10 Most Disappointing Games of 2015

8. Batman: Arkham Knight

Let’s clear something up right away: Arkham Knight is not a bad game. It’s actually quite a good game, constant awkward shoehorning in of the Batmobile aside. The reason it’s one of 2015’s most disappointing is really quite simple: WB Games took a massive dump on PC players and released a port that was broken and unplayable. Arkham Knight is what happens when a large studio hands over the job of porting a massive game to two people. Two people helped to “convert” the console version of Arkham Knight to PC, explaining everything to gamers who wondered how they could mess it up so badly.

Speaking at the time on their forums, Rocksteady, the guys who handled the console versions of the game, said:

“We have heard the PC gaming community outcry of disappointment for the initial launch of Batman: Arkham Knight on PC. Again, we would like to apologize to you, the fans, and let you know that we are taking full responsibility for releasing a product that did not meet our quality standards, which is why we suspended sales of the game as soon as we understood the issues. The Batman: Arkham Knight fans are extremely important to us and our highest priority is ensuring PC users get the full, high quality experience of Batman: Arkham Knight they deserve. Rocksteady Studios has created an amazing game with Batman: Arkham Knight and they are now working closely with us and our partners to ensure that we offer the same experience on PC. Once the PC version is fully updated, Rocksteady and all parties will agree that it meets a superior quality bar and we will then make the game available for sale.”

And so, they re-released the game. And it was still mostly broken. A truly sorry way to say goodbye to one of the best series’ in the past decade.

7. Battlefield Hardline

You know you might have messed up when an older game in a series has more active players than the newest one. That’s the case with Battlefield Hardline as, after a short spurt of interest, gamers have fled quicker back to Battlefield 4 than a suspicious sounding Kickstarter campaign. It’s not that Hardline is inherently a terribly game, it’s simply unnecessary. People complained before release that it looked more like a reskin of earlier games and it sadly turned out to be just that once gamers had played it for more than a few hours.

By taking the iconic Battlefield series away from the, you know, battlefield, Hardline serves as little more than a cheesy interactive episode of Cops that most avoided. It’s dropped significantly in price since release, but you may as well pick up Battlefield 4 instead. It has more depth and hooks than its spin-off and, even though it has more than its fair share of negative points, it’s a far better game.

6. Godzilla

So we finally arrive at a game from 2015 that is not only disappointing, but generally awful in almost every aspect. Quite how developers can continue to mess up Godzilla is almost ridiculous; never has wreaking havoc and mayhem as a gigantic lizard felt more asinine than it did with this digital fart from Bandai Namco and Natsume, the team behind the phenomenal Reel Fishing and Big Mutha Truckers.

Even if you could look past the fact that Godzilla can barely even aim his attacks, buildings collapse like wet cardboard boxes and the main bulk of the game taking just a few hours to complete, it would be impossible to not be rankled by the price tag. Charging full price for what is essentially a port of a PlayStation 3 game that would be more at home on the PlayStation 2 was very naive and greedy. Fans of Godzilla have been clamouring for a decent game based on the homewrecker for years. They are going to have wait even longer.