200°

The Biggest Video Game Disappointments Of 2015

Every year in video games brings with it some lovely surprises, but every year also brings some sorry disappointments.

crazychris41243068d ago (Edited 3068d ago )

List is pretty spot on. I would add Just Cause 3 for its performance issues, gameplay mechanics and some infuriating bugs. Patch barely improved the game on PC.

Forza 6 was slightly disappointing because rain and night were only on some of the tracks and I didn't like how they removed points depending on your finish in tournaments. There really is no sense of victory and accomplishment when you finish 1st other than extra money. Loved the battles for first to decide the tournament winner in the final race like in previous games. Have great memories of the winner of the tournament come down to the last 1-4 turns with me and the other racer battling it out to get 1st. With 6 I just feel empty when winning even though I have the AI difficulty cranked up. At least the custom blue console and controller look amazing so I don't feel like I wasted my money.

NeoGamer2323068d ago

To me, the disappointments were:

The Order (One of many reasons I dumped my PS4)
Batman Arkham Knight
Rare Replay (Was hoping they would modernize the games)
Star Wars Battlefront (Disappoint content and no real SP)
Evolve
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 5
Call of Duty Black Ops III
Ride
Overlord Fellowship of Evil
Game of Thrones

DarkOcelet3068d ago (Edited 3068d ago )

You dumped your PS4 because of one game?

http://www.reactiongifs.com...

coolbeans3068d ago

No, it's just "one of [the] many reasons [he] dumped [his] PS4."

rainslacker3067d ago

Still...dumping a console because you're disappointed in a game or three?

If I did that, I'd have no consoles.

MrBrofist3067d ago

I never understood that logic...

If I fork over hundreds of dollars on a console/handheld, I'd want to get my money's worth.

You never know what games will come out and surprise you.

Gamers these days are far too impatient

NeoGamer2323067d ago

It was much, much deeper than that.

I'll just say that was the last straw on a road of many issues Sony and I had.

Extra credit charges, warranty repairs on two different consoles, TV issues with the console, among others.

I am not saying MS is an angel neither. I have had a lot of things happen with them. They have just dealt with it a lot better when escalated.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 3067d ago
Ra30303068d ago

I don't get how Rise of The Tomb Raider is not on all the turd list of 2015. Take the The Order 1886 for example it had a average or a "mixed" Medacritic score at 63 but The Order 1886 sold pretty well on the other hand Rise of the Tomb Raider had a "Positive" Medacritic score of 86 and was hyped as one of the best game of the year and the anchor game of "The Greatest Games in Xbox History" yet it was sold on 2 platforms and no one want it based on that to me that screams a big turd. But that my opinion. So in gaming is a Medacritic score where people are paid to review games and paid to give scores more important than how a game actually sales?

iceman063068d ago

I think The Order 1886 hits the list because of the HUGE expectations that were cast on it. People expected it to be so much more than what it was even supposed to be. Some had it billed more like Uncharted or Gears and less like what it was. Even though the devs constantly stated that it was meant to be a more cinematic experience. Personally, I enjoyed it for what it was. But, I also enjoyed Watchdogs for what it was as well. I am a bit more even tempered when it comes to games. My hype usually starts AFTER I play the game and not so much before.
As for Tomb Raider, it was been extremely well received. Unfortunately, it was kinda put out to die with the lineup that it was facing at it's release.

DarkOcelet3068d ago

Am sorry, what? What expectations exactly? That game was drowning in negativity the moment they unveiled it.

For it to actually sell well after that is pretty damn good. And the game is actually good albeit on the short side.

iceman063067d ago

@DarkOcelet..."that game was drowning in negativity...." That's very true. It was getting judged (fairly or not) pretty harshly AND pretty early on. Yet, people STILL had HIGH expectations for the game that, IMO, didn't really align with the actual purpose of the game. People THOUGHT it would be more open to exploration...less linear...more set pieces...LONGER...etc. As I said, I enjoyed it for what it was. But, reviewers seemed to judge it for what it wasn't or what they WISHED it would be.

rainslacker3067d ago

There seems to be a great divide between those who criticized it heavily, and those who actually enjoyed it.

