Worst games of 2012

2012 has been pretty high-calibre in terms of game quality, with most big titles living up to expectations; but of course, there are always those that underwhelm and leave a sour taste in gamers’ mouths.

The following games are the lowest rated of 2012, according to Metacritic and GameRankings respectively.

Amy (25; 25.81)

Amy is a pretty off-beat stealth-horror-survival game, wherein you control a character who has to escort an 8-year old child across a city overrun by monsters. It all sounds good, but its not.

The game was a flop, and critics slammed the camera, combat and clunky controls.

Destructoid even described Amy as “one of the worst games ever made”.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified (31; 32.31)

The Call of Duty franchise was inevitably going to make its way to Sony’s PS Vita, but it didn’t do it in style.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified didn’t live up to the franchise name and was criticised for its short-single player campaign, poor AI, unreliable network mode, and the miniscule multiplayer maps which take all the fun out of the game.

Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor (38; 39.02)

Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor seemed like a good idea: a hardcore tank commander game that finally used Kinect effectively. Unfortunately, the execution wasn’t as good as the idea.

The game ended up being an absolute mess, as the Kinect once again failed to be integrated accurately, and trying to play the game became a chore.

As MyGaming’s Jaco van der Walt summed up in his Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor review: “This one of the worst games I’ve ever played.”

Bloodforge (42; 44.20)

Bloodforge’s third-person violent hack and slash action didn’t keep it from being slated by the critics.

The game, which pitted you as a barbarian, was too frustrating for most players, as difficulty spikes were rampant and the camera was an erratic disaster.

On the upside, the game did have an interesting visual style.