Gaming expert Glen Ferris gives the worst games of 2011 a well-deserved shoeing…
While 2011 has seen some awe-inspiring forward leaps in video gaming, it’s also played witness to some shocking missteps. Join us as we remember the very worst titles of the year.
Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters
While this Green Lantern movie tie-in does at least have the good sense to nick ideas from better games (namely the God Of War series), it still fails to raise a quickened pulse. This is due in part to the repetitive gameplay (alternating between fighting on foot or flying along pre-determined paths) and wimpy end-of-level bosses, but it’s mostly the fault of the awful cut scenes and dialogue and utter lack of atmosphere – we know it’s set in deep space but come on! Still, at least it’s not as bad as the utterly abominable Norse nause-up that was Thor: God Of Thunder. For advice on how to make a good superhero game, go here or even here.
Read the full review here.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part II
Another tie-in that nicks gameplay elements from better titles (this time the Gears Of War series), the final Harry Potter game that’s not made of Lego tries valiantly to recreate the magic of the movies but fails miserably. No matter how many Expelliarmus charms you chuck at the problem, there’s no getting beyond the jittery gameplay, shonky recreations of key characters (should have used some Polyjuice potion!) and dodgy voice acting (Harry, Ron and Hermione are all present and correct but professors McGonagall and Snape have both been replaced by impressionists who’ve clearly not seen the films). While the Kinect/Move capabilities allow players to dispel Expulso and Confundus charms in an amusingly wand-like fashion, it’s all so wooden and lifeless that you can't help but wonder if the game creators weren’t hit with a well-aimed stupefy halfway through development.
Read the full review here.
Rugby World Cup 2011
Developers 505 Games were clearly hoping for a winning conversion with this official Rugby World Cup tie-in. Instead they gave us a cauliflower-eared mess that left rugger fans chomping at the bit. What could have easily been an essential title failed miserably thanks to shoddy gameplay, rubbish recreations of star players and, most unforgivably, the absence of some key teams from the roster – most notably Australia and, unbelievably, host nation New Zealand. For an example of how to fumble an open goal, look no further.
Read the full review here.
Kinect Sports: Season 2
Before you get the impression that we’re having a pop at all the games on this decent title, rest assured that we only plan on laying into the Darts mini-game. It’s a pretty sad state of affairs that while most of the Season 2 games are fun to play (particularly Golf and Baseball), Darts really lets the side down. For some reason, the control system is all over the place with players looking like they’ve downed a few pints too many as the on-screen arrows are afflicted with a serious case of the oche jitters. Okay, it’s not a major problem in the grand scheme of things but it’s annoyances like this that stop good games from being great.
Read the full review here.
The Cursed Crusade
Where do we start with this utter stinker? This Assassin’s Creed/God Of War-alike could well have been a decent effort – you’d think that a tale of Knights Templar and demon souls would work out well – but instead this is churned-out nonsense of the lowest order. If you can stick it past the opening cut scene (which goes on for eight and a half bloody minutes), you’re rewarded with a few minutes of hacking and slashing at AI-deficient enemies before being launched into another life-sapping cut scene again. Relentlessly depressing and utterly pointless.
Read the full review here.
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