The 2000s was a very important decade in gaming.
We saw the birth of key franchises likeHaloandMass Effect.Grand Theft Autochanged the gaming world forever.Metroid Primeblew away GameCube owners.Resident Evil 4changed survival horror forever.
However, we’re not talking about the great games of the decade. Instead, we’re discussing the worst games of the 2000s.
For all the success gaming saw this decade, a shocking number of bad games and shovelware were released over the years.
10GoldenEye: Rogue Agent
Not the sequel to a beloved classic
GoldenEye: Rogue Agent
If you promote your new game as a sequel to the belovedN64classicGoldenEye 007, you had better make sure it can live up to the hype.
Unfortunately, the only thingRogue Agenthas in common with its successor is the name.
It’s clear from the beginning that EA slapped the James Bond license and theGoldenEyename on a generic third-person shooter. There’s nothing redeeming about the game, and had it not had the legendary franchise attached to it, no one would have even cared about the gaming leading up to its release.
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9The Guy Game
The Guy Game
The Guy Gameis a lackluster trivia game that tries to cash in on male approval.
It’s crass, misogynistic, and an absolute embarrassment. Sure, there’s some gameplay here in terms of trivia, but that’s not the point ofThe Guy Game. It’s meant to be the video game version of Girls Gone Wild.
Due to its inappropriate content, it’s been banned from Twitch, and it is nearly impossible to find online for purchase.
Ultimately, that’s a good thing; even if the game’s content was appropriate, it also fails as a trivia game. Stick withYou Don’t Know Jack.
8Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust
Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust
Believe it or not,The Guy Gamewasn’t the only adult video game targeted at males in the 2000s.
TheLeisure Suit Larryfranchise has been around since the late 80s as a point-and-click adventure game. The franchise saw two games released in the 2000s: 2004’sMagna Cum Laudeand then 2009’sBox Office Bust. Neither of the games are good, butBox Office Bustwas up to the task of being a truly bad video game.
There’s nothing redeeming here: the jokes don’t land, the gameplay is boring, and it’s clearly developed for the lowest common denominator, yet still misses the bar.
Broken down
Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing
Getting a score of 90+ on Metacritic is hard, but do you know what else is hard? Getting a score of under 10. If that was the goal ofBig Rigs: Over the Road Racing, thenmission accomplished.
The game doesn’t work at any level. It’s a technical failure across the board; the controls feel like you’re running a marathon while underwater, it’s impossible to lose a race, and collision detection is nearly non-existent. This game does not work.
Worst of all, when you win a race, the message on the screen shouts, “You’re a winner.”
Don’t play this game for the memes; it’s not worth it.
Big Rigssupposedly shipped despite still being in a pre-alpha state. Given how incomplete the game is, I believe this.
6Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness
Temporarily killed the franchise
Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness
For all its success on the PS1, theTomb Raiderfranchise had a huge identity crisis in the 2000s.Angel of Darknessis a big reason why.
The PS2-eraTomb Raidergames failed to change with the times. Controls and gameplay felt dated, the graphics paled to other similar titles, and the camera was frustrating to deal with.
Worst of all, the game suffered from key bugs and glitches upon launch. It’s one thing when a good game has some bugs. But when a bad game doesn’t work properly? That’s crossing the line.
Angel of Darknesswas a massive black spot for theTomb Raiderfranchise, which would eventually recover in the 2010s with a successful reboot.
Good luck to the team working on theAngel of Darknessremake.
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5Batman: Dark Tomorrow
Hibernation
Batman: Dark Tomorrow
The 2000s were a great time to be aBatmanfan. 2005’sBatman Beginshelped bring the franchise back to theaters in a big way, and the tie-in game was actually not half bad!
Batmanvideo games would take off at the end of the decade, with 2009’sBatman: Arkham Asylumproving that superhero games could be great. More often than not, though, the genre was dominated by bad games like 2003’sBatman: Dark Tomorrow.
Batman: Dark Tomorrowwas a confusing mess, leaving players constantly scratching their heads as they played through the game. It wasn’t ever really clear where you should go next, and achieving the game’s good ending had no proper direction.
It would only release on GameCube and Xbox, as the PS2 version was canceled due to poor reception.
4Stalin vs. Martians
Alternate Reality
Stalin vs. Martians
I’m not sure if anyone expected gold from an RTS centered around the 1940s Soviet Union doing battle against Martians. Sure, it’s a cool idea in theory, but let’s be honest: the RTS genre did some pretty cool things in the 2000s withWarcraft IIIandRise of Nations.
Sadly,Stalin vs. Martianswould have felt more at home in the 1990s, and even then, it would still be a bad game. At least we’re venturing into the “so bad it’s maybe good” territory here.
The soundtrack features techno constantly blasting through your speakers, complete with random cliche Soviet one-liners.
It’s like watching someone embarrass themselves on reality TV: it’s a disaster in every conceivable way, but you may’t help but look away.
3Mass Effect: Galaxy
A cheap cash-in
Mass Effect: Galaxy
Mass Effect: Galaxy, released in 2009, is a prequel toMass Effect 2 and introducesfans to Jacob Taylor.
If you’re like me, though, you immediately told Jacob Taylor to sit on the sidelines while you, Garrus, Miranda, and Grunt went about to save the galaxy from the Reaper invasion.
Mass Effect: Galaxytakes everything that makes theMass Effectfranchise great and throws it out the window. Gone is the narrative-driven RPG experience that plays like a solid third-person shooter. Instead, it’s a clunky top-down shooter that even BioWare said we didn’t need to play to fully understand the story inMass Effect 2.Mass Effect: Galaxyis a blatant cash grab.
Galaxywould be taken off the iOS App Store three years after its release. Good riddance.
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2Universal Studios Theme Park Adventure
I wanna go home
Universal Studios Theme Parks Adventure
It’s Christmas morning 2001. You’ve opened up your brand new Nintendo GameCube and are waiting to see what games you’ll get with it.Luigi’s Mansionis pretty neat.Star Wars Rogue Squadron: Rogue Leaderis incredible.Super Smash Bros. Meleewill consume the rest of your life.
Nope, you get none of those. Instead, it’s time to explore the worlds ofUniversal Studios Theme Park Adventure.
Your disappointment is immeasurable. A tear slowly crawls down your cheek as you try to put on a good face and thank your grandparents, who tried their best. You play the game for them, grimacing at the tedious gameplay. Maybe next year, you’ll getSuper Mario SunshineorAnimal Crossing.
1Mortal Kombat Advance
Finish him
TheMortal Kombatfranchise had a couple of missteps in the 2000s, most notablyMortal Kombat AdvanceandMortal Kombat: Special Forces.
We’re giving the “nod” toAdvancehere due to the frustrations and limitations of the GameBoy Advance hardware.
PortingUltimate Mortal Kombat 3seems like a no-brainer until you realize you’re shrinking it down for a smaller screen and porting controls onto a worse D-Pad.
