Okay games that could have been great

[NewYork_Comedian]

Title says it mostly, whether it be from rushing the release date, running out of money, or whatever, what are games youve played that you thought were okay, maybe good, but you know could have been so much more.

For me it has got to be Far Cry 2. Goddamn you could see the game dripping with potential. But because of a rush of the game, a lot of things they said would be in the game, weren't. All of the faction missions are some difference of "go here and kill this", it could have had actual relations and big guerrilla battles where you work with soldiers in one faction to take out the other, but instead went for you v. everyone else who you even look at.

So what is your game that could have been so much more?

 

[Bomberman4000]

Dark Void. It had some brief moments of fun mixed in with the mediocrity.

Crackdown 2 could've been outstanding had they actually improved the game some. I'm not sure if that one was rushed out because of any impending deadline or something, but it could've been much better.

 

[Phlakes]

Mirror's Edge. Which is why they should make a sequel.

 

[dagens24]

Force Unleashed.

 

[xHipaboo420x]

Prey. Or maybe MOST GAMES

 

[teebeeohh]

dark void does not count since the games was not okay but crappy.

 

[Bobbity]

Knights of the Old Republic 2.
If Lucas Arts hadn't rushed it out the door, it might've been a lot more than just kind of good.

 

[dancinginfernal]

Alpha Protocol.

Prey. Or maybe MOST GAMES

What's wrong with Prey? I loved that game. Few things did I not like about it.

 

[lasting_Child]

Nier, definitely Nier. I really loved it, but with a bigger budget, it could have been freaking great.

 

[flagship]

Knights of the Old Republic 2.
If Lucas Arts hadn't rushed it out the door, it might've been a lot more than just kind of good.

You know I was thinking about that a couple days ago and realized even if time had been taken to fully polish the game and give it an actual ending the near 2 hour's I spent on a boring asteroid with a Carth knockoff in the beginning still would have kept it from making my top 10 list.


I'll vote for spore.

 

[New Troll]

Every Silent Hill after 2. Just had people making them who couldn't comprehend what it was that made the first two ,especially 2, so great.

 

[xHipaboo420x]

What's wrong with Prey? I loved that game. Few things did I not like about it.

To each their own (cop-out answer), but I just felt that it didn't deliver after the huuuuuuuuuuuge gestation period.

 

[dancinginfernal]

What's wrong with Prey? I loved that game. Few things did I not like about it.

To each their own (cop-out answer), but I just felt that it didn't deliver after the huuuuuuuuuuuge gestation period.

Eh, better than nothing I suppose.

 

[Fr]anc[is]

X3 Terran Conflict. I could have eventually figured out how to pilot that thing. I could have learned the economy and what races needed what. But there was just nobody to bloody talk to. All the ships and stations and races, and the most I ever get is a robotic "What?". Really turned me off once I realized what was bugging me

 

[Bobbity]

Knights of the Old Republic 2.
If Lucas Arts hadn't rushed it out the door, it might've been a lot more than just kind of good.

You know I was thinking about that a couple days ago and realized even if time had been taken to fully polish the game and give it an actual ending the near 2 hour's I spent on a boring asteroid with a Carth knockoff in the beginning still would have kept it from making my top 10 list.

I'll vote for spore.

Actually, you might be right. No amount of polishing could have made Peragus any less painful than it was, and the characters were pretty crappy. There might've been a good game in there somewhere, but even with an extra year of development they probably couldn't have improved it all that dramatically.
As for Spore, it did actually do what it set out to do. It's just that what it set out to do was, to be honest, pretty minimal. I thought that it was a good game, just very limited.

 

[sandangel]

One game that I rather liked but I doubt anyone's ever heard of was a neat little JRPG called Infinite Undiscovery. The voice acting was pretty terrible, but the story had some nice touches to it, and many of the characters were rather charming in their own ways.

Unfortunately, the biggest problem I had with the game was that there were far too many party members, and most of them had absolutely no reason to be party, aside from filling the ranks up a bit. Worst of all was one lady who was about as developed character-wise as a brick, to the point where the only reason she was at all interesting was the guy who kept following her around acting like they were married despite her total lack of reaction, and the fact that she played a role at the very end with two other folks, none of whom were interesting in the slightest.

If they'd pared down the cast to a fraction its original size, and spent more time characterizing the folks they couldn't manage to leave out, it would've been much better, but as it is, it's just too disorganized and unfocused to be anything of note.

 

[fierydemise]

Advent Rising. It had a great art style, solid production values and the DW system was better done then anything I'd seen before or have seen since.

On the down side the game was too short (6-8 hours) and had some problematic mechanics (the camera/lockon feature was the big one). In the end it didn't sell well so we're probably never going to get our promised sequel.

 

[Goldenkitten01]

Alien vs Predator, the series as a whole. The concept behind it is a great one and the Alien and Predator campaigns offer something no other games ever have. But weak stories, short campaigns for the two title species (70% of every AvP game is the Marine campaign), wonky controls, and did I mention WRITTEN BY A FIVE YEAR OLD stories. Sneaking through a room, climbing on the walls and cieling and taking out a group of humans without them realizing as the Alien, or hopping around multi-layer ruins as the Predator. These were moments that stood out as truly unique and enjoyable, but they were entirely too short and five minutes later we're back in long linear corridors playing "smack the enemy faster than they smack you" for an hour.

So much potential squandered, because as a few really memorable moments show if they could capture its true spirit through more of each campaign (and lengthen the titular campaigns) this has the ability to be one of the best series EVER.

Honorable mention goes to Prototype. One of the most fun games I've played in a very long time, but unpolished controls, AI, and again a poor story all serve to take it down a notch.