TerraWars: New York Invasion: Рецензия

Sound Effects and Music (2 out of 5)

The sound effects of the weapons and all the environmental effects were dull and lacklustre with no real audible power to them and they certainly didn’t inspire my senses or have emotional content. The aliens grunt and make the occasional weak dying noise that you probably won’t hear.

The voice acting was just bad, totally uninspiring and lacking any intelligent lines or thoughts. It didn’t produce any emotion in me at all, which was very disappointing. They even sounded like they were non-English actors with bad English accents, really poor effort.

The music score was basically non-existent and what there was sounded-bad, and had absolutely no entertainment value.

16 FlatOut 3: Chaos & Destruction

Source: gameface.in

With a name like this, a certain vision comes to mind; a Mad Max-esque world of high speed driving, adrenaline-fueled action, and no small number of fiery explosions. While the game attempts to deliver on it all, it is held back by numerous technical glitches and poor design unfaithful to the aesthetic of the previous two games in the series. The AI doesn’t actually work and the physics engine is atrocious (no collision detection). This makes races too chaotic, to a point where there no longer seems to be a point in trying to win. While the graphics have a certain vibrancy, they don’t meet the quality standards for their time. These negative aspects caused the third installment of the FlatOut series to earn a 23/100 Metascore.

13 Fast & Furious: Showdown

Source: youtube.com (GamerAndy1)

Inspired by the iconic movie franchise, Showdown utterly fails to live up to the hype of its source material. For all the high-stakes racing, survival, hijacking, and action, the game itself comes off as boring and childish. None of the controls work as they should, and the graphics are severely outdated for a game of this caliber. The co-op mode adds some degree of entertainment, but ultimately fails to carry the game. Users bashed the developers for exploiting an otherwise successful franchise simply for monetary gain. Others said the game would only appeal to casual gamers who were diehard fans of the films.

Plus, the primary protagonist of the film franchise, Dominic Toretto, isn’t even in the game, so it comes as no surprise it earned a 22/100 on Metacritic (this is the average console score, on the 3DS it earned a 50/100).

9 Alone In The Dark: Illumination

Source: bluegartr.com

In 2015, the sixth installment of the Alone in the Dark saga was released. Another survival horror franchise, this series had until recently received positive feedback and praise by most critics. However, despite the fact that Illumination was the first game to introduce online co-op, the title fell far short of anything noteworthy. The general consensus seems to be that the ideas were solid, but execution was poor. As one of four characters, the player must fight the forces of evil, specifically the spawn of Cthulhu, in order to free their town of Lorwich from a terrible curse. Each level, with all its puzzles, enemies, and elements, are randomly generated.

While it may seem to have promise, as with most games of this caliber, the graphics were poor and gameplay is dull. It seems to combine elements of Resident Evil and Left 4 Dead, but leaves out the compelling factors of any good survival horror game, replacing a good storyline with cheap scares and a disappointing ending. For this, it received a 19/100 on Metacritic.

7 Double Dragon II: Wander Of The Dragons

Source: youtube.com (PXAbstraction)

Remakes of great original games, and even movies, are difficult, risky, and often don’t turn out. This game is no exception, as it took a great gaming franchise and turned it into an absolute joke. The graphics alone would make it difficult for anyone to believe this game is a remake, especially in the year 2013 (to be fair, it was completed and shelved for two years in 2011, but still). Repetitive combat and glitchy mechanics plague the uninspired storyline. Plus, there weren’t even any dragons. One of the worst games on Metacritic, and the worst game for Xbox, this Double Dragon remake earned a 17/100, along with severely damaging the brand value of the franchise.

20 NBA Unrivaled

Source: polygamia.pl

Sports games are great. The NFL, NHL, MLB, and even NBA all have titles that proudly and accurately represent their corresponding sports. But both sports and video games are about the future, about one-uping themselves to make a better game next year, and the year after that. NBA Unrivaled does exactly the opposite, employing graphics and AI that are even worse than its predecessors (the game was released in 2009). The failed attempt at capturing the nostalgia associated with arcade sports games back in the day led to a game with very little reason to exist. In terms of terrible games, NBA Unrivaled is indeed unrivaled (except by the remaining 19 games on this list), which is why it has a Metascore of 24/100.

