Top 10 Worst Games of 2024 (So Far)

There was a ton of hope riding on “Alone in the Dark”. The franchise hasn’t seen a quality entry since the 90’s when it was still on PC. For this reboot, it seemed as if things were looking up between the visuals, environments, and story. Alas, it just wasn’t in the cards for THQ Nordic and developer Pieces Interactive. Between the janky combat and myriad of bugs and glitches, “Alone in the Dark” played like the survival games of old in the worst ways possible. Honestly, we’re starting to wonder if the IP is just cursed at this point.

“Ion Fury” was one of the coolest FPS games released back in 2019 with its unique premise, frenetic action, and absurdly violent weapons. The same cannot be said with “Phantom Fury”. What happened here? Was it poor technical performance? Awful UI? Softlocks in the worst spots? All of the above plus the general lack of imagination here. Not only does “Phantom Fury” pull the same tricks we saw in the previous game, it does so with half-hearted attempts. It doesn’t help that some staff members at publisher 3D Realms attempted to dismiss any negative feedback with empty accusations, especially when it came to criticisms being made by prominent members of the boomer shooter community.

Considering this came from the same team behind 2017’s “Friday the 13th: The Game”, “Killer Klowns” should have been a step forward, right? Well, maybe in technical performance? The big problem with “Killer Klowns” is that the pacing and game balance is so out of whack that it makes every match a slog to play. By the time a Klown player meets a Human player, the fight ends within mere seconds with no strategy outside of running away or spamming the same attack until you accept your fate. Sure, you may have fun playing this with your friends, but at forty bucks for a copy? You’re better off jumping into other asymmetrical multiplayer horror games.

Speaking of forty-dollar games that fail to live up to expectations, “Contra: Operation Galuga” was supposed to revive one of Konami’s many, many dormant IPs. Unfortunately, this proved to be one of Konami and developer WayForward’s laziest outings yet. It runs fine, for the most part; there are some collision detection issues occasionally. However, the action is far too slow, making it more painful to play than the original “Contra”. Plus, no online multiplayer? What the hell? If this is the level of corner-cutting and lack of investment “Contra” gets, who’s to say the rest of Konami’s upcoming games will be any better?

When a game is given little to no marketing right up until launch, that is rarely ever a good sign. Case in point, “Star Wars Hunters”. We only got a teaser trailer way back in 2021 with a little bit of gameplay shown a few months later. So, what happened in the three years since? Not much. This free-to-play game was released for Switch and mobile and is one of the most boring hero shooters you can play. None of the characters have any personality, dialogue is uninspiring, gunplay is unsatisfying with its lack of “oomph” behind every shot, and the selection of maps is unreasonably lean. And that goes without mentioning the obscene grind to unlock characters and the egregious monetization.

Another fighting game for another mega-popular anime… Can we get something different for once? And can it be a quality title, please!? “Jujutsu Kaisen: Cursed Clash” should have been an easy win for Bandai Namco Entertainment. This is a fighting game based on an anime where people are using ghostly powers to fight each other. How does that not spark an ounce of imagination here? No pun intended, but there is absolutely no soul in “Cursed Clash” - not in its graphics, not in its story, not in its mechanics, and certainly not in the online functionality! Critics quickly pointed out how this game was merely a desperate cash grab attempt to capitalize on a hot new IP, and honestly, it’s not hard to see that.

“Skull & Bones” started development in 2013. 2013! Over a decade ago, with six of those years being spent constantly delaying the game while trying so hard to keep the hype going with buzz terms like “Quadruple A game”! And what did we get? A game centered on repetitive combat, arbitrary survival and crafting mechanics, awful map design, and horrible monetization. Credit where it's due, Ubisoft did launch the game in a more technically sound state than most of its games in recent years. But when you have a competitor like “Sea of Thieves” or a predecessor like “Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag” with more meat on its bones in terms of mechanics, presentation, and exploration, a game like “Skull & Bones” is simply unacceptable.

The live service trainwreck keeps on wrecking, and “MultiVersus” quickly became a recent victim. Pulling the beta for a year was a questionable decision, but when we heard it was to move the game to a different engine, cool, understandable choice. And the improved visuals made us more excited about other improvements possibly being made…if there had been any in the first place. Not only did “MultiVersus” relaunch with more bugs and glitches than ever before, it relaunched with an even worse netcode, steeper prices in microtransactions, and an even more grindy progression system that offered less XP than before. In other words, “MultiVersus” took a year off for a little more spit and polish, but forgot to polish. Now, it’s just spit.

With “Stick of Truth” and “Fractured But Whole” establishing what a “South Park” game should be like, one would hope “Snow Day” would follow suit. Ladies and gentlemen, Cartman’s cereal bombs are more appealing than this. “South Park: Snow Day” is just like those awful PS1/N64 games we got back in the 90’s: mundane gameplay, shallow combat, and worst of all, it just isn’t a funny game. Hardcore fans may get a chuckle from one or two bits, but even at thirty dollars, six missions, a half-assed skill tree, and random “Bullshit” cards do not make this game fun. And yes, this did come from an internal development team at South Park Digital Studios. Had our final entry not released this year (or ever), this would have easily taken top spot for this list. But what beat it out? You can probably already guess…

Once upon a time, Rocksteady Studios was a developer built on innovation, helping pave the way for licensed video games and superhero games with the “Batman: Arkham” series. After being away for almost nine years since “Batman: Arkham Knight”, what does Rocksteady come back with? A live service third-person shooter with some of the most abysmal mission structure, the poorest attempt at making endgame content, a lackluster story with an abrupt ending, and post-launch support that has only underdelivered to what few players remain. “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League” has become such a massive flop that it has contributed to Warner Bros. suffering from a loss of two hundred million dollars. As for Rocksteady, Sefton Hill left mid-development, a skeleton crew is working to finish whatever post-launch support is left, and the rest of the staff are now working on a “special edition” of “Hogwarts Legacy”. What an upsetting fall from grace.

What’s the worst video game you’ve played this year? Did it make our list? Let us know down in the comments!