The biggest videogame failures released in 2016


Video games can offer gamers an escape, adventure, or even a nightmare. A nightmare is what gamers experienced in 2016 with these titles. Even though gamers are notoriously hard to please (science, bro), and their expectations rarely ever met, there are still plenty of games that just can’t be defended from criticism.

Overall 2016 was a great year for games, but it wasn’t without its mishaps too. We give you eight titles that left us wanting more.

Mirror’s Edge Catalyst:

Source: Mirror's Edge 2
Source: Mirror’s Edge 2

YouTube video

Mirror’s Edge, the original game that EA released, was a welcome breath of fresh air. It included some refined, original mobility mechanics and it was an incredibly solid release when it came out. EA didn’t manage to capture that same magic that made the original so special when they released the sequel earlier this year. It simply came and went, like most disappointing titles. The game was extremely repetitive, and player frustrations with the lack of depth in the gameplay became all too apparent. Under the radar? It never even got close to appearing on the map.

The Division:

Source: Expert Reviews
Source: Expert Reviews

YouTube video

It felt like Ubisoft’s The Division was in development for a long time. Regardless of the game not really looking or performing how it did in stage and tech demos, The Division wasn’t actually a necessarily bad game. It’s just that after an initial play-through of around twenty hours, that was it. Time’s up. Nothing left to do. That’s the disappointment here. Ubisoft tried to compete with Bungie’s Destiny in 206 and didn’t hit the same sort of highs that Destiny did. There were no raids, no longevity, no real excitement built around DLC and added content. It was also plagued with technical issues on the console and PC port. Especially on the PC port in which information about players was stored on hard drives instead of servers allowing hackers and modders to essentially cheat the multiplayer aspect of the game. Not very welcoming.

Titanfall 2:

Source: Gameplaying.Info
Source: Gameplaying.Info

YouTube video

The release of Titanfall 2 and its campaign to better Battlefield 1 and Call of Duty was just a bit sad in the end. Even though TF2 had clearly been well-thought out and designed by Respawn, whom are experts at the FPS genre in the first place, the game simply did not sell enough copies. Being wedged between EA’s Battlefield and Infinite Warfare and the Modern Warfare remastered certainly didn’t help. But that wasn’t all of the problems that TF2 faced. A simple visual design could have put many consumers off as well as its predecessor being a Microsoft-only exclusive could have upset the market for the sequel. The fact that the sequel was due to hit both platforms was not very heavily advertised.

Dishonored 2:

Source: Crack2Games
Source: Crack2Games

YouTube video

Although not a complete disappointment – the console versions sold and were received well – the PC port of Dishonored 2 was shocking, according to some users. Many commented that the game was essentially unplayable due to the terrible performance issues that the PC port had. Input lag, frame-rate issues, loading times, the reviews of Dishonored 2 for the PC version were less than friendly. What makes it perhaps (worse?) is that Arkane and Bethesda knew about the issues to the game and could only offer the possibility of future patches to fix the game. It does have to be said, the game was received incredibly well at the same time. Just not so much of players on PC.

No Mans Sky:

Source: Game Informer
Source: Game Informer

There’s no denying this was the biggy of all gaming disappointments in 2016. It’s difficult, and even now trite, to articulate how much of a damp squib NMS was on release. Whether you took issues with Sean Murray and Hello Games, with the game’s shallowness or lack of true direction replying on a myopic inspiration, or whether you just simply did not accept the hype in the first place, NMS was a sever let-down to a lot of people. A lot of people bought into the idea of No Man’s Sky without ever really knowing what to expect. That grew and grew until the game was released and nothing went to plan. A suffering disappointment not just for fans, but for Hello Games too.

Homefront: The Revolution:

Source: YouTube
Source: YouTube

YouTube video

Even though the first game was not received incredibly well, there was still that sequel magic anticipated for its sequel Homefront: The Revolution. However, the game did not deliver a worthwhile experience it seemed. Many bugs and issues plagued the game, the combat and gameplay didn’t seem refined enough and the game ended up not feeling exactly finished. What could have been a decent political commentary bolstered by solid shooting, was, again, an ultimate disappointment.

Street Fighter V:

Source: GameSpot
Source: GameSpot

YouTube video

The game that Capcom charged sixty dollars for even though it was clearly unfinished. That Street Fighter game. Street Fighter 5 was drastically unfinished, with many characters not present, shallow gameplay and unpopulated servers. How a major publisher like Capcom gave the go-ahead to an entry in a widely enjoyed series is anybody’s guess.

Quantum Break:

Source: YouTube
Source: YouTube

YouTube video

Again, it’s not as if Quantum Break was truly awful. Just that being a console-exclusive for Microsoft when they needed it the most, it was disappointing to see it drop off the radar as other well-known releases sold better and more gamers were enjoying them. A let-down in the sense that it was probably a decent game, yet people were just not taken enough with it.