Check out all of our Best of 2014 coverage here and Worst of 2014 coverage here.
I’m usually a positive guy, but even I have to admit that 2014 had a lot of disappointing moment for gaming fans.
Sure, we had some cancellations, but the worst problem this year was a bunch of hyped games that launched broken and buggy. Hopefully next year we won’t have to wait for patches to come out months after release.
Until then, let’s reflect on a year of frustration.
Steam Machines gone quiet
It seems like Valve’s upcoming hardware platform, the Linux-running Steam Machines, were all the talk of late 2013 and early 2014, but it doesn’t feel like anyone’s thinking about the open platform these days. That’s largely because Valve quietly delayed the release of the first wave of Steam Machines from this year to 2015. It’s beginning to feel like the platform is missing the chance to capitalize on its initial buzz.
Watch Dogs
Watch Dogs was an OK game that everyone was hoping would be fantastic. A lot of us thought that it would be the title that really showed what the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One could do. Instead, we got a decent Grand Theft Auto clone that didn’t look nearly as good as it did when we first saw it in 2012.
Above: You were supposed to be the chosen one!
Destiny
Destiny is weird. People are clearly playing it, but they can’t seem to stop complaining about the multiplayer shooter. Some people think that Destiny relies too much on repetitive grinding, some think that the story is abysmal, and others say that the recent expansion, The Dark Below, doesn’t do anything to fix old problems. This mixed reaction isn’t what we were expecting from the studio that created Halo.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection’s multiplayer
The Master Chief Collection came out on Nov. 11, and developer 343 Industries is still releasing patches that try to speed up the matchmaking process for online multiplayer. Considering how big of a selling point the idea of playing every multiplayer map from the first four Halo games was, that’s a pretty big blunder.
Above: I bet this game would be fun if I could play it.
Titan cancelled
Titan was Blizzard’s mystery project for years. All we knew about it was that it was some kind of a multiplayer online game. Sadly, we’ll never see what could have been since Blizzard formally cancelled the game this year. However, at least some of it lives on as inspiration for Blizzard’s upcoming team-based shooter, Overwatch.
Assassin’s Creed: Unity
Speaking of broken games that launched in November and still aren’t working properly, the newest Assassin’s Creed also came out on Nov. 11. Not only is it still receiving patches to fix framerate and other issues (the latest of which was just delayed), but the game was such a mess at launch that publisher Ubisoft gave everyone who bought the season pass a free game.
Above: I’d hide too if I was Ubisoft after that launch.
NHL 15
EA’S NHL series is usually one of the best-reviewed sports games released each year, but this year’s version has a poor 60 Metacritic score for the PlayStation 4 version. So many features were missing from the previous year’s game that NHL 15 felt unfinished.
Sonic Boom
OK, maybe we should have seen this one coming, but we didn’t know it would be this bad. Sonic games have been hit-or-miss for a while, but it seemed like things were on the rise with the good Sonic Generations and the decent Sonic: Lost World. Both Sonic Boom games on the Wii U and 3DS, however, make us wish that Sega would just hand the franchise over to someone who hasn’t completely lost their minds.
Above: These awful character designs should have been our first clue that these games would suck.
Star Wars: Attack Squadrons cancelled
Attack Squadrons was a free-to-play space shooter for web browsers that went into open beta on Jan. 14. Unfortunately, Disney cancelled the full release of the promising game as it focused its Star Wars efforts on mobile releases like Commander and Galactic Defense.