Without a doubt, 2015 has been a much better year for gaming than 2014, something I mentioned when I covered this same topic at the halfway point earlier in the year. It’s not that 2014 was an especially awful period for new releases, it’s more the case that developers were still in an awkward limbo between the current generation and the one we have just passed.
Now that the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One seem to have finally come to life, we have been rewarded with a stellar period of games over the past 12 months. However, there have been some games that, although not necessarily all bad, haven’t quite reached the heights that they should have. Here are ten of the most disappointing games of 2015 that could have been so much more.
And no, Fallout 4 isn’t here.
10. Just Cause 3
The Just Cause series is an odd one. The original, released on PS2, original Xbox, 360, and PC, was a fairly warmly received open-world explodathon that flew under the radars of many. The same could be said of its sequel, Just Cause 2, but the fanbase has grown over to the years to the point where PC gamers were still playing when Just Cause 3 was announced.
People were excited to see just how much mayhem could be unleashed on the new-generation of consoles, especially since you could tether cows to windmills – every gamer’s dream. Sadly, the only real mayhem we got was some really appalling framerate issues, bugs galore, and the feeling that JC3 could probably have been released on the last generation. Make no mistake, JC3 is an incredibly fun game when it works, but the performance issues, no doubt brought on by development rushing it out in time for Christmas, really hampers the experience. It might be worth picking up when the price has dropped and it’s been patched up properly. Save your money for now, though.
9. FIFA 16
To those that don’t invest time in yearly franchises, picking up a new, ever so slightly tweaked game every 12 months or so might seem a bit odd. Incremental changes have been the case for FIFA for some years now, but the complete lack of innovation in this year’s title from EA Sports makes it one of 2015’s most disappointing. To explain just how run-of-the-mill FIFA 16 is, one of the main new features is a tutorial.
For anyone that’s played FIFA 15 for more time than they legally should be allowed to, the changes were so slight that it was like paying for a squad update and not much else. After an initial few games of getting to grips with the “improvements”, FIFA 16 became far too familiar far too quickly. In a year where Konami* managed to get at least one aspect of their business right with the much-improved Pro Evolution Soccer 2016, EA’s licensed simulation of kickball left a lot to be desired. If they don’t change things for next year’s incarnation of FIFA, EA might find themselves losing more ground to their biggest rivals.
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