Not all games are worth playing. Ask any avid gamer, and they’ll tell you which ones you should play and which you shouldn’t even consider. Everyone has a different opinion about video games, but some are just objectively bad.
The gaming industry keeps expanding, with franchises releasing phenomenal games and, on the other hand, terrible ones. With so many options, narrowing down exactly which ones are worth the money is challenging.
Some franchises produce spectacular games but fail to deliver on the rest. Don’t play these games at all costs to avoid wasting your time and energy.
1. Saints Row
Saints Row started by mimicking Grand Theft Auto in terms of gameplay and storyline. Stemming off as an inspired clone, Saints Row: The Third upped the ante by completely overhauling the game. The characters were now a lot whackier, and the game took many creative liberties throughout the storyline.
Saints Row IV went a bit too far with its over-the-top dialogues and couldn’t capture the essence of what made Saints Row: The Third truly special.
2. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six
Rainbow Six Siege is one of the best games that requires intelligence and timing. This high-stakes, top-rated multiplayer game allows you to devise your own attacking and defense tactics every time.
It is a 5v5 team-based shooter game with riveting maps and close-quarters combat. The game was so spectacular that no other Rainbow Six even came close to it.
3. Outlast
The Outlast series follows an investigative journalist named Miles Upshur, who receives an anonymous tip about Mount Massive Asylum and begins investigating it further.
With spectacular gameplay, this first-person survival horror game is up there with some of the best ones, like Resident Evil. However, the sequel, Outlast II, failed to meet expectations and was a complete letdown.
4. Amnesia
Amnesia: The Dark Descent is a top-tier indie horror game that leaves you hooked and terrified. According to GOG, you play as Daniel, who walks through the narrow corridors of a spooky castle to survive.
While the Rebirth Sequel was sub-par, A Machine for Pigs was terrible, with a bland, almost non-existent storyline.
5. Mirror’s Edge
Mirror’s Edge is a first-person parkour game where you kick, slam, dodge, and jump over massive structures. The game’s 3D maps made you experience something unique where you feel like you’re in real-life parkour with 900-foot jumps.
However, this immersiveness couldn’t be translated into the Mirror’s Edge Catalyst sequel because of its repetitive and inconsistent mechanics.
6. The Witcher
Witcher fans, please hear me out. The first two games in this series are incredibly janky and lackluster. With gameplay that’s all over the place and impossible quests, the games just aren’t fun to play.
The third sequel, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, is hands down one of the best RPG games to exist. This open-world game is phenomenal, and the storyline tops the charts. Roach fans, anyone?
7. Sly Cooper
According to Game Trog, Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus was released exclusively on PlayStation 2. In it, Sly Cooper and his friends Bentley and Murray must take down the Fiendish Five.
However, the game lacked luster. Sly 2 set the gold standards for sequels with an open-world approach, making the game extremely exciting. But the third iteration just couldn’t match up with its big dramatic storyline.
8. The Walking Dead
The Walking Dead series is widely known, but that doesn’t mean it’s good. While all games released under the umbrella aren’t technically connected to the show, they carry the same general zombie-infested plotline.
According to Forbes, the Destinies sequel was one of the worst games, and it seemed like it was made with several years old tech.
While The Walking Dead: Season One put the franchise at the top of the list with the infamous character Clementine saying goodbye to Lee, every other game missed the mark.
9. Jak and Daxter
The Jak and Daxter franchise was created by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, initially primarily for PlayStation 2.
The first game was 3D with basic mechanics, but nothing stood out. It was the sequel, Jak II, that took it home with driving and gunplay, which made it addictive.
10. Watch Dogs
Taking on the unique premise of playing a hacker in a seemingly interconnected world, Watch Dogs stumbled on a winning formula. However, when the first game was released, it had significant graphical glitches and errors and bland characters that detracted from the game.
The sequel, Watch Dogs 2, however, did everything right, with an incredible roster of NPCs that stole the show. In true Ubisoft fashion, however, this didn’t continue to the third game, making the series a one-hit wonder.
11. Spec Ops
Spec Ops is a third-person shooter game that requires tactical skills to master. While the initial games were sub-par at best, the last game, The Line, is a masterful work of art that offers a commentary on PTSD.
According to Games Spot, the mechanics are nothing unique; however, the narrative and storyline make the game what it is.
12. FEAR
FEAR is a realistic 3D game with a horrific atmosphere and a mission to overcome the protagonist’s fear. The first game in the series was stellar, but many people called it underrated and appreciated the humanoid-on-humanoid squad-based action.
However, other games released after the first weren’t as good as the original.
13. Homefront
Homefront is set in the future, when a unified Korea takes over the United States, leaving the country’s economy in shambles. The original game has been regarded as a waste of time, earning it a score of 5.6 on Metacritic.
However, the second game, surprisingly, hit home because the company released game patches to fix bugs and complaints, turning a terrible rendition into something worth playing.
14. Crysis
“But can it run Crysis?” This phrase caused an entire generation of PC gamers to watch in awe as their newest rig succumbed to the unimaginable system requirements of this first-person shooter.
The Crysis series is a first-person shooter game with a sci-fi twist. It was initially released for Microsoft Windows only. While the first Crysis game isn’t bad in gameplay and mechanics, the horrendous AI completely ruins it.
However, with the second sequel, the company found a balance between the story, visuals, and the non-linear gameplay, making it even more exciting. Unfortunately, no other sequel has been able to compete with it.
15. Call of Juarez
Steam describes the series as” an epic adventure western-themed FPS game.” However, Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is the only sequel worthy of being played.
While the revenge story is somewhat cliche, the phenomenal writing and high replay value make it stand out. The rest of the games have problematic controls, poor execution, and a flimsy plot.
