Wired.com's Top Ten Most Disappointing Games

"10. Age of Conan
9. EndWar
8. Too Human
7. Stalker: Clear Sky
6. Mirror's Edge
5. Dead Space
4. Prince of Persia
3. Mario Kart Wii
2. Force Unleashed
1. Spore"

Dead Space?

umm... wtf. Unless they were expecting a perfect game, how are they dissapointed with Dead Space? I do understand Spore though.

Poor Spore.

Some of those make perfect sense, some of them though what the fuck?

Prince of Persia and Dead Space...? Well they just all their credibility...

Who the hell are these guys? Dead Space?

Disappointing doesn't mean the game was bad, it just means that some dude at wired was expecting something a little more. It was like when I bought Tomb Raider for some rampant sex simulation, only to realize tombs were the only things I would be raiding =(

Where is Metal Gear Solid 4? As good as it was, it was a disappointment.

Personally, I was curious about the exclusion of Alone in the Dark.

Yeah, saw this on NeoGAF...

10. Age of Conan - Definitely. The first MMO that was going to have "brilliant" graphics. It had "revolutionary" combat. And beyond that, absolutely no content. I played my friend's account for a few days at his house; Tortage was beautiful, the rest of the game disappointed for the most part. It was hard for a community to form when everybody was invisible most of the time to avoid getting ganked.

9. EndWar - Can't say. Never expected much from this, and it appears to have sold nothing, but it wasn't a bad game by any means(?).

8. Too Human - Yes, personally, although most of the internet hated on this for years prior, so I don't know how it disappointed when there were no expectations at all. Probably shouldn't be here.

7. Stalker: Clear Sky - It may not have been a great improvement over Shadow of Chernobyl, but Clear Sky is still a good game in its own right. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is always a mixed bag. I'm not sure it was hyped nearly enough to qualify as a "huge disappointment" if a "disappointment" at all.

6. Mirror's Edge - Sure. Bad level design, super-short length, awkward shoehorn attempt at combat and indoor acrobatics... a potentially great package marred by length and other flaws that could easily be polished out in a sequel. I think it qualifies.

5. Dead Space - Hell no. I might not like horror games, but this was under the radar for so many people that it took most communities by surprise. A polished and interesting title that didn't do anything overly new, but nearly perfected everything it mimicked? I don't see how anyone would be disappointed by this, either.

4. Prince of Persia - What? Just... what? No. Absolutely should not be there.

3. Mario Kart Wii - I'm no big fan of the Wii, but Mario Kart is fun and pretty addicting. Huge changeup for the series? The Wii Wheel is fun as hell to use, but otherwise it was just a bigger and more polished Mario Kart. I don't know how it disappointed anyone.

2. Force Unleashed - Yeah. That needs no explanation.

1. Spore - Probably. Most disappointing? Dunno. It definitely deserves a place on the list though.

I would stick GTA4 in there somewhere, because what the single-player couldn't be due to streamlined story and a more serious nature, multi-player should have been and was not. It never felt like a complete package at all. LittleBigPlanet too. The creation aspects are brilliant, but they don't make the game. The platforming aspects at their core are rather weak. Player design has helped nullify that, but it's not an inherently amazing game. It's a technical marvel. There is a difference.

Of course, the thing to remember is that it *is* completely subjective opinion, and in general I tend to think that Wired's video game reviewers are loonier than a '50s-era cartoon, so what are you gonna do, eh.

I agree with everything except dead space. They should have put Alone in the Dark or Army of Two in its place.

Mario Kart Wii...true dat.

-- God Bless.

Wired never had credibility to begin with in my book. While I'll agree that most of those games sucked, PoP is definitely good and Dead Space I enjoyed a whole hell of a lot, so that's bullshit. Also, STALKER, while it was disappointing that it had some of the same technical problems the first did( I wish they would of learned..) it still is an amazing game I think, it does atmosphere better than anything else out there, and I really enjoyed it.

So yeah, Wired can continue not being credible, and blow me with their bullshit list.

How could you not know what Dead Space was all about going into it?