The people that criticized it most seemed to have the expectation that it would be a game that was the complete opposite of what the developers said time and again it would actually be.

I think, for the most part, those who actually listened to the developers, ended up enjoying it, but surely there were some who were disappointed as well, because it could have done some things better.

xasz3067d ago

So "bad sales" make a game a "turd"? Nevermind that you're comparing sales of game that's barely been out for over a month to total sales of a game that's been out for the better part of a year.

Rise of The Tomb Raider is not on the list because many accept it as a good game. The only "disappointment" most people have with it is how it was released.

Did you read the article? It had nothing to do with sales.

Are Okami, Street Fighter 3: Third Strike, Beyond Good & Evil, Sin & Punishment 2, both Bayonetta games, Psychonauts, Panzer Dragoon Orta, and Rayman Legends also "turds"?

Concertoine3067d ago

Commercial disappointment doesnt mean critical disappoint

ShottyatLaw3068d ago

Shouldn't Kotaku be on their own list here?

Show all comments (19)
160°

GTA 5’s cut “James Bond Trevor” DLC was already part-shot, actor says

The GTA 5 Agent Trevor DLC episode could have been a real treat for fans on PlayStation and Xbox, before it was scrubbed sometime before 2017.

Read Full Story >>
theloadout.com
Killer2020UK18d ago

More interested in money than giving fans what they want. Such a shame

CrimsonWing6918d ago

With the amount of money they generated, I just don’t understand the scrubbing of this. It would’ve been fantastic for fans.

Profchaos18d ago

I really want to know who drove the decision to focus on multiplayer was it Rockstar or take two.

Because when online started taking off many of the studio leads began having falling outs and leading including a founder

Demetrius18d ago

Ikr mfs that greedy it's ridiculous

andy8518d ago

This makes me sad. Trevor was one of my favourite characters in gaming

Demetrius18d ago

One of the reason I believe once gta 6 release, most of us thoroughly play it, enjoy the world they crafted then after that no offline support, no dlc at all

Show all comments (10)
120°

6 Games That Genuinely Deserve A Current-Gen Upgrade

Games such as Mad Max, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Batman: Arkham Knight desperately deserve a modern-day revisit.

thorstein24d ago

Mad Max is underrated. Such a fun game.

Cacabunga23d ago (Edited 23d ago )

RDR2 still looks astounding on PS4 Pro. i cannot imagine how it could look with a next gen upgrade.

JonTheGod23d ago (Edited 23d ago )

Probably not very different.

No idea why this article is highlighting recent beautiful graphically-advanced games and saying they need current gen makeovers. They already look better than most new releases; just compare Arkham Knight and Suicide Squad!

exputers23d ago

I see what you did there.

Yi-Long23d ago

It's obviously never gonna happen since Sony killed the game and studio, but Driveclub. Even in its current state, 10 years after release, it still puts many competitors to shame ...

Demetrius23d ago

I'm not into racing games but yeah I even looked at gameplay of that sometimes

Demetrius23d ago

Mad max ikr! Far cry primal, it amuses me how ubisoft just left ac unity hanging, sadly most of the good staff left from rocksteady while being forced to make that abomination smh

160°

15 Single Player Games That Divided Fans

One way or another, these games provoked strong reactions.

Read Full Story >>
gamingbolt.com
banger8829d ago

I don't think Days Gone divided fans. For the most part, gamers loved it. It was the reviewers who were divided. Self-loathing racist pieces of shit that took exception to the main character being white. This was a fantastic game, one of the best open-world games I ever played, and I've played them all.

Cacabunga29d ago (Edited 29d ago )

Second you on this.. I had absolute blast playing this game!! Memorable!

TLOU 2 I thought was utter s***.. I still haven’t finished it and stopped about halfway (apparently).

It wasn’t fans divided around The Order, it was a period where xbox fanboys were thinking Rise was a more engaging game so they were spreading a lot of hate..
Today they are hibernating with nothing to play
The Order was short, no denying, but a great game with huge potential

shinoff218329d ago

I enjoyed days gone and last of us 2. PeoPke trippin.

