Top 10 WORST Video Games of 2023

In this stealth, survival horror game, players control a mother searching for her child, who has been kidnapped and taken into a haunting alternate world. But with so many problems, we’d forgive you for giving up on her mission. From its focus on a religious cult to its bland enemy designs, “Unholy” is fairly by-the-numbers horror, which means it isn’t very scary. Even if the story wasn’t uninspired, you’d still have the frustrating controls that are awful for stealth, a myriad of technical problems, repetitive combat and puzzles, and some pretty poor voice acting. While some praised the level of detail in its two worlds, that doesn’t matter when the game is so unfun to play.

In some cases, getting film actors to star in games can lead to greatness. But this obviously isn’t one of those cases. “Rockay City” may have peaked our interest with its focus on heists and a cast that includes Chuck Norris, Danny Glover, and Kim Basinger. But once people got to try it, they found it to be quite hollow. None of the cast puts in performances worthy of their past time in crime films, which means they can’t carry the paper thin plotlines. We wouldn’t need them to if the gameplay was any fun. But it all amounts to simple third-person shooting within levels and missions we’ve played through a million times before, and in much better games.

When you try to do too much and succeed at nothing, you get a game like “Testament.” The first-person action RPG is set in an fantasy open world with Metroidvania elements. While that’s incredibly enticing on paper, the developers fumbled the ball in nearly every category. The story about a king usurped by his evil brother never goes beyond exactly what you’d expect, and neither does its generic setting. Combat is maddeningly simple with little to no variety, which becomes infuriating as the game throws groups of enemies at you. Then you have the unifying factor across all bad games: a ton of bugs. Considering “Skyrim” came out in 2011 and still does everything better, there’s no incentive to explore here.

The JRPG genre grows more popular every year. Sadly, that means when one misses the mark as badly as “Loop8” did, it draws much more universal hatred. Set in an alternate Japan during the 1980s, it follows humanity’s fight against demons. You might think that sounds pretty generic, and you’d be absolutely right. Nothing about the story, characters, or writing leaves much of an impression, which is something that an RPG definitely needs to nail. The other element it needs is a satisfying gameplay hook. But the game’s mechanics are simplistic, leading to a lot of repetition and boredom. With a genre as crowded as this, one needs something to stand out. But we have a feeling “Loop8” is destined to be forgotten.

The stage was set for “Redfall” to be great. It had the allure of taking back a city from vampires and what seemed to be varied character classes. But the most promising facet was developer Arkane, crafter of “Deathloop” and the “Dishonored” series. When players got their hands on it, they found one of the most disappointing titles of 2023. The set-up was actually quite dull and the combat uninspired. The decision to tie progress to the Host was confusing; joining a friend online meant you’d have to replay missions to keep rewards. However, what insulted us most were the bugs. Constant crashes, missing assets, frequent texture pop-ins, missions that didn’t clear upon completion…it was a giant mess and a poor exclusive for Xbox players.

While some players commend “Greyhill Incident” for its atmosphere, the indie survival horror game has almost nothing else to offer. Players control a conspiracy theorist proven right when his son is taken by aliens. Many may use the term “walking simulator” derogatorily, but that’s exactly what this is. There are no objective markers, so you’ll spend a lot of time wandering around. And when you’re not aimlessly walking about, you’ll have to endure a clunky control scheme as you attempt to hide from the aliens. The writing is also extremely subpar, failing to drum up any scares or make you care about its protagonist. Even with a short playtime, it’s a rough experience.

Despite the potential, “Avatar” has never gotten a truly good game adaptation. But “Quest for Balance” is one of the absolute worst. It takes the compelling story from the TV series and completely butchers it. Many exciting moments are dumbed down to simple text screens, while some you get to play through are presented out of order. Even still, the gameplay is some of the most lazy we’ve ever seen. An abundance of sliding block puzzles and endless runner sections makes it feel like this was meant for mobile. What should be a highlight for an “Avatar” game, the combat, boils down to button-mashing nonsense. While the franchise continues to progress through TV, comics, and novels, “Quest for Balance” is a massive step backwards.

#3: “The Walking Dead: Destinies” (2023)

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The concept of taking events in “The Walking Dead,” and letting the player change them through their decisions, sounds intriguing. But even the most diehard of zombie fans should stay far away from this one. “Destinies” dropped late in the year with little fanfare, surprising given the huge IP. Those that took the time to look found it to be so messy, it’s borderline unplayable. Major technical issues like stilted frame rates and a ton of texture clipping would already make it unfun. But the clunky controls and the still-image cutscenes already do a pretty good job of it. As one of the biggest names in Horror around, “The Walking Dead” certainly deserved better than this.

#2: “Skull Island: Rise of Kong” (2023)

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When “Rise of Kong” was released, one particularly bad cutscene went viral. Well, we’re here to tell you that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Players control Kong after his parents are killed, and must explore Skull Island while seeking vengeance. Its visuals are horrible even compared to games that came out 20 years ago. The combat consists of the simplest beat ‘em up mechanics. And what should be a lush, engaging environment is severely hindered by poor level design. GameMill Entertainment, the same publisher of “Quest for Balance” and “Walking Dead: Destinies,” reportedly forced crunch on developer IguanaBee to get the game out in a year. It’s no surprise then that it turned out to be such an abysmal mess. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few dishonorable mentions.

A Bland 3D Platformer That’s Not Nearly as Fun as Those That Inspired It

A Promising Premise Ruined by Poor Performance and Mediocre Storytelling

In a Year of Great Remakes, This One Was a Dud

Strong Visuals Couldn’t Save it From Boring Gameplay

Not Much to Offer Beyond its Popular Characters

#1: “The Lord of the Rings: Gollum” (2023)

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Kong may be a King, but he couldn’t overthrow the rule of Gollum. In a world as vast and magical as Middle-earth, it’s astounding that fans got a game as poor as this. Set between “The Hobbit” and the trilogy, players control Gollum on a journey to reclaim the One Ring. But good luck making it through this game to actually see what happens because ‘Boring’ doesn’t even begin to cover it. You’ll walk, climb, hide…and that’s about it. Or rather, you’ll try to do those things since the game is so full of bugs, your patience will be tested on two fronts. That’s not to mention the horrendous visuals. The game was so poorly received that Daedalic Entertainment fired its development division to solely focus on publishing. Ouch. Did you play any of these terrible games? Are there any stinkers we left off? Share your thoughts in the comments and don’t forget to subscribe for more great gaming videos!