Top 20 Worst Video Games of the Last Decade
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Top 20 Worst Games of the Decade
We’ve seen some spectacular gaming masterpieces in the 2010’s...and these were NOT them! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today, we’re counting down our picks for the Top 20 Worst Games of the Decade.
For this list, we’re looking at the absolute worst of the worst games from the 2010’s. As much as we’d like to put games like “Star Wars Battlefront II” on here, we’re only counting games that were awful on all accounts.
#20: “Fallout 76” (2018)
The downfall of “Fallout 76” was like watching Bethesda tearing the brakes out of their own car and proceeding to drive into a gas tank at top speed. “Fallout 76” was yet another homicide in the video game industries live service murder spree, with Bethesda turning “Fallout” into an online game where you and your friends can take on post-apocalyptic West Virginia and its country roads. Had those roads not been infested with countless bugs and glitches, maybe the game wouldn’t have been as bad as it turned out. Seriously, if you search up “Fallout 76”, there is not a single headline that puts the game in a positive light. Nylon bags and subscription services were just the cherry on top of this terrible experience.
#19: “Godzilla” (2015)
Godzilla hasn’t had a ton of amazing games per se, but some have provided solid experiences. Unfortunately, the 2015 game “Godzilla” was not one of those packages. While it provided enough fan service to satisfy hardcore fans, the game quickly grew irritating due to its clunky controls. On top of that, the gameplay itself was so bland that it felt like a homemade monster movie rather than a game starring the radiated lizard we know and love. In the end, “Godzilla” ended up letting us down faster than a building collapsing from his atomic breath.
#18: “Amy” (2012)
Never heard of “Amy”? Well, thank your lucky stars because this is without a doubt one of the worst horror games out there, and we aren’t just saying that for the lack of real horror. “Amy” tasks players with escorting a young girl out of a city while fending off terrible creatures. In addition to looking like a broken, unfinished mess, the game featured some incredibly frustrating level design and a slew of graphical glitches. It’s no wonder some critics couldn’t bothered to finish “Amy”; the game was rage-inducing enough to make your blood boil.
#17: “WWE 2K20” (2019)
The WWE games haven’t held the same legacy as they did in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, but somehow, “WWE 2K20” managed to outdo itself and become the worst entry in an already stagnant franchise. For starters, the game was plagued with glitches of every kind; it wasn’t rare to see ropes jiggle about the ring or the ref start walking as if he’s had constipation for the past year. Then, there were the character models; wrestlers looked more like bad knock-offs of their counterparts. 2019 had a good handful of bad games, but to become the laughingstock of the internet prior to launch? That’s some feat!
#16: “Dungeon Keeper” (2014)
For a time, it looked as if mobile gaming was actually going somewhere thanks to titles like “Angry Birds” and “Monument Valley”. Unfortunately, “Dungeon Keeper” (or commonly referred to as “Dungeon Keeper Mobile”) came and burned all that potential. What could have been a solid return of the franchise turned into one of the most notorious and manipulative games ever made. Much of your time was spent waiting for extensive cooldowns to finish unless you spent real money on a premium currency to speed up the building process. Clearly, the game wanted you to frustrate you enough to spend money, but instead, we dragged the app straight to our trash cans.
#15: “Aliens: Colonial Marines” (2013)
Gearbox may not be feeling the sting of this blunder anymore, but we certainly haven’t forgotten it. Previews were strong for “Aliens: Colonial Marines”, but when the game finally came out, the public felt they had been lied to. As if poor visuals and a messy narrative wasn’t bad enough, “Colonial Marines” made the Xenomorphs an absolute joke. It wasn’t until 2018 when someone discovered the AI was severely hampered by a simple typo - a spelling error. Had this typo been fixed, maybe the game wouldn’t have made it on this list. But here we are!
