The long-awaited port of Horizon Zero Dawn on PC has recently been released. Alas, the technical performance of the computer version left much to be desired. Bugs, crashes, critical errors — there was everything. But PC players haven't seen anything like this. We decided to recall a few terrible ports, the mention of which makes the hair on end of the «PC boyars» stand on end. Here you have Batman: Arkham Knight, and Assassin's Creed: Unity, and several other equally buggy games.
Rocksteady is truly a unique studio, because it was its employees who proved that licensed games can not only be good, but also set the standard for quality for the entire industry. Batman: Arkham Asylum created the effect of a bomb exploding, and Arkham City only consolidated its success. Unfortunately, the third part of the famous series was not so straightforward: for example, players were disappointed with the PC version of Batman's new adventures.
«Arkham Knight» was slow even on the most top-end machines; bugs and crashes made it difficult to enjoy the game in peace. What can we say, even the bosses of Warner Bros. realized how bad everything was, and for some time removed Arkham Knight from sale on Steam in order to bring the game to a working state.
The PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV can rightfully be called a regular on the list of glitchy games. Rockstar's creation is remembered by millions of gamers not as a cool and serious open-world action game, but as something completely unplayable. Stories about Windows Live are still perceived by fans as nothing more than horror stories. Lack of textures, classic «6 frames», soap everywhere — however, these are all flowers. Those who managed to simply launch the game and make their way through the main menu can be called lucky. For many, even this didn't work out.
I'm glad that Rockstar took into account the mistakes and approached the PC version of GTA 5 much more responsibly. The game worked well even on average builds, and fans partially forgave the developers for the terrible misunderstanding that was foisted on them in 2008.
Perhaps Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition is the most ironic case in our top. Everyone has heard that FromSoftware games make people suffer and have a nervous fit. In the case of the PC version of the first DS part, not only the fans suffered, but also their computers.
Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition was noted not only for its poor optimization and low resolution, but also for its terrible controls. During boss battles, it was possible to break not only your psyche, but also your fingers. For many, completing any part of the DS is a kind of test, and reaching the final of DS: Prepare to Die Edition is a difficult challenge that only the most persistent can complete.
The list couldn't do without Ubisoft games. The company has quite a few problematic PC games, but Assassin's Creed: Unity has become the most problematic. Legendary characters without faces, polygons flying into infinity, textures stretched to the skies.
It's doubly offensive that «Unity» completely discouraged Ubisoft from developing graphically. All subsequent parts were in many ways a step back. The only thing that helps differentiate, say, AC: Odyssey from AC: Origins is the setting. Even AC: Valhalla, coming out this year, has already been dubbed by many as a «reskin of Odyssey.»
Resident Evil 4 is still considered one of the best games in the series. The plot is intriguing, the atmosphere is fascinating and frightening. What else is needed for happiness? The answer to this question is simple: mouse support. The PC version of RE4 was absolutely not friendly with computer «rodents». It was possible to play comfortably only on a gamepad, otherwise, if you please, aim at opponents with arrows on the keyboard. Even now you can play RE4 on PC with a mouse, if you just install an unofficial mod.
The graphical and technical parts of the port also left much to be desired. Low resolution, blurry textures and jumpy FPS — of course, Capcom released several patches, but they didn't change the situation much.
Fortunately, today the company approaches porting its games with more responsibility.
Today, few people will remember the plot of Mafia 3, but everyone who has ever launched the game knows about its «excellent» technical condition. The game mercilessly slowed down, showed an abundance of bugs and clearly showed how carelessly the developers from Hangar 13 approached the creation process. If in the same Crysis it was possible to see incredible graphics in a six-frame slideshow, then here we saw only «soapy» textures, an empty city and trees from three polygons.
Mafia 3 entered the «golden pool» of disgusting ports and has practically become a household name when it comes to unoptimized games. We hope that all this horror will not happen again with the release of the remake of the first «Mafia». Once again, players will neither forgive nor forget such trash.
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It would seem that in recent years developers have stopped considering the PC a platform for pirates, but hacky ports still appear over and over again. Not only the players suffer from them, but also the reputation of the developers. Which PC game brought you the most pain? Remember examples from your life and share in the comments — let's cry together.