]

Serious Sam: BFE (PC)
It's like Serious Sam, except soulless

you are seriously bumming me out dude

 

[Valravn]

Darksiders 2. Boring main character, boring locations, boring bosses and finally a boring story.

 

[Ushojax]

It's got to be either Mass Effect 3 or RE6. ME3 was a janky, hastily cobbled-together mess that was a thousand miles away from the spirit of the first game. I finished it out of morbid curiosity and wish I hadn't.

RE6 was probably just as bad but more due to totally bizarre design decisions than a lack of development time. It's a glossy but monumentally stupid game but it felt like the best Capcom could do (which is sad). ME3 was depressing because we know BioWare can do so much better if they have time.

 

[kassatsu]

Amy or Deep Black.

 

[LogicStep]

Diablo 3 and Guild Wars 2. The games aren't bad themselves but they were such an incredible letdown I was super disappointed. Especially with Diablo 3. Waited 10 years and got a game that the one before it is still better IMO. Mostly was the barely random levels, they are mostly always the same and the inferno difficulty is retarded. I haven't played since launch so I don't know if the game has changed. Guild Wars was just so repetitive and the combat felt so unnatural I just lost interest very quickly.

 

[brandonh83]

Resident Evil 6.

Bad game design involving a terrible abundance of badly executed QTE's, out of place vehicle sections, horrible chase scenes, lack of atmosphere, bad supporting cast, laughable villain motive, the way the stories sometimes cross means you're replaying some of the same (very terrible) sequences multiple times, lack of focus and coherency in game structure that most of the older games had, bizarre locations that were just plain stupid

Spoiler

like the Chinese palace, what the hell

... the list goes on but I'm sure others have elaborated upon it even more.

In addition to all that, my main problem with the game is that nothing about it, nothing about the design, gameplay, or atmosphere has anything to do with why I love Resident Evil and why I look forward to new installments. I've felt this way starting with RE4, but the difference is, putting my preferences and ideals about what Resident Evil is aside, RE4 was still a great game nonetheless. RE6 isn't even remotely a good game in addition to lacking the mood and elements that I associate with the franchise. Basically an all around clusterfuck of a product.

If I dislike RE6 more than Operation Raccoon City, it's simply because I had zero expectations for ORC and it always just looked and seemed like some shitty RE spinoff. RE6 was a mainline installment and had no excuses.

 

[dark10x]

MGS2 on the Vita. I've never played a MGS game before but man it controls like shit!

I tried and I tried to like but them controls are shocking.

Well...MGS2 comes from a very different era. It offers an incredible number of potential actions to the player with many situations that almost feel like one-offs. It lacks the streamlined controls of modern games and requires a very different play style.

In 2001, it was incredible and provided a lot of control to the player, but it has always been incredibly complex. One of the things missing on Vita, however, are the pressure sensitive buttons. The original used a lot of pressure sensitivity for things such as putting down a weapon, leaning to the left and right, and various other actions. Those were all assigned to different buttons on Vita and result in even MORE complex controls.

It's one of those games that I feel just doesn't work for people used to modern games. I still love the hell out of it (it's one of my favorite games of all time) but I can recognize that you "had to be there" to really enjoy it.

Bad game design involving a terrible abundance of badly executed QTE's, out of place vehicle sections, horrible chase scenes

I keep seeing these complaints but I can't wrap my head around them.

There are NOT that many QTEs in the game. Certainly no more than RE4 and 5. There are lots of context sensitive actions but not really that many QTEs. The ones that are there didn't seem frustrating in the least.

The vehicle and chase sequences make up, perhaps, a good 2-3% of the game. Did they really ruin your experience that much?

I've felt this way starting with RE4

Ah, well, I've always disliked most of the older games so there is that...

 

[Yuterald]

For the majority of the year I was unemployed so I didn't buy too many new games. I also tend to stay away from Western games so a lot of the "AAA" titles that most people tend to play (Mass Effect 3, Assassin's Creed 3, Black Ops 2, Diablo 3, etc.) I have no thoughts/opinions for. From the looks of this thread and the general media consensus, however, it looks like a lot of those big blockbuster titles were either complete and utter messes or just major disappointments.

