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5 of the most disappointing Xbox One games of 2016

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2016 has been a great year for gaming, with hundreds of titles making their way to the Xbox One, including the arrival of some of our most anticipated titles yet. But whilst no game is perfect, there are unfortunately several games this year that didn’t live up to expectations, ultimately leaving fans disappointed.

So, with the year’s final releases now out the door, we take a look back at 5 of the most disappointing Xbox One games of 2016 – and one honourable mention.

Honourable Mention – 7 Days to Die

Telltale Games are certainly a renowned company within the gaming industry, with their famed episodic adventures earning a large number of awards. Telltale Publishing though isn’t quite held in such high esteem. 7 Days to Die certainly doesn’t do them any favours.

After a successful stint on PC in early access, 7 Days to Die was brought over to console, but with game breaking bugs and glitches, terrible graphics and a lack of content, those that had been anticipating release were quickly disappointed. Several patches were quickly pushed out to fix the persistent issues, but poor gameplay elements were still in place, and with nothing more than simple scavenging and poorly designed enemies to contend with, the player base quickly dwindled.

The zombie apocalypse is certainly a tough genre to master given the large number of games available, and this was a game that was dubbed to be one of the best games of 2016. We disagree. Massively.

5) Homefront: The Revolution

homefront pic 8

From a developmental switch to multiple delays and one of the worst betas we have ever witnessed, Homefront: The Revolution is easily one of big disappointments of the year.

The game takes place in the year 2029 as an alternative timeline to the original Homefront, and follows the story of Ethan Brady, a new resistance fighter joining the revolution against the KPA. However, from what was one of the years most anticipated FPS games, turned out to be nothing more than an average experience.

Many praised the new open-world environment and deep weapon customisation, but the many visual and audio bugs took away any engagement that was to be had with the game. With an instantly noticeable lack of polish showing on the game that had been delayed already, as well as a boring narrative throughout, many voiced their concerns when it arrived on our consoles.

4) Mighty No.9

mighty no 9 pic 1

After being successfully crowd-funded after just two days, in what was the fourth highest Kickstarter ever, Mighty No.9 was one of 2016’s most anticipated indie titles. Several delays, including one that set the game back months just days before release, quickly put paid to that. Despite the single player content being “100% complete”, Mighty No.9 fell off its mighty throne rather quickly.

Many were excited to help fund the game, with the initial Kickstarter funding goal exceeded by more than 400 percent, but it seems like even more were left with burning questions after the game released.

Although it seems that the lack of promised content, along with poor voice acting and a long line of technical issues were just the start of the problems for Mighty No.9.

Whilst the game received mixed reviews, there was no question that it was certainly not what it was expected to be and with many failing to receive any of their exclusive backers’ content, and developers requesting more and more money for further content development, fans quickly questioned the management of the game and were left demanding refunds after the shocking release.

3) Trials of the Blood Dragon

trials blood 3

E3 2016 had a lot of things; great trailers, great games, and of course the things that make E3 the must watch show of the year – plenty of awkward and uncomfortable moments. One of these came in the form of an announcement for Trials of the Blood Dragon, a spinoff Trials title that would be available straight after the show.

Many had been waiting for the next game in the line of highly addictive Trials games, but no one asked for, or expected a mashup with one of gaming’s greatest FPS series. Nevertheless, that’s what we got and boy was it a disappointment.

The dirt-bike levels were certainly impressive, as is always the case with the Trials games, but the gameplay wasn’t just about bikes. With several levels taking part on foot and seemingly unplayable jet pack stages thrown in the mix too, it didn’t take long before it quickly felt like the gameplay had seemingly been mocked and forgotten with a twisted 2.5 platform shooting disaster given as the result.

The vibe seen in Far Cry: Blood Dragon was well recreated, but what was on offer gave fans next to nothing of what they had grown to love from each of the individual series, and as quickly as it arrived it was as easily forgotten.

2) Necropolis

necropolis

What started life as an intriguingly dark indie title, with the potential to rival the Dark Souls series, ended as nothing more than a disappointing and seemingly under-ambitious title.

Necropolis sees up to four friends take on the role of the archmage(s) in an underground tomb long away from civilisation, with the task of reaching the bottom against the endless hordes of overpowered enemies. And, unfortunately for Necropolis, that’s about as far as it goes. The game that started development with plenty of potential, arrived with nothing more than unbalanced combat, dull and pointless characters, a lack of any real story and no real distinguishing features to engage with whatsoever, making this one truly intriguing indie title something that couldn’t live up to any of the hopeful expectations.

1) Battleborn

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Ahh Gearbox, what did you do? You went from the highly successful Borderlands series, to something that was forgotten in just a few short weeks.

Battleborn was one of the year’s big ones – the next first-person shooter from Gearbox Software and one many had been anticipating for some time. Described as a ‘hero shooter’, Battleborn makes changes to the usual multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) genre by introducing first-person shooting for much of the game. But whilst critics gave mixed opinions upon release, the later arrival of what was to win plenty ‘2016’s Game of the Year’ awards, Overwatch, marked the end for Battleborn.

Battleborn isn’t on this list however for a lack of trying, no not at all. Battleborn has a large variety of characters to choose from, 25 in all, as well as individual and unique power-ups for all of them and indeed some quirky humour tied in too. Essentially it has everything to make a good game.

The disappointments came however when matches would take up to ten minutes to find players, just days after release. It would come from the need to have constant communication with the people you were playing with to have any hope in succeeding, and it would come from the fact that everything it did, ultimately Overwatch did much better just a few weeks down the line.

So, as one of the most anticipated games of the year, Battleborn is our biggest disappointment in 2016.

Do you agree with our list? Maybe we’ve left something off that you think demands a spot on the list? Let us know in the comments below, or on our usual social channels.

Carlos Santuana (Sly Boogie1993)
Carlos Santuana (Sly Boogie1993)
After 20 years of playing every game I can get my hands on, I can now be found selling my soul for anything Resident Evil, Gears of War, or Gamerscore related... all of which will be mastered after a good cuppa!

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Rafoca
Rafoca
7 years ago

I’ve never tried battleborn’s versus mode, but the five players co-op campaign is very good

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