7) Friday the 13th The Game
You can tell that IllFonic, the dev team behind Friday the 13th The Game, are huge fans of the films. The overall tone, sound design, and atmosphere are all spot on that it’s immediately recognizable to anyone that grew up watching the gory adventures of Jason. It’s such a shame that the asymmetrical gameplay is super redundant and overwhelmingly glitchy. The concept of everyone working together to escape the map while another player gets to go on a murderous rampage killing everyone else is the perfect Friday the 13th scenario but the gameplay is pretty one-sided. Playing as Jason is a total blast but playing as one of the obnoxious teenagers isn’t nearly as fun. In the end, there was a ton of focus on making the game feel like the films, but much of the gameplay could have benefited with a few more months of polish.
6) Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3
A running theme throughout this list of games is that technical problems can outright ruin good gameplay. In Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3, much of what it has to offer is pretty decent but constant crashes and odd enemy collision keep the fun at a standstill. Sure, sniping a far off bad guy at incredible distances and seeing their head explode in slow motion never gets old, but this is the third game in the series, and it doesn’t really offer anything new. Ghost Warrior 3 likes to take existing ideas from other series like Far Cry and Sniper Elite and mashes them together in hopes of making a good game but in reality, it doesn’t excel at any one thing. Maybe we’ll see some innovation in the next game.
5) Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers
Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers is the 437th version of Capcom’s classic Street Fighter II but with a few extra bells and whistles thrown in to warrant a new release. Sadly, this version of the timeless fighter just isn’t worth your time or money because there are better versions out there like Super Street Fighter 2 HD Remix. Having the option to play with updated sprites is a cool addition but throwing in two semi-new characters, a practically unplayable Way of the Hado mode, and repackaging it for Switch for $40 feels a little anti-consumer. Then there are the Switch controls, which just don’t gel well with 2D fighters. The D-Pad on either Joy-Con is unreliable and playing with such tiny controllers makes for an uncomfortable fighting game.
4) Yooka-Laylee
On paper, Yooka-Laylee sounds like a dream come true for anyone that grew up playing on the Nintendo 64. Created by ex-Rare developers who worked on Banjo-Kazooie, Yooka-Laylee is designed to be a spiritual successor to the bird and bear duo, and in many ways, it stays true to what made those games great. But just as nostalgia can trick the mind, Yooka-Laylee is also a stark reminder that some of those design choices and mechanics just don’t work in 2017. Camera issues are still a problem but are even less forgivable than they were in the 90’s and its a constant battle throughout the adventure, which puts a serious damper on the experience. Despite some nice and lush visuals, some of the worlds aren’t very interesting and they seem unnecessarily large. It isn’t a complete train wreck some outlets may have you believe, but the entire package doesn’t feel as polished as it could’ve been. It comes close to scratching that Banjo itch, but it’s not nearly as satisfying.