Introduction
Hey, you probably know this, but the gaming world, as great as it is, is often filled with a lot of disappointments. So today, we’re taking a look back at the last 10 years and talking about some of the biggest disappointments. This isn’t a list of, like, the worst games ever made or anything, but games that just genuinely disappointed us for one reason or another. There’s going to be plenty of disagreement and stuff, so we’re looking forward to hearing from you in the comments.
“Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League” (2024)
But we’ve got 10 games, so let’s get started with number 10, and get the obvious one out of the way. It’s “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League” from this year, 2024.Now, this is kind of beating a dead horse at this point. We’ve talked about it a lot on this channel. When it was released, unfortunately, it just felt too forced into a games-as-a-service model, and it kind of lost a lot of the magic touches that Rocksteady, the developers’ previous games had, like stuff from the Batman Arkham series. It had an unfulfilling story, some cool gameplay concepts, and traversal, but ultimately boring missions and enemy types, and frankly, it was pretty repetitive even though the game was technically designed around keeping you playing endlessly. It released a new season or the start of the season with Joker content and updates. And unfortunately, that didn’t grab us either as much as we wanted to give it a shot. Now, in hindsight, I know it’s easy for people to say like, “Oh, well, you saw the gameplay trailers. You saw that it was kind of going to be this always-online microtransaction game-as-a-service type thing.”
So what were you expecting? Why are you disappointed? Well, frankly, again, we’re still just disappointed because the developers’ previous games were just so good. You had to be there for the launch of “Arkham Asylum.” Man, that came out of nowhere, and it was incredible, and it only went up from there with “Arkham City” and “Arkham Knight.” So this just feels like such a jarring shift into something that was just so painfully disappointing. Again, at this point, like we’ve talked it to death. I think a lot of people on YouTube have, to be frank. So with that, let’s move on.
“The Day Before” (TBD)
Because over at number nine, we have another thing that was talked about a lot, certainly on YouTube and Twitch. It’s “The Day Before.” “The Day Before” is another one where you might look at it and go like, “Yeah, no duh, you were disappointed. What did you expect?” I mean, in the lead-up to it, a lot of people were speculating that it was a scam, or it wasn’t a real game, and sure, but there was that first trailer, that first concept trailer, that showed a game that was like a clever mix of “The Division,” some multiplayer, and like “Tarkov” type stuff mixed with “The Last Of Us.” It just seemed cool, even if it was a little too good to be true, we still couldn’t help but hope for something good. And then ultimately, “The Day Before” was a mess. It was unbaked and underfunded and just half-assed and had none of the original ideas it presented. It just threw like every single gameplay concept at the wall, but didn’t finish any of them, and, there was so much to it with essentially it getting taken down, the developers kind of talking smack. It was such a mess. But the reason why I am pointing this out is because “The Day Before” was a huge disappointment for a lot of people, maybe more casual video game fans because don’t forget, this was one of the most wish-listed games on Steam.
It was top of the charts. There was anticipation for this. It piqued people’s interest, maybe not the people who read gaming news and social media every single moment of every single day. But a lot of people on Steam saw this, and went, “Oh, cool, I’m wishlisting that, I want to play that.” And then this game just came out and was gone in like three days. So there were a lot of people out there, I think, that were disappointed, those who didn’t follow along with what the hell was going on, and you know, you need to be informed as a consumer, but still, it was worth pointing out, this isn’t higher on the list, again, because a lot of us were pretty skeptical, but still it’s a funny one to talk about. Some of the glitches from this game when it was released are hilarious. Anyway, let’s move on.
“The Callisto Protocol” (2022)
Next, over at number eight, we have “The Callisto Protocol” from the end of 2022. This thing squeezed in in December, and kind for a lot of people looked to be like the next big thing, the Return of “Dead Space,” a spiritual successor to “Dead Space,” if you will, specifically because it was headed up by Glen Schofield with a new studio. He was one of the original people behind “Dead Space.” So this seemed like a good cinematic, third-person, gory, survival, horror adventure type thing. And unfortunately, it was released, and it was by no means the worst game in the world. I absolutely will defend a lot of it, but it was not the next big thing. It was a little disappointing with how the game kind of ended and it was a little short and just feels like missed potential. The melee wasn’t too solid, the gameplay not as compelling as we’d hoped, and certainly not as engaging as, you know, its grandfather, “Dead Space,” that’s for sure.
It had some incredible, almost jaw-dropping visuals, and a few good moments. But ultimately, frankly, it just wasn’t very memorable, and I think that’s a damning thing on its own. Again, it’s not the worst game in the world. It does have some fans, but when it was released, it was a full-price game, it was pretty short, and it just wasn’t quite as cool as we were hoping. I would still, and I said it when it came out, and I did the “Before You Buy,” I would like to see a sequel that kind of expands on things. I don’t know if we’re ever going to get that, but for now, that’s where this is at.
