The 2010s are crawling to an end. Regardless of the topic, the decade had its share of positives and negatives. Obviously, gaming is no exception. Containing the conclusion of the seventh gaming generation and the bulk of its successor, the 2010s welcomed all sorts of titles, be it from big-name publishers or small indie developers.
What were this decade's worst games? Not the most disappointing or frustrating; no, we are talking about the real bottom of the barrel stuff that should never have seen the light of day. For this list, any entries from major licenses will not be considered, and that includes movie tie-in games like 2016's awful Ghostbusters and Rambo: The Video Game. Here are the worst consoles games of the decade that are not from major franchises, ranked.
10 Extinction (2019)
Whenever a project comes along that wears its influences on its sleeves, then the final product needs to be particularly strong to justify its existence. Reminiscent of Shadow of the Colossus and especially Attack on Titan, Extinction is an action game that pits the player against ogres of varying sizes.
Extinction ranks low on this list due to not being unplayable, but it offers practically nothing that cannot be found in other far-better titles. Despite lacking weight, the hack and slash combat is serviceable and the especially large ogres are quite a sight. Unfortunately, the shallow gameplay loop and limited enemy variety translate to a game that cannot maintain its momentum throughout a relatively short 8-hour campaign. Attack on Titan 2 completely overshadows Extinction.
9 Tennis World Tour (2018)
In 2018, two tennis games dropped in close succession of each other. Longing for a return to the good old days of Top Spin, fans of the sport had reason to be excited. Sadly, both games were poorly received by critics, although players were a touch more forgiving of AO Tennis.
The same cannot be said about Tennis World Tour, which received a thorough licking from almost everyone who even bothered to try this messy and broken sports sim. Subsequent updates somewhat improved the package, but that does not excuse Tennis World Tour's disastrous launch state. Even with the patches, the game never developed into anything worth playing.
8 Gene Rain (2019)
Boasting some pretty cool visuals and what seemed to be a smidge of ambition, Gene Rain looked somewhat promising prior to its release. Perhaps something was lost in translation, but Gene Rain's storyline is almost incomprehensible. Basically, players can select between three playable characters that belong to different "Death Squads," who are then trusted into a conflict between aliens, robots, and some sort of government conspiracy. Just to be clear, we are not being comically obtuse, as that description makes about as much sense as the one on Steam.
Otherwise, Gene Rain is a by-the-numbers third-person shooter with poor AI, unfair enemy design, a bland weapon arsenal, and uninspired (or laughable) level design.
7 Fighter Within (2013)
The Xbox One's launch lineup left something to be desired, but games like Ryse: Son of Rome and Dead Rising 3 were mostly just average rather than blatantly terrible. That honor was left exclusively to Fighter Within, a Kinect fighting game that barely worked and, when it did, was not even particularly enjoyable.
Association with the Kinect hampered the Xbox One's early momentum, and Fighter Within was just the rotten cherry on top of this poorly-conceived sundae.
6 AMY (2012)
Stepping away from the eight gaming generation for a brief second, AMY launched on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2012. A stealth survival horror game that also happens to be a long escort mission, AMY is just inherently unpleasant to play.
As a genre, horror is not meant to be comforting, but AMY seems to actively want to waste the player's time. Putting aside the myriad of glitches and bugs, AMY's loose controls, bland but stretched-out storyline, and painful gameplay make this one title where survival is not recommended.
5 Agony (2018)
Available across all three current-generation consoles - yes, even the Nintendo Switch - Agony started life on Kickstarter with a campaign that promised morbid and violent content that most developers would not dare touch.
Taking place in hell, Agony centers around a Martyr who is trying to stealthy bypass hordes of demons en route to a meeting with the Red Goddess. Even with the addition of a possession mechanic that permits the main character to seize control of Hell's other inhabitants, Agony's stealth gameplay is too repetitive to remain interesting through a campaign that lasts too long. Once the initial shock of the disturbing art fades, Agony has nothing left to offer.
4 Road Rage (2017)
The vehicular combat racing subgenre has veered off course during the last decade, despite a couple of great outings like 2012's Twisted Metal.
Seeking a return to the glory days of Road Rash and Mach Rider, Road Rage sets bikers loose on an open-world stuffed with races, stunts, and rival gangs that are just waiting to be smacked on the head with a hockey stick. Considering the game's poor handling, lifeless world, and many bugs; they are probably going to be waiting a while.
3 Ride To Hell: Retribution (2013)
By this point, Ride To Hell: Retribution is more of a meme than a game. Serving as an example of what to avoid when developing a game, Eutechnyx's hilariously inept attempt at creating a story-driven third-person action title fails across every conceivable level.
The fact this monstrosity came out during the same year as Grand Theft Auto V and The Last of Us is especially ludicrous. For some reason, only two of those seventh-generation games were remastered for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
2 Vroom In The Night Sky (2017)
With regards to the Nintendo Switch's launch window, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild did all the heavy lifting. In fact, the console was so lacking in games, Vroom in the Night Sky somehow found its way onto the Switch's store, instantly becoming the hardware's worst game. Nearly three years later, the Switch has yet to come up with something capable of challenging Vroom's supremacy.
With gameplay revolving around shooting rings and collecting Stardust, Vroom in the Night Sky is a baffling exercise in minimalistic content and, presumably, effort. Apparently, Nintendo's quality control ends with first-party titles.
1 The Quiet Man (2019)
Admittedly, The Quiet Man benefits from a higher production value than many of the other entries on this list, with Square Enix even showcasing the beat 'em up at E3 2018. Admittedly, the publisher seemed to instantly regret that decision, as the game was mostly neglected before quietly being released for the PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows.
To put users in the shoes of the deaf protagonist, The Quiet Man launched with muted sound and no subtitles. Shockingly, this primarily story-driven beat 'em up was impossible to follow! It is possible to tell an effective story using only visuals, but The Quiet Man was not designed to support this creative choice. No, removing the subtitles was just a poorly thought-out gimmick. An update that included a New Game Plus with subtitles was later released, but that only served to highlight the terrible writing.
An incomprehensible story intercut with clunky bare-bones combat, The Quiet Man was the worst console game that was not from a major franchise published during the 2010s.