The 10 Worst Racing Games You Have Ever Played

There are loads of awesome racing games out there but there are also some that are pretty disappointing. We asked you to nominate the worst racing games you’ve played, and there were some fascinating and controversial responses…
The 10 Worst Racing Games You Have Ever Played

1. Need for Speed

The 10 Worst Racing Games You Have Ever Played

No, we don’t mean the whole franchise. There have been some pretty sweet NFS games. We mean the 2015 release of that name, which featured frequently in the comments of the original community post.

Here’s what Raregliscor1 had to say about it:

“Oh, NFS 2015 by far. Lacklustre customisation at the beginning, with some cars getting such minimal cosmetic upgrades. Also, it had the absolute worst driving physics ever. Grip builds equal immense understeer, drift builds equals you going into the wall every five minutes when you try drifting because the game doesn’t like you drifting. And a middle build just has both but slightly less. The map was extremely boring in comparison to previous NFS games like Most Wanted 2012 and Hot Pursuit.”

2. Asphalt 8: Airborne

The 10 Worst Racing Games You Have Ever Played

Sure, Asphalt 8 is a mobile game for iOS and Android, so we can’t expect console-like quality. But other racing games prove you can still get it right for these kind of devices.

Here’s Александр Ригов explaining the suggestion:

“I can’t name any bad simulator racing games, but Asphalt 8 is probably the worst so-called ‘racing game’ ever created, because it’s basically just a stupid runner.”

3. Forza Horizon 2

The 10 Worst Racing Games You Have Ever Played

Perhaps a controversial choice for some, but Forza Horizon 2 can’t be everyone’s cup of tea despite getting quite high reviews at the time of its release. But, cutting some of the cars and map areas wasn’t well received by quite a few gamers.

Let’s hear why Johan Karlsson chose FH2, specifically the Xbox 360 version:

“I understand that they can’t make the graphics look as good as on the Xbox One, but they also decided to cut several cars and areas of the map. You also got much smaller rewards for completing races or levelling up.”

4. Need for Speed: The Run

The 10 Worst Racing Games You Have Ever Played

Recent Need for Speed games aren’t having the best of times on this list, are they? But, they’re here for a reason. 2011’s The Run proved to be pretty disappointing, as CTzen Harambe (you’re alive?) explains:

“Seriously, the main campaign (race from LA to New York City) can be finished in two hours and there is no content after that.”

5. Forza Motorsport 5

The 10 Worst Racing Games You Have Ever Played

FM5 was seen as a disappointment to some when it was released for Xbox One, especially when compared to previous games from the franchise. Timmy Tam talks us through his suggestion:

“It lost so much compared to previous Motorsport games, especially FM4. FM4 had 500 cars at launch while FM5 only had 200, the track list is also small with the fan’s favourite Fujimi and Maple Valley gone, and the physics is by far the worst in any Forza game ever.

“It’s twitchy, unpredictable for almost any cars, and when you oversteer, it is impossible to correct it, hence making it extremely hard to drift. FM5 was not something you would expect out of one of the best racing game franchise, it gives me the sense that the game is incomplete.

“Maybe Turn 10 didn’t have enough time as this is the first Forza on Xbox One, but I still think that they could have done it better. And for that, I think FM5 is the worst racing game I’ve ever played because it was such a huge disappointment.”

6. Need for Speed: No Limits

The 10 Worst Racing Games You Have Ever Played

Yep, another NFS title. They really disappointed some people, didn’t they? No Limits was released in 2015, but not for consoles. It’s for iOS and Android devices and people weren’t happy with how it was presented in the app stores and how it actually was in reality.

Let The Stig’s Indian Cousin tell us why:

“They put pictures in the app store like the console version but in reality, it looks the worst. Plus, the races are so short.”

7. Project Cars

The 10 Worst Racing Games You Have Ever Played

I really like Project Cars. Sure, there are a few things that annoy me about it, but isn’t that the case with all games? Anyway, a few of you really aren’t fans and that’s fair enough. Here’s Fahim Kazi’s reasoning for suggesting it:

“Picked it up and thought it can’t be as bad as everyone is saying. It sucks, it feels like it’s still in beta.”

8. Test Drive Unlimited

The 10 Worst Racing Games You Have Ever Played

The ninth game in the Test Drive franchise but it wasn’t well received by a fair few people. It finds its way to this list through a number of suggestions, here’s Kevin Ferraine explaining why he picked it:

“It’s good for the buying house thing, but the worst at driving experience. The physics are awful, going 100mph on a bend with a Maserati MC12 is just like cornering with a Dodge Hellcat. Lose control in a Enzo at 30mph and you will end up with a huge crash. Even Paganis feel so bad. Try the mountain race and you will lose easily. The game is great for fulfilling dreams, but worst at gaming experience and people’s sanity And the other thing is, no BMWs were available in the game.”

