2017 has been a bit of a mixed year for gaming. While there have been some soaring highs with astonishing new games that have made a huge impact, there have also been some tremendously upsetting lows.
Some of 2017's new releases broke hearts with their business models, while others just weren't what fans were expecting. Here are the top five most disappointing games of 2017.
5 Mass Effect: Andromeda
After Mass Effect: Andromeda was delayed from holiday 2016 to March 2017 fans had hoped that the delay would give developer BioWare enough time to make it perfect. But unfortunately for fans, the sci-fi RPG is anything but.
The game received many mixed reviews, focused on a number of issues including the game's writing. Unlike the original Mass Effect trilogy which had fans falling in love with its world and its characters, Andromeda's writing just doesn't give players enough reason to care about its setting. The new game lacks the same charm of the trilogy.
It didn't help that this is underpinned by poor technical performance, including issues with facial animations. And while the issues with the game (technical ills included) may have been a result of an incredibly rocky development and these have largely been addressed, that doesn't make Mass Effect: Andromeda any less disappointing for fans. It's little wonder why the Mass Effect series is now on hiatus until further notice.
4 Friday the 13th: The Game
Friday the 13th: The Game is an asymmetrical game that pits a group of camp counselors against Jason Voorhees. It may be a video game spin-off of a cult horror movie franchise but the gruesome kill animations and the tense cat and mouse moments are the least scary part of this adaptation.
At launch, servers were overloaded as a result of high demand and this kept players from getting into games. These server issues were mostly fixed but the concerns surrounding the game didn't end at launch.
Friday the 13th also has a cheating problem that just won't go away and fans have been disheartened to learn that the planned single-player mode won't be what they expected, either. Those who backed Friday the 13th: The Game on Kickstarter in 2015 certainly didn't expect things to shake out like this.
3 Yooka-Laylee
Another crowdfunded game that failed to offer backers what they expected is Yooka-Laylee. Designed as a spiritual successor to Banjo-Kazooie that promised classic platforming gameplay, players found that the game is stuck in the past, but not in a good way.
Yooka-Laylee's gameplay has been called outdated and has been criticized for its unnecessarily confusing level design. For those nostalgic for that throwback, platforming feel, Yooka Laylee may seem like an ideal game. But plenty of people feel that the new game has kept the bad bits of classic platforming games as well. For that reason, it's considered one of the biggest gaming disappointments of 2017.
2 Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite
Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite brings back the beloved fighting game series with key changes such as 2v2 fights instead of the traditional 3v3 battles and Infinity Stones that allow players to customize their playstyles.
Unfortunately, these new features haven't stopped fans from feeling disappointed, especially when it comes to the game's sparse roster of characters. Although additional fighters (including Black Widow) have been added since launch, there is still the sense that the game is lacking in diversity. Moreover, many are upset about the way that the available characters were depicted, saying that Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite's art style leaves much to be desired.
1 Star Wars Battlefront 2
Offering major features in response to fan feedback (including a single-player story campaign) and releasing just ahead of a new Star Wars movie, Star Wars Battlefront 2 should have knocked it out of the park. But the new Star Wars tie-in left fans broken-hearted.
Reviews of gameplay have mostly been positive but it is the game's business model that has really caused an uproar. Star Wars Battlefront 2 has been slammed for its use of microtransactions and loot boxes to give players an advantage (no matter how slight) online.
The backlash to the business model was so severe that EA was forced to ditch microtransactions right before launch. But the changes made to compensate for the lack of microtransactions - like a decrease in credit gains - also left fans frustrated.
EA has promised to keep making tweaks to the game's progression system and has also suggested that microtransactions may never be brought back into the game, despite the initial removal being temporary. Regardless of what changes happen in future, the damage has already been done and fans are already disappointed.