Mikes Rant – Christmas Edition – The 5 Worst Games Of 2019

So, with 2019 drawing to a close, I think that (on the whole) it’s largely been a very positive year for gamers. We’ve had a lot of truly excellent releases that are certainly pushing PCs to their limits and giving both the PS4 and Xbox One a fine send-off in their twilight years. That doesn’t mean to say, however, that we also haven’t had more than a few lemons!

Mikes Rant – Christmas Edition – The Worst Games of 2019

So, following up on from the best games of the year, we might as well take a look at some of the releases that have landed (or more accurately pooped) onto the market as well.

Bear in mind, this is my personal list and you may not necessarily agree with it. You’re welcome to have a differing opinion and that’s what the comment section is for. What I can assure you, however, is that I have played every single one of these atrocities!

Trials Rising

I have always been something of a casual fan of the Trials series. For those unfamiliar with it, you use your motorbike to traverse an elaborate obstacle course attempting not to fall off. Trials Rising, however, was the very epitome of how a developer can (and has) gotten greedy!

The game itself is honestly, not that bad. Compared to the rest of the series, however, it’s mediocre at best. The worst aspect of it (without a doubt) though, is the absolutely shameless manner in which they crowbarred microtransactions into the game. Insanely difficult tracks and impossibly hard AI are both clearly pushing you (very aggressively) towards the loot box/pay-to-win mechanics.

It’s, quite frankly, pathetic. While I have enjoyed the Trails series in the past, this is a big nail in the franchise’s coffin for me!

You can check out the Steam Store page via the link here!

Crackdown 3

If the gaming industry has (and is) teaching us anything, it’s that a long-overdue return to over-looked franchises is rarely worth the wait. We definitely learned that with Crackdown 3.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, the game isn’t outright awful. If it was, I’d have done an outright ‘Mikes Rant’ about it. It is, however, one steaming pile of generic ‘meh’. It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just… so bland. Do you remember the hype this game had? Yet, I haven’t heard anyone mention this for months!

You can check it out on the Microsoft Store via the link here!

Bubsy: Paws On Fire

Bubsy the Bobcat will never, I repeat NEVER, get a good gaming release. As such, when the latest attempt to give this failed mascot appeared, my expectations were rightly low.

The game was essentially a poor rip-off of Super Mario Run (in that it used an auto-run mechanic) but whereas Mario was charming, this just reeked of yet another dead horse being flogged. I know it’s Christmas, but I feel zero charity towards this game!

Is it playable? Yes. Is it worth your time? Not in the least! Is it worth the money? No, they should pay you to play this!

You can check out the Steam Store page via the link here!

Jump Force

Ok, so I’ll freely admit that manga/anime to game adaptations are generally about on par with film to game adaptations. In other words, generally crap. There was a lot of hope (myself included), however, that Jump Force would be able to buck the trend and be THE manga fighting game the community had been practically begging developers for.

Instead, it all just fell horrifically flat. It somehow contrived to get boring and repetitive amazingly quickly and again represents another huge missed opportunity to bring this (admittedly mildly geeky) genre to a whole new and much wider market.

You can check out the Steam Store Page here – Which, incidentally, is still retailing the game for a ridiculously expensive price! I only mention this as if you paid £49.99 for this, you’d be more than a little annoyed!

Fifa 20

It’s hardly any secret that year on year, there is pretty much zero innovation in the Fifa Football franchise. Yet, like an idiot, I keep on buying it. At this point though, enough is enough.

I’m one of the (seemingly) few players who actually couldn’t give a crap about Ultimate Team and the microtransaction hell that comes with it. What I want to do is manage Aston Villa, build an unbelievable squad and bring the Champions League Cup back to Birmingham for the first time since 1982. Unlike Football Manager, however, I want to have a hand on winning the cup myself. Well, when scripting doesn’t interfere at least.

What I get, however, is basically the same experience every single bloody year. The last truly innovative addition to the franchise was the Frostbite engine back in 2016 and that kinda says it all.

Fifa doesn’t deserve individual releases anymore. The total lack of effort put into them makes them, at best, a full price DLC updating the squads and teams. Hell, I get that for free in Sensible World of Soccer!

You can check the official EA website via the link here!

Dishonorable Christmas Gaming Mentions

For various reasons, these didn’t quite manage to stoop into my 5 worst games of the year. They were all still pretty bloody awful though!

• Dr Mario World – A shoddy mobile cash grab that failed to capture any of the magic of the original.
• Anthem – ‘Dead on Arrival’ pretty much sums up this release. It would’ve probably made the list if I actually liked this type of game.
• Left Alive – I barely played it because my initial impressions were so bad. As such I think that (technically speaking) rules it out.
• Overkills: The Walking Dead – It looked bad and it was.

Mikes Rant – Christmas Edition – What Do You Think?

So, there we have it, the 5 worst games I encountered in 2019, but what do you think? Did I miss out on something worse than these this year? Be sure to let me know in the comments!

If you enjoyed Mikes Rant, you can check out more of them here!

For his Christmas specific ranty rants, check the link here! – They’ll be a new rant every day over the Christmas and New Year holidays!

NB. Mikes Rant is an opinion piece and, in truth, we only keep him around to make the tea. Occasionally, however, he escapes his lease and finds a keyboard.