The 10 WORST PlayStation Exclusive Games
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VOICE OVER: Ty Richardson
WRITTEN BY: Ty Richardson
PlayStation has a lot of great exclusives, but you won't find any of them here. For this list, we're looking at the worst games to have been published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Our list includes “Destruction AllStars” (2021), “Knack” (2014), “Lair” (2007), “Ape Escape: On the Loose” (2005), and more!
Script written by Ty Richardson
Welcome to MojoPlays, and today, we’re taking a look at the 10 Worst PlayStation Exclusives. For this list, we’re looking at the worst games to have been published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Did you play any of these terrible games? What’s a first-party PlayStation game you regret buying? Share us your remorse down in the comments.
Can’t even work up the energy to make the iconic shout because this game was so awful. “Ridge Racer” was supposed to be a game that showed off the capabilities of the ill-fated PlayStation Vita. While it achieved that in a visual sense, that’s all it really did. “Ridge Racer” it needed to be a video game with actual content and not just some tech demo. Where are all the tracks? Why are there so few cars? Shouldn’t this have been a premiere debut for “Ridge Racer” on Vita? All of these questions and more would kill off a legendary Namco IP, and it's why we haven’t seen the series since. (Well, aside from a couple of mobile games and the time they tried to copy “Burnout”.)
In all honesty, “Lair” was such a cool idea for a game. If you loved “Star Fox 64” or “Panzer Dragoon”, this would have been the perfect game for you. And yet, it fumbled in such a horrible way that we’re almost embarrassed to have any kind of appreciation for it. The controls were so abhorrent that it feels like most of your time is spent fighting the controller itself and struggling to get a grasp on how the game needs to be played. The story, graphics, and sound are fine, but dang, man… If your game doesn’t have a solid control scheme, no one is gonna play it. “Lair” could have been way better if they had just learned from Nintendo or SEGA.
In case you weren’t familiar with it in its early days, “Fat Princess” was an online game for the PS3 that tasked two teams with rescuing their princesses from the opposing side. Cute but violent, it quickly established itself a modest fanbase with PlayStation owners thanks to its unique concept and for it not being another flippin’ shooter in a saturated market. Unfortunately, “Fat Princess” went a completely different direction on PS4, going from team-based capture the flag to generic, top-down “Gauntlet” clone. But it wasn’t just the visuals that were a problem; none of the gameplay understood the identity of “Fat Princess” outside of throwing cake everywhere. Half of the original’s classes are just gone, no blood to be seen, and her royal chubbiness herself has barely any presence in the game.
Remember that time when Sony tried to copy the Wii? Yeah, the Move controllers have improved in quality thanks to the PSVR, but back in the early years, PlayStation Move was VERY rough! “Kung Fu Rider” was the prime example of just how bad things were, too. The silly concept wasn’t enough to hide the abysmal and unresponsive controllers nor the monotonous level design. It’s just a miserable experience all around, and it felt like it was just setting us up to break our TV’s just as many irresponsible folks did with “Wii Sports”.
PlayStation Move had much higher chances of becoming a thing than “Knack” ever did. Seriously, what the hell was this game? You play as a collection of blocks and change sizes just to go beat the crap out of bad guys? We could forgive the obnoxious contrast in visuals if the dialogue wasn’t so painfully mediocre. No, we weren’t expecting some high-class story about existentialism and identity or whatever, but we also weren’t expecting writing that felt like DreamWorks was having an off-year. As for the gameplay, there’s simply nothing fun about it. Most of the time, you’re sizing up or down for puzzles. In combat, you’re just doing simple punches and kicks while enemies get to do all the cool stuff. How did this game get a sequel??
Funny story about this, we were originally going to put “Haze” on here, but it didn’t match our criteria. Then, I (Ty) remembered this mess of a multiplayer game. The fact I almost completely forgot about playing this should tell you just how bad “Kill Strain” was. This was an online twin-stick shooter with “a monumental twist” where both teams of players fight for control over a third faction - infected zombies known as “the Strain”. Yes, it was chaotic, but only in the last minute or so of the match. The larger portion of the game is spent wondering what the hell you should be doing besides eliminating the other team and the occasional zombie. You’re basically not going to have any idea of what’s going on until things ramp up at the end. To no one’s surprise, “Kill Strain” had such a miniscule playerbase (if it even had one) that the servers were shut down less than a year after launch.