I always thought the order was kinda whack seeming so I never tried it. Id like to now though.

Jon6158629d ago

No thr order was a short, clunky mediocre yet visually stunning game. I thoughts so and pretty much every other reviewer did too.

thorstein29d ago

The Order, where length was a criterion for rating a game, but only this particular game and no others.

Demetrius29d ago

I agree on my 2nd playthrough, ps5 this time

RavenWolfx29d ago

While I enjoy what is there in Days Gone, I mourn what was lost. The first trailers for Days Gone showed a morality system that looked interesting. For example, in the beginning when you are chasing down Leon and after you caught him, you could choose to shoot him or leave him for the freaks. You can see hints of it in other places, like if you catch a bandit unaware sometimes they will disarm and it seems like Deacon had the option to shoot them or let them go (he automatically lets them go).

Crows9028d ago

Whatever...those systems unless revolutionary don't add much...they rarely do in games that do have them.

anast29d ago

For the most part, when it comes to Last of Us 2, incels, homophobes, and closet national socialist types didn't like it. I repeat not all, but most.

Days Gone is a great game and it was attacked by the leftist socialist people that are actually closet fascists. As a great poet once said: "Socialism is the mother of fascism."

The Order got hit from anti-Sony Xbox fans.

Out of these 3, Last of Us 2 stands above as being a work of art. It's still generating a ton conversation to this day.

coolbeans29d ago (Edited 29d ago )

-"Last of Us 2, incels, homophobes, and closet national socialist types didn't like it. I repeat not all, but most."

It's so weird & cringe to see other gamers paint this broad brush of *who* didn't like Part II. Why take the "most who disagree with me are Hitler" type of mentality over game tastes?

-"The Order got hit from anti-Sony Xbox fans."

No other community I've dabbled in - be it social media or gaming forums - has built up such a dedicated defense for The Order like N4G. This attitude fundamentally blows my mind, especially in the face of similar older titles (hello Uncharted 1) that already did a marginally better job at storytelling and gameplay. It almost feels like some N4G group chat made this reflexive defense as a meme and a bunch of posters are still playing along with it. No offense to genuine Order fans, but I simply can't shake that feeling.

Yui_Suzumiya29d ago

Well to be fair, I remember being only one of a few people on this site that actually praised The Order when it for came out and got alot of flack for it. Over time it seems opinions have changed about it.

anast29d ago (Edited 29d ago )

saying something is "cringe" doesn't prove me wrong. You just throw words out and hope they stick. Bring some evidence to prove me otherwise.

I got:

Letizi, R., & Norman, C. (2023). “You Took That From Me”: Conspiracism and Online Harassment in the Alt-Fandom of The Last of Us Part II. Games and Culture, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/155...

You're up. Maybe you can change my mind.

Because NG4 defended it doesn't mean NG4 is the gospel of gaming.

thorstein29d ago

Yeah Yui, it was "the game to hate" at the time. What was bizarre was the, as usual, journalists that were lying about the game and their stories were approved.

It was all clickhate all the time for the Order. I defended it too.

coolbeans28d ago

@Yui

-"I remember being only one of a few people on this site that actually praised The Order when it for came out and got alot of flack for it."

That could've been the case right at release, but you should see more recent opinion articles on here. There's a pretty substantial cadre who defend it on here as being "unfairly tarnished" that I simply don't see elsewhere.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 28d ago
Skuletor29d ago

Most of the backlash against The Last Of Us 2 was people upset that Joel was killed off, simple as that.

anast29d ago

There is that too, but the other groups pilled on too, which increased the numbers. I really don't see why we have to ignore everything but Joel being killed.

Inverno29d ago

I didn't like Part 2 and I'm not any of. The game sold like crazy, it's just hard for people to understand that most found the story to be arse.

anast29d ago (Edited 29d ago )

Prove what I say is wrong. I will need evidence. I didn't not say all. Your exception rule doesn't work. Find evidence that counters mine. So, we can have a real discussion.