15 Charlie’s Angels

Source: youtube.com (FreeEmulatorVideos)

Based on the second film of a series based on a well-known TV show, all of the same name, Charlie’s Angels is the story of three private investigators, though they act more like spies than private eyes. Part of the beat ‘em up genre, this game has been universally acknowledged as one of the worst games ever created. Unbearable camera and combat controls, painfully poor graphics, shoddy storyline, badly designed AI, and misogynistic themes are just some of the criticisms made by users and critics alike. With no substance in the plot and entertaining gameplay, no aspect of the game has any real appeal, earning it a 23/100 on Metacritic.

12 Drake Of The 99 Dragons

Source: youtube.com (gstgzzl)

In this 2003 shooter, you play as a supernatural assassin named Drake. He is sent on a quest by the Spirit Gods to collect the souls of his enemies and avenge his Master’s death. This uninspired premise is further weakened by ugly graphics and the bane of almost every gamer: sloppy camera controls. Drake dual-wields weapons, but shoots both at the same time. These mechanics make it nearly impossible to land a shot. Drake’s supernatural abilities are lazily implemented in a game where the basic controls of moving and jumping are already frustrating enough as is. To add insult to injury, the sound effects and voice acting are poor in quality and the overall narration is incoherent.

While certain ideas of the game were good (can you think of a successful franchise involving supernatural assassins?), the overall execution and implementation needed work. Drake of the 99 Dragons earned a 22/100 Metascore.

5 Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust

Source: mobygames.com

This game is part of a long saga of Larry games, most of which feature suggestive humor, strange storylines, and misogynistic themes. Earlier games in the saga, such as Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards, received much more positive reception than the 2009 Box Office Bust. This open-world exploration game contains racing, shooting, seduction, combat, and other superfluous mechanics, none of which play like they should. This is poorly complimented by the vague plot in which Larry Lovage, controlled by the player, works for his uncle Larry Laffer (the main protagonist in previous Larry games) at his movie studio to try and uncover a mole sent by a rival studio. One thing this game got right was the name, which may be part of the reason it earned a 17/100 on Metacritic.

11 Afro Samurai 2: Revenge Of Kuma

Source: destructoid.com

The game plays like a parody of itself, yet takes itself too seriously. It’s a joke, at the expense of the player. The original Afro Samurai game, based on the manga, received moderate reviews. However, critics were not so kind with its sequel, which does a terrible injustice to the source material that lent to its creation. It was so awful, the studio offered refunds to all those who bought it, and discontinued sale of the game. Originally, three volumes were planned, but II and III were cancelled after the negative reception for volume I.

While not technically buggy, other elements led to its downfall. First was the abysmal voice acting, despite the fact that the same voice actors from the anime and prequel reprised their roles. Second, the sound effects and music quality were inexcusably low for a game released in 2015. Finally, as previously mentioned, the entire storyline cannot be taken seriously, despite the way it presents itself. Either the devs were going for a playful parody or a real story; they missed both by a long shot. The game received a 21/100 on Metacritic.

6 Vroom In The Night Sky

Source: tiredoldhack.com

A relatively recent release (2017), on the new Nintendo Switch no less, this game joins the ranks of others on this list as an undebatably terrible game. You play as Luna, a Magical Girl riding around the sky collecting Stardust. The trouble starts and ends with the objectives of the game. The goal is to collect Stardust, which lets you upgrade your bike and allows you to move faster. This, in turn, helps collect even more Stardust. Then, there are things called Keystars, which unlock the famous Magical Gate. Collect enough to open this gate, you get more Stardust, which let you get Keystars faster, which lets you get more Stardust!!! To anyone but a small child, it’s a vicious cycle of existential dread and mind-numbing gameplay. While the controls offer little to complain about and the game design itself is mostly clean, the actual premise of the game leaves much to be desired. Plus, you’re riding a bike. Bikes don’t go “vroom.” These sentiments earned Vroom in the Night Sky a 17/100.

1 Big Rigs: Over The Road Racing

Source: youtube.com (penguinz0)

Big Rigs was released unfinished, with no sound, no collision detection, and a physics engine clearly designed in another plane of existence. You can’t even lose the game, as each race ends with a man standing next to the words “You’re Winner !” The weak graphics aren’t completely out of place given the release date, but they certainly don’t help the otherwise terrible mechanics and lack of core functionality. It comes as little surprise that this game was produced by Sergey Titov, the same person who created The War Z (a terrible game we’ve already looked at). With a score of 8/100 on Metacritic, Big Rigs is widely considered to be the worst game of all time.

