LogInThe Walking Dead: Destinies is not what you expect from a popular universe.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum will most likely be remembered forever, although for the wrong reasons. The game turned out so bad its developers had to apologize for what they'd created. But it inadvertently became a benchmark used to rate video games; and if the title is bad enough, it gets a new "genre" – Gollum-like (thanks, solarnoise), like it happened with The Walking Dead: Destinies.
This action-adventure was released for consoles and was immediately labeled as "the worst game of 2023." Developed by Flux Games and published by GameMill Entertainment, it lets you "change the course of AMC’s The Walking Dead history."
Image credit: Flux Games
"Fight walkers, relive iconic moments, and change the destiny of The Walking Dead Universe as your choices separate heroes from villains, and the living from the dead. Will you make the same choices as Rick, or will you forge your own path?"
Image credit: Flux Games
Predictably, you slay hordes of zombies with melee and ranged weapons playing one of the 13 characters, manage resources, scavenge for ammo, defend your camp, and rescue survivors. Unpredictably, it all looks... underwhelming.
Players have pointed out mediocre animation, static cutscenes, and bizarre gameplay, you can see it all in many videos online:
If you think you've heard of GameMill Entertainment before, you might recognize another Worst Game of the Year nominee – Skull Island: Rise of Kong, published by the same team. The fact there are two disastrous games from the same published in the same year is a little strange and doesn't add points to the team.
The saddest part of these games is that they are associated with famous franchises and cost accordingly. The Walking Dead: Destinies is $49.99 for consoles, and while it's coming to Steam on December 1 only, I'm pretty sure the price won't drop.
Image credit: Flux Games
It's pretty disconcerting that we got so many less-than-average games this year. On the other hand, there were plenty of memorable experiences, like Baldur's Gate 3, Alan Wake 2, and Starfield. Let's hope next year will bring us more decent titles.
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