The state of games.

Klunt Bumskrint · 6 Sep 2025 at 17:46

I think Mac makes some excellent points in this video.

I really agree with a lot of his points, not all but something needs to be done about some things in gaming which I think are really ruining gaming for me.

I've been having trouble for a while now finding games that interest me and I think Mac had made me realise the problem, it is for me too things like hand holding, the wall hack, no real thought or intrigue in characters or how they present a world in which I'm supposed to lose myself. Ai / well moreso NPC behaviour somehow has gotten terrible when we had games 20 years ago that had it done well.

I was thinking maybe it's because I've been gaming consistently for 40 years and maybe have seen it all but I don't think that is it.

Listen to what he says and I'd love to see anyone here disagree with his points.

oh, and BAN PREORDERS!!! JFC

Discuss...

BUDFORCE · 6 Sep 2025 at 17:49

I dunno who is buying this **** though.

It isn't me.

throwaway4372 · 6 Sep 2025 at 18:18

Agreed, and you can save a load of money on graphics cards if you know you're not playing any AAA ****.

arc@css · 6 Sep 2025 at 18:49

The gameplay needs more innovation and development, not so much the graphics, IMO.

Nasher · 6 Sep 2025 at 18:51

That Bond game looks like a bad version of Hitman.

It's like almost all of the AAA games now are signed off by the same committee.

I saw a stat earlier in the year which shows PC gaming is on the up, massively (while console gaming is starting to drop slightly). But people are playing mostly old games and not really buying the latest hardware either. Games developers are struggling to understand why. They'll blame everything from Trump supporters to pirates, but never their own failures or the 10s of millions they wasted on marketing...

Klunt Bumskrint · 6 Sep 2025 at 19:48

Just trying out Hollow Knight. Seems more interesting than Mindseye or the latest Assassins creed. (Damn I used to love that franchise)

If I was a game company with a great Idea for a game, I'd start making it and when Alpha is done I'd put a big press release out saying what would you want and NOT want in our game.
These are our ideas for game mechanics, we want QTE because it makes people excited. Then people can say "NO, YOU MORONS!!" QTE SUXXXXXXX. Then the devs knows if they include it people might not buy their game.

Josh · 6 Sep 2025 at 19:50

I’ve not watched WAB in ages but that Hitman 007 game looked like a cookie cutter of loads of other games.

I think we’ve stagnated for a while but my attention span last around 20mins now.

Tombstone · 6 Sep 2025 at 20:16

Some AAA games are pretty poor but theres more to gaming than AAA, just look at the titles which have come this year alone, which have been very good games

So far this year >

Kingdom Come Deliverance 2
Avowed
Two Point Museum
Atomfall
Khazan First Berserker
Blue Prince
Expedition 33
Doom Dark Ages
Roadcraft
Dune Awakening
Abiotic Factor
Grounded 2
Cronos
Silksong
Tainted Grail Fall of Avalon

and still to come this year >

Borderlands 4
Dying Light The Beast
Endless Legend 2
Silent Hill F
Painkiller
Outer Worlds 2
Battlefield 6
Arc Raiders
Vampyre Bloodlines 2
Heroes Olden Era
Anno 117 Pax Romana
Europa Universalis 5

So thats 14 good games already released this year and potentially another 12 good games yet to come before the end of the year, thats 26 decent games this year, enough games for 2 games a month, and some of those games arent just good, they are superb (notably so far Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, Blue Prince, Expedition 33, Abiotic Factor) , so theres still an absolute bucket load of good PC games each year for us to play. Something for everyones tastes in that list.

Nasher · 6 Sep 2025 at 20:42

I wouldn't say all of that list are good. Doom the Dark Ages was meh, some of the others look quite cookie cutter RPG/action/3rd person games.

Tombstone · 6 Sep 2025 at 20:44

Nasher said:
I wouldn't say all of that list are good. Doom the Dark Ages was meh, some of the others look quite cookie cutter RPG/action/3rd person games.

Well of course the entire list wont appeal to everyone, for example I didnt like Expedition 33 but that doesnt stop me from acknowledging that it was a good game just because it wasnt to my tastes. Hence why I said there is something for everyones tastes on that list. If anyone is looking at that list and cant find any games on it to their tastes, then without meaning to be disrespectful that says more about them than the games on the list.

