Gaming Disappointments of 2011

2011 was a great year for gaming. You had some stellar titles that completely rocked our socks off, but at the same time you also had quite a few disappointments. This list looks back at some of the games and events that marred 2011.

Need for Speed: The Run

Run away Need for Speed

After last year’s Hot Pursuit, people actually thought the Need for Speed series was on its way up again, but Black Box made sure that never happened with this year’s, The Run. A shoddy control scheme, tons of unnecessary Quick Time Events, a painfully short campaign and an extremely stripped down multiplayer component made The Run one forgettable and disappointing ride.

Assassin's Creed Revelations

Hanging by a moment

While Ubisoft stumbled with Assassins Creed, they nailed the formula pat down with Assassin’s Creed II. Brotherhood felt more like a stand-alone expansion pack dishing out more of the same, which is fine to a certain extent, but with Revelations they’ve actually taken two steps back axing some of the more enjoyable distractions in favour of some really mundane ones. And WTF Ubisoft! Tower Defence? Really?

F.E.A.R. 3

Is this supposed to be S.C.A.R.Y.

F.E.A.R. was one of the most stylish and cathartic shooters I had ever played and after the disappointment that was F.E.A.R. 2, I had little hope for its sequel. That still doesn’t mean I wasn’t disappointed with F.E.A.R. 3 that turned out to be nothing, but a generic shooter with a few scares and slow motion thrown into the mix. Mother would definitely not approve.

Duke Nukem Forever

Yes Duke, we get it, you like stomping on little things

After laying dormant for more than a decade, Gearbox Software unleashed Duke upon the world earlier on in the year and we really wish they hadn’t. The game was a complete disaster with archaic gameplay, jokes that fell flat on their faces, coma inducing boss fights and outdated visuals that looked like they had stepped out from the nineties. A colossal disappointment indeed.

Dragon Age II

Is this supposed to impress us?

Dragon Age was extremely well received by gamers and the press alike, so naturally expectations from the sequel were sky high. Unfortunately BioWare tried to push the sequel out a bit too soon and in doing so they compromised on quality big time. An oversimplified control scheme, a poor narrative that offered no closure, outdated visuals and repetitive dungeons made this a sequel, which the Maker would not be happy with.  

Call of Juarez: The Cartel

Could we be any more generic?

I never had sky high expectations from a Call of Juarez game, but the fact of the matter is that Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood was a polished and an enjoyable first person shooter wrapped in solid visuals and an engaging plot. The Cartel threw all those characteristics out the window for literally no story, clichéd one dimensional characters and terribly generic gameplay.