Game of the Year winners that aged poorly

The Game of the Year title is an honor that only a select few titles can ever achieve. Countless exceptional games have been released across a number of different genres over the past few decades, but even in a sea of ​​dozens, there's still only a short list that has received the highest level of praise. However, over time, games that were once considered the best in the genre can quickly fall out of favor with even the most adoring fans and quickly become obsolete thanks to new hardware, advances in technology, and sequels that can overshadow pretty much everything the original set out to do.

This is not to say that these games are bad by any means, rather they are products of their time and are probably best left as pieces of nostalgia rather than timeless masterpieces. A lot of the problems come from the gameplay itself, as the stories can easily remain as exceptional decades later, but the mechanics and design often suffer and feel dated due to the innovations and improvements to the overall experience. For some players who want to recapture some of that original joy, this can be a nice trip down, but in many cases it can feel like they're fighting the game itself rather than the actual enemies and objectives within it.

Golden eye 007

Trapped in the early shooting days

Details:

• Pioneer of the FPS genre

• Outdated controls and feel

Golden eye 007 was a landmark release that redefined the way people saw shooters as a whole and laid the groundwork for countless console FPS titles that followed. At the time, its mission-based structure and split-screen multiplayer felt groundbreaking, especially on hardware that wasn't designed for FPS games, proving that shooters could thrive outside of the PC space. Thanks to the bold leaps forward made by the developers, the entire genre has moved forward by several years, allowing so many exceptional games to be released in such a short period of time.

Unfortunately, its control scheme is the biggest obstacle today. Single-analog aiming feels clunky, imprecise, and actively goes against many of the modern principles governing today's FPS games. Also, the enemy AI is pretty basic and the levels aren't particularly interesting overall, making the whole game feel more like a history lesson than a genuinely enjoyable experience.

Resident Evil

The beginning of the Horror Revolution

Details:

• Great atmosphere and environment

• Tank controls make combat terrifying

original Resident Evil is more than just a classic horror game, it is a pivotal stepping stone that paved the way for the entire genre to prosper until the year 2000. The fear factor has been brought to the fore as players are forced to navigate narrow corridors and dark rooms with limited resources to help them fight the various monsters that await them.

However, as impressive as the game was at launch, these days many horror fans struggle to put up with the tank controls and fixed camera angles. Criticism goes even further, with people saying that the clumsiness and clumsiness make certain encounters more annoying than scary, detracting from an otherwise incredibly polished core experience. There are certainly worse horror games from the early days, but given how much praise they've received, Resident Evil she did not exactly enter the modern age with grace.

Grand Theft Auto 3

The basis for later open worlds

Details:

• A level design proposal followed by many games

• Outdated controls and rough mission design

GTA 3 changed gaming forever by introducing a fully 3D open-world city that players are free to explore in any way they want. The sense of scale was far beyond anything else in the genre at the time, and players were given all the tools to wreak havoc and wreak havoc, setting the standard for modern sandbox design.

Now, more than two decades later, the game's age is blatantly obvious. The core shooting and driving mechanics just fall flat in every respect and the mission design is obscenely punishing, with players often needing to replay large segments over and over due to the lack of checkpoints. While his influence is undeniable, his gameplay today shows just how far open world design has evolved.

Assassin's Creed

Stealth into a completely different era

Details:

• Stunning visuals and satisfying movement

• Recurring mission structure

First Assassin's Creed upon first launch, it impressed players immensely with its engaging historical setting and satisfying parkour movement that fully immersed them in the world around them. Climbing huge cities and mingling with crowds was revolutionary, and the series quickly became a household name that would branch out into countless sequels and spin-offs in the years to come.

The biggest problem now is repetition. The mission structure becomes very predictable within just a few hours, cycling through the same investigations and assassinations with minimal variation. The combat also lacks depth in many ways, and the actual stealth systems feel underdeveloped compared to later entries, so despite kicking off one of the game's most beloved franchises, it's sadly nothing more than an ancient relic.

God of War (2005)

Spectacle over real substance

Details:

• Great action sequences

• Little combat depth by today's standards

God of War brought the brutality of Kratos to the gaming world, gifting players with intense cinematic-scale action sequences and an unapologetically absurd tone that would carry over into the subsequent games of the trilogy. The relentless bruiser became an instant icon, and players were quick to praise the game's representation of characters from mythology that remained completely untouched in any form of media.

Its shortcomings have become more apparent over time, combat encounters rely heavily on button mashing, and the camera is as much of a challenge as any of the enemies. From a narrative perspective, while impressive, the story lacks the emotional depth seen in later entries, leading many players to strongly recommend more modern games rather than returning to the outdated original.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

Cinematic storytelling at its best

Details:

• Engaging level design right from the start

• Weak combat encounters

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune they took the concept of an action-adventure game and pushed it to new heights in ways few had seen before. The main draw is the gorgeous backdrops that pulled the player into constant states of action that never strayed too far into the realm of the absurd and managed to maintain a grounded feel through the character writing.

Going back to it today shows just how rough the first record was. Polish being the key word, as everything from the gunfights to the platforming just doesn't come close to the standards set by the later games. An important part to the bigger hits in the Nathan Drake story, but now much less fun in comparison.

Mario Kart Wii

Chaotic in a good way and a bad way

Details:

• Casual multiplayer fun

• Poor balance and track design

Mario Kart Wii became an instant success overnight, giving every Wii user an exceptional party game that pretty much everyone could play and enjoy. Several new systems were introduced and online play became a much larger component than in the past, allowing players to connect with each other and compete on a global scale. Virtually every household had this game, and it would easily occupy dozens of hours without ever feeling bored, and brought families and friends of all kinds together throughout the console generation.

Today, the game actually looks more like an unedited mess in many ways than the full release that was once considered great. For starters, the track design left a lot to be desired as it was fairly linear and uninspired compared to previous entries in the franchise. But the bigger issues come from game performance and the integrity of competitive play. Rubber bands were and still are a major problem plaguing lobbies, often ruining the results of otherwise winnable races, and the randomness of the item system makes it quite frustrating to play at a high level. A lot of the issues have been fixed in later releases, and many players will still have fond memories of the game, but for the most part, it should probably just sit on the shelf and collect dust.