Pigeon_Killer · 6 Sep 2025 at 21:03

WAB is an absolute cretin, genuinely glad his subscriber count has barely moved a single digit in the 5 years since I last watched one of his videos.

His review of Horizon Zero Dawn on the PlayStation was the worst review I’ve ever had the misfortune of watching. Literally started off the review ranting about how bad the game was and accused all reviewers of being paid to give it good reviews. Pretty much how all of his videos go, pick a popular title, cry like a bitch and attack anyone who likes it. He went on to attack all console games and all console gamers for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

He comes across as someone who really can't handle people having a difference of opinion to him and he's certainly not Worth A Watch.

Edit: Without watching the video in the OP, let me guess, it's a third person title so he hates it?

Calin Banc · 6 Sep 2025 at 21:07

1)"1st person view is better"... no. You can get away with more in real life than in a game in terms of how little you can peak beyond a corner, field of view - as in what you see (16:9 ratios is hilariously little), freedom of movement, etc.

2) "X ray vision is wall hack"... no necessarily. It can be a way to visualize/implement the expertise, training, talent, whatever, of someone who's on top of his game.

3) AI difficulty... bullet sponges and all... yes. But seriously now, how many complain about their favorite RPG / shooter looter or simple shooter doing the same? RPG recipe is basically put one point and get extra 25% dmg and other meaningless stats. But hey, it's ArPiGi! As for NPCs taking their time to jump on you, one by one... film industry says hi!

)))

4) "the guy talking to himself, telling you what to do"... well, back to point nr.2, it's normal. The game has to have some sorts of ropes to pull you ahead and keep you up at the level of the character you're playing.

Next he'll complain that guys don't fight for real in movies and also don't shoot real bullets at each other and that Jason Bourne isn't a real representation of what Mack can do

)

That's my rant on his rant, basically.

)

Seriously, you know when things will change? When people will demand Mud Tires level of off road simulation or BeamNG Drive for vehicle damage in games that have vehicles. At least ArmA/IL Sturmovik level of vehicle flight model / simulation level to play around in games with planes, helicopters, etc. A good, proper ballistics of weapons of all sorts instead of BS like a pistol bullet doing more dmg than one fired from an assault rifle. and so on.

But people find RDR 2 to be the pinnacle or thereabouts even though it has soooo many artificial limits in place. GTA series as well. TLOU is emotional as a story, but as gameplay? Same as others, same BS concepts, but people LOVE it! HZD? Same...

When things will change? When people will damand it and not find excuses for their favourite games. Or maybe, just MAYBE, people are actually happy with what they have.

agnes · 7 Sep 2025 at 00:34

Pigeon_Killer said:
WAB is an absolute cretin, genuinely glad his subscriber count has barely moved a single digit in the 5 years since I last watched one of his videos.

His review of Horizon Zero Dawn on the PlayStation was the worst review I’ve ever had the misfortune of watching. Literally started off the review ranting about how bad the game was and accused all reviewers of being paid to give it good reviews. Pretty much how all of his videos go, pick a popular title, cry like a bitch and attack anyone who likes it. He went on to attack all console games and all console gamers for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

He comes across as someone who really can't handle people having a difference of opinion to him and he's certainly not Worth A Watch.

Edit: Without watching the video in the OP, let me guess, it's a third person title so he hates it?

I can't stand the guy, everynow and then (as in the video in the OP), he will touch on a subject that needs discussion, but his own bias and opinion always, always restrict his ability to create decent and informative content.

I started watching the vid in op, as soon as he said the game is **** because it has 3rd person, I rolled my eyes and skipped through the rest. I do agree with the skins and stuff, but everyone and their dog can see that coming.

I genuinely think he does more harm than good because he creates so much negativity around the smallest of issues rather than actually discuss the real issues at hand without berating personal preference. He's an adult child.

mrk · 7 Sep 2025 at 03:17

Banning pre ordering would make no real dent to the issue, people will just continue to buy on launch day anyway.

Grim5 · 7 Sep 2025 at 04:22

Pigeon_Killer said:
WAB is an absolute cretin, genuinely glad his subscriber count has barely moved a single digit in the 5 years since I last watched one of his videos.

