Console popularity took a life of its own in the mid-2000s with the unexpected success of the Wii coupled with the war raging between the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The seeds were planted early when the PlayStation brand had won the previous two generations and was now seeing fierce competition. With competition comes quality as companies seek to up their game to draw in the fans. Whenever a console manufacturer or a video game developer starts to believe its own hype or when they attempt to milk their cash cow to irrational lengths, we are treated to a supreme dud in the form of a video game.
These games have been in production since consoles have been innovated. Back in the 80s, Atari was the king, yet even they had produced several awful titles thanks to their strong position not motivating them to step up and deliver in quality. Often games are kept in development for around a decade or more as developers look to bank in on the hype factor, but ignore the effort they should be putting in to make the game worth the wait. It is also not unheard of for a game to be badly received from fans despite the game itself being a good venture. This is due to developers ignoring what the fans wanted in favour of their own thoughts on what fans were getting.
Over time, these titles have become notorious for their negative reception and have been largely removed from fans’ minds, either due to the passing of time or more likely due to the fans themselves wanting to evacuate the memories of these games from their memories.
25 Resident Evil 6
Resident Evil 4 revolutionized the action-horror genre and reconciled the best parts of the original Resident Evil style with action oriented gameplay that made the player feel empowered to fight off the zombies before them.
However, Capcom began resting on their laurels and dived head on in the action genre.
Resident Evil 6 put far too much stock on the big thrills and the Wow factor to entice the player into the game rather than relying on the chilling gameplay that had made the franchise the success it is. It has a disappointing 74 rating on Metacritic. Fans have taken to ignoring RE6 now that Resident Evil 7: Biohazard has revitalized the franchise once more.
24 Devil May Cry 2
Devil May Cry was the biggest pleasant surprise gamers had ever seen in 2001. Initially planned to be Resident Evil 4, the game took a life of its own and Dante was birthed – becoming an instant hit in the process. But when Devil May Cry 2 rolled out, the fans were more than disappointed. Not only was the gameplay lousy at best, but Dante was nothing like what we had seen him to be before.
Gone was the wisecracking, fun-loving rebel with a cause. Instead, we got a morbid, sombre, shadow of his former self who looked just as bored of the storyline as we were. Devil May Cry 4 and Devil May 5 both ignore this game with Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening being a series prequel.
23 E.T. The Extra Terrestrial
The worst game of all time. Usually we claim something might be one of the worst games, but E.T. the Extra Terrestrial is unquestionably deserved of this position. Very clearly a cash grab from the developers – after the movie became the highest-grossing film of all time at the time – the game was hardly worth calling itself a video game.
All one had to do was collect pieces of an interplanetary telephone.
There was never enough material for gameplay here but what the developers could scrounge up was a top-down style “adventure” where the character had to be navigated – in a laughably rendered environment – through wells or pits where even the slightest movement would deplete the lifebar. Phone home and buzz off, E.T.!
22 Sonic Unleashed
The Sonic series of games had already begun, and achieved, its nadir by Sonic the Hedgehog in 2006 (more on that below) but Sonic Unleashed seemed like the game that would at least unearth the series into land of relevancy once more. While the trailers hinted at unique gameplay, the game itself was a bore.
You play as Sonic, who has a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde situation going on. Fans disliked the sudden switches between the fast paced regular Sonic to the werewolfish, slow gameplay for Sonic’s other half. Now, a decade after game’s release, fans don’t need to pretend the game doesn’t exist, it has simply faded away like an afterthought.
21 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Parts 1 & 2
The Harry Potter game series was surprisingly fun to play through. With the exception of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, every game up until Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was a joy to immerse oneself in as Hogwarts was fit for exploring. It was a pleasure to discover the castle’s secrets and learn the ways of wizardry.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows games sucked the best parts out.
With Hogwarts not part of the main story anymore, all the games had to offer were a wizard version of a shooter game. That was literally the entire experience, you spam a whole lot of spells at your enemies and watch them drop like beetles. A sad end to an otherwise adequate game series.
20 The Godfather II
The Godfather video game has to be one of the finest GTA clones out there. It superbly implemented the GTA style gameplay and open world feel into the 40s gangster genre and delivered an impressive outing. Looking to build up on this, The Godfather II was released in 2009, this time running parallel with the film of the same name.
