“Pee yew, that stinks!” 5 titles the big-name publishers would rather you forget!

Whilst we’ve been spoiled with a plethora of thrilling titles for decades now, there’s no getting away from the fact that the gaming world has thrown more than its fair share of duds our way over the years. For every GTA, Call of Duty, Shadow of the Colossus or God of War, gamers across the globe have had to endure an eFootball, Cyberpunk 2077 or Battlefield 2042 as big-name publishers have released their fair share of the proverbial down the years.

So, without further ado, let’s take a look back at some of the biggest gaming flops that major publishers have inflicted on the gaming world.

Contents: 

1. Umbrella Corps
2. The Simpsons Skateboarding
3. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5
4. Call of Juarez: The Cartel
5. Metal Gear Survive

Umbrella Corps

We kick things off with an addition to the Resident Evil franchise which Capcom would love us all to forget, Umbrella Corps.

On paper, the basic idea behind the game, i.e. Call of Duty with zombies, seemed to be a winner. Unfortunately, the execution left a lot to be desired as this game was universally panned, with one critic even saying that it strayed “too far from the concept of the original series” and “was a pointless addition to the franchise”.

Who knows, maybe Capcom decided to ditch the Resident Evil name because deep down they knew this game was craptacular?

The Simpsons Skateboarding

When EA jumped on the skateboarding games bandwagon in 2002, you couldn’t exactly blame them for thinking they were on to a winner with The Simpsons Skateboarding. After all, Activitision’s Tony Hawk Pro Skater games were kickflipping their way to superstardom and who wouldn’t love to grind down a massive rail as Bart Simpson whilst yelling “Cowabunga, Dude” at the top of your voice.

Needless to say, the reality was actually quite different as a lethal combination of clunky controls, unappealing graphics and a severe lack of tricks, would leave you saying “D’oh!” when you realised that you’d spend your hard-earned cash on such a disappointing game.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5

As bad as The Simpsons Skateboarding is, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 has the dubious honour of somehow managing to arguably be even worse.

Although expectations for this game weren’t exactly sky high in the run up to its release as developer Robomodo had failed to hit the spot with their previous 3 Tony Hawk releases since taking over from Neversoft back in the late 00s. Both Ride and Shred were panned for their clumsy inclusion of a skateboard peripheral which made pulling off tricks fiendishly difficult, whereas Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD was essentially just a bland remaster of the first 3 THPS games.

However, the pressure of having to create a game in a matter of months, due to Activision’s agreement with Tony Hawk expiring, obviously got to the guys at Robomodo as to say this game felt rushed would be understatement of the century. With confusing and sometimes contradictory controls, uninspired levels, as well as numerous physics and performance issues, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out why THPS5 attracted so much negative attention.

Call of Juarez: The Cartel

We shift our attention to a Ubisoft title which appeared to suffer from “difficult third game syndrome”, Call of Juarez: The Cartel.

Whilst the first two instalments of these franchises were cult hits among gamers looking to indulge their inner John Wayne, The Cartel decided to switch things up by focusing on a modern-day Mexican gang’s activities in Mexico and Los Angeles.

Whilst it may have been an interesting idea on paper, the resulting game was as dull as dishwater. Not only did the move to a modern-day setting rob this title of the first two games’ charm, but it also introduced environments so bland that excitement would go there to die.

Add to that poor game mechanics, a severe lack of character development, subtitles riddled with mistakes, as well as tone-deaf racial and gender stereotypes, and you’ve got a recipe for an absolute stinker of a game.

Metal Gear Survive

We round things off this week with another title which decided to disprove the old adage that if “it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, Metal Gear Survive. In fact, if Konami wanted to prove that they didn’t need Kojima to make a Metal Gear game, they did the exact opposite of that with this title.

The decision to make Survive a zombie survival game instead of a stealth sim went down about as well as a microtransaction in an EA game. Couple this with a generic plot, as well a marked departure from the overall feel of the previous Metal Gear games, and it’s easy to see why Survive isn’t exactly a fan favourite.