2 Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade

Source: youtube.com (wiiviewr)

Nintendo has been at the forefront of family game night with such treasures as Wii Sports, Mario Party, and Sonic and Mario at the Olympic Games. What’s more fun than cracking open a cold one with the boys (or your parents?) as you spend the night betraying, humiliating, and dominating each other in a virtual world of heart-racing mini-games and fickle RNG.

In 2012, the genre was tainted by the release of this game on the Wii U. There is no real plot, as players select mini-games without a purpose, other than to unlock new mini-games. The frustrating and clunky control scheme, coupled with psychologically torturous voice acting, is enough to make any player lock away their console forever and switch to board games. Rated 11/100 on Metacritic, there are no winners in Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade.

3 Ride To Hell: Retribution

Source: oceanofgames.com

Sex. Drugs. Rock ‘n’ Roll. Biker Gangs. The Roaring 60s. The Modern Wild West. There’s a whole list of unique aesthetics Ride to Hell fails to capture with its shoddy visual design and unoriginal gameplay. The graphics resemble a cheaper version of the engine used by the Borderlands franchise, but without the originality or vibrancy. The mess of fighting, bike-riding, and sex scenes are loosely held together by a weak premise, barely propped up by simply boring gameplay.

This adventure game follows Jake Conway on a mission to avenge his brother, who was killed by the Devil’s Hand, an infamous biker gang. The emotional prologue is followed by a haphazard, yet linear storyline (conflicting with the open-world design) which pays little respect to the actual premise. Other complaints include broken controls, poor voice acting, and misogynistic themes. By the end, the player forgets why they set out on a quest filled with meaningless sex and gory violence, and is left feeling empty inside. This is assuming they make it to the end. Ride to Hell: Retribution earned a 16/100 on Metacritic.

4 Yaris

Source: neoseeker.com

We all love a good racing game. We also love a good combat game. One would imagine that a game featuring both would be a hit. One would be wrong in the case of Yaris, a futuristic combat racing game in which the player controls a Toyota Yaris. On the hood of this classy ride is a gun called a “mechanosymbiont”, used to attack other players/CPUs along the U-shaped race track. You can upgrade your weaponry, as well as the car itself going from a 3-door liftback all the way up to a fancy 4-door S Sedan.

A few reviews here and there say the game has potential, and that it’s well worth the free price tag. Most, however, strongly disagree, citing the terrible control scheme, poor visual design, and annoying overall mechanics. Some even say it’s not worth the 20-second download time. Scored 17/100 on Metacritic, Yaris joins others of its kind in a graveyard of failed games.

14 Rambo: The Video Game

Source: videogamer.com

Rambo is yet another failed game based on a successful film. Rather than take on a more traditional shooter perspective, this 2014 release was a rail shooter that takes players through every film, right through Rambo III. It is a severe disappointment when compared to the films it is based on (or most games). The combat quickly turns repetitive with little variation between levels. The story itself seems to get lost in the lazy visual design, each forest setting no different than the last. Like with other entries on the list, this is an inexcusable attempt by a studio to acquire unearned profits through lazy reconstruction of a great film series in a poor, interactive form. Most people would be better off re-watching the films. The game received a 23/100 on Metacritic.

10 Infestation: Survivor Stories (The War Z)

Source: gameskinny.com

Produced by the infamous Sergey Titov, The War Z is a MMO survival horror game, featuring, you guessed it, zombies. Its renaming to Infestation was the result of a copyright dispute: The War Z sounded too similar to the upcoming film World War Z, based on the book of the same name.

When working with an idea as unoriginal as this, a game must be able to deliver something fresh. Vibrant graphics, a compelling story, unique characters, etc. Something to stand out from the crowd. Infestation fails to deliver on all accounts and instead throws out a mess of unfinished mechanics, ugly graphics, and a careless lack of server security. Cheaters and hackers constantly exploit the game with little response from the development team. In addition, the morally dubious microtransactions further condemn the game to negative reception and poor reviews. While not the worst on the list, Infestation: Survivor Stories earned a 20/100 on Metacritic.

