These Were The Worst PC Games Of 2020
This year has been very different. It isn't every year that avid video game fans are faced with a pandemic. Although many video game industry giants have thrived during the COVID-19 outbreak, many publishers and developers have floundered or even disappeared. The number of games released in 2020 has also decreased in comparison to other years — no doubt due to delays or cancellations.
2020 saw some grand video game titles hitting the market. Unfortunately, 2020 has also produced some extremely weak titles.
Video games for the PC have never been difficult to come by. In fact, a large majority of video games end up on the PC anyway, whether they're legally ported or emulated in some form. However, sometimes it seems like a publisher shouldn't have bothered with a PC release at all. Gamers definitely could have gone without these releases.
Here are the worst PC games of 2020.
Fast & Furious Crossroads
Fast & Furious Crossroads was supposed to be a big-time title. Players were gearing up for an entirely new chapter of the saga filled with high-speed heists and adrenaline-pumping action sequences. Fast & Furious Crossroads was released worldwide on August 7th, 2020. Despite the game being sourced from the Fast and the Furious films, the game features very little racing. So if you were looking for a Need for Speed alternative, you're out of luck.
Not only is the game bad, but it is pretty story-locked. If you were expecting some open-world exploration, then you'll have to find it elsewhere. The game requires the player to drive from one area to the next, enjoying some stale vehicular battling in between. But mostly, you're just driving around a lot — and the driving mechanics are severely lacking for a game that literally revolves around cars.
This game isn't just a flop — it's a wreck. And for what it's worth, the PS4 version is also terrible.
Warcraft 3: Reforged
Warcraft 3: Reforged was released on Jan. 28, 2020, for the PC. The game is a remastered edition of 2002's Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos and its expansions. The game was supposed to include numerous enhancements over the original version, but many of the promises Blizzard made about the game went out the window. Needless to say, fans were not happy with the direction that this particular version of Azeroth had taken.
Warcraft 3: Reforged received savage reviews, and it's easy to see why. Blizzard took one of its most successful pieces of media and essentially set it on fire. Upon release, the game had a number of performance problems, which caused an uproar among fans. The developer also removed features from the game that were key to the success of the original Reign of Chaos. Blizzard had also promised an upgraded UI panel — another feature that never made it into the game.
Blizzard promised so much and delivered very little. Warcraft 3: Reforged? More like Warcraft 3: Refund.
XIII (Remake)
XIII is a first-person shooter that is sourced from a 1984 comic by the same name. The newer game is a remake of the XIII title that was released by Ubisoft in 2003. This time around, the game was developed by PlayMagic Ltd. and published by Microids. The game was launched on Nov. 10, 2020, and was available for the PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. The very announcement of the game made headlines, considering the original was a cult classic.
The game fell far short of fan expectations. XIII (2020) did not sway away from its elements of success. The story remained mostly the same, and the art style was still superb. The gameplay, on the other hand, was littered with bugs and technical issues. Many of these technical issues were addressed by the publisher in an official apology, which also blamed many of the game's production issues on the pandemic.
XIII is the shining example that not every video game requires a remake.
Dawn of Fear
Dawn of Fear was bringing back an element that disappeared in survival-horror video games: the fixed camera angles. Basically, it should have appealed to the nostalgia that gamers feel for old-school horror titles.
Dawn of Fear looked to be something of a cross between Resident Evil and Silent Hill. Unfortunately, Dawn of Fear is full of bugs, and some of them are exceedingly game-breaking. Reviewers noted that some textures would not load, while other bugs would ultimately stop the continuation of the story. The horror appeal also falters in comparison to the two games it appears to be mimicking. It just is not very frightening, and critics found many of the scares to be fairly predictable. On top of everything else, the dialogue isn't exactly graceful, with some reviews commenting that the dialogue feels like it was poorly translated.
Dawn of Fear had its heart in the right place, but the game needs an overhaul or some hefty patches to make it enjoyable.