Yet another online-driven experience that has been soiled by a lack of focus, “Destruction AllStars” was not a strong start in the PlayStation 5’s first year. Having gone from demanding seventy bucks to twenty, “Destruction AllStars” wants all of your time and money for as little effort as possible. For most of its life, the game was borderline unplayable online with its awful lag, ghost hits, and disconnects. As for single-player content, you’ll have to pony up even more money to unlock the other characters’ campaigns, none of which are remotely entertaining with their story, characters, nor gameplay. And to this day, the trophies are still bugged. They wanted seventy dollars for this. SEVENTY. DOLLARS.
While we’re on the subject of overpriced games, “The Order: 1886” would have been a solid movie if it was made that way. But this is a video game. A video game that wanted sixty dollars from us for a middle of the lane six-hour series of quicktime events and shooting galleries. In other words, a carnival ride. And then, it has the audacity to end with a cliffhanger and ends left untied? For a PS4 tech demo, it’s okay at best. For a–I repeat–-VIDEO GAME that cost SIXTY DOLLARS and had such little meat on its bones, there was barely any value here let alone a deserved “get ready for the sequel and cinematic universe” moment. It was overpriced, overhyped, and overly simplistic.
Some might say this was the first PlayStation exclusive that was truly awful. To be fair, “Twisted Metal III” was a decent game in terms of standard vehicular combat. But for a “Twisted Metal” game? It misses all the marks. The level design felt like it was cobbled together with no rhyme or reason. The physics make driving and turning a real pain as you’ll often overcorrect. But the most glaring mistake here is the drastic change in tone. How did we get “goofy and cartoony” out of a game that was maniacal and had some attitude? Perhaps Sony should have given 989 Studios more than eight months to deliver a proper game. At least the inclusion of Rob Zombie music fit.
How embarrassing must it be to develop a remake of one of your very own games and completely forget about an incredibly important facet of the original? “Ape Escape: On the Loose” is the worst PlayStation exclusive ever because of how it neglects a significant part of how a game like “Ape Escape” should function properly. The way “Ape Escape” is played is that you have two analog sticks - one to control Spike, and the other to use your tools in different directions. It’s part of why Sony developed the DualShock controller in the first place. “On the Loose”, a remake of the original game, was developed for the PlayStation Portable, a handheld that only had ONE analog stick. This resulted in making the game way more infuriating to play as players were now completely restricted to using tools in only the direction Spike was facing. It completely destroyed the fun in chasing the monkeys, platforming, and general movement. To call it humiliating is an understatement.
Welcome to MojoPlays, and today, we’re taking a look at the 10 Worst PlayStation Exclusives. For this list, we’re looking at the worst games to have been published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Did you play any of these terrible games? What’s a first-party PlayStation game you regret buying? Share us your remorse down in the comments.
“Ridge Racer” (2011)
Can’t even work up the energy to make the iconic shout because this game was so awful. “Ridge Racer” was supposed to be a game that showed off the capabilities of the ill-fated PlayStation Vita. While it achieved that in a visual sense, that’s all it really did. “Ridge Racer” it needed to be a video game with actual content and not just some tech demo. Where are all the tracks? Why are there so few cars? Shouldn’t this have been a premiere debut for “Ridge Racer” on Vita? All of these questions and more would kill off a legendary Namco IP, and it's why we haven’t seen the series since. (Well, aside from a couple of mobile games and the time they tried to copy “Burnout”.)
“Lair” (2007)
In all honesty, “Lair” was such a cool idea for a game. If you loved “Star Fox 64” or “Panzer Dragoon”, this would have been the perfect game for you. And yet, it fumbled in such a horrible way that we’re almost embarrassed to have any kind of appreciation for it. The controls were so abhorrent that it feels like most of your time is spent fighting the controller itself and struggling to get a grasp on how the game needs to be played. The story, graphics, and sound are fine, but dang, man… If your game doesn’t have a solid control scheme, no one is gonna play it. “Lair” could have been way better if they had just learned from Nintendo or SEGA.
“Fat Princess Adventures” (2015)
In case you weren’t familiar with it in its early days, “Fat Princess” was an online game for the PS3 that tasked two teams with rescuing their princesses from the opposing side. Cute but violent, it quickly established itself a modest fanbase with PlayStation owners thanks to its unique concept and for it not being another flippin’ shooter in a saturated market. Unfortunately, “Fat Princess” went a completely different direction on PS4, going from team-based capture the flag to generic, top-down “Gauntlet” clone. But it wasn’t just the visuals that were a problem; none of the gameplay understood the identity of “Fat Princess” outside of throwing cake everywhere. Half of the original’s classes are just gone, no blood to be seen, and her royal chubbiness herself has barely any presence in the game.
