In retrospect 2017 was a stellar year for gamers and the gaming industry, with a plethora of high-quality games making their way to our consoles or PCs. But while the list of games that made us tight in the jorts is lengthy, we cannot ignore the fact that there were some stinkers put out there this year. Part of our job is to inform you about what is good, average, bad and well, plain rubbish. These are of course our own reviewer’s opinions, but they generally agree with the consensus. So what were the worst of the worst, the games that made us question our will to live and the quality control process of some companies? Below are all the games that DYEGB scored 4 or below in 2017.
Developed by Piranha Bytes, Elex showed potential with an intriguing setting in which one of the world’s most sought-after resources, elex, has caused a war between the world’s factions. Sadly, the game failed to deliver anything that would resemble a worthwhile RPG experience.
Elex is an unfortunate case of an intriguing world ruined by most of game which the world is tied to. With average gameplay, horrid combat, bad voice acting, bad sound design and a myriad of technical issues, Elex does little to encourage players to invest time in its vast landscapes, deep RPG mechanics and interesting ideas. This is a title that I would definitely not recommend
– Jordan Garcia
Despite its appealing visuals and gimmicky appeal, The Deer God is nothing more than an animal running simulator, specifically a deer. A mobile port that was probably better left on its original platform.
Clichéd as sayings go, but an apt forewarning for anyone interested in playing The Deer God, a game that seems great on paper and certainly looks the part, but falls apart as soon as it comes time to be anything more than eye candy
– Kieron Verbrugge
A Payday-esque cooperative shooter set during Hitler’s World War II reign that had all the hallmarks of a fun but flawed shooter that you can’t help but continue to play. Instead, the game is just a flawed and grind-focused shambles. Not even a cameo from John Cleese could save it.
As an avid Payday fan I had high hopes for Raid, however to say Raid: World War II is a disappointment is an understatement. It fails on pretty much every level; the only solace here is playing with your mates can be enjoyable and can mitigate the game’s repetitive and grind-focused gameplay, the slew of technical issues and dated visuals. Unless you’re a fervent fan of the Payday style you should probably get your Nazi slaughtering fix elsewhere
– Zach Jackson
DYEGB rating: 4 | OpenCritic rating: N/A
DLC for an eight-year old game that very few people asked for. Topware and Reality Pump may have released the DLC to whet players’ appetites for the in-development Two Worlds III but probably should have saved everyone the pain.
Two Worlds II: Call of the Tenebrae is like a massive, beautifully laid out buffet, only the closer you look, the more you realise it’s made of chalk and sawdust, tastes like burnt dog shit and you have to walk barefoot over lego bricks to get to it. The amazingly crafted world and rich variety of NPCs lured me in, and suddenly I was awash in a sea of mediocre combat and plodding mobility – I genuinely felt like I had been catfished
– Ash Wayling
Mecho Tales attempted to pull on our nostalgia strings and remember the good old platforming days. Unfortunately it failed on every level and reminded fans why the good old days are the good old days.
Despite its appealing visuals, Mecho Tales is a classic indie example of style over substance, in which it attempts to hide its poor level design, repetitive nature and wafer-thin narrative behind its nostalgic gameplay which harkens back to the games of yore that we grew up loving as square-eyed whippersnappers. All in all the experience is dull, frustrating and simply not fun
– Larissa Sharman
Hands-down the most contentious inclusion to this article, Star Wars: Battlefront 2 was a polarising experience for a lot of fans. Battered from pillar to post over its abhorrent microtransaction practices, EA were forced to abandon its money-making scheme (for the meantime) after the collective thud of the Internet’s pitchforks became too loud for Star Wars licence holder Disney. It didn’t help that the game was marred by extremely poor design choices either.
Star Wars Battlefront II is a confused game that took both the gargantuan Star Wars licence and gamer’s patience for obnoxious microtransactions for granted. It looks and sounds the part, but its story execution isn’t worthy of the brand, and its terrible multiplayer progression systems ought to be taken out behind the barn, shot and buried in an unmarked grave. The only good thing to come from this game is that it seems to have finally united consumers rallying against unscrupulous business practices in full-price AAA titles
– Kieran Stockton
Walking simulators have grown in popularity over the past couple years and Leaving Lyndow sounded like another worthy playthrough. Instead the experience is barely long enough to classify as a game.
Leaving Lyndow looks and feels at best like a free demo, and at worst like an unfinished prototype. It’s not the worst way to spend 15 minutes, but rather than create interest in Eastshade, it only served to make me more sceptical of the developer’s ability to pull off the more ambitious ideas they’re promising for that title
– Kieron Verbrugge
Dead Alliance’s unique premise where zombies are both your weapon and enemy sounded cool on paper. Sadly the game is about as generic as first-person shooters come and the game’s beta in the lead up to the full release was a disaster and ensured that the game was dead on arrival. Maximum Games may as well have got the master copy, driven the short commute from its headquarters to San Francisco and thrown it off the Golden Gate Bridge into the San Francisco Bay to save having to pay for servers and further development work.
Dead Alliance should serve as a lesson to every developer on how not to make a multiplayer FPS. The most criminal aspect is that the game is being sold for $69 when it’s obvious that the game isn’t finished. A lack of human-controlled players and content means that Dead Alliance’s fun is over before it ever really gets started. In reality, the game should have been released as a free-to-play title in its current state as it offers nothing worth paying for
– Zach Jackson
Have you ever been excited about a game that you know in your heart of hearts is going to terrible? For me that game is Road Rage, which intended to give fans of the legendary Road Rash series something to swing their chain and pop a mono about. Instead Road Rage was just another dumpster fire from Maximum Games. I don’t know if Team6 could have made a worse rendition if they tried.
Road Rage is an utter disaster. Even after the year-long delay the game still shipped in a sorry and sad state. Everything about Road Rage is either broken or awful, almost in a fun and comical way. The only saving grace here is that the publishers have priced this somewhat accordingly compared to its other bombs and you’ve only wasted $30 AUD (plus shipping if you import it) or $48 AUD if you bought it digitally
– Zach Jackson
Congratulations to Maximum Games for taking out gold, silver and bronze in our 2017 biggest bombs awards, a truly deserved effort. It makes you wonder how they remain in business after consistently releasing broken and bad games. Their magnum opus is none other than Troll and I, a tale that starts with its heart and ideas in the right place but is so broken and flawed that it questions whether Maximum Games even know what quality control is, let alone care about it. Surely someone at Maximum considered burying copies of this turd in the desert somewhere in the hope that it becomes a cult phenomenon in the future.
Troll and I suffers from having champagne ambitions on a beer budget and is marred by a plethora of issues. Seriously subpar technical, design, narrative and gameplay elements make it a borderline insufferable experience, and as a result the game cannot be recommended to anyone at all, let alone at its AAA price
– Zach Jackson
Well that’s it. We still are yet to give out a 1, but I feel that time is nigh, especially if Maximum Games continue to dish up what they did in 2017. Any scores that you disagree with? Let us know in the comments.