Inverno29d ago

There are plenty of legitimate criticism in hours long analysis videos and reddit posts actually critiquing Part 2. The people you're talking about are such a minority, and they attack just about everything because they see the "wokeness" in the most subliminal ways. They're insignificant because the game still sold pretty well, and reviewed well regardless. Keep in mind the game released world wide, and western politics and views can't be applied to every corner of the world. I can agree that Days Gone was attacked, and unlike Part 2, due to these sites being so heavily political biased it did do some damage.

anast28d ago

I am at least showing the group was large enough of a concern for a journal to publish an article.

Where's your evidence?

Crows9028d ago

He's not looking for evidence. Don't bother with him.

Crows9028d ago

The last of us part 2 was bad story wise. Not some nonsense that you speak of...most of the negative people were random...lots of the critical reception from anything other than mainstream journalism thought that the game had huge problems.

Angry Joe and skill up being prime examples of that...unless of course like most socialists out there you wanna just lable people.

anast28d ago (Edited 28d ago )

Where's your evidence?

Crows9028d ago

@anast

Oh geez...Twitter is full of trolls...common sense.
The YouTube critics I mentioned are innocent till proven guilty. And proven with facts not opinions. I gave you evidence of 2 prominent youtubers and yet you ask for more...either you can't read or you aren't looking for evidence.

As far as groups being "large" for journos to get their panties all tied up...well then again you must be extremely gullible. As if we haven't seen thousands of articles claiming players are offended, angry or backlashing based solely on 1 or 2 posts. They love grabbing very specific individuals and using them to represent a much larger base....whatever is convenient to them making the case that gamers bad and journos good.

coolbeans28d ago (Edited 28d ago )

-"saying something is "cringe" doesn't prove me wrong. You just throw words out and hope they stick. Bring some evidence to prove me otherwise."

It doesn't "prove" it, but I have a solid success rate with the term - which seems to be the case here too. With regards to your article, I should break this down into parts:

1.) For starters, bleating for countering "evidence" after brandishing a media analysis paper (or papers) shouldn't be treated as some kind of trump card. That's not to say these researchers did nothing, mind you. Only that expecting counter-ideologies within this field who'll make this specific kind of work for TLOU Pt. II is absurdly demanding on its face. Nevermind the probability of non-progressive types getting the administrative approval being next to nil, but that's another can of worms.

2.) While I have critiques about x or y (some anecdotes being more flimsy than others, GG speculation, etc.), let's say for this argument that it's a solid piece overall. Having read the whole thing, there is literally *NOTHING* that validates the broad brush with which you painted TLOU2 critics in your first comment (speaking as someone who thinks it's a good game). The discussion about alt-fans, anti-fans, etc. does paint an ugly picture about the TLOU subreddit, Twitter users, certain YouTubers, and more; however, there's no positive declaration about TLOU2's critics ending at these particular clusters either. Even if you say "most, not all" in your first comment, that still seems overly broad compared to the text I read. (EDIT: That's not to disregard the nastiness or modest size in its own right.)

It's also worth noting how much of that paper's material is inspecting a pre-/at-release sort of backlash. But the game's been out for several years now. More and more people who AREN'T incels, homophobes, closet Nazis have played it past 2020 and you don't really see this new broad consensus about its accomplishments; in fact, you see more of a continued split over whether or not it deserves such monumental praise. Here's just a few other sub-communities near its release that don't fit your description:

- https://www.youtube.com/wat...
- https://www.youtube.com/wat...
- https://www.youtube.com/wat...

-"Because NG4 defended it doesn't mean NG4 is the gospel of gaming."

Correct, but you're just solidifying my point. Even PS fans elsewhere (social media or gaming forums) don't go to bat for The Order with the enthusiasm and consistency they do here in my experience. That's what makes your assessment of "anti-Sony Xbox fans" so fascinating to me.

anast28d ago

1) Speculation and emotion

2) Speculation and emotion

2a) Might be an argument if you gave me something other than your own opinion and emotions over the subject, but it's left as an anecdote without any real research. By the way, we can't negate the at release behavior, because it fits your narrative. It existed and those groups were involved.

