10 Games That Could Have Been Amazing, but Were Not

Developing games is incredibly difficult. The process continues to get harder as technology advances, industry changes, and the community of gamers change too. People have different standards regarding what makes a good game compared to twenty years ago. A game can succeed for a variety of reasons, same with reasons for a game to fail.  Here are ten games that could have been amazing, but were not.

#10: Friday the 13th 

A game taking the iconic killer from the cult classic Friday the 13th series is a brilliant idea. Most of the ideas in this game are excellent and well executed. What makes this game fall short of greatness is its clunky gameplay, glitches, lag, and other technical issues. Playing a good match with some friends is some of the most fun that I have ever had in a multiplayer game. Sadly, the game’s bugs and team killing from random players (which got patched thankfully) killed it. While the developers are constantly fixing the game and adding new content, maybe this will be gold in the future. Maybe with a sequel, the developers can start completely fresh and learn from their mistakes. None-the-less I hope them the best because of the positive experiences I have had, despite a lot of negatives aspects.

 

 

 

#9: Destiny 2

I should lump the first game in here too, but I am going to focus on Destiny 2. The first game was rough at first. I fell off, but the people who stayed ended up with a solid game after many updates. That should not be the case for a game. A game should come out as close as possible to 100%, but that is not the world we live in anymore. Destiny 2 promised so much more including a better story and more content. However, it felt like the beginning of the first game regarding its quality. Players were given a better story, but the campaign ended up being terrible and short. Players are in a constant state of fury over the decisions that Bungie has made. Every few weeks there is a news article about how something new in the game that is causing the players to be furious. Recently the latest DLC is getting reports of reusing assets and overall unoriginal. The multiplayer sci-fi FPS was supposed to be Bungie’s big franchise after they had left Halo, but that does not look like the case. With the series having its whole history so far is in a constant state of tension, the future of Destiny does not look bright.

 

 

 

#8: No Man’s Sky

With all of the hype and the fantastic E3 presentations, No Man’s Sky seemed like it could have been the most ambitious game ever made. If it succeeded, then we could see the game as one of gaming’s biggest achievements. However, we did not get nearly the content that was promised. Questions about whether or not Hello Games were flat out lying or had some internal issue we did not know about. The company had its fair share of problems such as a major flood. They kept pushing forward and looked to be the underdog. Instead, the game killed their credibility as a developer and have embarrassed so many people. The game ended up being less beautiful, almost no content, and the center of the universe mystery ended up being a huge disappointment. After a lot of updating, the game is supposed to be at a solid state of quality. Some fans still play and remain loyal. However, it feels like the damage is done for good. We will have to wait and see how far the damage from No Man’s Sky will last when Hello Games release another game.

 

 

 

#7: Call of Duty: WWII

Before going into World War 2, the Call of Duty franchise was dead to me. I had not touched the games in a while, but I decided to go back into the series with this one. While I had fun and liked a lot of what they had done, there were many issues. I will cut it short because I do have a review of the game, I need to discuss it here. The gameplay is solid, and the war game mode is incredibly fun. Sadly, not much is different compared to other entries in the series. A lot of new mechanics are just ripped off of other games such as the Destiny like hub world for players to hang out at. The campaign was not the worst we have seen, but it fell flat and lacked much depth. This might be the best game in years for the FPS juggernaut, but that does not mean we have an excellent WW2 shooter.

 

 

 

#6: Star Wars Battlefront II

I don’t think there are any games on this list that are this damaging. EA was being talked about by major media outlets that never cover video games. Social media exploded with a fury that took over any site you went on. Microtransactions and past mistakes from the first game are what made Star Wars Battlefront II a complete disaster. The game had its positives and fixed issues from the disappointing first game, they were not able to be free of criticism. If we got a modern version of the classic Battlefront II with extra content, then people would have been happy. Somehow a game that is over a decade old is somehow better than its modern counterpart.