I think I had more disappointments this year than "worst games I've played this year" sort-of experiences. I tend to stick to Japanese developed games and I hardly ever run into one that's janky, buggy, or glitchy. The only "AAA" title I was kind of looking forward to was Resident Evil 6, but I stayed the FUCK away from that shit because of what I read and saw throughout its release. I'll pick it up and play it when its dirt cheap one day, but I know for a fact if I did let my curiosity get the better of me that RE6 would have been the worst game I played all year. I just know it.

So, with that said, I did play a few games that generally put me off and left me questioning why I purchased them. These are definitely not the worst games ever or anything like that. Like I said, just slightly disappointed with them:

Lolipop Chainsaw: I totally bit the hype bullet for this one. Payed full price too. I saw people on GAF claiming that it was Suda's/Grasshopper's best game since the original No More Heroes. No. It wasn't. I played through it once and had little to no desire to run through the other modes and unlock the rest of the goodies. There wasn't necessarily anything BAD about the game, it just didn't do much for me. All the high school/jock/blonde-ditz girl humor just wasn't clicking with me. The bosses were neat, but they weren't on the same level as the assassins in the original NMH. The story was just okay too. Ending was extremely anti-climatic as well. The best part about the game was Juliet's family members, but even they didn't feel as fleshed out as they could have been. Better than Shadows of the Damned? Definitely. Better than the No More Heroes games? You wish.

Final Fantasy XIII-2: I don't know WHY I picked this up, but I did. I didn't pay full price, however. I bought it new for $10 during some GameStop summer sale. I put 100+ hours in FFXIII and enjoyed my time with it to some degree. I played this game for a few hours and dropped it, hardcore. I haven't felt the urge to go back to it. Again, nothing notably offensive about it. It was just so uninteresting and sleepy.

Neverdead: Picked this up for cheap too. I had ZERO expectations for this game and bought it because I like quirky low-mid tier budget action games, but I only got through 2 levels before shelving it. I sort of want to like this game because of how ridiculous it is, but I can't get myself to play it, lol! The mechanics are a total whack job sometimes too. Rolling around as a head and getting sucked up into those little fart enemies and timing your escape with a golf-like meter is NOT fun. I'll probably finish this one day though.

Code of Princess: Bought this because of all the Guardian Heroes/ex Treasure employee talk. I also nabbed it at launch because I figured it would become rare (being an Atlus game and all). I just CANNOT get into this game. I knew going into it that the game consisted of arena-like combat scenarios, but I didn't think it was going to be as boring as it was. The writing/localization is good for what it's going for (or for who it's targeted at), but again, totally not my sense of humor. Online is completely broken too. Anymore than 2 people playing online is lag fest city. There's also online-only achievements which unlock single player exclusive gear/equipment. Barf. Probably my biggest let down of the year (although I wasn't exactly dying to play it).

NightSky: I GOTTA stop impulse purchasing these indie-like 2D games. This is another game where there's nothing technically wrong with it, it just isn't doing much for me. It's like a 2D marble madness, only without the charm or good music. It's another one of those artsy-fartsy low context indie games with an emphasis on ambiance and weird mechanics. I rolled my eyes when I reached the area with the gravity mechanics. Do ALL of these indie games resort to this shit at some point (See VVVVVV, Limbo, etc.)?
I'm all for low context games and ambiance, but this game lacks cohesiveness. The levels are separated and titled/themed, yet they all just feel like a collection of scenarios/stages.

I guess the WORST game I played, although it was from last year (but I played it this year) was Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One. I picked this up early in the year and played through it coop with a buddy and it was one of the most embarrassing games I've ever played. Probably the most unpolished Insomniac/Ratchet game I've ever played too. The game was riddled with bugs, glitches, and player-insulting scenarios. I literally felt like an idiot while playing it. Totally turned me off from their games and Ratchet in general.

 

[Danny-Boy]

Black Ops 2 - Couldn't be stuffed getting through that first stage in Africa. Got bored of multiplayer after a week. Will never fall for the hype again.

Hitman Absolution - I tried to like it but found myself getting bored. I don't know why because I love stealth games. Got halfway through, couldn't go on.

Nintendoland - Walked around the park once. Tried all the games. No game lasted for more than a few minutes. What a waste of time. Absolutely forgettable.

New Super Mario Bros. U - Okay, I'm officially tired of the formula. Bland and generic. It has killed my interest in any future platformers.

Resident Evil 6 Demo - Thankyou Capcom for the demo. Worse than RE5.

 

[Mr. B Natural]

Well there isn't a whole lot you can do without upsetting millions of loyal fans. I'd say getting rid of killstreaks for scorestreaks and "pick 10" are decent enough attempts at mixing it up without screwing it up completely.