Unlike the first time, however, this game was a disaster. There were numerous technical glitches such as a car flying through the screen at random, or A.I. acting buffoonish for no reason during the storyline. Gameplay itself was repetitive and boring, relying on the goodwill from the first Godfather. Let’s just stick to pretending we only got that one Godfather game.
19 Dirge Of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII
There are some things you are good at and some you should never try. With Square Enix, their strength lay in the world of RPGs rather than third-person shooters (at least back in 2006) but they took a shot at impressing the western market and to deviate the preference of the Japanese market by taking advantage of the popular Final Fantasy VII series.
Who knew third-person shooters could be so boring?
Dirge of Cerberus was a humdrum affair where breakout character Vincent Valentine blasts his way through towns, seemingly with no cause. It didn’t do much for the Final Fantasy VII overall storyline and was more or less just there because Square Enix wanted some extra dough. Now, when Final Fantasy VII is talked about, Dirge of Cerberus is largely ignored.
18 All Crash Bandicoot Games Without Naughty Dog
Back in the 90s, the PlayStation brand was without a mascot while Nintendo had Mario and Sega had Sonic. Crash Bandicoot seemed to be that lovable character that would resonate with the younger ones and serve as the PlayStation brand’s flagbearer. Up until Crash Bandicoot: Warped, the character did play this role. However, once Naughty Dog relinquished the IP, the Crash Bandicoot series has been atrocious.
It’s a wonder how developers have found it impossible to carry on the gameplay from the previous entries to the newer games but such is the case. Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex indicated how bad things would get, and worse it did. The N. Sane trilogy has effectively wiped the slate clean.
17 Grey’s Anatomy
Rather than this game being part of a beloved series, it marks an attempt that should never have even been thought of. Grey’s Anatomy has nothing about it that screams “Video game”, but its popularity was undeniable in the mid-2000s. The TV show was popular to the extent that video game developers felt it would be a good idea to make a game about relationship drama in the hospital.
There’s really nothing to talk about Grey’s Anatomy the game other than how terrible it is. For one, and perhaps only, the graphics are so terrible that it seems Ellen Pompeo’s infant child may have drawn it up. You can’t name any gamers who would want to jump into Seattle Grace Hospital and pretend to give two hoots about Meredith’s failed relationships.
16 Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
Talking about cash grabs, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands was as blatant as they come. With the Sands of Time story ending in Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, the series shifted toward the boring Prince of Persia (2008). However, when the film Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time came out in 2010, developers had to remind gamers it had stemmed from the gaming industry.
Thus, The Forgotten Sands came into play.
But there was no attempt whatsoever to make this game memorable. The story randomly threw in the Prince’s never before mentioned brother, and contradicted a lot of the events of Prince of Persia: Warrior Within. This is a quadrilogy that is better remembered as a trilogy.
15 Ghostbusters: The Video Game (PlayStation 2)
Ghostbusters fans are both perceptive and childish. They were perceptive enough to ascertain that Ghostbusters: Answer the Call would be a flop, but were childish to make a big deal about an all-female cast taking over the Ghostbusters franchise. Perhaps in an attempt to please the childish side of the fans, developers came out with Ghostbusters: The Video Game on the PlayStation 2.
Unlike its 7th generation counterparts, the PS2 version was a game specifically designed for children. It even carried an E10+ rating and was nothing like the better version offered on the PS3. The gameplay was impossible to get into when we had to play as cartoonish looking characters and graphics that wouldn’t be passable even on the PS1.
14 Assassin's Creed Unity
There’s always that one game that marks a series’ downturn in quality and Assassin’s Creed Unity is without doubt that game. We never needed two Assassin’s Creed games in a year but Ubisoft believed its own hype and delivered Unity and Rogue in the same year to mixed results. Unity suffered from hundreds of technical bugs that would scare the daylights out of people whenever a character’s skin would peel off before their eyes.
Not only that, but the game is the worst in the series as far as gameplay is considered. Too focused on presenting large environments, Ubisoft forgot to add any substance to them and every mission went the same way. After Assassin’s Creed Syndicate was released, it was silently agreed to let Unity rest in the Parisian catacombs.
13 SmackDown Vs. Raw 2008
The Smackdown! Series of wrestling games are still considered to be the best WWE ever came out with. But WWE did make the right decision to convert it into the Smackdown vs. Raw branding and take the popularity to a global scale. Up until Smackdown vs. Raw 2007, every game had brought something new to the table. Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 was a clustered mess of misunderstood innovation that stands as one of the worst sports games ever.
