Games that Could have been amazing...
Well as others have said SPORE obviously. If EA had left it alone and let Will Wright release his masterpiece, which was all but finished in 06', that game would have been amazing. But no, EA had to come in and take the cleaver to it, dumbing it down until free roaming creatures weren't even in the game anymore, instead replaced by creatures chained to a nest who go extinct in an unrealistic way. What ever happened to making contact with planets and getting worshipped as a god by the way? I saw a video where they played music from the space ship, and a foul note sent the planet into a panic.
Fallout 3, obviously. I held out hope and ignored the Fallout 2 fanboys until it got here. I mean come on, when you can sleep with a prostitute and kill her in her sleep then cannibalize her flesh, what's the point of making children indestructible anymore? It's not like you can't nuke them or sell them into slavery by the way, so why make them bullet proof? Really ruins the immersion, not to mention the countless plot holes, the lack of mission depth a lot of the time, the lack of a decent reputation system, crappy dialogue options that read like "I'm an immature jerk who's going to pee on your boots, ner hur hur" and "I'm a self sacrificing idiot who, despite other obvious options, am going to do something really pointless and stupid to be a goody two shoes."
Saints Row 2... Ok yeah I loved the game, but something about playing a main character who, despite all your customization, is hard scripted to be a total idiot just gets to me. I don't appreciate having my "Hitman" themed cold killer taken over by the cut scene and forced to try a drug he doesn't even know the name of, or being a complete and total moron with no vision other than "Hey Anarchy yeah Anarchy yay". And what's the point of gang customization if your gang is still going to be full of sexist drug snorting idiot thugs who love the color purple? I can think of a dozen other viable gang cliches that would have been easily implemented, and some divergent story lines and dialogue options that would have taken all of 20 hours to fit into the game and would have drastically added to gameplay and immersion. And sorry, Septic Avenger? Come on, are we as stupid as they take us for? Nice job on the crappy PC port by the way.
Grand Theft Auto 4... Don't even get me started. I miss Vice City.
Actually the list could go on and on and on. As I've said, games are being dumbed down more and more with each passing year.
