The Worst PlayStation 5 Games So Far, According To Metacritic
The PlayStation 5 is just coming up to being one and a half years old, and it’s already had its fair share of genuinely excellent games. Unfortunately, it’s also had some stinkers.
So which games should you avoid? We’ve rounded up the worst of the worst so far, according to Metacritic. However, I do want to stress that I don’t really think anything with a score over 50 should be considered that bad. Just a bit naff. And I’m sure that as the PlayStation 5 continues its life, many of the bland, average games in this list will be pushed out of the bottom by some real shit so they can live where they belong: slap-bang in the middle.
Rustler - Justu Games, 2021 (59)
Described as a cross between the original Grand Theft Auto and The Witcher, Rustler should have been so much better than it actually is. As it stands, it’s a pretty average mediaeval romp that’s a little rough around the edges. Not a bad game, by any stretch, but one of the weakest available on PS5 right now.
Tennis World Tour 2 - Big Ant Studios, 2021 (58)
Advert
If you love tennis… well, you probably won’t be that into Tennis World Tour 2. While it boasts a good mix of modes and plenty of content, it’s hard to overlook the fact that the actual tennis - the very soul of the game - is a bit naff.
Clid The Snail - Weird Beluga Studio, 2021 (58)
In theory, I’m fully up for a top-down shooter that lets me play as a snail on a mission to blast away hordes of enemies. Unfortunately, Clid The Snail’s concept is rather let down by its execution. Frustrating gameplay is compounded by the hard-to-follow action whenever there’s too much happening on screen which, because it’s an action shooter, happens a lot. A little too sluggish for my liking.
Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance - Turque Games, 2021 (57)
Anyone looking for a truly great Dungeons & Dragons RPG should probably turn to Divinity Original Sin II, because Dark Alliance ain’t quite it. This action-focused adventure game attempts to channel the spirit of the iconic tabletop game, but never quite gets there.
Recompile - Phigames, 2021 (56)
Recompile is a metroidvania that combines eye-catching minimalist visuals with an ambitious story that grapples with some weighty themes. Unfortunately, the platforming and general gameplay are completely lacklustre - not ideal in a game where you spend a lot of time backtracking.
Necromunda: Hired Gun - Streum On Studio, 2021 (56)
Necromunda: Hired Gun is genuinely a little bit heartbreaking. It’s a shooter with properly great gunplay and loads of gore - a great place for any shooter to start! Unfortunately, it’s consistently let down by a rubbish story, god-awful AI, and a myriad of technical issues.
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition - Grove Street Games, 2021 (54)
If you’d told me a few years that a Grand Theft Auto game was going to end up at the bottom of a list of rubbish games, I wouldn’t have believed you. It is, frankly, completely inexcusable that Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition is as bad as it is.
Rockstar Games and Grove Street Games managed to piss all over the legacy of three of the most cherished and influential releases of all time in a remastered package that falls so very short of the mark. A rushed cash grab that fully deserves its spot on this list.
Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood - Cyanide, 2021 (54)
We really should agree on some kind of rule for putting colons and dashes in the same game title. It looks ridiculous. Not that the name is what was standing in the way of Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood (though I can’t imagine it helped).
The real issue is that this is a game that just doesn’t have any interesting ideas of its own, and fails to do anything new or exciting with the ideas it’s borrowed from other, better action games.
Balan Wonderworld - Square Enix, 2021 (51)
I don’t particularly want to waste any more breath on this one. An awful game through and through. I’d have more fun nailing my fingers to the wall.
Babylon’s Fall - Platinum Games/Square Enix, 2022 (41)
Is Square Enix okay? I’m not entirely sure how it’s managed this, but it has two of the best-rated PS5 games on Metacritic and the two worst-rated PS5 games. Where Balan Wonderworld is just rubbish because it’s rubbish, Babylon’s Fall is an incredibly average game made even worse through shockingly aggressive microtransaction nonsense. In other words, it fully deserves its place at the very bottom of this scrapheap.
Topics: PlayStation 5, Square Enix, Grand Theft Auto, Rockstar Games