The Games Labeled ‘The Worst Reviewed’ Titles Of 2023

SAN DIEGO, CA – JULY 18: A wax version of Gollum from “The Lord of the Rings”. Unfortunately, . .

. [+] Gollum’s own video title was one of the worst-reviewed games of 2023. (Photo by Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images) There were some missteps on the gaming release calendar in 2023.

Every year in gaming, some titles fall into the category of smash hits, like Baldur’s Gate 3, which posted a stunning 96 Metacritic score on PC and PS5. There were also surprisingly solid titles like The Lamplighters League and The Tower at the End of the World. Those games and other titles in that class deserve an article.

In this entry, I’m focusing on a list of games that were released with at least moderate fanfare but failed when it came to critical reviews. IGN published a video of their worst-reviewed games of the year which identified 22 titles that failed to garner a score of 5 out of 10 or higher. While IGN is arguably the most established gaming-centric publication; reviews are still based on one person’s opinion.

I looked at the score IGN’s reviewer gave each game on their dubious list and compared it to the Metacritic score (an aggregated number from a collection of critical reviews) and mixed in my own experience where applicable to determine a more comprehensive view of the critical response to each game. Here are the games IGN gave a 4 out of 10 with the Metacritic score and some select commentary. 4 out of 10 on IGN This LOTR entry from Daedalic Studios was universally slammed by nearly everyone who reviewed it publicly.

The 34 Metacritic score proves it. It’s a bit puzzling how anyone thought this concept would be entertaining. The entire game feels like it should have been a short stage in a much larger LOTR title that allowed you to use more characters from the franchise.

As it is, LOTR: Gollum might be one of the worst movie/book-to-game vehicles ever released. User scores have to be taken with a grain of salt. Only some people who register for a user account on a website take the game review process seriously.

There is no accountability or need to justify the score they give. Thus, things can go from one extreme to the other. That said, the 4.

6 user score aligns with the IGN score and Retro Rebound , another popular YouTube channel’s take. Retro Rebound didn’t score the game but called it “offensively bad. ” Regarding sports titles like EA FC that are released on the Switch alongside PS5, Xbox X/S, and PC, it seems there is always some inevitable backlash toward Nintendo’s version.

It’s almost always going to be inferior. The more brutal slams might be too harsh because of the direct comparisons to the versions available on more powerful hardware. For me, EA Sports FC, NBA 2K, and other sports titles available on the Switch are strictly for playing on the go on a more stripped-down experience.

Looking for more than that from these titles is setting yourself up for disappointing and possibly being unfair to the developers who handle the Switch version of the game. Gaming Bolt was in step with IGN on Stray Souls as they wrote: “Despite some impressive visuals via Unreal Engine 5, Stray Souls feels utterly uninspired with awful story-telling and laughable horror. ” That’s the last review summary you want to see when reading about a survival horror game.

Worth A Buy destroyed this game. The reviewer called it “an absolute mess of a game,” which aligns with the IGN review. The YouTube reviews and takes on this expansion to the Fortnite universe weren’t as harsh as the IGN review.

That said, it is tough to find a structured review of the Fortnite Festival, which could mean most viewed it as more of an expansion not worthy of a full review. 3 out of 10 on IGN Like the sports video game concept I mentioned earlier, the Switch version of MK1 is in a similar and perhaps even worse situation. MK1 is so beautiful on PS5 and Xbox Series S/X that playing the game with lesser visuals is almost criminal.

I’m not sure this version should have been released, as it seems inadequate for the overall brand. Nintendo Life’s review is the only other critical review on IGN, and that publication graded it even harsher than IGN with a 3 out of 10. All it takes is one look at this game in action to know that it’s not a title you’ll likely spend a ton of time playing.

The visuals are bland, and the “action” is the opposite of addictive. This game is a slap in King Kong’s face. 2 out of 1o on IGN Personally, this is probably the most disappointing game on this list.

I had high hopes after the first version, but Flashback 2 plays more like the cutting room floor from the original than a sequel that built on its predecessor’s success and added new wrinkles. I know how hard it is to develop a video game, but the execution of this title produces a result that will have critics using the L word (lazy). 1 out of 10 on IGN Metacritic doesn’t have full review scores for The Day Before, but everything we see from the scores on the Early Access release matches up with IGN’s account.

PC Games wrote: “The Day Before sets new negative standards – the gaming disaster of the year!” That’s heavy-duty criticism. I have not played The Day Before, but with criticism this harsh, I almost want to try it to see if it’s as bad as so many people have claimed. Unfortunately, the game’s servers are shutting down on January 22, 2024 , just a little over a month after its release, so those of us who haven’t played the game may never know how bad it was.

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