Their top 5 360 games includes Castle Crashers, with the online co-op being a key reason. In case you forgot, Castle Crashers is pretty much busted online. According to the same article, Braid was made by one guy over the course of a few years with practically no money, which you would know is nonsense if you've heard Blow talk about making the game or how full-time fucked he'd be if it didn't sell well.

"Yeah, saw this on NeoGAF...

10. Age of Conan - Definitely. The first MMO that was going to have "brilliant" graphics. It had "revolutionary" combat. And beyond that, absolutely no content. I played my friend's account for a few days at his house; Tortage was beautiful, the rest of the game disappointed for the most part. It was hard for a community to form when everybody was invisible most of the time to avoid getting ganked.

9. EndWar - Can't say. Never expected much from this, and it appears to have sold nothing, but it wasn't a bad game by any means(?).

8. Too Human - Yes, personally, although most of the internet hated on this for years prior, so I don't know how it disappointed when there were no expectations at all. Probably shouldn't be here.

7. Stalker: Clear Sky - It may not have been a great improvement over Shadow of Chernobyl, but Clear Sky is still a good game in its own right. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is always a mixed bag. I'm not sure it was hyped nearly enough to qualify as a "huge disappointment" if a "disappointment" at all.

6. Mirror's Edge - Sure. Bad level design, super-short length, awkward shoehorn attempt at combat and indoor acrobatics... a potentially great package marred by length and other flaws that could easily be polished out in a sequel. I think it qualifies.

5. Dead Space - Hell no. I might not like horror games, but this was under the radar for so many people that it took most communities by surprise. A polished and interesting title that didn't do anything overly new, but nearly perfected everything it mimicked? I don't see how anyone would be disappointed by this, either.

4. Prince of Persia - What? Just... what? No. Absolutely should not be there.

3. Mario Kart Wii - I'm no big fan of the Wii, but Mario Kart is fun and pretty addicting. Huge changeup for the series? The Wii Wheel is fun as hell to use, but otherwise it was just a bigger and more polished Mario Kart. I don't know how it disappointed anyone.

2. Force Unleashed - Yeah. That needs no explanation.

1. Spore - Probably. Most disappointing? Dunno. It definitely deserves a place on the list though.

I would stick GTA4 in there somewhere, because what the single-player couldn't be due to streamlined story and a more serious nature, multi-player should have been and was not. It never felt like a complete package at all. LittleBigPlanet too. The creation aspects are brilliant, but they don't make the game. The platforming aspects at their core are rather weak. Player design has helped nullify that, but it's not an inherently amazing game. It's a technical marvel. There is a difference.

Of course, the thing to remember is that it *is* completely subjective opinion, and in general I tend to think that Wired's video game reviewers are loonier than a '50s-era cartoon, so what are you gonna do, eh."

"Wired never had credibility to begin with in my book. While I'll agree that most of those games sucked, PoP is definitely good and Dead Space I enjoyed a whole hell of a lot, so that's bullshit. Also, STALKER, while it was disappointing that it had some of the same technical problems the first did( I wish they would of learned..) it still is an amazing game I think, it does atmosphere better than anything else out there, and I really enjoyed it.

So yeah, Wired can continue not being credible, and blow me with their bullshit list."

Yeah WTF at Dead Space, Mirror's Edge, and Prince of Persia?  And why the hell isn't Too Human number 1 or 2?  I guess sales were disappointing on Dead Space and Mirror's Edge, but they were fairly well received.

how is Mariokart third lol? They say that the game offerd nothing new, but let's think about this- larger number of racers, new bigger and wider tracks, tricks(okay so thats kinda dumb), morticycles, an online mode improved a lot from the DS online, motion controls, and finally new items/characters. They also say that the weel makes things more "difficult", which is total bull because if they tried using it for more then 5 minutes and gotten used to it (which you need to do with ALL new control schemes) they would had seen that it's just as a good as a gamepad, and maybe even more fun. The only reason I could think of that might make the game dissapointing is that they made it impossible to snake, but other then that I think Mariokart Wii is was one of the best Wii games (though that might not be saying much).

I don't see how Dead Space was disappointing...it actually really surprised me.

Yep. Dead Space and Prince of Persia. One of the 10 most dissapointing games this year. Makes total sense. If we lived in an alternate universe that is. But since we don't all I can say is: lolwut?

