It’s hard to believe that we have been using the next-gen consoles since 2013, but we have! The PS4 and Xbox One came out about a month apart and the PS3/Xbox 360 gen slowly started to fade away. Xbox went the smart route and allowed their system to be backwards compatible. The PS4 has PlayStation Now as a steaming service, but it doesn’t work very well without great internet. They did finally add the ability to download games, but Xbox still has the edge in letting you use your old discs.
Now that we’re all caught up on backwards compatibility, let’s talk about some of the games from last gen. This list will focus on some games that I considered not that great and some that you may want to revisit. I don’t think all the games on the “worst” side of things are all bad games, some were just disappointing to me. Some are straight up bad and can’t really be argued though. Some of the games I think you should try, or play for the first time, might not have the greatest love by fans. I also wanted to try and keep all the games you should try limited to games that you can play on Xbox One for the sake of ease, but some are still not backwards compatible yet. Before we get to the list, I wanted to add that I didn’t want to just throw in trash games that are obviously bad, I find that stuff to be tedious. Alright, let’s get it!
30 Worst: Batman: Arkham Origins
So, I don’t think this is a brutal game or anything, it was just very disappointing. When the game came out, the frame-rate was abysmal and you could tell it didn’t have that polish of a rock-steady game.
Black Mask is one of my favorite Batman villains and he’s used so poorly in this game. Troy Baker as the Joker was cool, but he didn’t have to end up being the main villain. The boss fights were cool though.
29 Worth A Second Look: Army Of Two
I know this game wasn’t received super well, but man, I loved this game! It’s got solid shooting mechanics and the amount of customization is vast! I played a little bit of it in co-op, but I mostly played single player and the AI does it’s job fine. I’ll admit that the story isn’t anything special, but it gets the job done. It did well enough to get a sequel and a reboot, but I think it’s still worth checking out the first one and it’s on Xbox One!
28 Worst: Call Of Duty: Ghosts
I want to start by saying that I genuinely liked the campaign for this game. It went places and had a great ending. I have this game on here because of the multiplayer. Some of the maps were too big and the gunplay just seemed off for whatever reason. They changed up the progression system when it really didn’t need it and the guns weren’t as interesting. I have been a Call of Duty person since Call of Duty 2 and this is one of the few games in the series that I didn’t like the multiplayer at all.
27 Worth A Second Look: Alan Wake
The main reason I wanted this game on this list is so people don’t forget about it. It reviewed well and people seemed to like it, but it never hit that huge success that I feel it deserved since we still don’t have a sequel!
The lighting in the game is amazing.
It’s a genuinely creepy game with an amazing story. It’s very self-aware and has a serious Stephen King vibe to it. The combat is fine, but not it’s strongest asset. It’s just hard to believe we had two The Evil Within games and only one Alan Wake game, outside of American Nightmare.
26 Worst: Epic Mickey 2: The Power Of Two
I really enjoyed the first Epic Mickey game. It was weird and had an interesting story, so I had high hopes for this one. It’s just… so mediocre with everything it’s trying to do.
The first game was on the Wii.
The story isn’t great, the combat took a step back, and the game ran like crap with unpleasant frame-rate problems. It’s such a pity because bringing Oswald back was a huge deal and they didn’t capitalize on it enough. It does look amazing though, and seeing all the weird Disney stuff come to life was cool.
25 Worth A Second Look: Brütal Legend
What an awesome game! If you are into metal music and you haven’t checked this game out yet, then you really need to! The soundtrack is amazing, the voice acting is great, and the story is fun. I get that the game kinda feels like two wrapped into one, with half being open world and half being an RTS, but still. Jack Black is the star in a role he was made for, Ozzy is the Guardian of Metal, and a slew of other metal musicians are in it too! It’s one of the funniest and more unique games you’ll play.
24 Worst: Assassin’s Creed III
I’m a big fan of the Assassin’s Creed games, but Assassin’s Creed III was the only one I had a hard time finishing. The setting was cool, but that was about it for me.
The story was so slow paced and Connor was a very bland lead character. It did introduce the boat combat into the series, so there’s that. The big reason I didn’t like this game was the ending. It was the end of the Desmond storyline and man, it was disappointing to the point of insulting.
23 Worth A Second Look: Catherine
This was an interesting game that I ended up really liking, despite the weird way you actually played it. It was made by Atlus and it was in the style of the Persona games. The story was the main thing that grabbed my attention and how dark the humor was. It’s basically a story about cheating and in the boss fights, you’re basically a sheep running away from them up a structure. It does kinda turn into a puzzle, but it works in a weird way.
22 Worst: Sonic The Hedgehog
This is better known as Sonic ’06 and is one of the weirdest games in the series. It was kind of a reboot to Sonic and there’s a scene with him making out with a human girl and…did I mention, this game is weird! The actual sections of the game that feel like a Sonic game were fine, but there aren’t many of those. It’s mainly a very slow-paced game and it felt like they were making another game, but last minute, made it a Sonic one. It’s such an odd piece of gaming history.
