Games that disappointed you

[GloatingSwine]

Sonic The Hedgehog 360 killed my childhood at the time I had to see my childhood hero be responsible for destryoing the universe. Opps.

It wasn't the fact that it was a hideous broken mess of a game with few to no redeeming features then?

I wasn't disappointed by Sonic 2006, because I knew exactly how bad it was before I bought it, and I only did buy it because I have a debilitating brain condition that makes me unable to resist buying games with blue hedgehogs in, even when I know full well they're going to be bloody awful.

 

[gameloftguy]

A few times. Ones I can remember are:

Everquest, Civilization: Call to Power

 

[keithburgun]

Doom 3, Oblivion are the biggest let-down SUCK fests in recent memory.

 

[propertyofcobra]

Seeing people list games like Hellgate: London and then accusing them for being...well, exactly as advertised (in this case, a 3D version of Diablo) is just weird.

Only Hellgate ISN'T a 3D version of Diablo. It's a 3D worse-in-every-single-way version of Diablo, that was touted as "This will make you stop having wet dreams about a possible future Diablo 3".
I only played the Demo, but even that made me disappointed, so it should probably be on the list of...ANYONE who ever enjoyed Diablo.

 

[Mr. Hanh [deprecated]]

I will actually say this...

I was personally disapointed with Metroid Prime 3.

There wasn't really anything knew about it, other than the landscapes (obvioulsy or it'd be pretty boring) and a new skin for the pirates...again.

They pulled the game away from the more "search for stuff, find a computer terminal, scan it, get a real feel for the epic storyline through an epic back-story" for a more "HOLY SHIT LOOK OUT, RUN, RUN, RUN, GUN, GUN, GUN" which might be attractive to more of the FPS market, but I personally prefered it the way it was (MY PERSONAL OPINOIN PLEASE DON'T GRILL ME. I KNOW THE GAME WASN'T BUILT FOR ME IN MIND IT WAS BUILT FOR THE MAJORITY BUT IT STILL TICKS ME OFF, ME BEING A LONG TERM FAN AND ALL).

 

[superbleeder12]

I've pretty much grown to be let down by the hype over games. I don't let any of it determine my game buying.

I think part of the problem with the gamers in this thread (me included) is that we always have our expectations set far too high. We're expecting the next coming of jesus with our games. But games are made to make money, simple fact.

Game development isn't an art form any more, its another way to make money. We have to take this into account. We talk about cutting corners with the development of games, and in many cases these are really obvious. But at every one of our jobs, we find ways to cut corners so that we can get what we're doing. The same exact thing with game developers.

As ZP says, we need to lower our expectations of games, because none will ever live up to our expectations... ever.

 

[Moe The Bus Driver]

Peter Molyneux is the name that first springs to mind when I hear about letdowns and disappointments. Fable, B&W, B&W 2. So I won't go into the obvious about how those disappointed me.

Tony Hawk's Underground 2 is the game I think disappointed me the most. I was always a fan of the series, but THUG 2's deviation to just being some weird pseudo Jackass knockoff just wrecked it for me. I understand the reasoning behind this development, Bam Margera being both a professional skateboarder and professional dancing chimp to get hurt for our amusement being present in the game. Though it was still a real letdown for me and tainted the rest of the series in my opinion from then on out.

 

[Social Pariah]

Vampires The Masquerade: Bloodlines, was not so much a let down, as a brilliant game not given it's chance in life. The biggest letdown would be the insane amount of glitches, as though I spent a vast number of hours going through this game, a number of times, so many of those hours were spent simply attempting to walk from one side of the street to the next in many places. The game crashed more than a destruction derby and the framerate was often little more than a picture slideshow as I attempt to complete menial tasks. This added to the sub-par gameplay were the main sticking points for why I despised this game to some degree.

However, I still managed to love this game because somehow it actually managed to redeem these gaping holes with an amazing storyline, character development and excellent use of the source engines face animation. Along with this, I have not experienced such hilarity and joy as I did when playing a Malcavian vampire, a sect of utterly insane vampires. When you can stroll in to your downtown LA apartment and have the guy on the television strike up a conversation with you, there is simply no denying that there is a stroke of genius involved. This along with using a blood power to convince someone that you are their pet tortoise from they're childhood or forcing a mafia ganster to believe that he is a grizzly bear and that his friends are fish make this the most brilliant character to play ever known to man. As well as excellent voice acting and the aforementioned facial animation, it was a joy to play despite it's shortcomings in gameplay and stability.

 

[CarlosYenrac]

Most disappointing game I've played? Gun.
I traded it in one week after I bought it, not because it was a bad game-I quite enjoyed it- but because there was NOTHING LEFT TO DO! I got to the point where it seemed i was about to unlock the next area of the game and the credits rolled. The real shame is I went out and bought it new, without having played a demo/downloaded/hired it, when I usually am more cautious.
Most disappointing game I haven't played...
How can you know, I hear you ask? well let's just say i own the REAL Conker's Bad Fur Day. all those poor xboxers...

