Gamers logo

When Hype Isn't Enough: 10 Games That Fell Short

Sometimes a game carries so much hype that it's bound to hit its peak rather quickly and the only direction to go is down.

By Matthew BaileyPublished 6 years ago 7 min read
Like

Sometimes a game carries so much hype that it's bound to hit its peak rather quickly and the only direction to go is down. Just look at what has recently happened to Pokemon Go; for about a month and a half it was the game to play and experience, but after recent updates gamers are screaming for refunds and fixes across the board.

Another perfect example of a game riding the hype train is No Man's Sky. Touted as a game with so much content that it will take over 500 Billion years to traverse and discover the 18 Quintillion planets. Yet just recently a gamer who purchased an early copy of the game has beaten the game in 30 hours, and this new has squashed countless gamers hopes and dreams for No Man's Sky because $60 is a high price to pay on a new game, only to be disappointed once you start playing. This is the fear that we all must face when we start looking for a new game to play, and sadly we've all been burnt by a game that just didn't meet our expectations.

Over the years there have been countless games that hit store shelves on a wave of hype; some have wowed us and others have left us with an overwhelming sense of dissatisfaction. Most often the hype train is brought on by the publishers and developers as they make bold promises about the games, but then the game fails to deliver. Here are 10 games that dropped the ball for many gamers.

10. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II

The original Star Wars: The Force Unleashed was a breath of fresh air to a then stale gaming market in terms of original content, so one would assume that the sequel would just build on the first. Sadly, this sequel fell flat by being overwhelmingly repetitive and missing even a mildly compelling story. Star Wars: TFU2 captured the elements of the original and matched it in size and scope, but when you're missing a good story it makes it pretty difficult to enjoy a game.

9. Tony Hawk: Ride

The Tony Hawk line of games have been a staple of the gaming community for almost 20 years, after Tony Hawk Pro Skater was released on the PlayStation, N64 and Dreamcast. The original game was met with rave reviews, quickly becoming a critically acclaimed game in terms of control, design and graphics. Tony Hawk: Ride was supposed to be the next major advancement in video gaming; an interactive experience that allowed us to use a physical board to transfer the players movement on screen. Yet, it failed terribly - and I mean TERRIBLY because there was so much lag between the board and what happened on screen, it quickly became absolutely unplayable.

8. Ryse: Son of Rome

When you have a game developed to be a launch title for the Xbox One and the Kinect system, there's bound to be massive hype surrounding it. Ryse: Son of Rome is one of those games, as it was toted as a Kinect-driven first person title but during development it shifted to a third-person hack-and-slash game. It was developed by Crytek (who brought us the beautiful Crysis games), and although it was beautiful it became a repetitive button masher. That simply doesn't match the hype of a game that had such promise and potential.

7. Fable III

The expansive world of Albion was on full display in the Fable series, and the third generation in the gaming franchise was filled with the charm that we'd expect from a Fable game. Yet, even though it followed in the footsteps of the first two games, it fell flat by oversimplifying the role-playing elements that made the original games enjoyable. The developers watered down the mechanics that made Albion so full and it lost nearly all of the nostalgia, then when you add the plague of bugs and glitches it makes for a very undesirable game to play.

6. Aliens: Colonial Marines

The sad part of Aliens: Colonial Marines is that Gearbox developed it and claimed that it would be in the same continuity of the film universe. Gearbox being the team that brought us Half-Life, Brothers in Arms and eventually would bring us Borderlands. Yet after the truth was revealed that the graphics sucked, the sound was horrendous, multiplayer was a mess and the script was written by a 6 year old (that's just my opinion, not fact) Aliens: Colonial Marines would go down in history as one of the worst games of all times. It was so bad that a collection of angry gamers actually filed a lawsuit against Sega and Gearbox.

5. The Order: 1886

Developed as an experiment between Sony and Ready at Dawn, The Order: 1886 was supposed to be the PlayStation's answer to Gears of War (at least in regards to the cover-oriented gameplay). There were a few unique aspects to the game, like the letterbox format, creative weapons, a rich atmosphere and a unique story so you would assume that it would be a great game, yet the gameplay itself is so lackluster and mundane that it doesn't come anywhere close to matching the hype it started with.

4. Star Wars Battlefront

The series reboot that had countless legions of adoring fans waiting for the moment that they'd be able to relive the glory days of 2004 & 2005 when Star Wars: Battlefront & Battlefront II respectively where released. These games set the standard for many gamers as to how a FPS based on the Star Wars mythos could be done. Undoubtedly after rumors failed to play out, we thought we'd never see another Battlefront game, but then EA & DICE did the unthinkable; they announced the revival. And honestly, it was great - at first but then the game proved to lack any real substance and millions of gamers were left wishing they'd rented rather than purchased (myself included).

3. Destiny

All eyes were on Bungie when it was announced that they'd be releasing their first non-Halo console game. Bungie revolutionized the FPS when they introduced Halo, and everyone was waiting for the next evolution in gameplay with Destiny. It was supposed to be groundbreaking, and unlike anything we'd played before - pretty lofty goals. Yet, sadly even though Destiny was met with initially positive remarks and was the greatest launch ever for a new IP, it fell flat when gamers realized that the story was bland, the script was incomprehensible (only to be understood by going to the Destiny website or tie-in apps). Fans also felt let down in the customization that was supposed to offer hundreds of unique weapons only to have nearly every one look and sound the same.

2. Assassin's Creed Unity

The push for a franchise to have annual releases is a powerful force nowadays, and Ubisoft felt the pressure to put Assassin's Creed in line for a yearly release. Assassin's Creed Unity was, sadly, a massively underwhelming addition to the franchise. Unity followed the tried and tested gameplay that we'd had since 2007 with the original game. Yet this was after the critically raved Black Flag was released, so we were bound to be disappointed when we were given a stagnant French Revolution that showed us the same NPC interactions happen on every street as we perched on a roof top. The rush to develop also left countless glitches that made the game nowhere near the caliber of the previous games, and fans were left with feelings of shame.

1. Watch_Dogs

Now, let me say this first, I'm probably the biggest Watch Dogs fan out there. But that doesn't change the fact that it failed to meet countless fans expectations. We were promised an expansive city but we found ourselves retracing our steps to follow repetitive side missions to fill our time. The premise was incredible, and the potential nearly limitless but when you lump the glitchy driving, poor controls, lackluster graphics and several auto-fail scenarios it made it hard to love the game. It's surprising, but Ubisoft announced a sequel, and honestly it looks as though it's the game we should have been given. So there's that at least.

Now perhaps one of these games is one of your absolute favorite games, ever, but it really doesn't stop it from being a disappointing game. And I can say that because my number one choice is one of my favorite games; Watchdogs was a game that I was truly anxious for and I play it now still, mostly just because I want to make myself love it even more.

product review
Like

About the Creator

Matthew Bailey

Husband. Father. Gamer. Cinema Lover. Mix it all together, and there I am. I love all things pop-culture and coffee; but coffee is the best.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.