To me, those two things sounded more interesting than they turned out in practice. Pick 10 maybe had a chance of being interesting if the things you were picking had any originality to them. Instead, you were picking from the same old weaponry with the same old perks. The only exception I can come up with are the shock charges, which are a head scratchingly dumb design decision.

Since after MW2, Cod games have been more known for what they removed than what they added. In Blops 2, they removed the ability to have essentially 6 perks, a gun and an attachment and couple of nades. They removed maps that people supposedly "didn't like"...which were to say medium sized maps, large sized maps, maps with interesting dare I say experimental layouts and maps that possibly made the run and gun idiot not so happy. Maps that made people think. Maps that COULD have decent spawns. Instead, they aimed for lowest common denominator, they got it. They pretty much gave everyone the game that detractors of the series break the game down to: a mess for kids with ADD. I know, let's make a game with 12 maps that play out like nuketown! That's what everybody wants, let's shove it down their throats! It's almost a parody.

And the punch line to this joke is that they touted this as the "competitive experience." This was the one that was going to light the competitive scene afire with youtube videos and competitions and rankings and streams. Looking back, this is simply hilarious to me.

I don't even have to get into the spawns (97%) or lag or balance issues or a fundamental misunderstanding of map design from every chest high barreled corner. If you have to have a barrel in every corner turn of your map, something should have registered to the lead of this project: your map designers have no clue what they're doing.

Well, to end this post with something positive to say: I like the scorestreak idea. Although, all they have to do to get people to care more about winning than their kdr is to display the players Win ratio in the lobby and to give out WAY more points for winning. That would have done it.

But still, scorestreak is a good idea. It needs work but it is the way to go from here on out with the series. But I won't be participating though. After MW3 and now this...that's it guys. Neither team knows what they are doing and are chipping away at what was once a good game, leaving less and less good game in tact. Both teams, from where I'm standing, clearly don't want to make COD anymore. They have little respect for their audience, and maybe that's partially the audiences fault.

 

[Cramoss]

- RE6 demo

This.

 

[Uno Venova]

Max Payne 3.

 

[zoukka]

Could not finish the demo of FFXII-2 so I guess that game.

Played Metro 2033 once and never wanted to return. Just a dull and lifeless game.

 

[CitizenCope]

Probably Darksiders 2. Such a let down after the first. Ugly graphics. Simple Dungeon design. Ugh.

 

[d1rtn4p]

Would have to say Dishonored. It just seemed like such a rehash of the Bioshock-like formula. Was bored from the very start and only managed to make it about an hour in before giving up. Going on the record, I didn't really care for Bioshock either...

 

[TommyT]

Borderlands 2. Was a bore to play solo, and even when I had friends play it was still just mediocre and we weren't really doing anything fun. It just seemed like more of the solo stuff except with more people.

 

[Papercuts]

Well, damn, my tastes are fucked up this year.

I actually loved RE6 despite some of its issues. The game had a steep learning curve but I found the combat deeply satisfying after getting over the initial hump. EVERYONE seems to absolutely detest the game, though, which has me wondering what the fuck is going on.

I agree with you, but I can see why others really dislike it. That said, I still do find aruging about it odd for reasons you can probably already see with your other posts. Stuff like rapid complaints about QTEs even though RE6 doesn't actually that many, especially compared to 4 and 5.

 

[morningbus]

Serious Sam: BFE (PC)
It's like Serious Sam, except soulless

So, it's like Serious Sam, then?

 

[Marvie_3]

NHL 13. Same broken, shitty mess it's been for years.

 

[marrec]

Awww, Runner is great, but I know what you're talking about. Try and stick with it (if you like that kind of game, anyway). Yeah, there's a bizarre difficulty spike in 1-11 (I think) that it doesn't reach again until the end of the entire game, if at all.

It's actually the easiest Bit.Trip game by a fair margin, evidenced by the fact that I actually beat it.

Ya, I went through and finished it and 1-11 is the hardest part of that game. In fact, the first boss is also the hardest boss. It really ruined my whole experience and for the rest of the game I just kept going for a sense of completion.

It's one thing having no check points in a 2-4 minute level, but having a 9 minute level have no check points is needlessly punishing.

 

[Moss]

Call of Duty: Black Ops: Declassified.

