The Xbox ecosystem, brimming with innovation and blockbuster titles, has sadly additionally performed host to some really abysmal video games.
From cynical cash-grabs to damaged messes, the primary half of this decade has seen its fair proportion of digital disasters; video games which are so unhealthy that they’ll very practically go toe-to-toe with the utter garbage that was Horse Racing 2016.
Put together to delve into the depths of gaming despair as we discover the worst Xbox titles which have launched between 2020 and the tip of 2024, every scraping the very backside of the barrel, incomes a damning 0.5/5 rating from us within the course of.
Stunning Sakura: Browsing Membership
“Stunning Sakura: Browsing Membership is probably probably the most cynical, half-hearted try at weedling £10 out of somebody’s pockets, and no quantity of baby-oil and AI-generated creepy-fingers can justify its existence. If that is the way forward for gaming then cease the bus, as a result of we’re getting off.”
This assessment quote completely encapsulates the sheer audacity of Cropware’s Stunning Sakura: Browsing Membership, however might even be hooked up to different Stunning Sakura video games too; Trend Membership, Operating Membership, Health Membership or Volleyball Membership.
A visible novel masquerading as a relationship sim, it throws gamers into the footwear of Kaito, a 17-year-old navigating the treacherous waters of highschool romance. The premise, involving browsing and twin sisters, shortly devolves right into a repetitive and shallow expertise.
The AI-generated artwork, removed from being alluring, provides to the sport’s unsettling and low-effort really feel and meaning Browsing Membership serves as a stark reminder of the risks of fast cash-grabs within the digital market.
Aabs Animals
“Aabs Animals is much less a sport and extra a transaction. It’s a shifty man in a darkish alley promoting 1000G for £7.99. “Simply have a look at a cat mate”, he says, as he pockets the money and runs laughing over the horizon. And also you’re left staring on the rotating, mewling cat for sixteen minutes, the horror of what you dedicated to welling up in your mind. Why are we right here? What’s love? Are all of us doomed to endure and die as poorly animated cats dance about us?” – so says our assessment of Aabs Animals.
Aabs Inc.’s Aabs Animals is a weird experiment in minimalist leisure.
Described as “animal leisure content material”, over on the Xbox Retailer web page, it primarily entails watching poorly animated animals rotate on display screen. With no clear targets or gameplay, it’s extra akin to a screensaver than a sport.
The builders declare to donate a portion of gross sales to animal charities too, and while we’re actually not going to moan about them doing that, such a noble gesture does little to justify the sport’s completely pointless existence.
Actually, the sheer vacancy of the expertise will depart gamers questioning the very nature of interactive leisure.
Retro Tank Arcade
“How does a sport like Retro Tank Arcade handle to search out itself on a Microsoft Retailer, rubbing shoulders with Lifeless House? Maybe the builders have blackmail materials on Phil Spencer. It’s the one resolution we are able to give you for why this completely damaged, dismal tank sport is on the market on the market.”
CapriccioGames’ Retro Tank Arcade is a masterclass in damaged sport design. This “nostalgic themed shooter” throws gamers right into a collection of poorly designed ranges, tasking them with destroying enemy bases.
The controls are clunky, the gameplay is repetitive, and the sport is riddled with bugs. Simply maintain away. Waaaay away.
The Bounty Huntress
“Maybe it’s unfair of me to check an indie title of this scale to the likes of Ori and the Blind Forest, or Hole Knight, which supply comparable types of gameplay on a a lot bigger price range, and but, with extra polished fight, a greater world and story threads, a number of extra unique concepts, and fewer sloppy inconsistencies, The Bounty Huntress might no less than be a satisfactory little sport. As it’s, although, it barely feels completed.”
IC Video games’ The Bounty Huntress, printed by Ratalaika Video games, goals to ship a Metroidvania expertise with a pixel artwork aesthetic.
Nonetheless, the sport falls brief in virtually each side.
Rhea, the titular bounty huntress, navigates a bland and uninspired world, battling poorly designed enemies with clunky controls. The sport’s potential is buried below a mountain of technical points and a normal lack of polish, leaving gamers with a way of unfinished disappointment.