9. The Crew

The 10 Worst Racing Games You Have Ever Played

The Crew was released in 2014 for PC, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. It received mixed reviews on release and it appears some of you weren’t fans of the game. Sam Payne kept his reasoning short and simple:

“The Crew is awful. Terrible driving makes you feel like cars are on water.”

10. Big Rigs: Over The Road Racing

The 10 Worst Racing Games You Have Ever Played

Having been panned by critics and gaming reviews, it’s no surprise someone suggested Big Rigs for this list. The PC game was released in 2003. You basically have to race a big rig to safely deliver illegal cargo. It was not good. Citi Rat explains:

“Big Rigs: Over The Road Racing. I honestly have no words for this game. It’s horrid, utterly horrid.”

User suggestions have been edited for clarity. Check out the original community post here and let us know your thoughts in the comments!

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Comments

Uzair Patel

This list is basically a need for speed list

01/01/2017 - 12:44 |
8 | 0

This should be called “The Worst NFS Games Ever”

01/01/2017 - 22:03 |
0 | 0
RoyP

Project cars is on the list? I know it has some bugs but it’s not THAT bad….

01/01/2017 - 12:46 |
10 | 4
Anonymous

In reply to by RoyP

I couldn’t agree more. There are just two things that are annoying.
1) almost no original liveries
2) Physics. I usually play GT3 class and it feels like these cars all have the same handling.

But imo NFS 2015 is the worst racing game I currently own. It has the worst handling and the tuning isn’t like I had imagined. You can put almost every car over the 1000 hp mark and the acceleration at this point is just ridiculous, like 2 sec 0 - 100 kmh. Furthermore you can’t do any engine swaps and there are just a few bodykits for most cars

01/01/2017 - 13:08 |
2 | 2
Anonymous

In reply to by RoyP

with a controller project cars is almost unplayable. not so much a “racing” sim, more a “someone with Parkinson’s disease trying to race a car with steering held together with wood and elastic bands” sim. 90% of the time I am just nursing a car around with the difficulty set low enough so that when I get uncorrectable oversteer there is still a chance of winning. if you cant race in a racing sim then there is no point.

01/01/2017 - 13:38 |
8 | 0
Anonymous

In reply to by RoyP

Guess you didn’t play it on Xbone on release?

01/01/2017 - 13:52 |
2 | 0
Anonymous

In reply to by RoyP

Project CARS sucks for such a racing sim,needs damn fixing

01/02/2017 - 13:04 |
0 | 0
bruce (MUDD SQUAD)(mariner squad) (defender squad) (miata

Fm5 yes a crap game fm4 was better fh2 really good game only problem every where was blocked project vars is awesome realistic

01/01/2017 - 12:47 |
0 | 0
Ahmad Fahrurrozi

Gran Turismo not mentioned, thank you

01/01/2017 - 12:51 |
2 | 0

Well GT is not only one of the best racing games ever made, but one of the best games ever made overall but looking at this list I wouldn’t be surprised if it was on the list, because some stupid bullshit, like you can’t put your own liveries on cars.

01/03/2017 - 08:30 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

Hey come on now, TDU was absolutely remarkable when it came out in 2006. 2006, remember that. I understand that the physics were a bit odd but they weren’t actually too bad and with a bit of practice it was perfectly fine.. I had no problem finishing the entire game multiple times, so it’s not impossible or anything. And well yeah, it had no BMWs but lots of games miss out on one or two manufactures for whatever reason. There was still Ferrari, Lamborghini, Merc, Audi, Chev, Pagani, McLaren, Noble, Dodge, Nissan, Saleen, Ford, Lotus and so many more..
I still have it and still fire it up from time to time and go for a blast over the Kolekole Pass in my Z/28, ah the memories..

01/01/2017 - 12:53 |
6 | 0
Anonymous

Alrighty… what’s left.. ummmm that’s like all the games that i know….

01/01/2017 - 12:53 |
2 | 2
Mathis Lee

The crew has the alrge map and the customization to make up for it

01/01/2017 - 12:56 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

Many of them are the best, Especially Forza. What the heck people?

01/01/2017 - 12:57 |
2 | 2
Anonymous
01/01/2017 - 12:58 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

I disagree with Forza Horizon 2, or the xbox 360 version problems of it. You see, while the Xbox one has BluRay discs, (which can hold up to 50GB as far as I know) the xbox 360 only supported DVDs. So tell me, how should they get 50GB on a 8GB DVD?

01/01/2017 - 13:02 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

You do know that gta 5 also was 30gb+ but that they just used multiple disks.

01/01/2017 - 14:09 |
0 | 0