Seeking to make the WWE feel more legit like a nonscripted sport, the game had a 24/7 mode instead of the previous Season mode that sought to put us in the lives of a WWE superstar. No one cared for it and Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 returned the series to its former roots.
12 DmC: Devil May Cry
It’s not always a badly received game that gamers would want to forget, there are exceptions where a good game can be disliked. Enter DmC: Devil May Cry. The game wasn’t bad but it wasn’t Devil May Cry. It rebooted the Devil May Cry universe and handed us a Dante who had read one too many Twilight novels.
Nobody had ever wanted a different Devil May Cry than the one we had had but here we got Emo Dante.
The story style was far too vulgar for most peoples’ liking and the formerly cheesy yet likable set of characters and over the top action was much missed. Devil May Cry 5 will return the franchise to the old storyline and everyone is finally happy.
11 Shaq Fu
Celebrities have easy ways of making money. Once they have established their names in the business, all they need to do is brand their name over to rake in all that sweet sweet cash. Similarly, we have Shaq Fu. Shaq is a fan of Mortal Kombat and wanted to star in a game akin to that. But how can a fighting game be marketable when it has a basket ball player at the helm?
That was a question no one cared to ponder over and Shaq Fu was commissioned. The game is considered to be one of the worst of all time. There’s no point discussing why, it’s obvious when you consider a Basketball champion training at a dojo to rescue a little boy.
10 Haze
Things did not start at all peachy for the PlayStation 3 – the only PS console to lose the console war in its time in the market – and this was punctuated due to some lackluster offerings initially in its life. Haze was touted as the “Halo Killer” for the generation and initial trailers had people thinking it would deliver just that.
But it was not be. The main gripe came from the extremely short campaign the story had to tell and a number of bugs were too big to ignore, namely the sound that was found to be blistering. Then there was the uneventful multiplayer which just wasn’t enough to satisfy fans after the short campaign mode. Killzone 2’s release made everyone forget Haze ever existed.
9 Final Fantasy XIV
In E3 2009, Final Fantasy fans were waiting to uncover details about Final Fantasy Versus XIII – which became Final Fantasy XV, and a pretty big yawnfest – but were treated to the reveal of Final Fantasy XIV. It was a nice surprise; for about a split second before it was announced the game would be an MMORPG. The game never sold its way into fans’ minds and this was doubled after Final Fantasy XIV turned out to be a huge dud.
It had no engaging quests for the player to immerse themselves in and was on the whole flat out boring. There was no compelling story like the one we had in Final Fantasy VII, and XIV was considered unplayable until A Realm Reborn relaunched the game.
8 Ecco The Dolphin
Words cannot describe how much this writer despises this game. Ecco the Dolphin is considered to be at the top of the most difficult games of all time. But unlike several others which are a fair challenge, this game is too difficult for its own good. Frustrating to the point of insanity, Ecco the Dolphin has no real charm to balance the irritation it provides to the player.
The game is simply notorious for being difficult.
With many other more exciting games in the market following Ecco the Dolphin’s release, it has seen its legacy further tarnished and difficult games like Demons’s Souls and Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening have shown that difficult isn’t always terrible.
7 Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen
Video games based on movies can be good fun, as evidenced by the Harry Potter games, but blockbuster franchise games more often than not end up as time-wasters. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was a pretty crappy film that was classic Michael Bay with all the shooting and explosions, and the game based on the film did not disappoint in that regard.
Surprisingly, it started out on the right foot, with a cascading Optimus Prime fighting off Decepticons in midair. This would remain the only highpoint of the game and the rest of it comprised of spamming the Square button (on the PS2) while the “Transforming” part only came in two second bursts. We’ll keep trying to forget this came as we’ve tried with the entire Transformers franchise.
6 Hitman: Absolution
Just like DmC mentioned above, Hitman: Absolution begs mention due to it being a game fans didn’t want. Absolution is an excellent action game, but it is hardly a Hitman game. The assassin aspect was shelved in favour of a straight up action feel. There was no prep work as seen in Blood Money and the story itself had 47 cutoff from the ICA.
In the larger picture of the Hitman series as a whole, the linear style of the story and gameplay is left ignored by fans who prefer Agent 47 to be as subtle as possible. Developers sought to correct this and Hitman (2016) returned to the Blood Money’s style of gameplay. Absolution isn’t a bad game, just not the game fans wanted.