 

[tci]

Can only think about Alan Wake at the time. Got it on Steam during the summer sale.

What a waste..

- The combat is boring and predictable
- Very linear
- Trying cheap ways to "scare" you.
- Very little enemy variety

edit:

Black Ops 2 of course. What a shitty campaign. Stopped after a few hours. Haven't bothered with the multi yet.

 

[rataven]

It breaks my fangirl heart to say it, but it's definitely Assassin's Creed III. I haven't even finished the game due to the glitches and odd design choices prevalent throughout the whole experience. The latest patch did fix a few things, so I'll pick it back up over the holidays, but I don't expect I'll ever truly love ACIII like I do II and Brotherhood. III is such a massive disappointment, but it DID give us the swoon-worthy Haytham Kenway, so at least there's that.

 

[HyperCubed4]

I've played more than I realized. I'll just think of the first one that comes to mind, which would be Far Cry 3.

Atrocious framerate on the PS3 (HAHAHA STUPID CONSOLE GAMERS, AM I RIGHT), lame story, boring gameplay, shitty main character. I am NOT playing through that game just for Vaas. It isn't worth it.

"But HyperCubed, it is!"

No, it's not. Huge waste of money on my part.

 

[Tain]

I don't know who is saying that FarCry 3 is worth playing primarily because of Vaas, but make sure that I never listen to them about anything.

So, it's like Serious Sam, then?

For real. The first game in the series is a bunch of Egyptian-themed cubes filled with some pretty lame monster designs. SS3 is way more distinct, both aesthetically and mechanically.

 

[reddwarf42]

I don't know who is saying that FarCry 3 is worth playing primarily because of Vaas, but make sure that I never listen to them about anything.

Vaas is a great villain but they did nothing with him.

 

[Joe Shlabotnik]

Ya, I went through and finished it and 1-11 is the hardest part of that game. In fact, the first boss is also the hardest boss. It really ruined my whole experience and for the rest of the game I just kept going for a sense of completion.

It's one thing having no check points in a 2-4 minute level, but having a 9 minute level have no check points is needlessly punishing.

Welcome to every other Bit.Trip game. :/ Coincidentally, I tried to finish Beat again the other day for the first time in at least a year or two, and got about seven minutes into the Growth stage.. and lost. I guess I'll try again a year from now.

 

[phantomspiker]

Serious Sam 3: BFE

The game looks awful and I thought it was pretty boring. The enemies just run at you in a straight line, I don't really see the appeal in that.

 

[Recall]

Can only think about Alan Wake at the time. Got it on Steam during the summer sale.

What a waste..

- The combat is boring and predictable
- Very linear
- Trying cheap ways to "scare" you.
- Very little enemy variety

.

Its trying to be dramatic and atmospheric and I thought it pulled that off quite well, very Twin Peaks-esque. I thought the combat added to the intensity.

 

[LunaticHigh]

Guild Wars 2.

Never have I gone from having the time of my life to being physically unable to handle logging into a game before. The thought of installing it causes boredom.

 

[Foshy]

Metacritic tells me it's Black Ops: Declassified, but I had decent fun with that.

This is going to be controversial (especially because of what I just said), but my vote goes to NSMB2. Easily the worst 2D Mario, uninspired, way too easy and all around pretty boring. I really enjoyed NSMBU though and would rank that as my 3rd favorite 2D Mario after SMW and SMB3.

 

[canedaddy]

SSX. Massive disappointment... couldn't force myself to keep playing after a couple of hours. I loved the PS2 games, so much fun. You'd think it would be very difficult to botch such a winning formula, but they found a way.

 

[Warm Machine]

Spec Ops: The Line. Yes the story is fascinating to watch play out but the game is mechanically junky. Still looks ok and I would even recommend people play it for the narrative but it isn't much of a game. 6/10

Deadlight. The first half is actually fantastic. The decline begins when you do the sewer maze and peaks when you are being chased by the helicopter while following the kid. It forces twitch design into a sludgy animation driven control scheme. 6/10

 

[Alex]

I liked the combat in Alan Wake, really good stuff at higher difficulties, IMO.

Didn't like the narrative or the pacing of it though, kinda just got... really bored in spots, I suppose.

This is going to be controversial (especially because of what I just said), but my vote goes to NSMB2. Easily the worst 2D Mario, uninspired, way too easy and all around pretty boring. I really enjoyed NSMBU though and would rank that as my 3rd favorite 2D Mario after SMW and SMB3.

