10 Worst Reviewed Games of the PS2 Era

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The PlayStation 2 was a groundbreaking era for gaming, but not every game released for it was good. While many successful franchises started or improved during that time, a number of games were simply low quality.

Looking back at the PlayStation’s biggest impact on gaming, it’s wild to remember that *every* kind of game had its flops. It wasn’t just one genre—sports games, RPGs, you name it—they all had some truly terrible releases during that time. It’s kind of amazing how many disasters there were, even in that golden age!

We’re taking a look at some truly terrible games – the ones that are almost unplayable and fall far below acceptable quality.

10. Aqua Teen Hunger Force Zombie Ninja Pro-Am

Metacritic Score: 37

I’m a big fan of Aqua Teen Hunger Force, which makes this game based on the show a bit disappointing. Even though the original voice actors are involved, it’s hard to understand why the game was even made. The fighting is terribly done, and the mini-games, like golf, aren’t much fun either.

This game tries to do a lot of different things, but doesn’t do any of them well. It includes racing, combat, and golf, but each feels unfinished and doesn’t justify the game’s price. Considering it was released near the end of the PlayStation 2’s lifespan, the outdated graphics and overall presentation are particularly disappointing.

This installment is really for dedicated fans of the series, as it features a brand new story. While it’s still enjoyable to watch the familiar characters, including Carl, get into silly situations, some viewers think it’s intentionally bad, which isn’t a good enough reason to excuse a poorly made game.

9. Fight Club

Metacritic Score: 36

If Fight Club had simply been a film about secret, illegal fights, it might have been okay, but it wouldn’t have become the iconic movie we know today.

The Fight Club game focuses heavily on, unsurprisingly, fighting – that seems to be its main idea. While the combat itself isn’t great, it does have some interesting details when characters get hurt. However, the characters all feel so alike that it doesn’t really matter who you choose to play as from the movie.

This game came out five years after the movie, which was a strange timing for a tie-in. While the game does put you in the movie’s story with a new character, it’s mostly just constant fighting – don’t expect the same thoughtful plot as the film. Although some reviewers were generous, it’s not really worth playing.

8. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

Metacritic Score: 36

Okay, so I played Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, and honestly? It’s just… the *least* a game could be based on a movie. When it’s good, it feels like a really bad copy of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. And that’s being generous! Most of the time, it’s just… terrible. Seriously, it’s pretty awful.

The Fantastic Four have a lot of potential powers, but in this game, each character feels too similar. Playing as The Thing doesn’t offer much of a different experience compared to playing as the Invisible Woman.

This game’s level design is really poor, and the graphics haven’t aged well – it looks like something from the late 90s, especially considering it came out in 2007. If you’re looking for a good superhero game, you’re much better off playing Marvel’s Ultimate Alliance, where you can actually play as all four members of the Fantastic Four, instead of struggling with this game’s repetitive tasks and frustrating controls.

7. The Shield

Metacritic Score: 36

Seeing Michael Chiklis in two games back-to-back is a bit unsettling – it feels like Halloween is right around the corner! He was a popular actor in the early 2000s, so basing a game on his intense police drama, *The Shield*, seemed logical at the time. The game puts you in the role of Vic Mackey, but the missions themselves aren’t very well designed.

This game allows you to mistreat suspects, features shockingly poor shooting sections, and includes some of the worst cutscenes ever made. The outdated graphics will leave you questioning how this PS2 game was developed in 2007. It feels like the creators didn’t expect anyone to actually play it, and they were largely correct.

The game was surprisingly simple to develop, but the final product feels flawed in almost every way. Watching it is just as dull as playing it, and the only initially fun part – hitting enemies with furniture – quickly becomes repetitive and boring.

6. Fugitive Hunter: War on Terror

Metacritic Score: 35

Fugitive Hunter: War on Terror is a deeply flawed and poorly executed game. This first-person shooter is riddled with ridiculous moments, like hand-to-hand combat with identifiable terrorists, and it’s surprising it was ever released. The game is particularly let down by its terrible sound design – guns sound weak and muffled – and an equally bad soundtrack. It features bizarre elements like boxing matches intended to subdue enemies.

This game squanders all its potential. It feels unfinished and lacks effort – characters don’t even animate when speaking, enemies randomly appear even in cleared areas, and the story is simply terrible.

This game is truly terrible overall, but the final fight scenes against the terrorists are so bizarrely bad, they’re almost worth experiencing just to see what went wrong.