“Kung Fu Rider” (2010)
Remember that time when Sony tried to copy the Wii? Yeah, the Move controllers have improved in quality thanks to the PSVR, but back in the early years, PlayStation Move was VERY rough! “Kung Fu Rider” was the prime example of just how bad things were, too. The silly concept wasn’t enough to hide the abysmal and unresponsive controllers nor the monotonous level design. It’s just a miserable experience all around, and it felt like it was just setting us up to break our TV’s just as many irresponsible folks did with “Wii Sports”.
“Knack” (2014)
PlayStation Move had much higher chances of becoming a thing than “Knack” ever did. Seriously, what the hell was this game? You play as a collection of blocks and change sizes just to go beat the crap out of bad guys? We could forgive the obnoxious contrast in visuals if the dialogue wasn’t so painfully mediocre. No, we weren’t expecting some high-class story about existentialism and identity or whatever, but we also weren’t expecting writing that felt like DreamWorks was having an off-year. As for the gameplay, there’s simply nothing fun about it. Most of the time, you’re sizing up or down for puzzles. In combat, you’re just doing simple punches and kicks while enemies get to do all the cool stuff. How did this game get a sequel??
“Kill Strain” (2016)
Funny story about this, we were originally going to put “Haze” on here, but it didn’t match our criteria. Then, I (Ty) remembered this mess of a multiplayer game. The fact I almost completely forgot about playing this should tell you just how bad “Kill Strain” was. This was an online twin-stick shooter with “a monumental twist” where both teams of players fight for control over a third faction - infected zombies known as “the Strain”. Yes, it was chaotic, but only in the last minute or so of the match. The larger portion of the game is spent wondering what the hell you should be doing besides eliminating the other team and the occasional zombie. You’re basically not going to have any idea of what’s going on until things ramp up at the end. To no one’s surprise, “Kill Strain” had such a miniscule playerbase (if it even had one) that the servers were shut down less than a year after launch.
“Destruction AllStars” (2021)
Yet another online-driven experience that has been soiled by a lack of focus, “Destruction AllStars” was not a strong start in the PlayStation 5’s first year. Having gone from demanding seventy bucks to twenty, “Destruction AllStars” wants all of your time and money for as little effort as possible. For most of its life, the game was borderline unplayable online with its awful lag, ghost hits, and disconnects. As for single-player content, you’ll have to pony up even more money to unlock the other characters’ campaigns, none of which are remotely entertaining with their story, characters, nor gameplay. And to this day, the trophies are still bugged. They wanted seventy dollars for this. SEVENTY. DOLLARS.
“The Order: 1886” (2015)
While we’re on the subject of overpriced games, “The Order: 1886” would have been a solid movie if it was made that way. But this is a video game. A video game that wanted sixty dollars from us for a middle of the lane six-hour series of quicktime events and shooting galleries. In other words, a carnival ride. And then, it has the audacity to end with a cliffhanger and ends left untied? For a PS4 tech demo, it’s okay at best. For a–I repeat–-VIDEO GAME that cost SIXTY DOLLARS and had such little meat on its bones, there was barely any value here let alone a deserved “get ready for the sequel and cinematic universe” moment. It was overpriced, overhyped, and overly simplistic.
“Twisted Metal III” (1998)
Some might say this was the first PlayStation exclusive that was truly awful. To be fair, “Twisted Metal III” was a decent game in terms of standard vehicular combat. But for a “Twisted Metal” game? It misses all the marks. The level design felt like it was cobbled together with no rhyme or reason. The physics make driving and turning a real pain as you’ll often overcorrect. But the most glaring mistake here is the drastic change in tone. How did we get “goofy and cartoony” out of a game that was maniacal and had some attitude? Perhaps Sony should have given 989 Studios more than eight months to deliver a proper game. At least the inclusion of Rob Zombie music fit.
“Ape Escape: On the Loose” (2005)
How embarrassing must it be to develop a remake of one of your very own games and completely forget about an incredibly important facet of the original? “Ape Escape: On the Loose” is the worst PlayStation exclusive ever because of how it neglects a significant part of how a game like “Ape Escape” should function properly. The way “Ape Escape” is played is that you have two analog sticks - one to control Spike, and the other to use your tools in different directions. It’s part of why Sony developed the DualShock controller in the first place. “On the Loose”, a remake of the original game, was developed for the PlayStation Portable, a handheld that only had ONE analog stick. This resulted in making the game way more infuriating to play as players were now completely restricted to using tools in only the direction Spike was facing. It completely destroyed the fun in chasing the monkeys, platforming, and general movement. To call it humiliating is an understatement.
