A Disappointing Year in Gaming

The past few years have been some of the greatest for video gamers. 2013 brought us artistic masterpieces like Bioshock Infinite and The Last of Us. 2014 included some fantastic multiplayer experiences such as Super Smash Brothers for Wii U and Hearthstone. 2015 is still on our minds with Undertale, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and Splatoon. However, as the last quarter of the 2016 year starts, gamers are still waiting for worthwhile titles.

There have been some spectacular releases such as the hit first-person shooter from Blizzard, Overwatch, and the incredible conclusion to Naughty Dog’s action franchise, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. However, 2016 has mostly contained disappointments. Games with years of development and hype have earned average or below average reviews. No Man’s Sky, an indie title anticipated by many Kickstarter backers, has been been met with negative criticism despite its groundbreaking 18 quintillion planets to explore. After a decade of waiting, thousands of fans were dissatisfied by Star Fox Zero because of its infuriating control scheme. DOOM introduced a new multiplayer mode that was quickly abandoned within the first week. There are many more failures this year such as Mighty No. 9, Tom Clancy’s: The Division, and Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst. Niche audiences have been satisfied with great sequels like Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice and Zero Time Dilemma, but the general population deserves better games to experience.

The likely reason for this slew of disappointments is the preparation for the next console generation. Nintendo’s new console, the NX, is at its highest interest, while Microsoft and Sony have begun their race for 4K gaming with Project Scorpio and Playstation Pro. Both first-party and third-party developers are likely aiming their next great titles to be released on these new platforms. As such, the most memorable games from E3 are being postponed until 2017 like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and God of War 4.

2016 is not over and could be salvaged by Pokémon Sun and Moon, The Last Guardian, and Battlefield 1. Until then, however, gamers will have to cross their fingers and hope those games do not suffer a similar fate to many others this year.