Video games have come a long way. Back in the mid-to-late 70s, video games consisted of little more than moving blocks on a screen and Pac-Man. Talk about rudimentary! The 80s helped define what video games could be thanks to arcades, and the 90s revolutionized home gaming via advanced consoles like the PlayStation and Nintendo 64. And that, the 21st century came around. Starting in the early 2000s, games became much more complex, and home consoles like the PS2 and Xbox were found in nearly every house. The 2010s brought advanced leaps in graphical and technological capabilities, leading us to the gorgeous and intricate video games of today.
But just because video games have advanced doesn’t necessarily mean that they have gotten better. In fact, the more developers there are, the worse gaming seems to be. Yes, small indie companies, or even individual creators, can produce magnificent works of art (looking at you Undertale). But for every genius video game developer, there are fifty more that don’t seem to care about the quality of their games.
Games are also very complex creations, and any number of things can wrong in development. Exasperated creators can give up and leave. The game can run out of funds, leading to a broken, or even incomplete, release. Or the ambition can simply get the best of developers, and they realize that they don’t have the talent (and/or the funds) to create the ambitious game that is so clearly-defined in their imaginations.
Whatever the reasons, the 2000s are filled with some truly terrible games. But also some all-time classics.
25 Worst: Big Rigs: Over The Road Racing
Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing is one of the worst video games of all time, let alone the 21st century. Seriously, this thing is like The Room of gaming. There was no collision detection, so players could do literally anything they wanted. The truck refused to obey the laws of physics, resulting in hilarious and completely nonsensical gameplay. There was no objective, and the on-screen timer was completely meaningless. AI trucks refused to start. In short, the game was just blatantly unfinished, and it famously has a score of 8 on Metacritic.
24 Best: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is so good that it’s become a meme on social media sites like Reddit. It’s seen as some sort of Godly video game, the title that has transcended time and space to gift mere mortals the divine sight of gaming perfection. It may not be THAT good, but it’s still rightly regarded as a classic (even if it’s only four years old). It received widespread critical acclaim for its writing and world building, and many people considered it to be a graphical marvel. Yes, it has its flaws (*cough* combat *cough*), but hey, nothing is perfect.
23 Worst: Ride To Hell: Retribution
Ride to Hell: Retribution was THE game of 2013. Just, not in a good way. It was declared offensive not just in its general awfulness, but in its content as well. Literally every facet of this game was worthy of the garbage bin – gameplay was completely broken, the controls were terrible, and it was the equivalent of technological vomit, full of bugs, glitches, and horrible voice acting. But many critics also pointed out its horrible treatment of female characters, many of whom were there for purely provocative reasons. It was rightfully deemed a misogynistic and unplayable disaster.
22 Best: The Grand Theft Auto 3D Universe
We’re encapsulating every GTA game under one umbrella. It’s just too hard to pick the best and most influential title. If our arms were twisted, we would give the spot to Grand Theft Auto III – it revolutionized gaming with its fully-realized world and limitless gameplay possibilities. But many people have fonder memories of Vice City and San Andreas, and GTA IV did for the seventh generation what GTA III did for the sixth. GTA V expanded on IV‘s influence and became the third highest-selling game of all time. The success of this series is monumental.
21 Worst: The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct
By 2013, The Walking Dead was practically the biggest thing in the world. You couldn’t walk into a Hot Topic without seeing Norman Reedus’s face plastered on everything. Enter Survival Instinct, which served as a Daryl and Merle-focused prequel of the television show. It was as soulless as the zombies. Everything looked and felt cheap, and it didn’t even say anything interesting about Daryl or Merle. It was so bad that Robert Kirkman distanced himself from the game in a Reddit AMA, insinuating that its creation was nothing but a greedy decision by AMC.
20 Best: Silent Hill 2
When it comes to horror games, few, if any, reach the bar that Silent Hill 2 set. It’s simply a masterpiece of the genre, and one of the best video games of all time. Few games have conveyed such unrelenting dread, and the title has ambition beyond merely scaring you with blood and monsters. It covers various taboo subjects, its themes are complex and mature, and its inventive storytelling pushed what was possible in gaming. There’s simply no reliving or recapturing the magic of Silent Hill 2. We hate resorting to clichés, but you had to be there.
19 Best: Half-Life 2
For another “you had to be there” game, look no further than Half-Life 2. It will be 15 years old in 2019, so of course it doesn’t seem like much today. But this was revolutionary stuff. The new Source engine allowed for graphics and physics we simply hadn’t seen before, and the game’s gravity gun allowed us to experiment with the engine to the fullest extent of our imaginations. But it wasn’t just a technical marvel. Few games felt so expansive and epic, and the narrative actually had players invested in the world and characters. It changed, and defined, the FPS genre.
