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If this is next-gen, then we wished that greatness would have waited until it was ready. We were going to pen this article a little later in the month – the release schedule is still stacked with several other blockbuster titles – but with the Assassin’s Creed Unity saga still a sour taste on the industry’s lips, we’ve concluded that there’s no time like the present. Indeed, as we sit here pondering the past 12 months on PlayStation, we’re not even convinced that a perfect port of Grand Theft Auto V can make up for a string of remarkable blunders. And that leads us to the question: is this gaming’s most disappointing ever year?

This time in 2013, the PlayStation 4 was mere days away from release, and optimism was at an all-time high. In hindsight, the launch lineup wasn’t especially spectacular, but titles like Killzone: Shadow Fall managed to successfully underline the graphical capabilities of the machine, while third-party releases such as Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and Call of Duty: Ghosts ensured that all of the big brands were present and accounted for. It was an exciting time for the market as a whole – partly because of the arrival of new hardware, but also because of the possibilities that the new technology promised to provide. The marketing slogan employed by Sony was, after all, greatness awaits.

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To be clear, we don’t actually think that the Japanese giant’s new piece of equipment has disappointed in isolation. Aside from a few network related errors – which have perhaps been overblown by increasingly vocal gamers – the system’s fulfilled its part of the bargain fairly adequately. Granted, the format holder could have furnished the machine with a few more firmware updates, and it could have done with avoiding clangers like the recent Rest Mode mishap, but the system itself has delivered on much of its pre-release potential; turn on your PlayStation 3 after spending a month exclusively on its successor, and you’ll probably agree.

The problem, then, has mostly come down to software, which has been a source of frustration all year round. For the record, we’re aware that there have been some sensational games this year across all systems; from Bayonetta 2 all the way through to Sunset Overdrive, it’d be unfair to suggest that everything’s been trash. And contrary to popular opinion, there’s even been some solid stuff on the PlayStation maker’s own machines: inFAMOUS: Second Son, for example, was a fine release earlier in the year, while Velocity 2X was a stunning summer title. Even this month, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare has plotted a real return to form for Activision’s first-person franchise.

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Unlike in previous years, though, these successes have seemed like the exception to the rule. As already alluded, Assassin’s Creed Unity released this week in a borderline unfinished state, and it’s just the tip of the iceberg as far as technical shortcomings go. Sony’s own DriveClub, a game that had been delayed a year in order to iron out its online issues, still doesn’t work as intended a month removed from it release, which has prompted the platform holder to cancel the promised PlayStation Plus version – an Instant Game Collection addition that we suspect that it wished that it had never even committed to.

And it’s not just the games that don’t work as advertised that have caused a furore – many others have overpromised, and subsequently underdelivered. Watch Dogs, for example, was one of next-gen’s early poster childs, but it ultimately offered an experience that felt like it had fallen off a Ubisoft conveyer belt, complete with plenty of the yawn-inducing busy work that tends to infect all of the French firm’s titles these days. Destiny, meanwhile, suffered from a very different problem: technically and mechanically spectacular, this game’s major shortcoming was its almost criminal lack of content – especially after Bungie had hyped up its endgame to near intergalactic levels.

The first year in a generation is almost always its worst – that singular, spectacular PlayStation 2 sophomore effort aside – and there are perhaps comparisons to 2007 to be drawn. In that period, the first Assassin’s Creed seriously disappointed, while Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune’s promise would only really be realised a couple of years later, with Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. For every Lair and Heavenly Sword, however, there was a BioShock – albeit not on the PS3 – and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. In more recent times, we suppose that 2012 wasn’t exactly a banner year either – but it did play host to digital hits such as Journey and The Walking Dead.

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Perhaps the real disappointment this year, though, is that we expected so much more. With the previous generation lasting an eternity, we had assumed that publishers would be more prepared – but titles like Destiny, Watch Dogs, and DriveClub seem half-baked in so many different ways. There’s an argument to be made that maybe the industry didn’t anticipate this generation to take off as quickly as it has, and that’s possibly caught everyone off guard a little – after all, let’s not forget that the mainstream media was practically reading the console’s eulogy prior to the PS4 utterly ripping up the record books.

But even if that is the case, it still doesn’t excuse a year in which several blockbuster titles have released in a virtually unfinished state. There’s been some good releases, yes – a handful of great ones as well. However, as we bear down on our Game of the Year discussions with increasing acceleration, it’s perhaps telling that there are no real standout candidates at the time of typing. Perhaps even more terrifying is that this author’s already mentally preparing a case for why P.T – a promotional demo designed to announce the forthcoming Silent Hills – should be included in our shortlist. Talk about scraping the figurative barrel.

Have you been equally disappointed with this year’s gaming fare, or are we just being insufferably cynical? Do you think that this is just a one-off due to the new generation, or are you worried that publishers really are starting to cut corners? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Has this been one of gaming’s most disappointing years ever? (93 votes)

  1. Yes, it’s just been blunder after blunder42%
  2. Hmm, I’ll wait until it’s over before deciding24%
  3. No, there have been lots of great titles34%

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