Most Disappointing Game

Whenever we evaluate a game at GameSpot, we attempt to set aside any preconceived notions about what or how good that game is supposed to be. There are times, though, when it's impossible not to approach a particular game with a certain set of expectations--perhaps because the game's predecessor was particularly good or because the game's publisher or developer has created unreasonable expectations through its hype. A game doesn't have to get a bad score to be a disappointment, and if the expectations are high enough, even great games--which a couple of our nominees certainly are--can feel somewhat disappointing.

FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup
	Developer: EA Canada Platform: Xbox 360 ESRB: Everyone Check Prices EA Sports' first soccer game for the Xbox 360 is inferior to the Xbox version of FIFA 06 in just about every way imaginable. Even the scaled up graphics are at times downright ugly, and many of the best modes have disappeared.
Jade Empire
	Developer: BioWare Platform: Xbox ESRB: Mature Check Prices BioWare's latest role-playing game was a disappointment not because it's a bad game, but because it failed to live up to lofty expectations made of an otherwise premier development house.
Madden NFL 06
	Developer: BudCat Platforms: PC, Xbox 360, Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube ESRB: Everyone Check Prices The latest game in EA Sports' long-running football franchise is great, but it does very little to improve upon its predecessor. The much-hyped superstar mode is also far better in concept than in execution.
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
	Developer: Neversoft Entertainment Platforms: Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube ESRB: Teen Check Prices The once great Tony Hawk's franchise is starting to lose its edge, as evidenced by Neversoft's latest offering, which is short and has noticeable bugs.
WWE WrestleMania 21
	Developer: Studio Gigante Platform: Xbox ESRB: Teen Check Prices WrestleMania 21 is Studio Gigante's first professional wrestling game, and it shows. Almost every aspect of the game is either a mess or flat-out broken.

And the winner is... FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup

Platform: Xbox 360
ESRB: Everyone

Check Prices

What makes the first FIFA game for the Xbox 360 such a disappointment isn't just that it doesn't play a particularly good game of soccer, but that it's inferior in just about every way to the versions of FIFA 06 released for other platforms just a few weeks earlier. FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup should at the very least have offered everything that FIFA 06 does, and it should have looked better doing it. What the game offers, though, is fewer teams, fewer gameplay options, fewer gameplay enhancements over last year's FIFA, and visuals that can go from being almost impressive to downright ugly with the change of a camera angle.

Next: Biggest Buster