The Worst Reviewed Games of 2024

Although 2024 saw a mix of brilliant and underwhelming releases, some games truly fell short of expectations. Reviews are subjective, but some titles consistently received poor marks. This article explores the games that received the lowest scores, highlighting their shortcomings.

Five – Mediocre

A 5 on iGV’s review scale signals a “mediocre” experience – a game that is, frankly, unremarkable. While not terrible, these games lack the spark to truly engage players. They’re often bland, forgettable, or fail to deliver on their initial promise.

• Numerous strategy titles: Games like Slitterhead, Terminator: Dark Fate – Defiance, Millennia, Sins of a Solar Empire 2, and Homeworld: Vast Reaches fall into this category, showcasing a lack of compelling gameplay or a coherent narrative. These games often felt like basic iterations of existing concepts.
• Remakes and Sequels: The First Descendant and the Until Dawn remake are examples of games that fell short of expectations, sometimes offering similar gameplay to their predecessors but lacking the same creative spark.
• Live-service and Squad-based titles: Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, a game from renowned developers, showcased disappointing combat mechanics and repetitive missions, ultimately proving a letdown for fans of the genre.
• Franchise entries: Games like Mario & Luigi: Brothership and SpongeBob Squarepants: The Patrick Star Game, while recognizable, failed to capture the charm and engaging gameplay of their predecessors, struggling in areas like dialogue, quest design and runtime padding.
• Genre-bending Games: Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown and Kong: Survivor Instinct were further disappointments, with the former offering only online content and the latter featuring a puzzling concept implementation.

Four – Bad

A 4 signifies a “bad” game experience, a noticeable step down from the mediocre 5. These titles often have significant flaws that detract from the overall enjoyment. These aren’t just slight disappointments; they’re games that truly struggle to deliver a satisfactory gaming experience.

• Broken Roads: A turn-based RPG set in a post-apocalyptic setting, this title promised an engaging morality system but ultimately failed to deliver on its potential. The moral choice system felt disconnected from the core gameplay, leaving the player with tedious fetch quests and unfulfilling conversations.
• Endless Ocean Luminous: A remake, this scuba-diving adventure proved repetitive and monotonous after several hours. Procedurally generated maps felt alike, and the lack of variety in missions and objectives hampered player engagement. It felt more like a tech demo than a full game.
• Funko Fusion: This pop-culture-themed adventure, while visually interesting, fell short of providing a satisfying experience. Repetitive gameplay, a nonsensical narrative, and numerous game-breaking bugs contributed to the overall negative reception. It felt like a rushed effort, lacking the polish and charm of its comparable LEGO games.

Three – Awful

A 3 on the review scale designates a game as “awful”. These titles often feature significant issues with gameplay mechanics, writing, or a combination of both. These games offer little to no entertainment value to the player.

• Atomic Heart’s Trapped in Limbo DLC: This DLC was plagued by problematic gameplay mechanics like extended sliding segments and awkward first-person platforming. The poorly executed design made a bad situation even worse, culminating in an overall frustrating experience.
• South Park: Snow Day: This 3D hack-and-slash title, based on the popular animated series, failed to capture the humor and charm that makes the show enjoyable. Uninspired writing, clunky controls, and a lack of engaging gameplay contributed to this disappointing outcome. This was a step backward for the series from the previous RPG-based titles.
• Empire of the Ants’ single-player campaign: While the trailer promised a hyper-realistic ant simulation, the actual game felt more like an exercise in frustration. A disappointing difficulty curve, lack of gameplay variety, and a lack of saving options made the 12-hour campaign a struggle.

These were just some of the most poorly reviewed games of 2024. Ultimately, the best approach is to research titles before purchase to ensure you’re investing your time and money in something enjoyable. There were certainly better and more rewarding experiences to be had in 2024.