20 WORST Licensed Games on PS3

20 Worst Licensed Games on PS3

Welcome to MojoPlays. It would seem that technology getting better didn’t make the licensed game genre any stronger and the PS3 was where the age of cheap cash in games began to slowly die out.

[if any Intros or Criteria are requested on the matrix, insert B-roll for them here]

“007 Legends” (2012)

James Bond is one of the coolest and most suave characters ever created and deserved far better than this to celebrate the spy’s 50th anniversary. The idea was at least a novel concept, allow players to relive some of Bond’s most iconic moments from 50 years of films, but in practice, it was a disjointed anthology with Daniel Craig’s rendition of 007 awkwardly inserted into scenes replacing the version of Bond that made them so memorable. This alone would have been bad enough, but the clearly rushed production of the game led to it being riddled with bugs, glitches, incompetent and downright dumb AI, poor controls and just overall incredibly low production values. The level design and gameplay loop are also incredibly linear, bland and boring with none of the in-game objectives feeling particularly “Bond-esque”. The multiplayer was at least decent, but the bar was already so low, anything part of the game that wasn’t broken deserved praise.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/007_Legends

“The Expendables 2” (2012)

Isometric twin stick shooters are the go-to genre for developers looking for a quick tie-in game for a popular IP, and without fail, we ended up with The Expendables 2. Based on Sylvester Stallone’s popular nostalgia bait action series, even for a downloadable $15 game in 2012, this was as low effort as you could get with a license. Absolutely nothing in the game was redeemable. The controls were broken and imprecise, the graphics were ridiculously dated, but still somehow had an overabundance of pop-in, the guns felt woefully underpowered, made worse by the bullet spongey enemies, and the various upgrades were either completely pointless or broken. The only thing about the game that captured the fun of the films was if you somehow convinced some friends to play co-op and you make fun of the experience the entire time.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Expendables_2

“The Punisher: No Mercy” (2009)

Another tie-in, another cheap and lazy downloadable game for a popular license. Genuinely why is it so hard to create a Punisher experience? Somehow a game based solely around shooting bad guys doing bad things wasn’t just bad, it was one of the worst games on the PS3 by quite a long shot. Designed primarily as a multiplayer deathmatch arena shooter, No Mercy couldn’t even get the basics of the genre or even the character right. Shooting mechanics were floaty and lacked any real impact, hit boxes were inconsistent or worse, non-existent, and level design wasn’t even a consideration with most levels amounting to nothing more than empty buildings or shipping yards. The advertised “single player campaign”, was nothing more than some awkward gunfights against brain-dead enemy AI that both have zero self-preservation skills and are also ridiculously overpowered, able to eat your bullets like bits of popcorn. Stick with Jon Bernthal’s Punisher. You’ll have a better time.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Punisher:_No_Mercy

“Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime” (2011)

Ghostbusters have had exactly one good video game adaptation in their long tenure of Ghostbusting, and Sanctum of Slime is yet another entry that was better off left in the afterlife. Another isometric twin stick shooter, you and your somehow less than braindead AI companions hunt ghosts across 12 of the blandest and most boring corridors this side of the backrooms, each more indistinguishable from the last. Even worse, all the typical chemistry between the Ghostbusters is completely absent, replaced with lifeless cardboard stand-ins for the team fans really want to see under the guise of “new recruits”. Combined with a ridiculously short playtime of only a couple hours, countless bugs and glitches as well as the aforementioned incompetent AI, there really is no redeeming quality in the game.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostbusters:_Sanctum_of_Slime

“Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock” (2012)

All of time and space, where do you want to start on how this was such a disappointing entry into the Doctor Who canon? The idea of taking up the TARDIS of arguably the best modern Doctor, the Eleventh Doctor, for an original interactive adventure had every possibility of being wibbly wobby timey wimey bit of fun through time and space, especially with the voice cast returning, but this is one adventure even the Doctor couldn’t save. Full of frustrating puzzles, made worse by River’s terrible AI, broken and buggy controls which make even the most simplistic action of a 2D platformer more difficult, and a story that never reaches the same height of cleverness as the show, makes battling the Daleks seem like a leisurely Saturday afternoon. Even the most dedicated Whovians would be better off skipping this one, even if it is still better than the last decade of Doctor Who.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Who:_The_Eternity_Clock

https://youtu.be/1Jo849GVrsQ?si=8mGRW6rHczTI__S2

“MIB: Alien Crisis” (2012)