“Saints Row” Reboot
Now, next, over at number seven, 2022 saw no shortage of disappointments because this one is the “Saints Row” reboot. Now, I know this is another one where people kind of looked at it and said, “That doesn’t look that great.” But the disappointment is that it’s the “Saints Row” franchise, which was at its peak for quite some time, and this was the last gasp of the franchise, to be frank. That’s the biggest disappointment is that “Saints Row” went out with a whimper with this game. After this, Volition, the studio behind stuff like “Red Faction,” and all the original “Saints Row” games, was kind of shut down and absorbed into a larger company, and it’s a damn shame because the “Saints Row” reboot just doesn’t have any identity or life in it. It feels like a game that tries to appease everyone.
They tried to make all fans of the series happy, the people who like the crazy over-the-top shenanigans of the newer games, and the people who like the gang warfare, “GTA” clone stuff of the earlier games. And by trying to please everybody, it felt like it just had no focus in its direction and ended up just being this lifeless, you know, kind of forgettable game. It felt like it had nothing to say, nothing to do, and the biggest, most damning thing is that it just wasn’t fun. Oh, not to mention the fact that it was also glitchy like it was an undercooked mess, it was another game that did not have enough time in the oven. That’s a whole other thing. We could talk about that with a lot of games. But yeah, the “Saints Row” reboot was, again, just the dying last gasp of a once-great franchise, and that is massively disappointing, dude.
“Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite” (2017)
Next over at number six, we have “Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite” from 2017. Hey, do you remember “Marvel vs. Capcom’s new game, “Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite?” No, you probably don’t, because it very quickly just disappeared into the ether. I don’t know what it was with this one. There was some controversy before the game launched, some people made fun of the game’s DLC, the content, and the Special Edition stuff with it. There was a lot to it. And then when the game was released, it just kind of didn’t take off. It didn’t take the world by storm like it could have because the older “Marvel vs. Capcom” games were incredible.
But this just felt like a massive misstep for Capcom. Capcom, who to be honest, has been doing a pretty good job lately, and really kind of giving the fans what they want and making the right moves. But there were a few years, many years ago, where Capcom was just slipping up left and right, and it kind of feels like “Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite” was one of those last big slip-ups before they finally got their act together. Unfortunately, it was the one that had to die on the sword, and I haven’t thought about it since I just mentioned it in this video. So with that, let’s move on.
“Redfall” (2023)
Next over number five, we have “Redfall” from 2023. Yeah, man, I mean, yep, another one that’s beating a dead horse. But in more recent years the last 10 years, there have been a lot of disappointments, and “Redfall” was a massive one. It felt unfinished, it was a technical mess, absolutely buggy, but most importantly, the game just was missing the fun factor. It didn’t have an interesting or compelling loop and just felt like this weird shoehorned co-op game that didn’t take advantage of what the developers were good at. This is Arkane, the creators of the “Dishonored” Games and “Deathloop.” So like they know what they’re doing, they have the sauce, but with “Redfall,” they did not have it at all.
We still don’t know what the hell happened with this one, and that is the biggest disappointment. It’s Arkane making a bad game. It stings. Now, “Deathloop” is a game that has some people that love it and some people that don’t like it, and that’s fine, but with their follow-up game, “Redfall,” man, this is like unarguably just not fun. Nobody liked this one, and it was pretty much dead on the vine. There were some good ideas, you could see why they decided to make the game at some point, but something got lost in translation, and that was a bummer. And we’re still really sad about it because we just want them to make “Dishonored 3” or a new “Prey” or something, please.
“Cyberpunk 2077” (2020)
Next, over at number four, we have “Cyberpunk 2077,” the original 2020 release. As you probably know, it was pretty borked. You know, some people played through the game and still enjoyed it, but for a lot of people out there, the game was a technical mess. Specifically, we remember because we played the PC version, and it was all right, you know, it had some issues, and it still definitely was not ready for release. And you know, we’re still holding CD Projekt Red’s feet to the fire with that. But the biggest thing, the worst thing was the console releases. The PS4 version I remember specifically was this blurry, muddy mess. It was a lifeless world with a bad frame rate and more glitches than you’d ever seen, certainly more than the PC version as far as I can remember.