21 Worth A Second Look: Condemned: Criminal Origins
This game is still one of the creepiest games that came out during the 360 era. This was before Outlast or Resident Evil 7, so first-person horror on a console like this wasn’t a thing then.
If you have’t played this game yet and own an Xbox One, you really need to! The graphics haven’t held up amazing, but the lighting has, which is a very important detail in a horror game. It did well enough to get a sequel, but we haven’t seen anything from the series since 2008!
20 Worst: Blue Dragon
I love turn-based JRPG games and was really looking forward to this game. It was written by Hironobu Sakaguchi of Final Fantasy fame and looked awesome from the screenshots. It just ended up being bland with a so-so story.
I’m not saying this game is garbage, it actually has some pretty cool moments in it. It’s just that it ended up being a middle-of-the-road JRPG when the Xbox 360 really needed a heavy hitting RPG game.
19 Worth A Second Look: Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Double Agent
I feel like this is the Splinter Cell game that everyone just kinda forgot about. It gets a second look because it does have a different tell than the others before, but it was the first one on Xbox 360 and it was pretty good! It has a very mature feel to it and it’s cool to see Sam in a different story. The sections of him out of his suit are cool and let’s be real here, he looks awesome with a shaved head. It’s on the Xbox One, so check it out if you haven’t, it’s good!
18 Worst: Gears Of War: Judgment
I love the Gears of War games, but this one felt like it was just thrown together for the sake of having a game in between 3 and 4. It was cool to see the early days of Gears of War: Emergence Day and it plays like a Gears game, but that’s where the good ends in my opinion.
Baird is the main character and it just didn’t work. Hearing Baird complain in the other games could be funny, but him as the central character…not so much. There are some essential moments for the series in the game, but maybe, just watch them on YouTube.
17 Worth A Second Look: Dante’s Inferno
I think this game is super fun! Yeah, it’s basically cashing in on ripping off God of War with it’s combat, but who cares, and yeah, the story is kinda dumb, but who cares! It tells the classic story of “The Divine Comedy,” but puts a video game spin on it and it worked for me. It’s very violent and the combat is smooth. The art direction is awesome, and seeing the circles of Hell is cool if not a bit disturbing. It’s on Xbox One if you’re in the mood for a button masher!
16 Worst: Sonic Unleashed
Man, what a mixed bag this game is. I know this is the second Sonic game on here and yeah, last gen wasn’t kind to the hedgehog, but the odd thing about this one is that it feels like two totally different games, and I’m pretty sure that’s on purpose. Again, the regular Sonic levels look and feel great, but when he turns into the beast…I…I don’t know why they did that! It turns into an extremely slow-paced game, where you basically just platform and break stuff. Such a weird game.
15 Worth A Second Look: Spec Ops: The Line
I’m not going to defend the combat in this game, but the story is incredible! I feel like the people that played this talked about it for a while afterwards, but I think a lot of people passed on this one.
It was inspired by Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now.
It has amazing voice acting and a legit story you will want to see until the end, even if that means putting it on easy because the combat can be a bit much. It does have some very disturbing scenes, but they are totally earned and needed in my opinion.
14 Worst: Duke Nukem Forever
I think everyone knew this game was going to be bad before it came out, but people like me went and bought it anyway. I do think the humor works and it’s just as immature and gross as it used to be, which wasn’t it for me. The combat felt like it was from the early 2000s and the story was hot garbage! For a game that’s in your face, it had a ton of jumping puzzles for some reason. The graphics looked really rough as well. I would just watch some YouTube videos on this game if you’re interested in it.
13 Worth A Second Look: Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning
Man I loved this game! I remember it coming out around the same time as Skyrim and I remember feeling weird for liking this game more. It had an animated style to it with fast combat that was super satisfying.
THQ Nordic bought the rights to this franchise this year.
I think people passed on this game because they were either playing Skyrim or felt like the story was all over the place. The story isn’t amazing or anything, but it’s solid. If you want a huge RPG with fast combat, then give this a shot, it’s on Xbox One!
12 Worst: Perfect Dark Zero
I get that this was a launch title for the 360, but that’s no excuse to throw a name like “Perfect Dark” on a game this mediocre. I’m pretty sure that if you got an Xbox 360 at launch, then there’s a good chance you played this game and know what I’m talking about. Even back then, the graphics weren’t that great and it played like a generic FPS game. Call of Duty 2 came out at the same time and showed what the system could do in much better ways.
11 Worth A Second Look: Assassin’s Creed
I know that a lot of people were disappointed by this game and I get it, but I fell in love with it. I really enjoyed the way you would track down targets and study them a bit before taking them out. In the games now, you are just pointed in the direction of someone and you take them out. Some of the stuff can be repetitive, but the story is very strong and worth seeing to the end. Plus, Altaïr might be the coolest protagonist in the series!
