Last week, we celebrated the PlayStation 4’s first birthday by listing the best and the worst games of its first year. Seeing as how today marks the one year anniversary of the Xbox One’s release, I think it only fair to do the same with Microsoft’s console.
So happy first birthday, Xbox One, these were the worst games of your first year.
LocoCycle
Despite its loco premise, LocoCycle was not only one of the Xbox One's weaker games at launch, it was also one of its ugliest. One look at it and you could see that the development certainly started on the Xbox 360.
Perhaps it was the disjointed gameplay elements that never seemed to click, or just the awkwardness of dragging around a latin custodian on the back of your wheel throughout the whole game, something just felt off. Of all the good games available like Dead Rising 3 and Forza 5, it was very easy to skip over LocoCycle and not feel bad about it.
Crimson Dragon
Much like LocoCycle, Crimson Dragon began its development on the 360, but also as a Kinect game. This, of course, didn't sit right with people who wanted a spiritual successor to Panzer Dragoon.
The Xbox One version not only didn't really look all that next-gen, but the gameplay just felt off. Flying the dragons and aiming was done with two separate thumbsticks, not all that normal for a rail-shooter. That in itself made the gameplay feel awkward. Despite costing money to buy up-front, it also had microtransactions built in, which felt somewhat unnecessary. Crimson Dragon was offered for free a few times through Games with Gold, and that's probably the best way to let people see what a disappointment it was.
Max: The Curse of Brotherhood
I guess it's not that surprising that a game that used to rely on using a touchscreen didn't translate all that well into a platforming using a controller. Max had to travel to an alternate dimension after sending his brother off, and try to save him using his magic marker.
The magic marker gimmick is actually the one thing that broke the game up and made the controls annoying rather than fun. Drawing and erasing platforms just isn't a way I wanted to spend my afternoons. Like with Crimson Dragon, Max was offered up through Games with Gold, and I only recommend those with unquenching curiosity to have checked it out that way.
Ryse: Son of Rome
First, I should preface this by saying that Ryse: Son of Rome wasn't necessarily a bad game. Like Knack on our list from last week, it was a rather shallow experience with extremely repetitive gameplay, but an absolute treat for the eyes. Regardless of the 900p resolution, the game was a looker and practically a tech demo for what the system can do.
Gorgeous exterior aside, the game devolved into a repetitive button masher with stylish kill animations that gold old really, really fast. There is just so much decapitation that I can stand.
Fighter Within
Yikes, the worst of the worst. Ubisoft tried their hand at a fighting game relient purely on Kinect. The concept alone should have raised some red flags immediately. Kinect relient games are tricky. They have to be accessible enough to allow the player to perform various tasks with ease, but they also have to be responsive. Fighter Within was neither.
From awkward gestures to the game completely ignoring your inputs, it was a complete mess from top to bottom. Sure it looked nice for an Xbox One title, but that didn't excuse it from being a horrible fighting game.
They can't all be gems, right? Fortunately, for Microsoft, the Xbox One did have a good amount of well-received games as well, including Sunset Overdrive. Check back later today (3:00pm ET) for our list of best Xbox One games release during its first year.
