If the video game can give the best it can also give the worst of the worst. And today that’s exactly what we want to talk to you about.
If we easily remember the good video games, our mind also tends to remember the worst. Bad experience because of bugs (hello The Last of Us PC), non-existent or simply uninteresting gameplay, we all have in mind a bad gaming experience both on consoles and on PC. But here we want to list the worst of the worst. It’s obviously not exhaustive but it’s clearly the top 5 if you want to split the pear of despair or have a good laugh to relax on this April 1st. The objective is not to make fun of the work (sometimes very difficult) of the developers but rather to admire what can result from a botched game. Either for lack of will or quite simply because it was far too early to market it. A look back at more than 15 years of failure.
5 games to rule them all into a draw
We have tried to present to you a panel of games over several generations. Not all are bad for the same reason. As we could explain a little above, titles were simply sold (much) too early. But in the lot, there are also games that should never have seen the light of day simply because the gameplay itself had no interest. We let you discover all this.
5. Aliens Colonial Marines: when a golden saga becomes a disaster
We would have liked it to be an April Fool’s joke and a bad joke but it is nevertheless real. On February 11, 2013, the world could discover Aliens : Colonial Marines. A game that had everything to please on paper. A renowned sci-fi saga, an FPS right in the middle of the genre’s Golden Age and some very good ideas. However, when it was released, it was a real video game disaster. An accumulation of bugs at all levels, a ridiculous AI to cry with laughter and a more than questionable level design. The mechanics are extremely poor and we are generally content to shoot without asking any questions. The icing on the cake, the scenario is absolutely worthless and is a real spit on the movies. Note for their defenses that over the years the Gearbox Software studio (Borderlands 3) was able to go up the slope a little but despite everything a launch of this type was a shame and it only tarnished the image of the adaptation a little more Alien in video games. Never again, please. Fortunately the very good Alien Isolation is here to make up for everything.
4. Family Party : 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade
In 2012 on Wii U released a certain Family Party : 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade. A set of mini-games that could have overshadowed Wii Sports if only the title hadn’t been so disastrous. We can enjoy a total of 35 mini-games but the majority of them are of no interest. The Art Co., Ltd studio didn’t pay much attention to the visual part which is a heap of outdated pixels right out of the box. It’s ugly, it’s bland and thankless from start to finish. The height of irony for a game whose controller is essential in the gameplay, the controls are buggy and some mini-games are unplayable. It’s badly coded and you want to give up after 10 minutes. What happiness.
To add a little salt to the whole, the dubbing is catastrophic and causes headaches. Bad taste at all stages of development. We even wonder when the title could slip through the cracks to end up on sale. It was absolutely necessary to find a compilation of mini-games to do on Wii U under penalty of the end of the world, it could not be otherwise. It is one of the worst games of the Wii U which nevertheless has good games in its catalog like Xenoblade Chronicles X or Bayonetta 2.
3. Ride to Hell: Retribution. A video game that lives up to its name, a real ride to Hell.
In 2013, the Eutechnyx studio, which has since disappeared, produced Ride to Hell : Retribution hoping to ride the wave of the excellent series Sons of Anarchy. Alas, good inspiration is not enough to make a good game. “The Work” follows the adventures of a man returning from the Vietnam War in 1969 and having problems integrating into society. So far so good and we also find some inspirations on the side of Taxi Driver. The problem is that this action-adventure game is a disaster on every level. The studio specializes in racing games and yet the beginning of the adventure begins with a totally lame motorcycle race. Driving is catastrophic and there is nothing to save. The character design is awful, the missions are useless and you’re going in circles after an hour. Sad fact.
The scenario, which however begins on a good basis, quickly drowns in the big nonsense and our character quickly becomes a mass killer of innocent people for no reason. For some obscure reason we find ourselves, for example, during a mission in a power plant in which we will methodically assassinate each of the maintenance technicians. Because after all, why not? The game is available on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC and we absolutely do not advise you to get it. To top it off, the game is full of bugs and glitches of all kinds. Our character cannot jump a low wall of 1 meter and forces us to make a contour of several minutes. As distressing as the rest of the adventure. If you want a real open world game with motorbikes, turn instead to Days Gone. And if you are a biker… go to MotoGP.
2. Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust: a sexist disaster that chained uncle’s jokes
We arrive on the creme de la creme in terms of video game nullity. We present to you Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust. This video game was released on March 27, 2009 in our region and it is not in our top 5 for nothing. We play Larry Loveage, a real loser, compulsive flirty and misogynist. Hired on a pornographic film set by his uncle, this is where everything degenerates with a succession of gags under his belt and non-existent gameplay. The game’s marketing had oversold its title by presenting it as a game “à la GTA“‘ with an open world and many possibilities. It’s not. It’s not even worthy of Postal.
Result of the races, the missions are in fact a succession of disasters with objectives which become worse and worse. Like the one that consists of taking photos of women without their knowledge while submitting the idea to the character to masturbate. In short, nothing was going well in 2009 already and this is even less the case in 2023. Everything is to be thrown away and that is without counting the many bugs which bring even more disaster to the experience. It’s vulgar, in bad taste and even frankly unhealthy. A game to enjoy all the same with friends to have a good laugh in front of so much nothingness.
1. Big Rigs : Over the Road Racing. 100% bug et 100% rigolade
We arrive at the worst in terms of video games with Big Rigs : Over the Road Racing. Behind this name hides a semi truck racing game which was released in 2003. First gameplay mistake, the game sells itself as giving you a racing experience where the goal is to evade the police because of illegal cargo. Problem, there are no police and no objective except to win a race…against another truck. For what ? We wonder that too. But where it gets funny is that the opposing truck is totally buggy and stays stuck on the starting line most of the time. The player thus finds himself racing alone in empty environments with no traffic. The very definition of fun. It’s the antiNeed For Speed Unbound absolute.
It gets even funnier when you start rolling. Indeed, the laws of physics can be totally violated. The truck can then drive off the tracks and climb mountains without losing speed. Better, it can roll in reverse faster than in normal walk. And since our truck is outside of all reality, it can cross buildings and scenery and pass under the map. The game also suffers, so as not to miss anything, from translation problems and numerous inconsistencies in terms of level design. Like this famous lamp post which does not light the road but only the ravine on the right side. In short, a game that has something to drive you crazy and that deserves its place in the top 1. Finally, and it’s important to note, it’s the only racing game where the speedometer allows you to have unlimited speed negative. Below 0 therefore, because the game is not supposed to take reverse gear into consideration at full speed. Below 0 could also be the epitaph of this Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing. If you are a truck driver and you like trucks, there is for example American Truck Simulator to get their teeth into. Much more qualitative.
