5 Most Disappointing Games of 2015 So Far

I sometimes feel a bit uncomfortable about criticising video games that don’t make the grade. Whether it’s due to internal development issues, rushing to meet deadlines (a real problem in the modern industry) or the end result looking nothing like its preview materials, hundreds of people have worked their asses off on something that just didn’t quite work out.

Video games are still mainly created by passionate visionaries who understand what gamers actually want from their digital escapism. Although there is a creeping corporate sense coming into the industry with the wide adoption of season passes, DLC and the like, it remains a more personable field than film or music.

It’s worth mentioning that 2015 has been a far stronger year for gaming than 2014 already. Last year wasn’t exactly a milestone year for the industry, thanks to the many releases that flattered to deceive as well as it feeling like there were few games released overall. Although this year shows improvement all round, there are still some games which have failed to meet expectations.

5. Batman: Arkham Knight (on PC)

The console version of Rocksteady’s series closer is a candidate for Game of the Year. However, considering how utterly broken the PC version is, it more than deserves its place on this list.

Textures become about as distinctive as porridge, Bats wades around in severe frame slowdown far too often and the game just decides to crash when it feels like it. WB Games have a history of truly terrible efforts on PC and continue this unwanted trend with Arkham Knight. It was so unplayable that they had to remove it for sale from Steam, leaving a big black mark on a beloved series that should have had the send-off it deserves. Speaking on the official forums, the developers recently 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.

Don’t believe it could really be that bad? Take a look at some of the footage below and tell me you’re going to rush out to buy it on PC when it’s available again.

 

4. Battlefield Hardline

“Would we really try and sell you a glorified expansion pack for Battlefield 4? Come on.” – DICE.

But they did. Hardline is one of the most… nothing games I have played for a long, long time. It’s as if they’ve just added a new skin, tacked on an embarrassingly hackneyed cop storyline and hoped that nobody would notice. The result is another disappointing effort from Call of Duty‘s biggest rival which even hardened Battlefield veterans shrugged at when it came out.

There’s something about next-gen (current-gen now?) which doesn’t agree with the Battlefield series and Hardline has done nothing to buck the trend.  Let’s hope they take a break before BF5 to come up with some new ideas, or at least fix the multitude of bugs which plague the series.

 

3. Evolve

The game that made me want to write this article, Evolve quite simply reeks of being a cash grab from the main menu to the credits. Being asked to pay £2.50 for a slightly different hue of green for your monster is absolutely ridiculous and one of many reasons why it’s such a disappointing effort overall. It’s like horse armour all over again.

The gameplay itself is good, but not groundbreaking and quite limited in appeal. Once you’ve played five matches, you’ve more or less played them all and unless you can buddy up with a group of friends, you’re not likely to stick with Evolve for long. It’s repetitive, bland and hollow – you would expect far better from the team behind the still widely-played Left 4 Dead.

The less said about the extortionate DLC, the better. Quite why a publisher like 2K, who deal with huge franchises like NBA and WWE, feel like they have to squeeze every last penny out of their consumers is beyond me.

 

2. Tales From the Borderlands

Telltale really don’t seem like a company which would admit that they have taken on too many projects at once, but they really should. It’s been over eight months since the first episode of the story-driven adaptation of Gearbox’s famous franchise and we have only seen two more released in that time.

Don’t get it twisted, Tales From the Borderlands is a fine game. Sure, it creaks under the same bloated Telltale engine that they’re loved for, but it’s still a pretty enjoyable effort. No, it’s a disappointing release purely because of a lack of fan service and obvious negligence from the developers so they can rush out new content from their other hundred projects. Telltale need to either hire more staff, have a word with their PR team or stop accepting new deals before they face pissing all of their fans off completely.

It’s worth mentioning that no release date is in sight for episode four of the series. Poor, poor form from a company that should know better.

 

1. The Order: 1886

I will be eternally grateful to my grandmother for teaching me the value of money. Without her sage advice, I might have ended up splashing out £40-£50 on a game which is so short that only renting it would make sense.

The Order is easily the most disappointing game of 2015 so far for many, many reasons. It should have been so much more than the glorified six-hour cutscene it turned out to be. An insane amount of time is dedicated to stilted and empty conversations that completely detract from what should have been a fascinating adventure. The developers tried and completely failed to create engaging characters that you care about; nobody seems to understand common sense at any point in the game. Why does the main protagonist (who is so two-dimensional that I don’t even remember his name) not let his friends know AT ANY POINT that he has been framed for a crime at a pivotal point in the story?

Of the sparing gameplay that you’re “treated” to, it’s fair to say that it would belong in 2005, not 2015. Infuriatingly linear stealth sequences, a broken cover system and insipid, bland enemies make this a game barely fit for the PlayStation 2, let alone as a marquee release for PlayStation 4. The final boss is just a COPY AND PASTE of an equally terrible battle earlier in the game, which is almost unbelievable for a AAA release which cost millions of pounds to produce. Did Ready at Dawn really think nobody would notice?

Without doubt, The Order is a beautiful game. Simply sumptuous visuals of an alternative Victorian England are essentially all it has going for it, however. Somebody needs to let the developers know that you can have the shiniest, sleekest Porsche in the world, but if there’s nothing under the bonnet, nobody is going to give a shit.

 

Do you disagree with this list? Of course you do! Leave a comment below with your thoughts.