It’s time to take a closer look at games that didn’t live up to expectations.
A new year offers the perfect opportunity to reflect on the games released in the previous year. This time, however, instead of showcasing the best games of 2025, we’ll focus on the lowest-rated ones.
Lowest-rated Games – 2025 Edition
What were the biggest disappointments in gaming? Which games failed to deliver a satisfying experience? Which ones ended up being significantly overhyped or overpriced?
Here are some of the worst games of 2025 based on community reception, critic reviews, Steam data, Metacritic scores, and other measures.
Rennsport
| Release date: | 10 November, 2025 |
| Genre: | Racing |
| Developer: | Teyon |
Whether you’re looking for a racing sim or an arcade game, Rennsport fails to deliver on either front.
Rennsport feels like a beta version, yet it is sold as a finished product at full price. It’s not necessarily a bad game, just unfinished. A shame, really, as there’s clearly some room for more games in the racing genre that’s currently dominated by just a few popular franchises.
Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos
| Release date: | 30 April, 2025 |
| Genre: | Action, Arcade |
| Developer: | Idea Factory, Compile Heart |
The new Neptunia game failed to capture the hearts of even the fans of the series while leaving non-fans confused.
The amount of content provided by the game that is valued at a triple-A level is extremely disappointing, making this one worth your money only if you’re aiming to 100% every Neptunia game. Enjoyable voice acting is worth being mentioned, but if you’re not a fan of the franchise, you won’t even know what’s going on.
Hunter × Hunter: Nen × Impact
| Release date: | 2025-07-16 |
| Genre: | Fighting |
| Developer: | Eighting |
Players describe this one as a game that plays and feels like a mobile game from a decade ago.
Very short campaign, poor character balance, and lack of 1 versus 1 mode make it difficult to justify the price. And the price is the biggest issue, really, which is a common theme on this list. $60 is simply way too much for what this otherwise cool anime-looking fighting game offers.
Ambulance Life: A Paramedic Simulator
| Release date: | 2025-02-06 |
| Genre: | Simulator |
| Developer: | Aesir Interactive |
Playing this one might leave you in need of a paramedic’s help, all right.
We do understand that simulation games are still just games. As such, we don’t expect them to follow real-life rules down to the letter, but even then, Ambulance Life fails to meet any expectations. Clunky driving mechanics, repetitive missions, and bugs make the game difficult to recommend.
Scar-Lead Salvation
| Release date: | 2025-05-29 |
| Genre: | Arcade, TPS |
| Developer: | Neilo Inc. |
Bland and repetitive, that’s pretty much it.
For Scar-Lead Salvation, it’s like all the components that make a good game are in place, but there was not enough thought put into answering the question: how to combine these elements to create an enjoyable experience? All the game has going for it is good art and voice acting. For $10? Maybe. For $60? No way.
Spy Drops
| Release date: | 31 July, 2025 |
| Genre: | Action, Stealth |
| Developer: | Rainy Night Creations |
A poorly executed return to the era of old-school retro spy games.
The game is disappointing, and it’s not even the visuals; there’s something charming about its retro 3D look. In fact, the visuals are probably the game’s strongest suit, and it was a deliberate artistic choice. The developer’s commitment to improving the game is worth being praised as well. What the game lacks is everything else.
Blood of Mehran
| Release date: | 7 October, 2025 |
| Genre: | Action, RPG |
| Developer: | Permanent Way Game Co. |
The game is nowhere near as good as its opening sequence.
Clunky combat in a game that’s focused on fighting is unacceptable. Even the satisfying executions during boss encounters and the captivating atmosphere can’t make up for that. Inconsistent visuals and cliché story only make things worse.
Tamagotchi Plaza
| Release date: | 27 June, 2025 |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Developer: | BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment |
Another heavily overpriced option on the list.
It’s unclear who was supposed to be the target audience here. With its charming creatures and cute art style, you’d have thought that it’s a game for kids, yet there’s nothing entertaining here. It’s quite impossible to imagine why kids would choose playing dull, repetitive minigames over titles such as Minecraft or Fortnite.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
| Release date: | 2025-11-14 |
| Genre: | FPS, Arcade Shooter |
| Developer: | Treyarch |
This is, probably, the lowest-rated Call of Duty game of all time.
Massive downgrade compared to BO6 with a short, online-only single-player campaign, terrible optimization, and egregious use of AI-generated artwork. A game that feels like a DLC but is sold at full price. The requirement for TPM 2.0 was also met with backlash from the community. With that being said, it’s worth noting the great audio design.
MindsEye
| Release date: | 2025-06-10 |
| Genre: | TPS, Action |
| Developer: | Build a Rocket Boy |
The linear gameplay formula doesn’t blend well with a promise of an open-world environment.
MindsEye is often cited as the most disappointing release of 2025. It’s an example of a game where the ambitions far outgrew the budget. Made by an ex-director of GTA, MindsEye tries to mimic its style but completely misses the fact that games should be first and foremost enjoyable to play.
Conclusion
There have been quite a few gaming disappointments in 2025, failing for a variety of reasons. We can only hope there’ll be no need to write this kind of article next year.
With how stacked the 2026 gaming lineup looks so far, we’re set to quickly forget about last year’s flops. So, stay positive and keep on gaming!