Cazzarion: Demon Searching
“Actually, there are completely no redeeming options to Cazzarion: Demon Searching and the final straw for me and my playthrough got here on the home map: I’d painstakingly cleared the upstairs ground of the home, then positioned myself on the high of the steps, surmising that demons must come up the steps to get me, giving me enough time to shoot all of them. However no, they spawned from behind me, in an empty lavatory, and I used to be killed. At this level I walked away. Morale of the story? Don’t purchase Cazzarion: Demon Searching. Not at the same time as a joke.”
Cazzarion: Demon Searching from Zarpazo is a chaotic mess of a first-person shooter.
The sport guarantees a demon-slaying journey, however delivers a buggy, poorly optimised expertise. With enemies spawning in illogical areas and a normal lack of coherence, it’s a irritating and in the end pointless train.
The developer’s warning on the Xbox Retailer web page about efficiency on older Xbox One consoles is a testomony to the sport’s elementary flaws.
Mini Hockey Battle
“I’ve, in my time at TheXboxHub, reviewed near four-hundred video games. Mini Hockey Battle is, by some clear distance, the worst sport of that four-hundred. Whereas jotting down my sheer dislike and bewilderment at Mini Hockey Battle, I’ve twice misspelled it as Mini Hickey Battle, and I might play that sport thirty instances over as a substitute of yet one more sport of this. I can’t consider one thing worse you may do for 79p.”
Mini Hockey Battle is a textbook instance of a shovelware title.
It presents nothing greater than a barebones hockey expertise with clunky controls and repetitive gameplay. And there’s little question that the retro aesthetic does little to masks its elementary flaws.
It initially got here with an especially low worth, and nonetheless managed to be a ripoff. And though it may now not be bought from the Xbox Retailer, it’s so unhealthy, it topped our worst video games of 2022 record.
Outbreak: Infinite Nightmares
“Outbreak: Infinite Nightmares on Xbox is an abysmal and incomplete online game. The excellent news is that you just don’t should look very far to expertise traditional survival horror motion, with present and upcoming video games like Resident Evil Revelations, Daymare, Tormented Souls, or the varied different traditional titles accessible by way of backwards compatibility on Xbox. The true nightmare right here is that Outbreak: Infinite Nightmares is the sixth entry in a collection which seemingly has no intention of ending anytime quickly.”
Lifeless Drop Studios have a ton of “Outbreak” video games of their library, however this one is possbly the worst.
Outbreak: Infinite Nightmares makes an attempt to mix survival horror with roguelike components. Nonetheless, the result’s a repetitive and irritating expertise. The semi-procedurally generated ranges and restricted assets create a way of tedium slightly than stress.
The sport’s quite a few technical points and lack of polish additional contribute to its general mediocrity.
Past Enemy Strains – Remastered
“After enjoying Past Enemy Strains – Remastered Version on the Xbox for extra hours than it deserves, we really feel shell-shocked. If it labored, which it doesn’t, it will nonetheless be magnitudes of terrible due to a misunderstanding of what a stealth sport is. It might no less than have the courtesy of being forgiving when it’s bombarding you with bugs and unhealthy choices, however no – it retains kicking you whilst you’re down after which tosses you to the begin to expertise all of it once more. And all for the discount worth of £16.74!”
Past Enemy Strains – Remastered from Polygon Arts guarantees an intense stealth expertise, however, as you’d suspect from the position of it on this record, delivers a damaged and irritating one.
The sport’s poorly designed ranges, clunky controls, and quite a few bugs make it a chore to play. Even with the remastered content material, it fails to ship on its guarantees.
These video games function a cautionary story, reminding us that not each title on the Xbox Retailer is a gem. Whereas the Xbox library boasts numerous unimaginable experiences, these unlucky entries stand as testomony to the significance of discerning judgment.
This record simply covers these video games from 2020 to the tip of 2024 too – we can not wait to see what garbage can be filling our lists on the finish of the 2020’s!
On the flip, listed below are 20 of the very most interesting video games to have launched onto Xbox in the identical interval. It’s best to most likely play these as a substitute of any on this record.