 

 

 

#5: The Order: 1886

PlayStation has been on a spree of excellent exclusives. Especially exclusives that are story based on the ability to tell a compelling story while delivering great gameplay. They have had a couple of games fall flat, such as The Order: 1886. A weak story, with weak characters, and a generic third-person shooter style that made this one a forgotten title in the ever-growing catalog on the PS4. The main attraction the game did have that even the haters agreed upon were the game’s stunning graphics. Other than a test to show how beautiful a game can look on the PS4, there is nothing here. A typical shooter that is full of QTE and bland writing.

 

 

 

#4: Sea of Thieves

Xbox has been criticized for not having good exclusives. Sea of Thieves seemed like a potential console seller to get everyone onboard. What could go wrong with the legendary developer Rare working on an open world pirate game that is mainly online? You get to be a pirate with friends to hunt for treasure, fight monsters, and fight other players. Sadly, the game lacks any content or satisfying rewards. I listed everything to do in the game more or less. Players do not have a lot to look around at when it comes to activities or other players to fight. A common complaint from many people is that they have a ton of fun for a few minutes when finding a treasure chest or fighting another player’s ship, but then it is a long time of sailing around doing nothing. If you have friends, then it might be worth it. Maybe with several updates and added content then perhaps this can come out to be a real gem. We all know Microsoft needs a gem to come up in their catalog.

 

 

 

#3: Outlast 2

I don’t think any game on this list makes me angrier. I love the first Outlast. It has its obvious flaws, but it is one of the best horror games around. The terrifying atmosphere, a great story with many hidden elements to discover and learn about, and the game took some basic mechanics to make for a fun game. The sequel builds on nothing new regarding gameplay. The story is incoherent and does not tie in well to the original at all. Most of all, it is boring and uncreative. Besides looking pretty, for the most part, there is nothing positive to say really. The enemies are less impressive, unlike the first title’s antagonists such as Chris Walker. The violence was over-the-top in the least complimentary way, and I will emphasize again how the story makes no sense what so ever. Little is done to explain itself and does not do itself any justice when the story starts to give answers. This game is an insult to fans of the original.

 

 

 

#2: Mafia III

Let’s go into another game that broke my heart. The previous entry, Mafia II, was an empty open world game but had its positive qualities. The game had terrific driving and shooting mechanics. Everything had a weight to it that felt great. Sure some of it was clunky, but the game felt good overall. Plus there was such a great story that was told. When the new entry was announced, I was so excited. The gameplay looked more polished and fluid, with an exciting story. The only good thing I can say about Mafia III is it was pretty fun to shoot, driving was not as good but remained fun, and the story was quite good. Sadly, the gameplay felt not as satisfying, and the missions were dull. Every task felt recycled with only a variety of a handful of different missions. With extra content, none of it was creative. The developers made a few things to do then spread them all out across the map to make it feel like there were things to do. It felt cheap and lazy. I have no idea what could have gone wrong to make this such a disappointing sequel. If any game on this list should have been great, it is this one. If they built upon the last game by taking the best parts of it and expanding on those while improving the problems, then this would have been one of the best games of 2016.

 

 

 

#1: Dead Rising 4

I don’t know why I expected anything from this game. I love the first Dead Rising even with all of its flaws. If the series kept the positive qualities of that game and improved the weaknesses, then maybe this could be a great franchise. However, the series forgot how to mix drama and comedy with weak gameplay. The gameplay continued to expand on what they had done in the third title. The same old issues from that game are in the fourth entry. The main problem I have is how we were told that they were going back to the roots of Dead Rising. Besides having Frank West in Willamette, there is nothing that will make you feel like you are back in the origins of the series. Even more ridiculous scenarios with laughing “serious” moments. Not only that, but this is a straight up insult to fans. Not just by the gameplay, but the story. SPOILER: Frank dies at the end, and there is even a DLC of him being a zombie. The way he is killed off does not feel right. Once we get to be in his shoes again, he is killed at the end. I have been burned so many times by the Dead Rising games, but this was the final straw.

 

 

 

That is it for this list. These were games that I or others had hoped would be good but ended up not being good. Whether they fell flat because of past mistakes, glitches, or microtransactions, they had all failed in the hearts of gamers. Even if you like any game here, it is hard to argue that the game does not need improvements. Be sure to comment what you think of my list here and what games disappointed you.