All press is good press…?
There are games out there that deserve top honors, but then there’s the bottom of the barrel, games that had great intentions but ended up being less than favorable experiences. In fact, a few of them outright stank.
We’ve played these dishonorable releases so you don’t have to. Yes, you’re welcome.
Dishonorable Mentions:
FIFA 20 Nintendo Switch Legacy Edition
This isn’t so much a bagging of the game itself, but the practice. FIFA 20 is a decent soccer game for the Switch, but the problem is… it’s last year’s game. EA re-released FIFA 19 with updated rosters and jerseys. And… that’s about it. No new components, no new engine, no new gameplay to really speak of. It’s a recycled game that sells for full price. Honestly, Switch owners deserve better.
Dollhouse
Dollhouse is one of those games that could’ve made for an interesting survival horror experience. Its main problem, though, is that it’s so buggy that players will barely be able to make progress. Some of these bugs actually break the game, to the point that you have to start over. And on top of that, the lame visuals and poor storytelling do very little to keep players sticking around. You’d be better off playing with an actual doll house.
Generation Zero
Avalanche Studios usually hits it out of the park with its game designs, based on what we saw with Rage 2 and Just Cause 4. But Generation Zero feels like a huge step backwards. With its slow-paced robot combat, its incredibly large sized world (which results in taking forever to really get anywhere), and its many technical issues, the word Zero pretty much sums up the fun you’ll have with this game. But don’t worry, Avalanche will be back on top soon enough. We hope.
Runner Up:
Left Alive
What… happened? That’s the question a lot of fans ask about what could’ve been a strong spiritual return of the Front Mission franchise. Left Alive fails on so many fronts, from the narrative side to its poor technical set-up to its wonky gameplay. And what’s worse, the company probably knew it had a goose egg on its hands, as it gave the game zero hype upon its release. Here’s hoping Square learned its lesson when it comes to how not to do a revival.
Worst Game of the Year:
WWE 2K20
Following the departure of long-time developer Yukes, WWE fans were hoping for the best with Visual Concepts’ work on WWE 2K20. Unfortunately, that’s not what they got.
Along with a number of lacking features bizarrely unappealing downloadable content, this wrestling game is ultimately outdone by its hilariously bad glitches. From watching a wrestler morph into the body of a referee to characters getting stuck on stuff as simple as ropes, they’re tough to watch—and even tougher to take if you paid $60 for the game.
Perhaps next year, 2K Sports will get back on track with something new and innovative. But, for now, you should steer clear of WWE 2K20, as it truly fails to live up to its championship caliber.
Is it too late for Yukes to come back…?
For more of our Year in Review 2019 series, head to our hub page.
