Bethesda was founded on June 28, 1986. Fast forward three-and-a-half decades, and we have Skyrim being released 15 separate times. Granted, Skyrim was a massive hit with Bethesda Softworks, so it makes sense to make hay while the sun shines. Bethesda doesn’t always score such a critical success, however. Here are the 10 worst games from Bethesda of all time — at least, so far.
10. Star Trek: Encounters
- Released October 4, 2006
- Platform: PlayStation 2
A top-down arcade shooter, Star Trek: Encounters dashes away any form of diplomacy and humanity and instead tasks players with shooting down various enemy ships. The gameplay is linear, the combat is repetitive, and puddles offer more depth. There are some brilliant moments to be had, however, such as blowing up planets (?) and beaming down your away team. Overall, the Star Trek branding makes this feel strange — The Enterprise isn’t necessarily known for dog fighting. Here’s hoping the upcoming Star Trek game has learned from these gaffes.
9. Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot
- Released July 26, 2019
- Platform: PC, PlayStation 4
Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot has a place on this list, but not because the game is bad. In fact, thanks to high production values, Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot has been dubbed as one of the best VR cockpit games thus far. The issue is that it’s relatively short at two hours, and there is next to no replay value which Wolfenstein typically offers with its alternative history. This, combined with its penchant for offering relatively easy fights, resulted in one of the lower scores from Bethesda.
8. Fallout 76
- Released November 14, 2018
- Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One
We all expected this game to be on the list, but it was a glaring misstep similar to The Elder Scrolls: Blades. Bethesda heard that players wanted to experience cooperative play in its titles, and then seemingly designed a title from the ground up to maximize monetization while minimizing work. Fallout 76 is in a better state today, but as-is when released, was an atrocious misstep that felt simultaneously frustrating and greedy. Whether the ongoing work is enough to make players change their minds and give it another chance is a different conversation entirely.
7. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow
- Released June 28, 2006
- Platform: PC
A direct port from the PlayStation 2 title which suffered a similar fate, The Legend of Jack Sparrow on PC redefined how little a developer could care when porting a title. An included manual told players what buttons to press, since players couldn’t follow the on-screen prompts in the game which were still showing PlayStation controls. A litany of bugs and errors that cropped up during gameplay made progress almost impossible, and the rare save points sealed the deal. A shame, as Johnny Depp even lended his voice to the game, but not even he could save it from itself.
6. Star Trek: Conquest
- Released November 20, 2007
- Platform: Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 2
Star Trek: Conquest had critics and fans alike torn. On one hand, Star Trek: Conquest brought a slower-paced strategy-action game to consoles, where it has historically been a difficult conversion. On the other hand, the tedium that could be involved between the rarely close battles made it a difficult sell. Its most egregious error, however, was failing to understand what makes Star Trek the powerhouse of sci-fi that it is: the most humane of elements triumphing in alien settings. If there was more of a focus on relationships and diplomacy, this game might have been something more than its board game-esque gameplay that it’s remembered for.
Related: Star Trek: Resurgence gets first gameplay reveal, briefing from Ambassador Spock
5. Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships
- Released September 29, 2005
- Platform: Xbox
The gameplay is limited, the races are absurdly easy to win, and upgrading your stable to trounce the competition is also simple. Almost every race can be won simply by having a thumb and pressing the A button, as long as your stable is being upgraded after races. On top of this snooze-fest of gameplay, you also have to load in every single race, regardless if your horse is racing or not. If this is ever suggested to you, we strongly recommend saying neigh.
4. The Elder Scrolls: Blades
- Released May 14, 2020
- Platform: Nintendo Switch, Mobile devices
One of the rawest joys of the Elder Scrolls series is the dungeon crawling, and Bethesda tried to hone in on this dopamine rush with The Elder Scrolls: Blades. With on-rails exploration and repetitive tap-based combat, Bethesda then realized that the dopamine rush of exploring dungeons and long-forgotten caverns had little to do with finding occasional pieces of loot strewn about. We’re hoping that this realization is remembered when The Elder Scroll 6 releases.
3. IHRA Drag Racing franchise
- Released December 1, 2003
- Platform: Xbox
The first entry of this series, IHRA Drag Racing, was lampooned on release by IGN with this memorable line: “Lifting your dining room table two inches off the ground and watching whatever’s on it slide off the end would produce more thrills than anything in this game.” Bethesda read this review, and somehow ordered up two more iterations of the franchise, released in 2004 and 2006. With very little point to the title aside from driving in a straight line after the loading screen, it was a confusing franchise that had players wondering what the point was. And there were three of them. They never got better.
Related: Sony unleashes a sneak peek for the Gran Turismo movie, predictably has a lot of cars
2. AMF Extreme Bowling
- Released June 28, 2006
- Platform: PlayStation 2, Xbox
Bowling can be exciting when you have a few brews and friends to share while you hit the lanes. AMF Extreme Bowling is not only missing both of those aspects, but it’s also missing any form of extremes or extremities, causing a bit of concern over its naming convention. AMF Extreme Bowling struck an important chord for the gaming community — however, it isn’t fun to be flawless every time you play. After understanding how the aiming and power system works, every player will hit constant strikes until the game is finally turned off. You should spare yourself the misery, and try Nintendo Switch Sports instead.
1. Rogue Warrior
- Released December 1, 2009
- Platform: PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Rogue Warrior, not to be confused with roguelikes, was supposed to explore the exploits of Richard Marcinko, as players guide him to disrupt a North Korean ballistic missile program. The PC version had the highest rating of 29, and that’s likely due to how easy it is to uninstall. The script and plot are bad enough to make Steven Seagal blush, the cover system will have your character plowing into machine gunners for fun, and the dialogue is so uniquely bad that you’ll turn off the audio just so you don’t have to hear the silly accents and the never-ending expletives.