I thought it was pretty good, uninspired though yeah, wholefully so unlike the Wii U game which at least has some pretty creative levels in the back half even if the rest is rehash, but I had fun with it. Still, do you really think it's worse than the first NSMB? Man, I hated that game to bits, so... blargh.

 

[Fonz72]

Awesomenauts - just really didn't like the feel of it.

 

[Tex117]

I played some pretty great games this year.

The "worst" of the bunch was probably Dishonored, but that's not saying anything. Its still a very solid title.

 

[Warm Machine]

Serious Sam 3: BFE

The game looks awful and I thought it was pretty boring. The enemies just run at you in a straight line, I don't really see the appeal in that.

Forgot about this one. Yeah, this is the worst of the year. When people post that old shooters vs new shooters image with the maps this game explains why old shooters suck. You needed bullshit mazes to cover for the crappy enemy ai. Enemies running at you or zigzagging is the dullest thing you can create. The game also looked piss poor for all of the good engineering behind it.

 

[Santiako]

Liberation Maiden probably, it was just bad.

 

[Acquiescence]

oh hey I just though that m-

The irony of course being that I'm the one who did the talking, giving a myriad of legitimate reasons why I detested the game, and you responded with a gif image.

 

[(._.)]

Mass Effect 3 and Diablo 3. Awful crap that isn't even fun. I want a refund. Seriously, read a book or something guys.

 

[Booter]

Guild Wars 2. empty game.

 

[Conor 419]

Far Cry 3?

Bear in mind I've not played many games this year

 

[Goldenroad]

I agree that the RE6 demo is actually worse than any game I played this year, but in terms of full games it's gotta go to Medal of Honor: Warfighter. I mean it is somehow worse than the last one they put out. How is that even possible?

 

[matthewwhatever]

I played quite a few genuinely terrible games (as opposed to games that weren't bad but I just couldn't get into, like Far Cry 3 and Dishonored; bad games that I didn't mind, like BLOPS: Declassified, Resistance: Burning Skies and Blades of Time; and bad games that I didn't play long enough of to absolutely loathe, like Captain Morgane and the Golden Turtle, Game of Thrones, and Jimmie Johnson's Anything With an Engine), but the ones that really stood out in their badness were:

007 Legends: terrible graphics, lots of un-Bond-like shooting, and, worst of all, they shipped the game with no on-disc ending.

Darksiders II: it stripped away so much of the stuff I loved from the first game and replaced it with fetch quests, and branching dialogue, and rolling green fields, and terrible voice acting, and awful Celtic music. This one was more massively disappointing than terrible, I guess.

Ninja Gaiden 3: Loved it at first, since I don't mind QTEs and hack-and-slash gameplay. By the end, though, it became such a boring, repetitive slog.

Planet 51: The Game: Honestly the most bland, boring game I've ever played. Technically, I guess, it wasn't terrible as much as it was just sort of there.

Risen 2: Atrocious graphics. Horribly awkward combat. Awful cut scenes and dialogue that do everything in their power to take you out of the game's (admittedly non-existent) flow.

Page Chronica: Hideously ugly. Weird gameplay -- it's a slow-moving platformer where you're racing the clock, and it's a word game with awkward controls and a letter limit. The whole thing felt like an educational game from the '80s that misfired horribly.

 

[kaioshade]

I generally try not to play too many terrible games, but Assassins Creed 3 just is not doing it for me.

 

[CosmicQueso]

Sorry, but it's true.

 

[Snuggles]

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City

Ooh, good choice. I'll have to second this one.

On one hand, I played it for about 10 minutes. Perhaps it's unfair to be so critical of a game I barely even played.

On the other hand, I could only tolerate playing it for about 10 minutes. It starts with some of the most uninspired and boring whack-a-mole cover shooting that I've experienced yet, and I quickly came to the realization that there are countless games in my Steam library alone that are far more deserving of my time. Why does this game even exist?

 

[SJRB]

Assassin's Creed III

Mostly from a "budget/developer behemoth vs quality" point of view. It is an utter disappointment on almost every level. Technically it's a borderline trainwreck at times, gameplay mediocre at best and the story is almost insulting towards the player for both the Connor and Desmond storylines.

 

[kunonabi]

I'm going to have to say RE6. I was happy with everything I bought this year and RE6 was the only game I rented. As much as I loved Jake''s campaign the rest of it was just a complete train wreck.