#14: “Rugby World Cup 2015” (2015)
For those who enjoy the sport of Rugby, "Rugby 15" was perhaps one of the biggest disappointments you've ever had. That disappointment would grow deeper when HB Studios gave us "Rugby World Cup 2015", the game that was to improve and fix everything from the previous titles...except it didn't and proved to be even worse. Piss-poor visuals and awful controls were just the tip of the iceberg; when digging deeper, one would find the lack of online multiplayer, licensed squads, and licensed stadiums - you know, features people expect in a modern sports game, especially one that is representing something as important as a world cup.
#13: “Rambo: The Video Game” (2014)
While the idea of a “Rambo” video game doesn’t sound like it’d make a terrible game, this was certainly not how we’d imagine it. Instead of borrowing concepts from games like “Mad Max” and “Friday the 13th”, the on-rails shooter took players through scenes from the movies. No original, explosive adventure here. To make the experience much more grueling, the game dished out quick-time events like it was candy, and the graphics made it hard to believe that this launched in 2014. Here’s hoping Stallone’s beefcake hero gets a good game in the future.
#12: “Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor” (2012)
You honestly didn’t think we’d forget about the Kinect, did you? While there were a handful of games that suffered the system’s terrible motion detection, none were as appalling as “Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor”. What was even more unusual was how the game demanded players use the standard Xbox 360 controller while using the Kinect’s motion controls! As one would expect, this odd design would make it borderline unplayable and one of the absolute worst games you could play on Xbox’s failed camera peripheral. And can you believe this was made by FromSoftware and Capcom?!
#11: “Vroom in the Night Sky” (2017)
The Switch may boast an excellent catalog of amazing titles, but as with any other console, it has its fair share of despicably awful games. The most notorious of these is "Vroom in the Night Sky", where players guide a young girl as she flies through the night sky on a magical scooter. Sounds like it could have been an exciting experience had it not been for the bland gameplay, ear-piercing sound effects, and outdated visuals. Even when the game is priced at $9.99, we still didn’t feel like we got our money’s worth.
#10: “Left Alive” (2019)
This was not the game the “Front Mission” franchise deserved. “Left Alive” is one of the most frustrating games anyone can play. Where do we even begin? The AI is constantly dancing between being super smart and super stupid, knowing our location almost all the time and not knowing how to fight back. Oh, and the agony doesn’t stop there! Your ears will ache from your alert system as you’ll constantly be berated about approaching enemies or deteriorating equipment. If there were any redeeming qualities to be found in “Left Alive”, we certainly couldn’t play long enough to find them.
#9: “Alone in the Dark: Illumination” (2015)
Oh, how the mighty have fallen… “Alone in the Dark” hasn’t had a stellar track record in its later years, and unfortunately, “Illumination” was no return to glory. Judging from its broken gameplay, boring combat, and uninteresting environments, the game needed way more time cooking in the oven - WAY more time! Not a single outlet had many positive things to say, and most critics advised readers to stay as far away from the game as possible. We may just have to face it, folks - “Alone in the Dark” will be forever lost in its own darkness.
#8: “Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric” (2014)
We never thought Sonic could ever get a game worse than his infamous 2006 reboot, and yet here we are with the Wii U exclusive “Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric”. The game was already doing poorly in previews with many critics citing the uncomfortable redesigns of Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Knuckles...but mostly Knuckles. Ohhh, what a dark day it was when the game launched in November 2014. “Rise of Lyric” was plagued with so many problems - terrible controls, dull level design, tedious puzzles and platforming, boring combat, a buffet of bugs, a frustrating camera, and one massive glitch that allowed players to finish the game in under an hour.
#7: “Double Dragon II: Wander of the Dragons” (2013)
Most of the “Double Dragon” games are rock solid titles, but we cannot say the same for “Double Dragon II: Wander of the Dragons”. A 3D adaptation of “Double Dragon II: The Revenge”, this game was panned by critics for its abysmal, broken state, suffering from so many bugs and glitches that it was basically unplayable. Several outlets would go on to say “Wander of the Dragons” was one of the worst games you could get on the Xbox 360. Thank goodness it wasn’t enough to kill the franchise!