18 Worst: Ghostbusters
For many, the Ghostbusters name was tarnished in 2016. As you all definitely remember, the movie was bombarded with vile hatred. If you want to read some of the most colorful language known to man, read some of the Ghostbusters reviews. And yes, there was a video game tie-in. Oh, you don’t remember it? Of course you don’t, because it was the stuff of nightmares. Not in a good, ghost-y way. In a “what were they thinking releasing this?” way. It was an insult not only to Ghostbusters, but to the very concept of co-operative shooters. And video games in general.
17 Best: Shadow Of The Colossus
By 2005, video games were still struggling to find their place in the world. Yes, we had some stellar and mature games, but gaming as a whole was still seen as a childish hobby. Enter Shadow of the Colossus. Shadow proved that video games could be pieces of art not only through its desolate and hauntingly beautiful environments, but through its thematically-rich and literary narrative. Players are still discussing its implications and ambiguities nearly fifteen years later (the remake helped), just as they would a great novel or movie. With Shadow of the Colossus, gaming grew up.
16 Worst: Spyro: Enter The Dragonfly
Enter the Dragonfly was Spyro’s first foray on the PS2 (following the PlayStation’s Year of the Dragon). Fan expectations were high, as they wanted to see just what the series could do on this fancy new toy. It was… bad. It was overseen by Check Six Studios, not Insomniac Games, and the change in developer definitely showed. For one thing, it was a technical disaster, full of excruciating load times, a jerky frame rate, and glitches aplenty. But the game just… wasn’t fun. It did nothing original or exciting, and it failed to utilize the advanced capabilities of the PS2.
15 Best: Resident Evil 4
The GameCube didn’t have much, but it had Resident Evil 4. That’s enough to call it a success. The fourth official entry changed the formula of the series by making it more action-oriented. No longer were you tip-toeing through spooky hallways, afraid of your own breathing. Now you were shotgunning evil tentacle-headed things in the face and riding a jet ski through an exploding island. Its third-person behind-the-shoulder perspective was also a revelation, and it’s still being copied fifteen years later. It not only changed the Resident Evil series – it changed gaming.
14 Worst: Ninjabread Man
Why yes, there WAS a game called Ninjabread Man. It initially began development as a remake of the Commodore Amiga’s Zool: Ninja of the Nth Dimension, but the prospective publisher shut it down for being crummy. Not ones to be defeated, Data Design Interactive altered the character and overall theme and released Ninjabread Man. They should have listened to the publisher. It somehow had major frame rate issues, despite the poor graphics and rudimentary level design, and it could be completed in all of thirty minutes. This never should have seen the light of day.
13 Best: BioShock
If people still weren’t convinced that video games could be art after Shadow of the Colossus, BioShock was there to push them in the right direction. Rapture instantly became one of gaming’s most iconic environments, one dripping with atmosphere, tension, and gorgeous art deco style. Its narrative had literary ambitions, with touches of Ayn Rand, Objectivism, and references to historic figures like John D. Rockefeller. But it also never forgot that it was a game, deftly mixing enjoyable first-person shooting with imaginative plasmids and complex RPG mechanics. Style over substance does not apply here.
12 Worst: Bomberman: Act Zero
Bomberman: Act Zero is one of those games destined for a fifty-cent price tag at your local thrift shop. Everything in the game was broken and cheap, and it lacked any sort of merit or substance. It’s the cheap type of game you buy on a whim for $10, only it was made by a major developer and sold for $50. The lack of saves was also immensely painful – if you lost, that’s it. Game over. More like “if you lost, you took the disc out of the Xbox and snapped it in half.”
11 Best: Red Dead Redemption
It really is a toss up between the original and the emotionally-devastating sequel, but we think RDR 2 has just enough critics to bump it down a notch. Red Dead Redemption, on the other hand, is universally loved. Its narrative is one of the best in gaming, complete with a harrowing ending that continues to leave players absolutely ravaged. Its open world was similarly praised for its incredible, desolate scope, and sheer amount of content. This was the first time that gaming had successfully captured the intrigue of the Wild West, and it remains one of the highest benchmarks of the open world genre.
10 Worst: Sonic The Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog came with a lot of expectations. It was set to reboot the entire series for a new generation, and it was going to celebrate Sonic’s 15th birthday. However, Sonic co-creator Yuji Naka left to start his own company, resulting in a fractured team and a troubled development. The broken and blatantly incomplete game was subsequently rushed out for Christmas, and it nearly ruined the Sonic brand forever. It was later disowned by Sega and removed from retailers because it was ruining the company’s reputation.
