Good visuals are an important part of any video game, as they help market it to a wide audience, and art style and graphics are often a big draw for many players. But not all games focus on perfectly rendered scenes or high-fidelity character models. Instead, they choose a far less appealing aesthetic that often leads to things looking chaotic or ugly. However, even when things are on the drab side of the spectrum, these games still feel great to play, with their questionable visual style often working with the gameplay to create a more unique experience.
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The two main genres where these "ugly" games appear are shooters, where the fast-paced action allows for more experimental design choices, and horror, with settings and creatures that become far more sinister the further they are from reality. There are also plenty of other games out there that choose a less conventional visual approach, presenting characters and worlds that are either intentionally divisive in their appearance or uglier in a way that is both off-putting and alluring at the same time.
ULTRAKILL
Fast-Paced, Bloody, Non-Stop Action
Ultrakill
- Released
- September 3, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Arsi "Hakita" Patala
- Genre(s)
- FPS
ULTRAKILL is a whole new kind of boomer shooter, taking a lot of inspiration from the early days of the genre and depicting a bloody hellscape full of machines and carnage. The unique gameplay comes from the style system that players can rank up based on executing different kills and combos, in a similar style to games like Devil May Cry, lending it a huge amount of skill expression for players who enjoy having their limits pushed to the maximum.
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From the outside, the visuals appear quite dated and cluttered, but the color choices and retro aesthetic allow the game to run perfectly and make every arena feel like a classic battle against evil. Also, despite their simplistic designs, enemies can be quite terrifying, and taking them out feels all the more satisfying thanks to the killer score and responsive movement that turns players into the ultimate killing machine. ULTRAKILL's distinctive style has allowed it to become a shooter sensation, proving that games can be widely successful even with an unusual visual and gameplay style.
No, I'm Not A Human
Be Careful Who You Let Inside
No, I'm not a Human
- Released
- 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
No, I'm Not A Human is a remarkable horror game that takes the concept of an apocalyptic invasion and puts players right in the center of a cryptic, worldwide catastrophe. The sun has gone dark, and strange creatures are roaming the streets looking for blood. The player's job is to monitor their surroundings and help or reject passersby who are looking for a place to stay, whether for safety or perhaps more malicious intents.
The game's art style is very strange, with the characters themselves being twisted and, at times, grotesque in their appearance, even if they are truly human. Yet despite being rough around the edges, this aesthetic lends it a more creepy, uncanny feel that ensures that everything from the buildings to the people who enter the house appear slightly out of the ordinary. It keeps players in a state of tension at all times and makes them uneasy about every encounter on the other side of the door, showing all the gory and gross details up close from start to finish.
Cruelty Squad
Satisfying Gunplay With A Questionable Aesthetic
Cruelty Squad
- Released
- January 4, 2021
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- t
- Developer(s)
- Consumer Softproducts
- Genre(s)
- Simulation, FPS
Cruelty Squad appears abrasive at first glance, with a palette built from sickly greens, bruised purples, and general visual noise that appears more like a decomposing environment than a polished render. The deliberately unstable visual language makes every space feel toxic and unclean in a way that aligns with the game's moral ideas about the corporate world and the relationship between people and the economy. What makes the game so unique is how it creates a sense of hostility by filling the space with shapes and colors that would never fit into a cohesive world, regardless of whether the player is in the suburbs or traversing giant industrial zones.
Despite the chaos, nothing is ever random. Objects are carefully placed in specific, albeit strange, locations that constantly push the player to adapt to their surroundings. This forced chaos can take some getting used to, especially when players have to deal with an array of uncanny enemies that can easily get the best of them with movements that can go from slow to rapid in an instant. Funnily enough, the shooting feels crisp and clean, giving players complete control over how they approach each area, even if the game is visually all over the place.
The Binding Of Isaac: Rebirth
Grotesque Creatures In The Pits Below
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
- Released
- November 4, 2014
WHERE TO PLAY
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth is easily one of the best roguelikes ever made, but it doesn't win any points for having a beautiful world for players to explore. The setting is grimy and, at times, disgusting, with players having to fight against literal chunks of flesh and feces, and all manner of grotesque abominations littering every single floor. The ugliness extends to Isaac himself, as certain items can drastically alter his appearance, often in ways that leave him looking more like a horror movie villain than a courageous hero.
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As players delve deeper and manage to make their way to the end, everything is coated in darkness and decay, with no real moments of positivity breaking through, even in the final cutscenes. With all that said, the grittiness actually makes the game all the more enjoyable. Fighting against piles of flesh and ugly amalgamations of meat can actually be quite satisfying, especially given the unbelievable range of item combinations that players can access to break any semblance of balance the game's combat initially has.
Hypnospace Outlaw
Exploring The Web One Page At A Time
Hypnospace Outlaw
- Released
- March 12, 2019
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- t
- Genre(s)
- Simulation, Adventure
Hypnospace Outlaw is a trippy ride deep into cyberspace, bringing the late 90s internet world back to the modern day. Not only are the visuals intentionally dated and inspired by a simpler time of computing, but they also go above and beyond by adding extra objects and clutter to web pages, making every click feel like a rabbit hole of malware and scams.
This visual identity makes Hypnospace Outlaw truly feel like nothing else out there, combining retro symbols and objects with an overwhelming amount of clutter that can often make navigating even basic pages a challenge. The clutter also plays into the gameplay loop of scrolling through websites and attempting to find violations, which can be hidden away behind elaborate link chains that lead players into random sections of the web that they never intended to visit. It's the perfect parody of early web surfing that manages to recapture the essence of bloatware and chaos from an unmonitored World Wide Web.
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