2021 had some of the most diverse video game offerings of recent years. Though the first year of a new console generation is usually rough, 2021 stepped up and offered some amazing titles. But there’s no such thing as a year without any bad games. No matter how great the PlayStation 5’s year was, or how many good Nintendo Switch games fans got, there were some truly bad games released in 2021.
It’s easy to look at only a bunch of games dumped onto Steam with no effort, but there were plenty of terrible and mediocre games from well-known video game developers and publishers as well. Those kinds of titles are much worse, since they actually had some semblance of a developing budget and marketing behind them.
10 Balan Wonderworld Is A Mess Of A Platformer
Balan Wonderworld was supposed to be the next major title from Yuji Naka, the creator of Sonic and Nights into Dreams. The early looks at the game were promising, as it seemed to be a Nights into Dreams for a new era. But then the game actually came out, and unfortunately, it was a mess. Every button did the exact same thing for some reason. Players could change out costumes to change abilities, but even that felt repetitive. Balan Wonderworld garnered poor reviews on literally every platform, averaging a score in the mid-40s on Metacritic.
9 eFootball 2022 Is Filled With Glitches
Pro Evolution Soccer was one of the only alternatives to a major sports game on the market. The game was the only thing players had if they didn’t want to play FIFA. Konami went from PES to eFootball and managed to create the worst game of the year, with a Metacritic score of 25 on PC. It’s a game that deserves its low score, rather than simply getting one as a result of fans preference. eFootball 2022 is full of bugs and barely worked at launch, with terrible animations beyond what people are used to in their usual FIFA glitch videos.
8 King's Bounty II Has Terrible Voice Acting And Writing
King’s Bounty is the best of the worst, but that’s not saying much. At a time when great RPGs are coming out more and more polished, King’s Bounty II feels like it comes from the era of janky Playstation 3 titles. To its credit, it has a massive story mode with plenty of stuff to do, and the combat is actually enjoyable. Bur reviews for the game dinged everything from the voice acting to the writing, things that are generally supposed to be good for an RPG. The game wound up with a 64 on Metacritic for PC and a 57 for PlayStation 4—only die-hards would ever want to give King’s Bounty II another look.
7 Hood: Outlaws & Legends Had A Lack Of Content At Launch
Focus Home Interactive introduced Hood: Outlaws & Legends a few years ago and it sounded like a good idea, something distinctive in an era of nothing but clones.
It was supposed to be multiplayer with AI involved to mix things up. Two teams of thieves in a medieval world try to break into castles and make off with loot while the AI tries to shut them both down. But Hood had every problem a multiplayer game could have: a lack of content, awkward controls, bad match-making, and weak animation.
6 GTA 3: The Definitive Edition Takes The Personality Out Of The Original Titles
This was supposed to be an easy pass to one of the best games for the year. The Grand Theft Auto games on PS2 were some of the best-remembered games of that generation. But GTA 3: The Definitive Edition rubbed people the wrong way from the jump. Making the original games unavailable on PC, essentially “forcing” people to buy the Definitive Edition was where things started. Then, The Definitive Edition itself was filled with plenty of bugs, missing music, and other problems that ruined one of the great classics of gaming. Sometimes it’s best to leave well enough alone.
5 Battlefield 2042 Is A Miserable Experience For Solo Players
While Call of Duty is known for coming out once a year, Battlefield has a reputation for taking more time off between installments. Which makes it all the more strange that, despite not having a Battlefield since 2016, Battlefield 2042 is such a mess. It’s a gorgeous game, but it’s unfortunately mostly flash instead of substance. The enormous maps are fun to play in groups, but in solo play feel so huge that the action slows to a crawl. The best thing about this title is Battlefield Portal, where players can create their own custom modes. But that’s just relying on the players to do all the work.
4 Destruction Allstars Launched Without Much Content To Start
Destruction Allstars looked promising when it was first shown off. It had the appearance of a fun car combat game that would make a great launch title for the PlayStation 5. But unfortunately, it launched content-bare, which is something modern games do when they want to drip-feed content over time.
On top of that, none of Destruction Allstar's modes were all that creative, resulting in a game that felt bland. At a time when free-to-play games are just as good as AAA titles, this game lost everyone’s attention fast.
3 Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood Has Poor Combat And Worse Animations
Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Earthblood is an example of just how hard it is to make a good-looking game in 2021. So much of this game was lacking. It’s one thing to not be pretty, but the game’s animations were way off, and its RPG systems weren’t all that great either. It tries to go between stealth and hardcore action gameplay and doesn’t do either of them particularly well. The game starts to get old quickly, resulting in a title that scored a 56 on Metacritic on PC.
2 Big Rumble Boxing Is A Beautiful Game With Mediocre Gameplay
The concept of Big Rumble Boxing is great. These days, only hardcore boxing fans can name more than a few real-life boxers. But who doesn’t love the Rocky franchise? Big Rumble Boxing allows for match-ups where Apollo Creed can finally beat Ivan Drago, or Rocky can face off against Adonis while they're both in their primes. But there’s not enough game there to warrant a purchase, and it’s not sure whether it wants to be arcade-like or realistic in its combat.
1 Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance Launched As A Bug-Filled Mess With Bad Combat
This isn’t the worst game of 2021, but it’s certainly the most disappointing. People have been waiting for a proper AAA Dungeons & Dragons game for ages, but this wasn’t the one prophesied in the legends. Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance has functional multiplayer, but that only mildly improves the monotony of this title. It’s a buggy game that needed another few years in the oven before it could have been special. Instead, it has awful combat and it doesn't have a plot to fall back on. People will just have to hope Baldur's Gate 3 is everything it seems to be from early access.