5. Mcfarlane’s Evil Prophecy

Metacritic Score: 34

Despite having impressive character designs and being an original creation from a well-known artist, McFarlane’s Evil Prophecy was ultimately a failed game. It seemed promising on paper, but didn’t live up to expectations.

This game relies on repetitive button presses and, despite having different characters, they don’t offer much variety in gameplay. It’s a frustrating experience, especially when your AI teammates perform just as poorly as you do – you might as well just watch the uninspired action unfold from the sidelines.

The fighting is really bad – it’s full of pointless violence against bland enemies, and attacks don’t feel impactful. It’s a multiplayer game, but be warned: it’s likely to bore anyone you play with very quickly. Prepare to apologize to your friends!

4. Mike Tyson Heavyweight Boxing

Metacritic Score: 33

Developer Atomic Planet Entertainment
Release June 26th, 2002
Platforms PlayStation 2, Xbox

Okay, as a boxing fan, I have to say Mike Tyson Heavyweight Boxing is…rough. It’s seriously one of the hardest boxing games I’ve ever tried to play, and not in a good way. It’s not challenging because it’s realistic or requires skill; it’s just frustrating because there’s basically no strategy or good fighting mechanics to help you out.

The boxing in this game looks awful. The punches are poorly animated and don’t seem powerful, and there’s very little variety. Most fights just turn into a chaotic series of button presses.

This game doesn’t feel like a genuine sport and doesn’t fully commit to being a fun, over-the-top arcade experience either. It’s stuck trying to be both, which makes it feel confused and unsure of its identity. Without the Mike Tyson branding, it would likely go unnoticed.

3. MTV’s Celebrity Deathmatch

Metacritic Score: 32

Have you ever watched an old show or movie and wondered how it ever got made? That’s definitely the case with MTV’s Celebrity Deathmatch. The show featured celebrities battling each other to the death in a boxing ring, and the game recreates that same over-the-top violence and humor.

The game uses claymation, which is a nice touch, but overall it’s really disappointing. The controls are terrible, each character doesn’t have enough moves to stay interesting, and it barely features the wild, over-the-top finishing moves that made the show fun.

And when it came to Celebrity Deathmatch, we used the term ‘celebrity’ pretty loosely! The lineup included people like Joey Fatone, Jerry Springer, and Miss Cleo. If you’ve ever wanted to see Carmen Electra fight Carrot Top, this show delivers. But if you’re looking for a genuinely good fighting game with a strong cast of characters, you should definitely check out something else.

2. GoDai: Elemental Force

Metacritic Score: 27


Developer The 3DO Company
Release Date January 21st, 2002
Platform PlayStation 2

GoDai: Elemental Force tried to stand out from the crowd of action games being released at the time. However, it wasn’t successful, as many of those other games were simply better.

The game has some interesting concepts, such as diverse weapons and gliding inspired by films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. However, none of it quite works. While it aims to be a complex action game, even simple actions are frustratingly difficult to pull off.

This game had grand ideas, but unfortunately, it didn’t live up to its potential. The result is frustrating combat, poorly executed concepts, and a vision that looked much better in theory than it played in practice. It’s widely considered one of the worst games ever made, and that reputation is well-deserved.

The game is visually unappealing, with drab colors and poorly designed characters. The flawed combat system only makes things worse.

1. Gravity Games Bike: Street, Vert, Dirt

Metacritic Score: 24

Developer Midway Games
Release Date June 27th, 2002
Platform PlayStation 2

BMX biking was really popular in the early 2000s, and that led to a lot of BMX video games being released – some of which were surprisingly fun.

Gravity Games attempted to build on existing popularity, but the game was a disaster. It was riddled with bugs and didn’t look good – the graphics were muddy, the environments were poorly designed, and it simply couldn’t compete visually with other games.

Realistic physics are key in biking games, but Gravity Games really misses the mark. Bikes often launch with way too much speed and the animations in the air feel unfinished and unnatural. Ironically, for a game focused on impressive tricks, it often feels like you’re stuck on the ground.

This game makes performing even simple tricks incredibly difficult. The controls demand perfect timing, and even a small mistake ruins everything. It’s frustrating because the game should be fun and about pulling off amazing stunts, but instead, it feels clumsy and makes you feel unskilled – the opposite of what it should be.

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2025-10-16 16:15