The year 2019 was a great year for gaming, both good and bad… but let’s talk about the ones that didn’t exceed our expectations. These are the games that are plagued by performance issues and greedy microtransactions and failed to deliver their ambitious promises. Whatoplay presents 10 of the most disappointing titles of 2019.

10. Far Cry: New Dawn on PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One

Ubisoft’s track record when it comes to their Far Cry games are hit or miss. Far Cry 5 was a breath of fresh air for the series, but none could ever top Far Cry 3’s impressive story. And as far as spin-offs go, Ubisoft really sold us with its ridiculous and epic futuristic first person shooter with Far Cry: Blood Dragon.

In New Dawn, however, it presented a ton of questionable development choices, mainly for its quality. New Dawn, like Blood Dragon, is a spin-off. The only difference is that New Dawn takes place after 5’s nuclear ending.

In comparison to Blood Dragon which created a fresh retro-futuristic world, this latest spin-off doesn’t bring anything new to the table. It rehashes the same old gameplay features from Far Cry 5 without putting much effort into its mechanics.

While it does have some redeeming moments such as being able to blow things up, it still doesn’t do anything different. Ubisoft could’ve done a lot more here. It received a playscore of 7.94 on the PS4, 7.49 on the PC, and 7.37 on the X1.

9. Rage 2 on PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One

Open world insanity was Rage’s selling point. Id Software and Avalanche Studios’ collaboration transformed this Mad Max-like shooter into a satisfying playground of chaos and destruction.

Rage 2’s gameplay loop was its best feature. It offers enough creative ways of causing enough destruction with your arsenal of powerful weaponry. The run and gun mechanics is also similar to DOOM’s fast-paced gameplay, but underneath all its mayhem, it suffers from its dull storytelling and not to mention its major performance issues on the PC.

It’s a great game but hampered by timing. Game Skinny’s John Schutt said that “Rage 2 feels like a game out of time. If it had come out in 2006, I think it would feel like a more complete game…”

There’s still an ample amount of fun things to do in this first-person shooter if you could endure its slow moments. It receives a playscore of 7.55 on the PS4, 6.54 on the PC, and 6.19 on the X1.

8. Wolfenstein: Youngblood on the PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One

The Wolfenstein games have always been a celebration of action and adventure set in the backdrop of Hitler’s evil regime.

Developed by Machine Games, it’s the first of the Wolfenstein titles to feature a co-op campaign with a drop-in/drop-out system. You could grab a friend and kill Nazis together as either of the Twin Blazkowicz daughters.

Youngblood excels in its first-person shooter mechanics but stumbled in its underwhelming story that doesn’t feel like a Wolfenstein game at all. Most of its concerns come from its overindulgence of co-op and its terrible inclusion of Microtransactions.

It fails to deliver the same quality that made Wolfenstein titles great and it receives a playscore of 7.06, 5.87 and 6.21 for the PS4, PC, and X1 respectively.

7. Shenmue 3

It took 18 years to finally get a follow-up to the popular Dreamcast classic. Now built using the Unreal Engine 4, this Kickstarter-funded project was an absolute disappointment despite its genuine homage to the original. Shenmue 3 is an anomaly in the realm of games.

Diehard fans of the series who enjoyed the journey of Ryo and Shenhua from almost two decades ago will find something good here, but as a modern game coming out in 2019, it still feels like a Dreamcast title. TechRaptor’s Dustin Triplett even made a remark on his review, he said, “Shenmue 3 doesn’t tarnish the memory of the series, but it doesn’t exactly move it forward either.”

But for a game made for fans, there’s no denying that this is a step in the right direction for the future of the series. There are flaws, but there’s still a lot of room for improvement should there be another project in the works. Its PlayStation 4 version receives a playscore of 7.19

6. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Breakpoint on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One

Ubisoft’s latest blunder was dead on arrival when it came out last year. Breakpoint was supposed to be their revolutionary online third-person shooter that could surpass their previous games, but its shady business practice with microtransactions was their biggest mistake and it cost them a full year of losses.

Ghost Recon has long lost its flair after their glory days in the previous console generations. GameSpot’s review said that “It's essentially every Ubisoft open-world game rolled into one, failing to excel in any one area or establish its own identity.”