A lot of people documented this. You can look it up out there. It is rough and unacceptable. I still can’t believe they released this game in this state for some people, and it muddied the waters. And of course, the reputation of CD Projekt Red for a lot of folks. The PS4 version was so bad, it was delisted from the PSN store for a while. That is devastating. We are really glad that the game found its way, CD Projekt Red put their money where their mouth is, and they stuck with it, and made it, frankly, a pretty awesome game. The game that some people saw in 2020, made it that good for everybody. And then some, the expansions, and the updates are all great, but that PS4 version was such a massive disappointment. What a mess, dude.
“Babylon’s Fall” (2022)
Now, next to number three, we have “Babylon’s Fall” from 2022. Now, this game looked generic from the start, so like it wasn’t like we had high hopes for it, but the biggest disappointment was the fact that it was PlatinumGames that worked on it. The people behind so many games, like “Bayonetta,” “Nier: Automata,” “Astral Chain,” “The Wonderful 101,” and “Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.” I mean, these guys got it figured out. And “Babylon’s Fall” felt like this weird game that Square Enix wanted them to make as a live service thing. A weird co-op brawler with a lifeless, generic, uninspired world, nothing even remotely close to the influences they’ve had in the past. Just the sense of style, excitement, cool, flashy combat, none of that was here, and the game was an absolute failure immediately because it was something that nobody asked for. It’s something that just didn’t look exciting to anybody, and it was just so uninspired, it felt like something that they were obligated to do, and the game failed pretty much instantly. I understand every studio may have to take a contract gig from a bigger studio to make something to keep the lights on, but “Babylon’s Fall,” man, that was depressing.
“Mass Effect: Andromeda” (2017)
Now, next down at number two, we have “Mass Effect: Andromeda.” This was a big one. I would say it was a disappointment, specifically because of the pedigree, it’s BioWare, the people behind the original “Mass Effect” games, “Knights of the Old Republic,” “Jade Empire,” I can go on and on. They know how to make a good RPG, and I think they were so good at it that a misstep just felt like such a big miss. The original trilogy, the original “Mass Effect” games, were so incredible. Some of the best sci-fi RPGs out there that anything less than that with a follow-up just would hit even harder, and “Mass Effect: Andromeda’ was a gut punch for a lot of people. It does have its fans out there, but it just didn’t feel like it was on the same level of quality as the previous games.
From a storytelling standpoint, of course, it didn’t live up to that. But also from a technical level, the game was famous for a bunch of glitches and bugs. Just an unacceptable thing to sell to people for a lot of people, but also disappointing in the sense that it just was nowhere near as memorable or compelling as those original games. You didn’t get as many characters that stuck with you here. You didn’t get as many cool planets and moments that remained in your heart. That’s something that BioWare was great at, and still to this day, honestly, they’re still chasing that. They’re still trying to live back up to that. I don’t know if they ever will, but “Mass Effect: Andromeda” in 2017 was kind of the beginning of the end in terms of just like a streak of disappointments.
“P.T.” (2014)
And now finally down at number one, we have “P.T.” from 2014. Yeah, we’re reaching back to the very end of the last 10 years, but we still think about “P.T.” all the time. This was “Playable Teaser,” something released on the PlayStation Store from Hideo Kojima and Company that was a playable teaser that felt kind of like a first-person, sci-fi horror experiment. It was cool, really unique, and you know, horror is subjective, but it was very scary for a lot of people. The mood, the atmosphere, the pretty realistic graphics, this thing had it going on.
It was a small taste, it was experimental and cerebral, but it was cool as hell, and then it ended with a massive tease that it was the start of a new “Silent Hill” game called “Silent Hills,” featuring Norman Reedus from “Walking Dead” and “Boondock Saints” among many other things, and that was just cool. This looked amazing, and this felt amazing. But the biggest disappointment is that the “Silent Hill” or “Silent Hills” game that this teased never ended up releasing, it was canceled. There was so much fallout and all weird behind-the-scenes business stuff with Hideo Kojima and his publisher, Konami, that something dropped out. “Silent Hills” was canceled, and “P.T.” was kind of erased from the internet. You can’t access it, you can’t download it, through traditional means now. And they just totally tried to whitewash the whole thing, just totally erase it, and it’s a damn shame. What’s disappointing is the fact that Hideo Kojima and the team worked on something, and made something cool, even if it was small, and it didn’t lead to anything, it just doesn’t exist anymore. That sucks. But hey, bad things like this happen in the game industry, what are you gonna do? So speaking of bad things happening, these were 10 disappointments from the last 10 years. There are more out there and you may disagree with some of these choices. So let us know in the comments. We’d love to make a part two because everybody has their disappointment for one reason or another. We tried to find some unique angles to some of these, like I said, “The Day Before” and “Callisto Protocol.”
So let us know what you guys are thinking in the comments with any of these. But as always, thanks for reading, and we’ll see you guys next time.