There are bad, low effort, cash grab tie-in games, and then there’s whatever the hell MIB: Alien Crisis was. Rather than lean into the investigative or even third person action shooter, the devs decided “Nah, let’s make it an on rails shooter” and crapped out what is easily one of the cheapest and low effort licensed games on the entire list. With graphics that wouldn’t even be cutting edge on the PS2, character dialogue that was also so bad even the in-game models refused to say it, along with one of the most basic gameplay loops that instantly became boring after the first couple minutes, Alien Crisis might as well have been another generic shooter wearing an MIB disguise. Most people have thankfully been Neuralized to forget the game even exists and we’re going to need a refresher just looking at this footage. Just look right here at the little red dot…

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIB:_Alien_Crisis

“Fast & Furious: Showdown” (2013)

The Fast and Furious movies have continued to push the boundaries of what we thought was possible in action movies, with insane stunts, action sequences and the core focus on family. The tie-in game Showdown is none of those things. You wouldn’t think adapting the over-the-top races and action of the Fast and Furious movies would be that difficult, racing games have been around for generations and games like Split/Second showcased the franchise’s insane action sequences, but somehow the devs managed to take everything great about the movies and leave it at the starting line. Bland and boring races, multiple on rails sections, zero spectacle or comradery, even the sense of speed from the tricked-out cars is somehow missing. All the frequent bugs, glitches and frame drops only add to the frustrations compounded by the game’s AI that barely has a learner’s permit. This is one entry that should be completely disowned by the Fast and Furious Family.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_%26_Furious:_Showdown

“Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire” (2006)

Launch titles are expected to be a bit jank or not take full advantage of the new hardware, but Mobile Suit Gundam: Crossfire was so unbelievably bad it should have self-destructed instead of releasing. Gundam’s are meant to feel massive and the game nails this aesthetic for all the wrong reasons. The entire game runs like the check engine light is on. Crossfire has some of the worst performance issues of any video game, ever, with such constant frame drops the game feels like its playing in slow motion, a laundry list of technical issues including spotty collision detection, a camera that is fighting for its life and environments and particle effects so bad you’d think they were created is Microsoft Paint. Combine all this with lame and repetitive missions, a half-baked narrative with bland characters made worse by the abysmal voice acting and this One Year War feels like an eternity.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_Suit_Gundam:_Crossfire

“Kick-Ass: The Game” (2010)

Oh look, the isometric angle is back again. And not only that, but it’s yet another lazy cash grab rushed out to coincide with the release of a popular movie that doesn’t understand the license it’s adapting. Everything about the game feels second hand. The animations of the characters are incredibly stiff and lifeless, the voice acting is below subpar, and every environment is nearly indistinguishable from the last. Even the core mechanic of beating up random thugs is half-baked with inconsistent collision detection and bland, boring encounters made even worse by lackluster enemy AI. The only saving grace is the game is relatively short so if you don’t give up on it within the first few minutes, your torture will thankfully be brief, and if you somehow manage to make it all the way to the end, there’s absolutely nothing worth returning for. Even playing with a friend can’t save this one.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kick-Ass:_The_Game

“Kung Fu Panda 2” (2011)

Of all the games that adapted the beat ‘em up formula, Kung Fu Panda 2 was one of the few that made sense, and yet they still managed to screw it up. On the surface, the game has decent enough production values and some decent voice acting to boot. However, it’s when you start playing the game, its lack of chi begins to show. Gameplay is shallow and repetitive, relying on button mashing than any real depth to combat, and the game suffers from padded and confusing puzzles, made worse by the ridiculous amount of backtracking to complete the simplest objective. And then the technical issues somehow make everything worse. Poor collision detection, ugly and muddy textures, a choppy framerate and even constant screen tearing makes the game feel like it was rushed out in the alpha stage to coincide with the release of the film. The Dragon Warrior deserves better.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung_Fu_Panda_2_(video_game)

