King Kong PS5 Gollum
Image: Push Square

Let's not sugarcoat it: the new King Kong game, Skull Island: Rise of Kong, is a disaster. The action title is out now on PS5 and PS4, and it's being torn apart by... well, just about everyone. At the time of writing, the game has just one review to its name — a PC write-up from IGN — and that's got a 3/10 slapped on the end of it. Needless to say, review code was not made readily available.

But it's the larger conversation that's particularly damning. Type Rise of Kong into YouTube and you'll be bombarded with 'The Worst Game of 2023' thumbnails. Now look, of course everyone wants to jump on the bandwagon of hate when a new release is particularly indefensible, but this is one of those cases where there's a distinct sense of disbelief over just how bad the game is.

YouTube Video
Subscribe to Push Square on YouTube150k
Watch on YouTube

We've seen the (admittedly quite funny) 'Gollum-like' phrase being thrown about with regards to Kong, and that's a pretty accurate indicator of where the conversation's heading. Indeed, the game's being directly compared to the meme-worthy The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, which launched earlier this year — and that can never be a good thing.

At this point, it's probably worth spotlighting some gameplay footage so that you can see what all the fuss is about. IGN's posted the first 15 minutes, and sitting through it will make you wonder how the hell anyone's charging $40 / £35 for this thing.

We just can't wrap our heads around how a King Kong game has managed to make the titular ape look and feel so small.

In an ideal world, none of us would have to dump on such a clearly bad game, but it's near impossible to defend something like this when people can go ahead and buy it with their hard-earned cash. Do you think Skull Island: Rise of Kong is the worst retail game of 2023? Let out a long sigh in the comments section below.

[source youtube.com]