The article is not a trump card and the fact that you seem to think so is more troubling on your end than mine. The article was to see if you could find other people that researched this phenomenon and we can have a conversation, but you still refuse to do this. Instead you wrote a sermon, which is a shame because maybe you had something with point "2a: It's also worth..." But this point still tries to side step actual events.

The final point doesn't solidify anything unless you are trying to solidify your own opinion. Albeit, it is passive aggressive, which is strange.

coolbeans27d ago

-"Speculation and emotion"

I mean... okay? Where am I wrong on 2.) though? Asking for a conflicting media studies research paper on this specific topic is already a random ask, given the environment with which these are made.

-"Might be an argument if you gave me something other than your own opinion and emotions over the subject, but it's left as an anecdote without any real research."

Wait. Just so we're clear: a research paper that focuses most of its attention towards a subreddit and social media comments to Neil Druckmann means you get to sustain your overly broad claims while contrary social media sources that don't exhibit the same kind of "alt-fan/anti-fan" rhetoric can't be counted? Now I feel even more confident in my initial assessment b/c all you're after is just whatever can be found with some accreditation behind it - regardless of quality.

-"By the way, we can't negate the at release behavior, because it fits your narrative. It existed and those groups were involved."

That's the thing: I never said they wasn't a sizable contingent of that either. From the start, my response was just how wild it was to paint *MOST* detractors with such a broad brush. I still don't think I'm off-base in saying it's cringe to just say "most people who shit on x game are closet Nazis or bigots of some sort," especially when your research doesn't really validate that.

-"The article is not a trump card and the fact that you seem to think so is more troubling on your end than mine."

Bro, you literally responded with "Bring some evidence to prove me otherwise.... You're up. Maybe you can change my mind." I don't really see how I'm speaking out of turn there given this and your original comment.

-"The article was to see if you could find other people that researched this phenomenon and we can have a conversation, but you still refuse to do this."

If no other people *HAVE* researched this phenomenon, then I don't see how the next best option is highly-popular sources which counter your original claim. Given that all you're promoting is a media studies paper hyper-focusing on a specific cluster of media, why wouldn't other forms of media work as some kind of substitute? That's not side-stepping events in the slightest.

-"The final point doesn't solidify anything unless you are trying to solidify your own opinion. Albeit, it is passive aggressive, which is strange."

I don't know what that first sentence means, honestly.

Look, I'll just put it like this: try to have a frank conversation about The Order on some other non-N4G gaming forum. There isn't going to be this clean split between 'Sony fans' and 'Xbox fans' that love it or hate it. Ask Sony fans how they'd feel about paying full-price for it and you're not going to get the ardent defenses compared to some of its most popular comment sections here.

anast27d ago

Still no evidence. I ask for you to bring contrary evidence, so maybe I might change my mind, all research can be falsifiable. This is what you are missing. We are thinking in two different universes.

You are writing sermons, which is a waste of everyone's time including yours. Bring some research and we will discuss it. As of now you have only brought superstitions.

coolbeans27d ago

-"I ask for you to bring contrary evidence, so maybe I might change my mind, all research can be falsifiable."

But I literally read YOUR evidence and it doesn't support the broader claims you made at the start. I'm not sure where else to go with that.

-"Bring some research and we will discuss it. As of now you have only brought superstitions."

Bro, leveraging this kind of language is so wild in the face of what you've provided. It's like unless those different communities I linked where fused together in a random media studies paper, you'd magically consider it valid. I don't understand how you're leveraging that, especially when it doesn't fortify your initial claim. You're basically retorting to me writing too much, regardless of the content itself. Just the oddest conversation with you thus far and I don't quite get it.

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 27d ago
D0nkeyBoi29d ago

Amazing gameplay, but TLOU2 had one of the worst, most convoluted and uneccessary plots I ever seen in a sequel. Terrible story and the characters were forgettable. I didn't give an F about anyone in the story.

Inverno29d ago

I don't think any of these divided fans, other than LoU2. The rest were either victims of biased reviews or just generally agreed that they weren't as good as they could've been or just overall disappointing.