The 5 Greatest Video Game Flops of 2017

With a selection of some of the best quality games in over a decade, 2017 was a year to remember for gaming fans. However, for every Breath of the Wild and Wolfenstein II there is an equally popular game that just didn't quite make the cut. Lets take a look at some of the biggest screw-ups of 2017.

1. 'Battlefront II'

The most well-documented and possibly most mishandled game released last year, Battlefront II was the subject of criticism and hate for its unadulterated pay-to-win systems and micro-transactions. Developers at EA further aggravated the situation by misinterpreting the problem leading to (possibly) the single worst firestorm any company has received on Twitter and gaining the award of 'most hated comment on Reddit' in response to their infamous 'pride and accomplishment' tweet. For a time you could hardly scroll through social media without bumping into backlash and hate and the situation became so drastic that EA finally agreed to repealing the micro-transaction schemes "for the time being," but by then it was almost too late. Most of the player base had moved on to other titles, leaving a game that was rushed, full of pay-to-win mechanics, and left for dead. This is sad because I personally enjoyed the game and it does not seem like it was fundamentally flawed but, because of EA's greedy habits, they squeezed the life out of their own creation. Well done.

2. 'Mass Effect: Andromeda'

Bioware's Mass Effect is one of the most popular rpg series of all time and it's clear that it's developers are smart and capable of producing games. They are excellent at paying attention to detail and streamlining their products to give the player an optimal experience. So, it came as a shock to fans and critics alike that nearly 7 years after the beloved (if controversial) Mass Effect 3, they were given a minimally marketed, clearly rushed, half-baked attempt at a game. TheGamer.com says that "The release was devastating for many fans of the series. It was a clear misfire: many animations felt 'off,' there was a lack of customization, and an overly repetitive set of missions." Like Battlefront II, the game was not fundamentally bad. The voice-acting was strong, the gameplay was decent, and although options were limiting at the beginning, they seemed to even out after a time. But the technical problems and severe lack of new, original, and creative content was disappointing to most fans of the original trilogy. A review from IGN sums it up quite well.

"Mass Effect: Andromeda creatively sidesteps the limitations of Mass Effect 3’s ending by launching a group of pioneers into a whole new galaxy. What they find there is a vast and sometimes exciting action role-playing game that kept me engaged, but after the outstanding trilogy that created this universe, Andromeda is a disappointing follow up with some significant technical issues on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One." —Dan Stapleton

This, along with launch issues and a severe lack of advertisement, seemed to have stunted Andromeda's growth leading to it becoming an unfortunate stigma in an otherwise excellent series.

3. 'For Honor'

For Honor's initial release was a success! The melee combat system was something completely new, full of nuance and complexity hiding under a guise of simple parry and thrust. The multiplayer was fun, if repetitive, and the cosmetics for characters were fun and allowed for originality and gave the player the satisfaction of creative control. However, the game had many shortcomings that caused it to lose much of its player base rather quickly. Most notable among these shortcomings were its weak campaign with forgettable characters and a confusing plot, its loss of cohesion in multiplayer games of 8 or more (where strategy tended to be less effective than the brute strength of numbers), and its frugal economy system which did not handle the balance between in game and real world money in a fair way. If it had continued to grow after its release, receiving care and adjustments from its developers and community then maybe it would still be popular today, but unfortunately this game will most likely end up collecting dust on a shelf.

4. 'Halo Wars 2'

343 studios, wanting to expand the Halo gameplay back in 2009, created Halo Wars. It was a real-time strategy game with a rather good campaign. It was greeted with a lukewarm response and not much more can be said for its sequel. Halo Wars 2, despite its large marketing campaign and advertisements, was greeted with a half-hearted reception. Fans of its predecessor were happy for a game of the same strategic caliber and critics were impressed with Blur Studios' impressive cinematics, but despite all its high points Halo Wars 2 was not given the reception a true Halo game deserved. Why? Well, perhaps it was because it wasn't a true Halo game. It differed far too heavily from the sci-fi fps we've all enjoyed gunning through, and the story seems a bit more nuanced and vague than traditional games, which are more action-oriented. Whatever the reason, Halo Wars 2 was underwhelming despite the hype its studio tried to build.

5. '1-2 Switch'

1-2 Switch was released with Nintendo's new console as a party game similar to Wii Sports and other console exclusive titles. The main focus of the game was on the console tech, each game demonstrating a different aspect of the controls or software. However, because of the gaming community's initial hesitance of accepting a new Nintendo console, the game lost traction. Reviews of the individual minigames have called them everything from 'relaxing' to 'bizarre and off-putting.' The games are pretty generic but a few are just so strange they leave us scratching our heads. Whatever the case, 1-2 Switch failed to live up to the clean, well-edited, color-coordinated ads and will most likely be another console-exclusive title lost to the ages.