Its confusing mix of tried and tested video game cliches doesn’t do well for the series, considering that their very own The Division is starting to make a name for itself in the third-person shooter scene. It has a playscore of 6.66 for the PS4 and 5.92 on the X1.

5. Crackdown 3 on PC and Xbox One

Remember this game? Well, it came out recently and no one seems to be talking about it anymore.

Reagent Games' Crackdown 3 was a follow-up to the series we no longer care about. Sure, the ever-present destructible physics remains enjoyable as hell, but the rest of its foundation falls apart for its obvious lack of innovation and outdated designs. PC Gamer did a review on the game and wrote, “Crackdown 3 comes along 12 years after Crackdown but without 12 years' worth of new ideas to share"

The only thing worth remembering in this latest entry is Terry Crews’ character but even his voice acting wasn’t enough to carry this underwhelming title. Might as well play Grand Theft Auto V or Just Cause instead. It has a playscore of 6.19 for the PC and 6.46 on the X1.

4. Jump Force on PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One

It’s hard to take this fighting game seriously when you have an entire catalog of other great titles on the genre with better and bigger communities. Jump Force is a crossover of various Shonen characters such as Naruto, Luffy, Goku and a whole lot of anime characters in a story-driven scenario. It features an extensive roster of 52 playable characters, including the DLCs.

Fanfictions aside, it gives us enough ideas for some fantasy battles we never knew were possible. Other than that, Spike's Jump Force has nothing new to showcase in the demanding fighting game genre.

Most of its concerns come from its unfinished story, terrible combo mechanics, and its unjustified Triple-A price tag. It has a playscore of 6.85 on the PS4, 6.28 on the PC, and 5.92 on the X1.

3. Anthem on PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One

Did you know this game came out in 2019? It’s sad to see a great studio fall from EA’s greedy corporate hands.

Anthem was ambitious. It presents a massive open world to explore teeming with extraterrestrial threats. Its first E3 presentation blew our minds. Donning the exosuit and hanging out with your buddies while you decimate a horde of aliens is the main idea, but its final product left players with an empty experience full of grinding, repetitive gameplay, and a shallow story not on par with Bioware’s standards. At least the flying looks smooth.

It was so lackluster it received mixed and average reviews from various gaming sources. Reviewer Kallie Plagge from GameSpot said that "Anthem has good ideas but it struggles significantly with the execution.”

The player base has drastically dropped since its release and only a handful of players are having fun in this futuristic playground. Let’s hope they redeem themselves in the coming months with better expansions and events. A playscore of 6.47 on the PS4, 6.14 on the PC, and 6.19 on the X1.

2. Left Alive on PlayStation 4 and PC

It’s rare to see a bad a Square Enix game. When it was announced, it was a mix of stealth and mecha genre. It even features art from the legendary Yoji Shinkawa that brought the Metal Gear Series to come to life. Fans looked forward to this supposed return to the Front Mission universe headed by veterans of Armored Core and Metal Gear.

But its promise falls short the moment you play the game. All we got was a mecha action game that had nothing to show for except its clunky combat and unreliable AI. It looks passable visually, but it plays like a 2008 PlayStation 3 game.

There were other great games that came out last year but this survival-shooter was literally being ‘left alive’ in the dumps. There were hopes of changes, but they're all but dashed at this point. It has a playscore of 5.09 on the PS4 and 3.61 on the PC.

1. WWE 2K20 on PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One

Disappointing is such an understatement. What WWE 2K20 did was an insult to the fans of the long-running wrestling series. Just slap in popular wrestling icons as its cover and add a new Showcase mode, you’ll have another 2K game in a span of 1 year.

What made this game truly abysmal was its decrease in quality over previous titles and that’s saying a lot. I mean, what happened here? Every character model feels like they came out of the PlayStation 2 attic.

2K20 was the buggiest and the messiest game of the franchise. It had a number of baffling design choices that delaying would’ve been a better option, but of course, they chose not to. It has a playscore of 5.07 on the PS4, 4.36 on the PC, and 4.85 on the X1.

We've had our fair share of disappointing games so far, so to end on a positive note, drop by our list of all the best video games.