#6: “Super Seducer: How to Talk to Girls” (2018)
As weird as they can be, dating sims have a lot to teach players on how the world of dating works. When compared to titles like “Hatoful Boyfriend” or “HuniePop”, “Super Seducer” is a massive regressive step back for the genre. Awkward dialogue and boring cutscenes are minor complaints when players discover the game’s questionable dating advice. “Don’t give her the option to say ‘No’”? Is that really a lesson you want players walking away with? “Super Seducer 2” wasn’t any better and indulged in Richard LaRuina’s egotistical behavior. And can you believe there is a THIRD game coming out? Who keeps buying this?!
#5: “Raven’s Cry” (2015)
We don’t see a lot of good pirate games these days, but “Raven’s Cry” was certainly a step back for those craving a swashbuckling adventure. Rather than plunder the seas for treasure or getting drunk at taverns, most of our time with “Raven’s Cry” was spent cringing at the awful writing, laughably bad voice acting, and countless technical issues. The game was so bad that developer Reality Pump Studios attempted to implement changes to fix the game, ultimately rebranding the game as “Vendetta: Curse of Raven’s Cry” in November 2015. Sadly, the game was still just as awful. Hey, at least they tried to fix it!
#4: “Umbrella Corps” (2016)
Here’s a tip - never develop a game for the sake of it being the new thing in eSports. That’s exactly what happened with Capcom, and it did not end well. “Umbrella Corps” was a spin-off online shooter set within the “Resident Evil” franchise where two teams had to complete objectives while shooting each other and fighting zombies. However, the gameplay was far too chaotic for anyone to comprehend just what in the hell was going on. It certainly didn’t help that the game looked nothing like “Resident Evil” and could pass off as any generic old shooter. Thank goodness RE7 managed to save the franchise in 2017!
#3: “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5” (2015)
Had Activision given the developers more time, “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5” could have been a triumphant return for the franchise. Alas, playing this was almost as painful as a board between the gonads, or should we say “getting popsicled”. Assembled in a matter of months and released unfinished, “Pro Skater 5” suffered greatly from bugs and glitches while missing a key feature from previous entries. Really, where in the hell is Create-A-Skater?! Not only would this be the final nail in “Pro Skater’s” coffin, it would also lead to the closure of developer Robomodo. Needless to say, no one walked away with a smile. With servers shutting down in 2017, the game is now unplayable. Hope you didn’t pay much for this!
#2: “Life of Black Tiger” (2017)
Really, why SHOULDN’T “Life of Black Tiger” be on this list? Would it be the repetitive and boring gameplay? What about the incredibly lame story? Would the PS2 graphics be enough reason? Oh, wait! It’s because of the horrible controls, poor collision detection, grindy progression system, and shoddy multiplayer. And to top it all off, the game’s cover art was ripped straight off of Google Images. Class act, guys! With PlayStation promoting this game on their YouTube account, many people began questioning if Sony was about to follow in Steam’s footsteps and throw quality control out the window.
Before we reveal the absolute worst game of the 2010’s, here are a few Dishonorable Mentions…
“Agony” (2018)
“Generation Zero” (2019)
“Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade” (2012)
“STEEL RIVALS” (2015)
“Kinect Star Wars” (2012)
#1: “Ride to Hell: Retribution” (2013)
How could you ever forget a game as piss poor as something like “Ride to Hell: Retribution”? While it did boast a strong presence among streamers and influencers, none of it was for the right reasons. “Ride to Hell” was a special case of sheer awfulness, and it wasn’t solely for its terrible voice acting or cringey, fully-clothed sex scenes. The AI is incessantly stupid, refusing to defend itself even when the player is landing headshot after headshot! The game became so infamous that Deep Silver pulled the game from Steam in September 2014. And to think they were already planning two more games after this!