His review of Horizon Zero Dawn on the PlayStation was the worst review I’ve ever had the misfortune of watching. Literally started off the review ranting about how bad the game was and accused all reviewers of being paid to give it good reviews. Pretty much how all of his videos go, pick a popular title, cry like a bitch and attack anyone who likes it. He went on to attack all console games and all console gamers for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

He comes across as someone who really can't handle people having a difference of opinion to him and he's certainly not Worth A Watch.

Edit: Without watching the video in the OP, let me guess, it's a third person title so he hates it?

It's because he is so negative, 90% of his videos are filled with anger, shouting and negative views of games, so it should be no surprise that he hasn't gained subscribers in several years

Klunt Bumskrint · Monday at 19:18

Grim5 said:
It's because he is so negative, 90% of his videos are filled with anger, shouting and negative views of games, so it should be no surprise that he hasn't gained subscribers in several years

I don't think he's negative. Just like me, Jaded and fed up. I've seen him sing praises of many actually good games

Grim5 · Monday at 20:42

Klunt Bumskrint said:
I've seen him sing praises of actually good games

Which is like 1 in 10 videos for him

His viewership says it all really, I was just scrolling through the playlist and even just 4 years ago he was getting about 5 times more views on average, the channel is dying

I unsubscribed earlier this year myself, the old man yelling at cloud energy was getting too annoying

PrincessFrosty · Tuesday at 11:48

Mack brings a lot of perspective to reviews because he's someone older who's played games his entire life, I have a lot of time for his reviews because he'll be brutal on AAA slop like this, but he also has massive amounts of love for games done well. He spends a very large amount of his time going through lesser know smaller studio games and picking out great ones to recommend. About 19,000 games were released on steam in 2024 and I don't think anyone disagrees with the fact that we have a massive discoverability problem.

As a channel he's a good resource to avoid bad games and discover good ones. The whole premise of his review type is to ultimately tell you if he recommends a game to buy or avoid. Half of my games I get are ones I had no idea even existed until I saw him review them and thumb them up. He makes no bones about the subjectivity of game reviews and that his reviews contain his subjective opinion, as do all reviews.

Grim5 said:
Which is like 1 in 10 videos for him

His viewership says it all really, I was just scrolling through the playlist and even just 4 years ago he was getting about 5 times more views on average, the channel is dying

That's absolutely not true at all. Go to his channels playlist section and there's playlist for games reviews he's thumbed down (356 videos) and games thumbed up (648 videos) https://www.youtube.com/@WorthABuyreviews/playlists if you watch any positive review he'll praise the core qualities of the game.

His channels stats are available through SocialBlade and you can go back about 3 years and he's basically about the same viewership for that period. The channel isn't dying, he just has the same discoverability problem all independent creators do, he's funded by his viewers, he doesn't have millions in sponsorship and ad revenue to artificially grow the channel. Nor would the channel be any better for that.

Grim5 said:
It's because he is so negative, 90% of his videos are filled with anger

Again not true, if you watch a plurality of his videos, you see there's a huge amount of positivity given to games that are actually good. My observation having watched him for a long time and reading his comments and seeing drama, what tends to happen is he's brutal towards a popular or hyped/anticipated game where people are emotionally invested, they hate he gave it a bad review and then they unsub in anger.

I'll take a WILD stab in the dark, this is what happened to you, out of interest what game was it?

For those reading, please be careful of people rattling off stats like this.

Raumarik · Tuesday at 11:56

I'm more likely to play indie games than "AAA" ones these days, only one I've really enjoyed in recent years is Dune Awakening and it's got it's problems.

The likes of Aksa, Schedule 1, Valheim, Norland, Dave the diver, Kenshi, Isonzo Rimworld etc just appeal to me more warts and all.

Grim5 · Tuesday at 12:21

PrincessFrosty said:
Mack brings a lot of perspective to reviews because he's someone older who's played games his entire life

That's probably why he's so jaded, it's normal to be angry when they get old.

Main reason I unsubed is boredom. I used to watch the videos because I found it funny when he had mini strokes on video and smashed his geriatric bell in frustration but after a while it got boring. He mainly reviews games I have zero interest in anyway, so I never watched it for the games, just for the funny.
For example, I just skimmed through the thumb up and thumb down list you mentioned and from the last 40 game he's reviewed, I've played one of them (Elden Ring). And it's not that I don't play many games, I go through anywhere between 40 to 50 a year, I don't finish all but I install and play those for some time.