“X-Men Destiny” (2011)

The idea of a choice and consequence driven X-Men game that allows players to create and customize their own unique X-Man sounds like a million-dollar idea and the start of a potential franchise. However, we doubt even another million dollars in the budget would have been able to save this one. For a game designed around choice and the player’s actions, every “choice” the player makes has little to no impact and all feels completely meaningless with every branching path eventually leading to the same outcome. The core gameplay loop doesn’t fare any better with a floaty and broken camera, unresponsive controls in combat, battling against generic and repetitive enemies with moves that have no weight or impact befitting of the X-Men name. The underutilization of iconic X-Men only makes the entire “X-Men” experience feel more like a tie-in game wearing a costume than a proper member of the Xavier Institute.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Men:_Destiny

“Hellboy: The Science of Evil” (2008)

The Right Hand of Doom deserves so much better than this. After abysmal games on both the PS1 and the PS2, you would hope they’d finally figured out the formula for at least a decent Hellboy game, but you’d be wrong. Repeating the mistakes of the past, The Science of Evil features bland, repetitive combat that grows boring and button mashy very quickly and does little to nothing to make you feel like the all-powerful Hellboy. The camera is the true nemesis of the game, fighting the player at every turn and when it isn’t constantly getting stuck in the environment, it’s somehow losing track of Hellboy. The story is almost as non-existent as the game’s lack of voice acting, really any game that tells its story through still images is guaranteed to be dull, and the entire game is just ugly to look at. Sadly, Hellboy’s video game outings don’t get better from here either.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellboy:_The_Science_of_Evil

“Beowulf: The Game” (2007)

Copying another successful series’ game mechanics for a quick licensed tie-in game can result in some underrated gems, but that’s not what Beowulf: The Game is. Adapting one of the oldest stories ever told, utilizing the tried-and-true God of War formula makes a lot of sense, but that’s only if your development team is competent enough to understand the gameplay loop is more than just mindless button mashing. With none of the weight, brutality or fluidity of Kratos, Beowulf’s movements feel slow and unresponsive, and the overabundance of quick time events are more of an annoyance than a gameplay feature made worse by the incredibly small timing windows. The camera along with numerous bugs, glitches and broken, clunky controls only further drag down an already miserable experience. You know it’s bad when even the bizarre CGI film offers a better experience.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf:_The_Game

“Terminator: Salvation” (2009)

Points to Terminator Salvation for not being another isometric shooter, but that’s about the only thing it has going for it. Even by 2009, the Gears of War style cover based shooter mechanic was becoming oversaturated and that was by games that used the mechanic properly. Movement, cover and basic shooting mechanics felt weightless, with none of the impact or gravitas you would expect, compounded by the fact that enemies were literal bullet sponges, making every encounter feel long and annoying rather than snappy and satisfying. Long load times and countless glitches only further hampered the experience and for a game about an all-powerful AI, both enemies and allies are remarkably dumb. Just like the film itself, Terminator Salvation adds nothing to the franchise and is better off forgotten like one of the series’ many alternate timelines.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminator_Salvation_(video_game)

“Star Trek” (2013)

Star Trek as a licensed property has some of the most possibilities of any IP, but unfortunately for the adaptation of J.J. Abrams reboots, the devs thought a generic third person cover shooter was the best option. The inclusion of Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto as Kirk and Spock respectively brings some authenticity to the title, but everything else is a poor imitation of the Star Trek license and basic shooter mechanics. There’s almost nothing about Star Trek that feels like Star Trek outside of character names and the name on the box. The game suffers from innumerable bugs and the PS2 level animations are janky at best and broken at worse, compounded by endless clipping issues and broken AI on all sides. Even the game’s selling point, co-op, is so broken it’s basically unplayable. This game was in development for years but somehow someone shipped the Beta build and called it a day.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_(2013_video_game)

“Iron Man 2” (2010)