 

[Count_de_Monet]

1. Bioshock - Not only because it could barely run on my laptop (the same laptop which is handling Crysis without much trouble, though on medium settings) but because it was billed as a free-form game and ended up being a linear game except you could backtrack if you wanted and still fight (like I'd want to do that...booo).

2. Final Fantasy XI - As a graduate (or survivor) of Everquest and a long time lover of Final Fantasy games I only lasted a week. The controls on PC were clunky, levelling up was a pain, travel was a pain, too much grinding and not enough questing, and grouping never really worked for me (maybe I'm the idiot, maybe it was glitched, I don't know).

3. Zelda - Ocarina of Time - Plenty fun, plenty engrossing, good graphics for it's time, good gameplay but I still put it down about an hour after I "grew up" and never picked it back up. It felt too easy. I found myself stuck on the technical stuff instead of the solving of puzzles.

4. Supreme Commander - I love the RTS genre and after various Dawn of War games and Company of Heroes I was ready for a more macro-oriented RTS but bored me to tears. I love to attack, harass, tech and then deliver the final blow but I found it so annoying in single player that I never even made it to multiplayer. The resourcing curve was insane; you spent too much time establishing yourself, then another huge chunk upgrading, and then finally you can attack but all that time you would normally have spent harassing/expanding has been used up and the great massing of units begins.

5. Every Call of Duty after the first (except 4, haven't played it yet). Woo, WWII shooter, haven't seen that before... MoH:AA running and gunning was more fun and vehicles only add so much to multiplayer...

6. Earth and Beyond - Good concept, bad execution and not enough content. I wish I had known about EVE back then, I would have skipped this POS and just played EVE.

7. Star Wars Galaxies - Never made it out of beta. It didn't wow me in any way and there were many ways in which is annoyed me.

I could go on but I think I'll stop there.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

I will actually say this...

I was personally disapointed with Metroid Prime 3.

There wasn't really anything knew about it, other than the landscapes (obvioulsy or it'd be pretty boring) and a new skin for the pirates...again.

They pulled the game away from the more "search for stuff, find a computer terminal, scan it, get a real feel for the epic storyline through an epic back-story" for a more "HOLY SHIT LOOK OUT, RUN, RUN, RUN, GUN, GUN, GUN" which might be attractive to more of the FPS market, but I personally prefered it the way it was (MY PERSONAL OPINOIN PLEASE DON'T GRILL ME. I KNOW THE GAME WASN'T BUILT FOR ME IN MIND IT WAS BUILT FOR THE MAJORITY BUT IT STILL TICKS ME OFF, ME BEING A LONG TERM FAN AND ALL).

MP3 is the weakest in the series its fou FPS aim system(crosshair toconers to move screen WTF?) is annoying and the over all design is more shooter than adventure based...

 

[ComradeJim270]

I want to beat up Todd Howard and take my money back for Oblivion, though I'd settle for the former. I'd probably pay for that. I'd probably hate it less if critics were more critical of it, but I find myself having to do their job for them some of the time.

Gears of War. Yaaaawwwn...

Bioshock is insultingly easy, and riddled with lapses in logic and plot holes.

Halo 3? Awful AI, crappy MP matchmaking, underwhelming graphics, anti-climactic, short.

Black & White and the sequel. First one I spent babysitting the damn creature, the second one, wondering if I should bother building armies I can't take with me to the next level, when it's so easy to just turtle most of the time.

 

[TheDarkArchon]

This years biggies for me were Super Paper Mario and Halo 2 (PC). The former for having tons of potential and turns out to be really boring, with some of the game feeling like padding (See the ZP review of one such section). The latter for being a pathetically port of a game that, as I found out, was really boring ANYWAY.

 

[InsanityManifest]

So far, the most disappointed game for me has been...

Mass Effect.

You heard me. Now before you send me to the gallows, please listen: I had been hearing about this game for months. The guy at my local gamestop was going on and on about it, like it would be the holy grail of gaming. I like science fiction and loved the work bioware has done in the past, so when I saw Mass Effect on the shelf I was all happy squee fanboy.

Then I actually played it.

While not bad, it seemed like KOTOR with guns. A mediocre RPG, mediocre shooter, and a mediocre "don't give a flying ****" storyline. Voice acting was good though, although the music leaves MUCH to be desired. If they had the staff that did Advent Rising's soundtrack (I hated the game, but the music was phenomenal) it would have made buying the game worth it.

The game feels like it's trying to please too many people at once. It tries to keep the story quick and simple so that FPS fans don't get bored with the story but that leaves the RPG fans wanting more. When it gets time for RPG elements, you find that they have all been reduced to a kind of plug and play system. You can carry just about every damn gun from the beginning. Indeed, you have a sniper rifle, shotgun, pistol, and assault rifle on your person at the very start! While this might seem awesome the fact that you have had NO training on how the battle system works aside from HUD hints makes the whole beginning very annoying.

