The Disappointment of 2023: Starfield, "Spider-Man 2", Redfall, Total War: Pharaoh, The Day Before
In this nomination, we celebrate the releases that disappointed us the most in 2023. These are not necessarily failures. This includes games from which we expected much more than we got.
Third place — Starfield
Bethesda... Bethesda never changes. I want to start the conversation about Starfield this way. But Bethesda is changing. And, alas, not for the better. How much pathos there was! How many big words! As a result, the space role-playing game was practically non-space and role-playing only insofar as. In comparison with the best representatives of the genre, the novelty feels like the most banal shooter.
Sadly, such an ambitious project, based on a brilliant idea, is revealed only when most players have died of boredom. Those few gamers who valiantly defended Todd Howard's creation continued to be in the minority.
Starfield is very easy to hate and difficult to love. But even when you love, you don't get tired of regretting the missed potential. Imagining what a modern, truly cosmic, and truly role-playing game might look like.
Fascinating and full of meaning. And without many minor flaws that endlessly pour salt on the emotional wounds of connoisseurs of fantastic adventures.
Second place — "Spider-Man 2"
Many people were probably surprised to see Marvel's Spider-Man 2 on the list of disappointments. But this is exactly the case when the toy is really good.… But it should have been noticeably better.
"Spider-Man 2" looks cool. And it's played so that you can't break away — the battles are exciting, mini-games allow you to diversify the gameplay, tests sometimes make you sweat, and stealth ... is present.
But if you look under the hood of this Insomniac car, you might be surprised how little content is inside. Where is the meaning and logic of what is happening? Where is the development of heroes? Where is the adult story? We got exactly what we showed in the trailers. Two Spiders, Venom, Kraven… But why are all the characters so flat? Why do they exhibit such a lack of intelligence (or conversely, appear inexplicably all-powerful, akin to Mary Jane)? Why are they acting so strangely? And why are there so few J. Jonah Jamesons?
"Spider-Man 2" could be a brilliant game. But if, in the case of Starfield, the problems are on the surface, then the action game hides everything under the veneer of sunny New York, friendly humor, and good gameplay. And it would be fine if the game was terrible — it's good… Which makes it doubly insulting to see her flaws.
Hopefully, in the upcoming Venom, Marvel's Wolverine, and the Third Spider, the authors will work on the bugs and offer players more than just a beautiful wrapper.
First place — The Day Before
The Day Before we waited, we believed in the game… But time passed. While some did not look beyond the official trailers and did not listen to the dissatisfied, others analyzed what was happening, noticed the details, and waited for the outcome of this insane tragicomedy.
The closer the game came to release, the more often this word was heard on the network. But could the most self-confident critics have assumed that everything would happen exactly as it happened? Was it possible to believe that after all this high-profile advertising campaign, the end would be so swift and destructive?
After all the postponements, The Day Before went into early access. Full of bugs. With problems with the servers. With a minimum of zombies. With terrible controls. And the gameplay is stripped down even by the standards of early access. It's not an MMO, but a shooter. In addition, it is without melee (although, for some time, there were hopes of adding it). Empty and initially half-dead. And not at all the way its creators presented it.
A few days pass. The fantastic studio is closing. The Day Before is withdrawn from sales, promising to return the money to the players. And the developers tell us what a nightmare was happening in the studio. Surprisingly, after all this, some enthusiasts wanted The Day Before to continue to develop! And yet, the game's servers will close on January 22.
Someday, a book or a movie may be written about the development of The Day Before. What image will Fantastic executives appear in there? Naive dreamers? Clever scammers? Greedy tyrants? Or someone else? Will see. In any event, all aspects of The Day Before have been made clear.
In conclusion, 2023 certainly delivered its fair share of gaming disappointments, with the highly anticipated releases of Starfield, "Spider-Man 2", and The Day Before falling short of expectations. Despite the hype and potential, each game failed to fully deliver on its promises, leaving a bittersweet taste in the mouths of gamers worldwide.
These titles remind us that lofty promises and flashy advertising campaigns do not always guarantee a satisfying gaming experience. In the end, it's the execution and realization of these promises that truly matter. Despite the shortcomings, we hope that developers take note of these failures and use them as lessons for future projects. After all, learning from disappointments and moving forward are essential parts of growth in any industry, including gaming.
