2013 has been a great year for games, as we’ve already detailed in our Top 10 Best Video Games list, but there’s also been a fair share of disappointing titles that we’ve had to sift through.
While the games in the following list are perhaps not the worst games of 2013, they are the games we were most disappointed. Blame that on high expectations if you will, but these titles let us down. Potential is nothing more than just a word unless it’s realized.
We present to you CraveOnline Gaming’s top 10 most disappointing games of 2013:
Top 10 Disappointing Games of 2013
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10. Knack
Early impressions of Knack were that it looked a little dull, but Sony were building it up as one of the PS4's biggest launch titles, so that had to mean something, right? Well, not quite.
Knack was an "old-school platformer", but not in a good way. It was old-school in that the ideas it implemented belonged in a pre-Mario Galaxy world, where the likes of Gex and Croc had a dedicated fanbase and Spyro hadn't yet become a Skylander.
In the end, Knack turned out to be one of the worst PS4 launch titles available.
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9. Batman: Arkham Origins
Developer Warner Bros. Montreal had a lot to live up to after being given the Arkham license to work with following Rocksteady's departure from the series, and while Batman: Arkham Origins was by no means a bad game, it didn't live meet the high bar set by both Arkham Asylum and Arkham Origins.
In Arkham Origins, Warner Bros. took all of Rocksteady's ideas and utilised them in a slightly worse way. Grapelling around the eerily barren Gotham was a chore as Batsy's grapple hook failed to lock on to many of the buildings, the plot was filled with enemies from Batman lore but few, save for The Joker, were fleshed out enough, and the open-world enviroment was one of the most dull to have ever featured in a video game. Oh, and the glitches. The bugs in Arkham Origins ranged from irritating to game-breaking, leading to a game that felt decidedly unfinished. The Bat was certainly not at his best here.
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8. Call of Duty: Ghosts
The Call of Duty series has its detractors, but it's mostly remained a fun series despite its oft-discussed flaws.
However, Call of Duty: Ghosts marked the worst reviews the series has received since Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare catapulted it into popular culture, with many of the franchise's most ardent supporters dropping by the wayside due to what has become known as "CoD fatigue".
CoD: Ghosts underwhelmed many, and while it still inevitably shot to the number one spot of charts in the western world, its sales figures were lower than that of previous years and represented a dip in the popularity of the mighty series, one which publisher Activision will be looking to rectify in 2014.
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7. Remember Me
A new Capcom IP is always something to get excited about, and although the legendary studio wasn't dipping its brush in the creative side of the game (that responsibility was left down to Dontnod Entertainment) the company's affiliation with Remember Me ensured that it garnered a lot of attention following its announcement.
While the game was still competent enough, it failed to live up to the level of expectation set for it. Its critical response was lukewarm, its sales were disastrous and it's therefore unlikely we'll ever see a Remember Me 2.
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6. Temple Run 2
The original Temple Run was a timesink in the best possible way. Its fast-paced, addictive gameplay made it one of the most popular mobile games ever, and an influx of endless running games were created in its wake.
Unfortunately, the problem with its sequel Temple Run 2 was that it's quite difficult to create something worthwhile on top of an arguably perfect formula. Developer Imanji Studios added a few new ideas here and there, such as a Temple of Doom-esque mine cart segment and some vines to swing off of, but nothing that would convince those who were just overcoming their Temple Run addiction to dive into.
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5. God of War: Ascension
In 2013 there were a LOT of prequels, and save for Tomb Raider, most of them failed to impress. God of War: Ascension was one of them.
Aside from the addition of a throwaway multiplayer mode, God of War: Ascension simply followed the path of the original God of War trilogy with its campaign, failing to innovate in any way and choosing to instead simply go through the motions.
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4. Sonic Lost World
Say what you will about Sonic's steadily declining legacy, but his past few outings have been more than able to hold a candle to the blue blur's Sega Genesis days.
Sonic Colors and in particular Sonic Generations were both celebrated platformers, while Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing Transformed surprised everyone by being not just a competent arcade racer like its predecessor, but rather a legitimately great one.
Sega could have opted to create a Sonic Generations 2 and everyone would have been quite happy with it. However, they admirably decided to change up the formula once again and give us Sonic Lost World, which from early viewings seemed to be developer Sonic Team's attempt at giving the iconic hedgehog his own Super Mario Galaxy.
Unfortunately, Sonic Lost World was peppered with clumsy platforming, a learning curve that sought to frustrate rather than reward, complicated level design which veered into convolution in almost every stage. In the end, what was one of the Wii U's biggest third-party exclusives of the year turned out to be yet a big disappointment, and another huge step back for Sonic.
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3. Aliens: Colonial Marines
In development for what seemed like an eternity, Aliens: Colonial Marines looked promising from released footage, and many predicted that it would right the wrongs made by 2010's woeful Aliens vs. Predator.
Unfortunately, it transpired that developer Gearbox had created a game that was unimaginably worse, and the clips that we were actually shown of the game weren't representative of in-game footage whatsoever. This dealt a significant blow to the credibility of Gearbox and its president Randy Pitchford, who later stated that he was "investigating" the matter. A planned Wii U release was canned due to all the negative press, and everyone involved likely wants to forget that this disaster was ever allowed to happen.
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2. SimCity
The huge problems with SimCity at launch meant that we actually refused to review it. Everyone who was paying attention to the furore surrounding EA's decision to make the game require an internet connection in order to work were skeptical of how well the game would perform at launch. However, even the most pessimistic of onlookers would have been hard-pressed to predict just how badly it went.
EA's restrictive DRM policies for the game ensured that the majority of players couldn't access the game whatsoever. In order to improve stability, features had to be dropped here and there, the game had to be scaled back and it was eventually left to be little more than a husk of the SimCity it once was.
Even now, the game still isn't fixed and it still requires online access. An unmitigated disaster.
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1. Beyond: Two Souls
Quantic Dream and aspiring-movie-director-trapped-inside-a-game-developer's-body David Cage followed up the unique and engaging Heavy Rain with the bland Beyond: Two Souls, a game which took all of the worst ideas from the developer's previous game and expanded upon them.
Heavy Rain certainly had its problems, but they could be overlooked due to its vast amount of storyline options, which allowed the player to take multiple routes through its narrative, creating a unique experience every time it was played. On the other hand, Beyond: Two Souls gives the player the illusion of free will, with it actually being a very linear experience.
This wouldn't have been so bad in and of itself if what we were left with was good game with a worthwhile yarn to spin, but it transpired that Beyond was little more than an average, predictable sci-fi tale with tedious gameplay. In the end, the PlayStation 3's second biggest exclusive of the year was a disappointing dud.
