1. Anthem
Remember that dazzling E3 reveal? Yeah, me too. Anthem promised us an Iron Man fantasy, soaring through lush alien worlds with friends, but delivered a hollow, repetitive looter-shooter instead. It was all style, no substance, a gorgeous shell over a broken core. Ultimately, this became a prime example of how an insatiable live-service model can utterly gut a game’s soul, leaving players wondering what BioWare even stands for anymore. We wanted epic, we got endless grind.
2. Fallout 76
Bethesda, how could you? Fallout 76 felt like a fever dream, stripping away the very essence of what makes Fallout, well, Fallout. We got a barren, buggy, soulless world devoid of meaningful human interaction, all in the name of a multiplayer experiment nobody really asked for. And then came the monetization shenanigans, cementing its place as a cautionary tale of a beloved franchise chasing trends. Honestly, it was a betrayal of trust, pure and simple.
3. No Man's Sky
Oh, No Man's Sky. Its initial pitch was pure sci-fi poetry: an infinite universe to explore, every planet unique. Then we launched it. What we got was an endless, repetitive void, devoid of the promised features and depth. It perfectly encapsulated the danger of unchecked hype and a studio selling a dream far grander than their initial delivery. And yet, while it’s gotten better, that initial sting of disappointment still echoes, a stark reminder of what could have been. The apology, then, is a complex one.
4. Marvel’s Avengers
This game had the undeniable pull of Marvel, promising us the ultimate superhero fantasy. Instead, Marvel’s Avengers became the poster child for forcing a live-service model onto a concept that clearly didn't need it. Repetitive missions, a confusing loot system, and a constant push for cosmetics drowned out any glimmer of fun. It was a disheartening example of corporate executives dictating design, turning iconic heroes into glorified grind-bots. What a waste of potential, and frankly, a waste of everyone's time.
5. Biomutant
Biomutant looked utterly charming, didn't it? A quirky, post-apocalyptic world filled with kung-fu critters, promising depth and choice. But the reality was a game bursting with half-baked ideas, where every intriguing concept was met with shallow execution. The combat felt floaty, the world was beautiful but empty, and that constant narration became an absolute headache. It felt like a game that desperately wanted to be everything to everyone, but ended up being not much to anyone. A real shame.
6. Mass Effect: Andromeda
Mass Effect: Andromeda was supposed to be the glorious new chapter, charting a course into a fresh galaxy. Instead, we got the infamous facial animations, a story that felt incredibly generic, and an open world full of forgettable fetch quests. It felt rushed, unpolished, and frankly, like a betrayal of the franchise's legacy. This was BioWare struggling to find its footing, delivering a mediocre experience that simply highlighted how far they’d fallen from their golden age. A truly sad state of affairs.