The other thing that was overhyped was the conversation system. Guy says, "It's not like KOTOR, it's going to be amazing. Realistic conversation in which everything you say affects how NPC's react."

"You mean like KOTOR?"

"No, better!"

"...Bull****!"

I called it. The system is almost EXACTLY like KOTOR except instead of scrolling you use arrows in a circle. Not quite the breakthrough I was hoping for. I decided to test it by selecting the same text twice. Same response...Just like KOTOR. The only difference is that the conversation is more cinematic by being in third person rather than a panning from face to face. Oh, and you see the reactions if you say something sexy or moronic...That's about it.

Oh, and planet exploration...HAHAHAHAHAHA!

Hundreds of planets...HAHAHAHA

My first thought was: "Okay, this better not have a lame copout like you enter a system and only a few worlds are explorable in each one..."

...I was wrong...or right I should say.

You enter a system with 5 planets...Only one is explorable and it's pretty much a JAK 3 type experience where you run around shooting at baddies until you find something shiny. The other planets are more of a "click X and see what you can learn about this planet that you really didn't give two lumpy ****s for in the first place."

GRAH!!!

Maybe it was that I was believed the hype in a small corner of the old brainpan, but JESUS this was just...Such a letdown.

Remember the good ole' days, when if a new game came out all you saw was a color ad in your Nintendo Power magazine? Every game these days tries to make itself seem like the second coming...

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

ComradeJim270
Bioshock and Halo 3 are just insulting, its like new AI "features" make them act dumber than ever...
my god when will they learn bugs are not features and flawed gamepaly is not "different"....

InsanityManifest
I have questions is it as short as kotor 1? dose it have more interesting equipment? is it action based like the wicheror more RPG based like KOTOR?

 

[StonedRaider]

Devil may cry 2... and i am a dmc fanboy since dmc 1 (fuck dm3 too)

 

[ComradeJim270]

ComradeJim270
Bioshock and Halo 3 are just insulting, its like new AI "features" make them act dumber than ever...
my god when will they learn bugs are not features and flawed gamepaly is not "different"....

InsanityManifest
I have questions is it as short as kotor 1? dose it have more interesting equipment? is it action based like the wicheror more RPG based like KOTOR?

Yep... the AI makes sense in Bioshock I suppose... the bad guys are psychotic sociopaths... but did anyone else perceive the marines in Halo 3 as less intelligent than those in Halo 2? The enemy AI was improved, but for the most part, this just means they bad guys don't behave in an unbelievably stupid manner... they're still terribly predictable and rather underwhelming.

 

[Shadow Link]

Halo 3, definitely disappointed me... After the quick put together storyline of halo 2 as Microsoft raced to quickly make more blasted money, they decided to make a sequel... I think its about time Microsoft stopped trying to make money and actually put time in their blasted products but oh well maybe when Halo 51 comes out I hope they will learn from their mistakes.

Halo 3 was pretty much everything they showed in E3 2007, there was nothing extra in the game that was in that trailer, oh the multi-player is apparently the blast that as my commonly freaked and psycho gaming friend puts as 'raped' the competition, I say the only reason why halo 3 has multi-player is because without it, the value would be worse then your mum.

The multiplayer has a few good things in it but overall in general it has not improved from halo 2, at the rate we are going the glitchers and exploiters (standby's and bridgin') will be back, it only took a few months in halo 2, we are almost there.

 

[Chilango2]

Halo 3, definitely disappointed me... After the quick put together storyline of halo 2 as Microsoft raced to quickly make more blasted money, they decided to make a sequel... I think its about time Microsoft stopped trying to make money and actually put time in their blasted products but oh well maybe when Halo 51 comes out I hope they will learn from their mistakes.

Any plan that relies of Microsoft not to be shortsighted is doomed to failure. Vista proved that.

 

[maskedklaus]

Assassin's Creed is one of the biggest disappointments I've played lately. It had the potential to etch it's name into my fabled "Stone Tablet of Favorites," but instead was written on my "Occasional Time Killer Memo-pad" in crayon. I don't mean to say it's bad! It's not. But it gets old fast.

Your first hour or two with the game will be phenomenal. Nothing compares to the feeling you get when you first slide your hidden blade deep into your opponents flesh, or when you take your first "Leap of Faith". You will revel in the combat, watching every cinematic kill with glee! Then you do it again! Hurray! And again!! Wee! And again. Oh boy! And AGAIN. Yay... It's hours and hours of the same thing. You end up only looking forward to the major assassinations (which try to mix things up a little).

To reiterate...this is not a bad game. But every time you play you can't help but feel there could have been so much more, or at least so much less of the same darn thing.