There’s no shortage of disappointments in life. Whether it’s a friend or partner doing something out of character, or perhaps your favourite sports team blowing a 30 point lead to a team ravaged by injury, life sometimes throws you a curve ball and you realise that, no, everything isn’t awesome.
Let’s take video games, for example. Why do we play video games? I’m sure the reasoning varies from person to person. For me, most of the time it’s therapeutic: I do it to relax and wind down. Sometimes I do it because it’s my job. The game being good makes that easier, but if it’s not so good … well, it’s a bit like being tasked to train the new guy at work: it’s a chore.
Some games aren’t bad, they’re just disappointing. I know that saying “disappointing” hurts a game’s maker more than saying “it just straight up sucks”, because “disappointing” suggests it’s been a let-down, that it hasn’t met expectations and that it’s well below where we thought it should be. Basically, the developer failed a test.
That’s a fairly harsh critique I admit, but the reality is that sometimes games fall victim to aggressive marketing campaigns and schemes, and the end result is anything but what we’ve been promised.
So, which games were the most disappointing in 2016?
Star Fox Zero
Star Fox Zero is ambitious, sure, but it gives up gameplay coherence for what feels like a mesh of demos to showcase different control schemes.
At a time when the Wii U was in dire need of something — anything — to give it some value, Star Fox Zero released to mixed reviews, even if it did fulfil the nostalgic cravings of Nintendo’s most passionate fans.
Quantum Break
Quantum Break isn’t a bad game by any means, and it is actually the technical marvel that developer Remedy promised it would be.
However, while its storytelling techniques and time-bending gameplay features are both innovative and engaging, the game struggles to really stand out as much as it wants to.
Strong characters save it from complete disaster, though, and while it’s not quite the system seller Microsoft may have wanted it to be, it’s still something every Xbox One should check out.
Mighty No.9
After countless delays and an endless stream of criticisms, Mighty No.9 was finally released, unfortunately to a thunderous clunk.
It lacks personality, and doesn’t quite offer the same sort of fun and aesthetic excitement that the Mega Man games that inspired it offered.
Mighty No.9 tries hard to be its own game, instead stumbling down a trek towards mediocrity, and disappointing a legacy of fans that had clung to its development like sticky bombs.
Mirror’s Edge Catalyst
Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst‘s fundamentals work just as well as they did in the original, but it’s additional gameplay features and a muddled plot drag it well below the quality of its predecessor.
EA held off commissioning this sequel, concerned there wasn’t much of a market for it. In eventually signing off, DICE seemed forced to “reboot” a game that was already drowning in character and intrigue.
They somehow managed to turn an empowered and likeable female hero into a dry, emotionless one, while also throwing in tedious gameplay features that undermine the brand’s parkour roots.
Battleborn
Battleborn seemed the goods at E3 2015, but its release was met with a collective “meh”. It’s not bad, but it’s not particularly good, either.
Battleborn is just “there”, struggling to form an identity. That’s strange, because the game is drowning in Gearbox’s and Borderlands’ DNA and humour.
It struggles in the areas of map design and team dynamics, forcing it down the pile of multiplayer shooters, and well below that of Overwatch.
Mafia 3
Mafia 3 stands out on the story front, and if you stick to its powerful story and main missions, you might find something here to like.
Unfortunately, its barren game world, trivial side missions and mindless AI make it a tough game to recommend. It has a story to tell, one many of us probably need to hear.
It’s just a shame that it gets lost in the background.
No Man’s Sky
The story of No Man’s Sky is perhaps the most intriguing of 2016. Sony had marketed this game as being one of the must-have games for the PS4, and leading into release there was plenty of hype surrounding it.
Unfortunately, the end result was well below the expectations set out by advertisements and promotional tours, which painted a picture of an action-packed space exploration game. What we got instead was a slow grind, inviting players into an admittedly impressively-sized universe that lacked much in the way of compelling progression.
A recent update aimed to address a lot of the game’s less-than-enjoyable features, but nothing can save No Man’s Sky from its most disastrous launch.
ReCore
ReCore has some solid ideas, and it definitely has its moments, but I still find myself unsure if it’s worth recommending.
While playing it, I found myself both loving and hating major facets of the experience: I liked the shooting and its colour-coded weapons, but I hate how tough it can be to switch in the middle of a battle. I love the world of Far Eden, but I hate how the map lacks structure. I adored Joule and her relationship with the Corebots, but the story all too often dips into long lulls. I love the crafting system, but I hate the long waits to and from the base. I don’t mind the visuals, but low-quality textures and screen tearing devalue it.
Overall, ReCore has a story it wants to tell, and while it sometimes may not even know what that story is, it’s still confident enough in what it’s trying to. It has its moments, and there’s plenty of depth there, so it comes down to whether you can find the patience to battle such a consistent stream of inconsistent quality.
Homefront: The Revolution
The Homefront franchise is perhaps one of gaming’s most underutilised. The first game set a fascinating scenario of war and conflict, and while it didn’t set the world on fire, it seemed like a compelling enough world to justify a sequel, and it was.
Unfortunately, The Revolution went through development hell. It started at THQ, moved over to Crytek, and eventually ended with Deep Silver. The end result is a game that isn’t very good, but is still drowning in ambition.
The Revolution is a game that wants to be good: it’s just a victim of poor parenting. Is it worth a go? Maybe. Probably not. It’s almost too frustrating in parts to recommend, and its story can be a little muddled. But I still see it as the little game that could, even if it could have done with another year or so cooking in the oven.
Street Fighter V
One of the year’s most anticipated games was released in an essentially unfinished state.
Capcom’s intention was to ditch the countless re-released versions that infamously defined Street Fighter IV, and instead focus on downloadable content and updates to keep Street Fighter V active and fresh.
The problem, however, was that the game released with as barebones an offering as you could imagine. Capcom went from one extreme to another. Included in the game was a shallow online mode with versus casual and ranked, and a training mode that was so thin and boring it may as well not have even been included in the first place.
Capcom still asked for a full retail price at launch, and screamed down from the rafters that paid DLC was on the way, like as if players and fans should be happy about that. On top of all of this, the online functionality was a broken mess for weeks after after launch.