According to the data provided by Truelist, over 3.26 billion people across the world play video games. And only this number is enough to prove that the gaming industry continues to stay at its peak, with hundreds of new games appearing every year. Today, not only can you access the finest video games very easily, but you can also play various slots and get instant payouts at online casinos.

However, not all games are created equal. While there are many captivating and engaging titles in the game world’s history, some frustrating ones fail to live up to the player’s expectations. In this article, we will go through the top 5 worst video games ever and see what makes them so unappealing.

#5 Charlie’s Angels (2003) 

• IMDb – 3.8/10
• Amazon – 3.5/10

Our rating opens with Charlie’s Angels, a beat ’em up game developed by Neko Entertainment. 

Based on the concept of the 2000s Charlie’s Angels movies, this video game couldn’t make this popular and exciting concept work even a little. The graphics are just terrible – the Angels don’t even look like the actress they are based on. 

Charlie’s Angels utilizes an incredibly rudimentary control system that covers jump, kick, punch, and block buttons. And each of the three angels in the game is designed to have a unique fighting style. However, during the play, you will discover that all of them use similar kick-and-punch animations.

In addition, you will have only two to three moves for every attack, which makes the game tedious and highly repetitive.

#4 Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)

• IMDb – 3.4/10
• Eurogamer – 2/10

Sonic the Hedgehog, which also is referred to as Sonic ’06, is the creation of Sonic Team that was released in 2006. Sega published this platform game as the long-anticipated reboot of the storied franchise. 

To the disappointment of all Sonic fans, the game was both messy and underwhelming. It didn’t meet the quality standards set by previous titles like Sonic Mania, Sonic Adventure, and Sonic the Hedgehog 2. These best Sonic franchise entries became successful for various reasons. For example, either they feature high-quality graphics and controls, or they make a huge change to the gameplay formula.

However, when it comes to Sonic ’06, it suffers from loads of glitches (just take, for example, the part of Sonic snowboarding uphill), a complicated storyline (way too many gameplay styles and playable characters), and long loading times. In addition, the game has terrible controls. They are both neither sensitive nor too sensitive, resulting in cheap deaths.

All these lead Sonic the Hedgehog to receive massive negative comments and reviews. 

What’s notable is that in 2010, Sega delisted the game from retailers because of the low Metacritic scores. It was done in order not to affect the value of the brand.

It’s crucial for game developers to learn from such instances, ensuring that future releases meet the expectations of fans and maintain the integrity of the franchise.Perhaps to improve the overall gameplay and revitalize the Sonic brand it might be worth looking into collaboration with other popular products. A good example is the mastercard casino collaboration which has had a good impact on the gambling industry.

#3 Navy SEALs: Weapons of Mass Destruction (2003)

• GameSpot – 1.6/10
• Amazon – 3.5/10

Jarhead Games introduced this action-packed shooter game on July 18, 2003. However, if you expect to see an arsenal of real-life weapons at your disposal and challenging missions in the game to test your abilities, you would be pretty disappointed. This shooter provides nothing of the sort. All you can do is literally shoot and move – no other objectives to fulfill, no bombs to diffuse. 

Another “bad” aspect of the game is the enemy AI. You will encounter enemy soldiers who just stand around while their companions right next to them get shot. Or, sometimes, they run from cover to open ground and wait for you to kill them. Kind of absurd, right?

As for the design of Navy SEALs: WoMD, overall, it brings a bland and colorless atmosphere without much innovation going on. Because of the simple and repetitive textures, the gameplay becomes quite boring and monotonous.

#2 Ride to Hell: Retribution (2013)

• IMDb – 1.4/10
• Metacritic – 1.3/10

The next place on our list goes to Ride to Hell: Retribution, developed by Eutechnyx. It was originally announced in 2008, but because of budget cuts, the game got stuck in the development phase and was re-announced only five years later on June 25, 2013. Overall, Ride to Hell mirrors the hippie counterculture, the biker movement and rock music of the 1960s. 

Based on the scores on IMDb (1.4) and Metacritic (1.3), Ride to Hell can be considered one of the “failure” games of all time in the action-adventure genre. 

Actually, for the most part, gunplay is pretty functional. For example, the targeting reticle moves when you try to move the mouse or joystick, and people normally die when you click on them. However, the reticle comes with a terrible amount of lag, which will cause even experienced shooter players to miss shots.

Then there is the motorcycle riding scene, which serves more as paddling, and nothing interesting takes place in this part. Fans of modern bikes were definitely disappointed. Also, there are numerous times in the game where lip movement and voice movement don’t sync up, which is quite distracting. 

Overall, the sound design itself is pretty messy as well – many gameplay sequences and cutscenes simply miss sounds. In addition, dull facial expressions make game characters look very lifeless.

What’s more, Ride to Hell also leaves negative impressions because of its offensive portrayal of women, which leads to even further non-acceptance of the game. The core problem is that nearly all female characters are nothing more than objects for Jake to have sexual contact with. More discerning is the fact that players have no other choice than accepting the “sex reward” – either you can leave the female characters to get beaten/raped, or you can prevent the attack but will have to sleep with her yourself. It sounds pretty nonsensical, right?

#1 Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing (2003)

• GameSpot – 1/10
• IMDb – 1.4/10

Well, the scores 1/10 and 1.4/10 on GameSpot and IMDb can clearly tell why Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing made its way to our top worst list. 

Developed by Stellar Stone in 2003 and published by GameMill Publishing, this racing video game is a complete mess. And the “best” thing about it is that your opponents never move, stuck at the start line. They are way too slow and let you win every single time. 

Another aspect is the hilarity of driving around the broken environments of the game, which are entirely devoid of collision detection and physics. You drive through trees and other vehicles, which slowly drive off into the abyss.