9 Best: Dark Souls
Dark Souls was a different beast. While it was preceded by Demon’s Souls, this was the game that officially put FromSoftware on the map. While we have been spoiled with numerous Soulsborne games, there was nothing like Dark Souls at the time (well, aside from Demon’s Souls). The lore and overall world design was gorgeous, intricate, and beautifully-designed – one of the most realized worlds in gaming history. But the biggest talking point was its brutally unrelenting difficulty. The game didn’t hold your hand, and it expected you to study, to put some work and effort into your adventure. The rewards were transcendent.
8 Worst: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5
There is perhaps no greater fall from grace than the Tony Hawk series. Pro Skater 5 was the first main entry in eight years, following a string of commercial and critical failures. It was easily the worst one yet. The development was rushed due to the impending expiration of the Tony Hawk-Activision licensing deal, resulting in a technological calamity that had many veteran players banging their heads against the wall. Saying goodbye to this series was like putting down a sick pet – we didn’t want to do it, but it was for the good of everyone.
7 Best: The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild
Breath of the Wild is the best of a lot of things. Best game on the Switch, best game in the Zelda series, best game of the century, and maybe the best game of all time. Of course, every single one of those points is up for debate, but the fact that we CAN debate them speaks volumes to the quality of this game. Its open world is full of rich lore, imaginative enemies, and distinct locations. Never has an open world felt so alive, so expansive, and just so… right. Breath of the Wild allows us to see the future of gaming, and it is glorious.
6 Worst: Aquaman: Battle For Atlantis
Aquaman hasn’t had much time in the limelight. Until James Wan’s movie, he was always seen as one of the weaker superheroes thanks to his forgettable personality and relatively useless abilities. He was endlessly parodied for basically being a glorified mermaid. Aquaman: Battle for Atlantis didn’t do anything to help his reputation. It was probably the worst superhero game since Superman, a technological abomination that lacked any substance, style, or a single semblance of fun. It’s frankly hard to believe that this was greenlit and released for the Xbox.
5 Worst: Rogue Warrior
Rogue Warrior is a stain on Bethesda’s name and reputation. They served as publishers, and they actually cared enough to fire Zombie Studios and bring in Rebellion Development to re-do the game from scratch. It was clearly a whole ordeal, but it was definitely not worth the drama. This was a cheap arcade title awkwardly posing as a full-priced game from a AAA publisher. It was ugly as sin, it was filled with glitches, and the entire campaign lasted just a few short hours. Rogue Warrior could be studied in schools – How Not to Make an FPS 101.
4 Worst: Final Fantasy XIV
The pain of Final Fantasy XIV is still fresh. It was set to be the second MMORPG in the Final Fantasy series, following Final Fantasy XI. However, the game suffered from a horribly flawed and problematic development process, leading to an absolute disaster of a launch. Critics and audiences alike detested the game, calling it a rushed, broken, messy, and undeserving of the Final Fantasy name. The director and producer were subsequently fired, the servers were shut down, and work quickly began on a complete reboot (later released as A Realm Reborn). The Final Fantasy brand was officially tarnished.
3 Worst: Ridge Racer
When it comes to racing games, few are as vomit-worthy as the 2011 Ridge Racer. Its content was utterly lacking, and what was there was simply ported over from Ridge Racer 7. If you wanted more content, you were forced to buy the DLC – more recycled ports from Ridge Racer 7. Its online component was also baffling, as it used a leveling system to determine speed. This meant that experienced players were faster than new, low-leveled players by design. It made absolutely no sense and discouraged online play. Ridge Racer disregarded basic game design and spat in the face of consumer respect.
2 Worst: SimCity
SimCity remains the poster child for broken launches. Seriously, this thing was a complete and utter disaster on every conceivable level. The high number of players quickly crashed the game’s servers, resulting in widespread technical problems – excruciating load times, constant crashes and disconnections, and sometimes even complete losses of saved data. Amazon was inundated with complaints, forcing them to withdraw the game from their marketplace, and Steam was bombarded with negative reviews. A petition was even started on the White House website’s We the People asking for “an industry-wide return policy” on video games requiring DRM. Yeah, people were pretty mad.
1 Worst: Aliens: Colonial Marines
Hype was high for Aliens: Colonial Marines. It was an official, canon sequel to James Cameron’s Aliens, writers of Battlestar Galactica were helping pen the script, Aliens’ concept artist Syd Mead was returning, and cast members like Michael Biehn and Lance Henriksen were reprising their roles. The game brought our hopes back down to Earth. It looked like a third-rate title, complete with poor lighting and horrible textures. The gameplay was rudimentary. And the story was a massive disappointment that featured various inconsistencies with the storyline and themes of Aliens. They should have called it Aliens: In Name Only.
