The 10 worst games of 2022, according to Metacritic

Amid so many awards and lists that seek to exalt the best games released this year, the Metacritic, a popular score aggregator, went the other way and released the 10 worst games of 2022. The names were chosen based on the site's own reviews.

How was the list of the worst games of 2022 made?

However, to formulate the list, Metacritic used some rules, such as choosing only titles released between January 2022, 31 and December 7 of that year. Another point was that to be present among these names, it would be necessary to have at least XNUMX reviews of accredited vehicles on the site, that is, bad games important enough to receive criticism.

Finally, Metacritic also points out that each game was listed only once, even though it was released cross-platform and, in all, received negative reviews. In this case, they considered only the worst score among all, which led Nintendo Switch, with 3 games, to lead the list, Xbox Series X, PS5 and PC were cited twice, while PS4 only once.

Check out the worst games of the year

Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition (Switch)

The list opens with Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition, for Nintendo Switch, which received note 52, based on 11 reviews published by critics. The game, released in 1997, set in the same world as the first Blade Runner film, was praised upon its release for being an excellent science fiction product.

The same cannot be said of this remaster, unable to improve the original systems, even, it could not even be better than an unofficial version, produced by fans, for the computer. According to reviews, the game itself hasn't aged well and would have been better left as just a fond memory.

Kamiwaza: Way of the Thief (PS4)

Other remaster that appears in this list, is the Kamiwaza: Way of the Thief, which despite also being released for Switch and PC, it was on PS4 that it received its worst score, 52. The reviews say something similar to the version of Blade Runner, which did not age well and should have remained only in our memory.

Here, we take on the role of Ebizo, an honorable thief who must survive on the streets of Mikado. While the stealth genre is still quite popular today, the confusing controls and outdated gameplay made this release a huge disappointment, with few positive reviews.

The Waylanders (PC)

When it appeared as a project on Kickstarter, citing inspirations from industry big names like Dragon Age: Origins and Baldur's Gate, no one would have expected that waylanders it would become one of the worst games of 2022. Despite the influences it had on its conception, the real-time combat RPG produced by Gato, a Spanish studio, failed to come close to the other titles.

The release full of bugs, many of which are still present in the game, coupled with the flawed imitation of several mechanics that made other games of the RPG genre popular, but failing to use them well, as well as poor dialogue, made Waylanders a failure in the ratings. It currently has a score of 51 on Metacritic.

The Last Oricru (Xbox Series X)

despite the gender soulslike remain high in the market, including with Elden Ring being awarded as the Game of the year, not all manage to reach this standard of quality and are among the worst games of the year. as the case of The Last Oriccru, holder of a score of 50 on Metacritic.

Following the story of an immortal warrior who falls on a medieval planet about to go to war, the criticism did not go easy on the bad writing and weak gameplay. According to some reviews, it would be necessary for future generations of game development to look to The Last Oricru as a great example of what not to do in a video game.

Zorro: The Chronicles (PS5)

Although early updates fixed some bugs present in the title and its target audience is children between 6 and 12 years old, Fox: The Chronicles it's still one of the worst games of 2022. Holder of just a 49 on Metacritic, unable to charm critics.

Based on an animated television series of the same name, set in 1800's California, the game greatly underplays what kids really enjoy, with repetitive and very easy gameplay only able to please the youngest. Also, even with the updates, some annoying issues continued to be present in the title, which makes it something to avoid.

LEGO Brawls (PS5)

The LEGO Franchise, in video games, is known for its humorous and fun parodies of several popular movies, as well as having some good original games too. Nonetheless, Lego brawls it's nothing like that, just one of the worst games of 2022 with a score of 46.

His biggest problem, according to reviews, is the fact that it is based on a game released in 2019 for mobile phones, with few updates and depth, in addition to costing something close to R$ 200,00 on consoles. Despite trying to emulate Super Smash Bros, it feels like every system was half done and wasted whatever potential it had.

XEL (Switch)

when announced, XEL gained some prominence due to its original story and interesting visuals. It was an open-world 3D platformer that mixed elements of science fiction and fantasy in a mysterious world, and despite the interesting premise, the result is so gross and frustrating that it's unlikely that anyone will have fun with it.

Despite the 43 rating on Metacritic, the reviews mention that the ideas were good and interesting, but his technical issues – also present on the computer – make the experience just a negative one. These ratings leave XEL as one of the worst games of 2022.

Babylon's Fall (PS5)

Of all the games mentioned in this list, Babylon's Fall it is the one with the biggest budget and expectations of the fans, but its execution makes it one of the worst games of the year. The company behind it is PlatinumGames, known for Bayonetta and Devil May Cry, but here, the developer's brilliance and talent seems to have faded.

The mixture of RPG with the frantic action of hack and slash in a fantasy world dominated by a giant tower seems like an interesting premise, especially knowing the history of its creators. However, with the exception of the combat, which is occasionally satisfying, the rest is so poorly executed that, since its launch, few players have been logged in simultaneously.

The failure was such that Babylon's Fall servers will be shut down on February 27, 2023, making the game intended only for online, unplayable less than a year since its launch.

A 41 on Metacritic is more than deserved.

CrossfireX (Xbox Series X)

It may not be one of the biggest names on the market, but Crossfire is one of the most popular shooters on the internet, mainly because it's lightweight and an option for those who couldn't play Counter Strike on their machines. So, when CrossfireX was announced, as an Xbox exclusive and with development backed by Alan Wake's Remedy Entertainment, there was some anticipation.

Unfortunately, that was it and the release, with a score of 38 on Metacritic, is second on the list of the worst games of 2022. Despite wanting to deepen the story of the original game, the weak artificial intelligence, bad script, terrible controls and lazy execution, in addition to being focused on microtransactions, made CrossfireX a game to forget.

POSTAL 4: No Regerts (PC)

The Postal franchise has always been quite open about the quality of its games, after all, they never tried to make a quality release and prefer to be remembered that way. So this title, after spending a few years in Early Access, was released with all the bugs present in previous versions intact.

The cheap humor, present in all aspects of it, does not please at all. What is most apparent here are its technical and constant problems, something that leads to the experience being terrible and avoided by all means, even for longtime fans of the franchise, who enjoyed the previous games.

In this way, the note 30 on Metacritic transforms Postal 4 in the worst game of the year. However, even this award was received as a joke by the developers, who posted a thank you on social networks and also mentioned that it is not easy to remain a failure for 25 years.

The full text, in English, can be seen below.

With that, we come to the end of our list of the worst games of the year. And for you, dear reader, any game deserved to be on this list? Tell us in the comments!

Learn more

In addition to awarding the best releases of 2022, the Game Awards were full of ads

Source: Metacritic