Playing a video game as Iron Man should be the ultimate power fantasy. You can fly at high speeds, you have a literal arsenal attached to your suit, and your armor makes you nearly indestructible. So how do you screw it up? You make it incredibly boring with monotonous and repetitive quests, ugly and extremely dated graphics, remove any of the impact of the suit’s power and weapons, and somehow make flying the most frustrating part of the entire experience. Nearly every mission in the game is exactly the same: awkwardly fly to a location, shoot the thing, destroy the thing, fly to the next location and repeat. Every. Single. Time. The armor customization is a cool idea but was poorly implemented, just like everything else in the game. If you want a better Iron Man experience, play Marvel’s Avengers or Anthem. Oh wait…

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Man_2_(video_game)

“Rambo: The Video Game” (2014)

Adapting Rambo to a video game should have been the easiest IP to adapt. Just take the Far Cry formula and drop Rambo in it, boom, done. However, that’s not what we ended up with. Not even close. Dropping players into some of the ugliest graphics, especially egregious even for a late PS3 game, with some of the muddiest textures, awful character models, and some of the most on rails gameplay, literally, nothing about the one-man army Rambo felt present here. The game itself is a walking dumpster fire. Somehow despite being a basic on rails shooter, the game is absolutely infested with bugs, glitches, shoddy frame rates and is even subject to constant crashes or freezing. Sometimes something like Rambo can be a “so bad it’s good” kind of experience, but this one is just every kind of bad you could imagine, but with a $50 price tag.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rambo:_The_Video_Game

“G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” (2009)

Given the IP and its video game track record, the bar for a G.I. Joe game was already pretty low, but damn. Everything about The Rise of Cobra is somehow the absolute bare minimum, but then somehow even worse. The camera is undeniably the worst thing about the entire experience, either just outright trapped or poorly positioned with the characters barely visible on screen which makes the already frustrating combat even more impossible. Aiming and targeting are incredibly awkward and broken making the already annoying core gameplay loop even worse thanks to the busted controls and a cover system that is there just to tick a game mechanics box. And just to round out the package, the graphics are an eyesore, making PS2 games look cutting edge if you even stick around through the ridiculously long load times to see them. Yet another budget tie-in game that had the balls to charge full price.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G.I._Joe:_The_Rise_of_Cobra_(video_game)

“Thor: God of Thunder” (2011)

Using the God of War-style combat for a Thor game in theory makes a lot of sense, but only if the gameplay matches the intensity associated with that style of gameplay. Sadly, everything about that series’ formula isn’t present in Thor: God of Thunder, making him Thor: God of Thud. Hits feel floaty and unresponsive, made worse by the game’s poor hit detection and slow animations during combat encounters. As if swinging your hammer at enemies with all the power of a wet napkin wasn’t bad enough, the camera might not even let you see the combat as it routinely gets stuck in the environment or just gets distracted by something shiny. And for a game about Thor, the title has almost nothing that feels truly epic or grand thanks to the bland and muddy visuals and cinematics that are as boring as the combat. It’s understandable why the MCU quit having video game tie-ins after this one.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor:_God_of_Thunder

“The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct” (2013)

Even back in 2013, Walking Dead fatigue was already starting to creep in, and if not for Telltale’s Walking Dead series, Survival Instinct might have been the final video game adaptation of the zombie series. Playing as Daryl Dixon sounds like every fan’s dream but was in fact a nightmare worse than the Walkers. If there’s a mechanic in this game, you can guarantee it’s broken. The traditional zombie killing is marred by technical issues like poor hit detection, the stealth, even as basic as it is, barely functions, and even resource management and the most basic survival mechanics only did the bare minimum. The entire game is infested with bugs and glitches, and we get that Walkers are inherently dumb, but this is beyond the pale and your allies seem to be afflicted by the same disease. Compared to Survival Instinct, surviving an actual zombie apocalypse is more appealing.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walking_Dead:_Survival_Instinct

What was the worst licensed PS3 game you wasted your time and money on? Share your regrets in the comments.

[insert B-roll for CTA]