I'm guessing with Dead Space the higher people's hopes the easier it is not to live up to them.  If you're expecting something outstanding, but what you get is just very good, it's still quite a drop in expectation.   And that doesn't stop it being very good, unlike PDC Darts 2008, which was every bit as naff as we all expected.

Thank god someone else besides me and Yahtzee found Dead Space to be a disappointment. People seem to be going easy on it just because it's a new IP. 'The whack-a-mole combat is only barely propped up by a gimmick where leg-shots are the new headshots. The boss fights are inane and repetitive. And for the record, dimming the lights and slapping up bloody, gory wallpaper doesn't automatically make a game scary' is probably the most honest thing i've heard about the game so far.

I havent played about half of that list. But for the ones I have played especially Dead Space and Prince of Persia that list is quite suprising.

Spore was one of my disappointing games of all time.

wheres gta 4 lol

I guess this explains why I've never heard of wired.com.

I'd probably chuck in wii music, instead of mario kart and get rid of Dead Space, but it seems about right. spore is definitely number one though.

That's the thing about disappointment, if you look forward to it, you have set a higher bar than if the game just sprang up on you. While I liked Deadspace, I think the guys at wired was all hyped up over it. Afterall, that's why Spore is on the list; for like ten years we have been told this game was gonna be good. If spore was released with no hype, it wouldn't have made the list.

"That's the thing about disappointment, if you look forward to it, you have set a higher bar than if the game just sprang up on you. While I liked Deadspace, I think the guys at wired was all hyped up over it. After all, that's why Spore is on the list; for like ten years we have been told this game was gonna be good. If spore was released with no hype, it wouldn't have made the list."

As a Will Wright fan, Spore was by far my biggest disappointment of the year.  This was my pick for Game of the Year before its release, but now it's not even worthy of a nomination.

I totally do not understand Prince of Persia, Dead Space, and Mirror's Edge.   I fully agree with Spore being up there.  It was not a bad game by any means, it just did not live up to the hype.  Even Will Wright knew that Spore was being way over hyped before its release.  I would also agree about Mario Kart Wii as it just did not do anything for me. 

As far as for additions to the list, I'd think you would have to put Warhammer Online up there due to all the content that was cut out before release.  EA and Mythic hyped that game up big time; with one of the major features being that same very content that was cut.  Combine that with a lack luster mid-game and you get a fairly dissappointing combination.  Personally I was disappointed by GoW 2.  I know I will probably get hammered for this one, but as good as the campiagn was, the multiplayer did not live up to what I was expecting.  The matchmaking system was a little messed up to say the least and the changes made to some of the mechanics just did not feel right to me.  Again, GoW 2 was more of a personal thing for me, but since it is a personal list, I thought it fit.

Dead Space is one of the better games this year. Everyone knows that.

"Dead Space is one of the better games this year. Everyone knows that."

"Thank god someone else besides me and Yahtzee found Dead Space to be a disappointment. People seem to be going easy on it just because it's a new IP. 'The whack-a-mole combat is only barely propped up by a gimmick where leg-shots are the new headshots. The boss fights are inane and repetitive. And for the record, dimming the lights and slapping up bloody, gory wallpaper doesn't automatically make a game scary' is probably the most honest thing i've heard about the game so far."

I saw this article earlier today and I said the same thing when I saw Dead Space and Prince of Persia.  Especially Dead Space, considering how polished and tight that game is, even if it didn't innovate much.  I agree with other games on that list (Spore, Mario Kart Wii, and Too Human), but still, let us remember what Jeff and Ryan said about Wired. They suck in the first place.

DEAD SPACE AND ENDWAR?!?!?!  WTF?!?!?!?!  Those games were EXCELLENT!!!  Dead Space is GOTY material, and EndWar was the smoothest RTS for consoles ever (even if it had a good amount of pathfinding issues).  On top of that, EndWar's online is fucking GRUESOMELY competitive.

As I said, Wired were never credible to begin with, this list is mostly laughable. Also, I don't really care if 1 or 2 of you didn't like Dead Space, it was a high quality game that most people enjoyed, so that's great that your opinion is different, but it doesn't make it correct.