17 Fighter Within

Source: gamespot.com

A 1-on-1 fighting game released in 2013, this title was made exclusively for the Xbox Kinect. Using full-body motion sensing, the idea was to allow players to physically perform combat moves during battles. While interesting in theory, the control scheme actually turned out to be horribly broken, with many motions failing to work most of the time, leaving players giving it their all IRL with no response in-game. In its defense, the graphics were actually ahead of their time, with striking visual details and animation. However, the broken controls and lack of compelling story doomed this game to notoriety, earning it a 23/100 on Metacritic.

19 Terrawars: New York Invasion

Source: gamespot.com

As the title suggests, the plotline revolves around an alien invasion, though the focus on New York is unclear. The game received universally negative reviews for aesthetics alone, since the sound effects and voice acting were far below the standard for the time. The visual design is depressing at best, as one can feel the pointlessness of the game as they wander through an overly red-washed wasteland killing aliens that were clearly designed ironically. The classic “critical mission to save the world” premise is far too outdated to support any game, especially without any real twist or unique spin. If you’re into mindlessly killing aliens, then this title may have something to offer. However, the generic shooter gameplay does get repetitive and the lack of solid plot gives you little reason to keep playing. To those looking for depth and compelling storyline, it is a huge disappointment. These criticisms earned Terrawars a 24/100 on Metacritic.

Graphics (2 out of 5)

Looks and feels like a game from the late nineties, with dated visual presentation, noticeable frame rate problems anytime the action really gets intense on the screen, not that it happens that often, and a slew of visual bugs that take you right out of any immersive ability the game might have.

The color palette appears to be a little shallow, many of the colors look pale and dull, and the details are sparse and average. The visual effects are partially obscured by this weird fog that exists on the screens; they must have thought it would save on time and money on putting details and textures into the scenes, when it really just annoys the player.

8 SPOGS Racing

Source: gamespot.com

Racing cars is overrated. Racing tires is the new trend. A SPOG (Sports Player Object Gyros) is essentially a wheel-shaped vehicle with a disc in the center, representing the player avatar. These are used to race across 12 different tracks, a traditional design of most (all) racing games. An added feature is the Crash ‘N Grab, allowing riders to crash into each other to steal spare parts. These are then used to upgrade the vehicle, allowing players to perform tricks, hinder other players, and steal more parts. This idea was the only part of SPOGS Racing that received positive feedback, but it was so poorly implemented that it could not outweigh the flaws of the game itself.

Many of the complaints are about the AI, which were poorly defined and frustrating, especially coupled with the Crash N’ Grab mechanic. Another issue was the depressing visuals and audio, causing players to end each race with a general sadness inside. The sound effects, however, ironically received praise for their realism. In the end, SPOGS Racing received an 18/100 on Metacritic.

Play Through Value and Replay Value (2 out of 5)

You will play through twelve levels of mundane game play, shooting and dispatching aliens, who all look the same on all the levels, accept for color changes. The levels do have objectives for you to complete, but they’re limited to simple ‘find the injured combatants’ or ‘secure a map location’ within New York. All you need to do is kill all the aliens to be successful, which isn’t very hard or challenging.

They do have the option for online play, but I couldn’t find a server to play on, and anyway the single player was so bad, I am having nightmares about actually trying the online multiplayer option.

A predictable game that has no replay value for me, as the game is just easily dispatching hordes of weak and ineffectual aliens.

Needs Improvement (1 out of 5)

Although there were always lots of aliens to kill the environments lacked content in the form of material objects to look at and interact with, it didn’t feel sufficiently populated.

The weapon effects were weak and underpowered both visually and audibly, which didn’t help the already limited depth in game play options.

The story line is really weak and shows signs of being poorly written in concept and execution, it shows absolutely no coherent consistency in plot or context.

Bad collision detection of the platforming meant I got stuck on ledges or would continually miss a necessary move across rickety floors or jump across a barrier and hit some unseen barrier.

18 Pulse Racer

Source: youtube.com (PSP1S0)

A new take on the traditional racing game, Pulse Racer ties the rider and vehicle as one entity. The driver’s heart is connected to his or her vehicle. If you drive too fast or hard, the driver suffers a heart attack. Take damage from other racers, and both the car and driver lose health points, while various power-ups aid the player along the track. It’s good example of a solid game in the imagination phase, but terrible in implementation. The primary complaint was the cheap graphics and bland design, and the mechanics themselves are too commonplace to outshine the myriad of other flaws. One unique feature that does earn the developers some credit is the Infinitrax system, which creates randomly generated courses based on user-defined inputs. This is just enough to earn Pulse Racer a 24/100 Metascore.