So Much Untapped Potential

[Lord Beautiful]

Proceed to the Basis of the Topic if You'd Rather Not Read This
Having just recently completed Jade Empire, I found that was indeed a great game, but it could have been so much more. In the beginning, the player is presented with this massive empire that would have been fabulous to explore. There are numerous fighting styles of varying nature to be learned. There's a real-time fighting system in it, as opposed to all previous Bioware games that come to mind.

But they were just concepts. There was remarkably little exploration of this vast country that the story presented. The fighting styles were fairly basic. The combat was glitchy at times and the camera occasionally felt that a rock wall or an enemy's back was more interesting a spectacle than you.

Oh, and the load times were just silly.

I understand that Bioware had to work within the technical limitations of the Xbox, but that doesn't change the fact that Jade Empire presented concepts that the potential to make a true classic.

The Basis of the Topic
What game(s) have you played that could have been so much better than they were? What game have you encountered that really had the potential to be something fantastic?

 

[TheLastCylon]

Red Faction: Guerilla could have been much better than it was. I was really hoping to see some actually Martian landmarks instead of just generic red wasteland.

 

[Shepard's Shadow]

Far Cry 2 could have been a lot better. Buggy, bad enemy AI, and there were some balance issues.

 

[AboveUp]

Zen, if you change a few names around in that post you've got my opinion on Fable 2 and Far Cry 2.

Especially Far Cry 2. I never got what people saw in that game. It seemed like a really good tech-demo for an engine that would work great in a huge sandbox game complete with a nice standard template of a map where they could add interesting objectives, collectibles and a few more interesting objects or maybe indoor environments to explore.
In other words, it seemed like a basis for a good game, released before they actually got to the point where they'd add gameplay.

Far Cry 2 could have been a lot better. Buggy, bad enemy AI, and there were some balance issues.

And as I turned around after posting, the last thing I could see was the blade of the ninja cutting through my post.

 

[Omikron009]

Mercenaries 2. It was pretty fun but downright broken. It also had some weird design choices. If more time had been spent fixing bugs and improving AI, especially friendly AI, it could have been really epic. I also want more oil rigs to blow up!

 

[GoldenRaz]

Assassin's Creed.
The setup for every assassination was awesome, but EVERY, SINGLE ONE just ended up being "stab, fight hordes of guards, run away, hide, rinse and repeat".
No stealth in any way which made me a bit disappointed...

 

[DrDeath3191]

Fable 2. The moral choices seemed too black-and-white. Plus, there was so much to do, but there wasn't much depth to those things. Don't get me wrong, I like the Fable series; it could be so much more, though.

 

[azncutthroat]

GTA IV- I'm no sure about the rest of you, but I barely use up any of the money I make. Maybe this is because I try not to die/get arrested as often as possible. When I do spend money, its mainly to restock my ammo and armor and barely uses up my money. I wish we could buy more safehouses (maybe even rent a parking complex) and some furniture, rent parking spaces, bribe cops (surprised they didn't put that in there), hire a bodyguard or two, etc.

Fallout 3- Yeah, who doesn't have problems with Fallout? But I really want to address the main point of the game: water. As a player, I don't really feel the importance of water: I get by on stimpacks (which heals more than purified water) and the occasional Brahmin Steak. The main plot of the game revolves around water and its scarcity despite its universal need, and I just feel that Bethesda didn't emphasize the importance of water as something we take for granted in real life.
I myself have gone with less than pure water in real life, having stayed in a 3rd world country for a year, and I will tell you that fresh, drinkable water is a commodity on par with wireless internet and computers. Imo, the player should've been made to drink any kind of water every day in order to survive (which would give use to commonly found dirty water) and purified water should've been a ridiculously powerful and rare healing source.

 

[kommando367]

I liked it, but I will admit that Too human would have have much better if they put in more variety in enemies and made the enviormental destruction real-time. The ability to trade items between characters would also be nice.

 

[The_Deleted]

Mercenaries 2. It was pretty fun but downright broken. It also had some weird design choices. If more time had been spent fixing bugs and improving AI, especially friendly AI, it could have been really epic. I also want more oil rigs to blow up!

Yep. The best thing about it was the sound design. The explosions and guns sounded fucking belting.

 

[irishstormtrooper]

Mirror's Edge had a lot of potential, and it utilized it pretty well, but it could have been so much better. For example, the levels could be much more fun if they weren't so linear and the combat was reworked.

 

[ErGo]

Zen, if you change a few names around in that post you've got my opinion on Fable 2 and Far Cry 2.

Especially Far Cry 2. I never got what people saw in that game. It seemed like a really good tech-demo for an engine that would work great in a huge sandbox game complete with a nice standard template of a map where they could add interesting objectives, collectibles and a few more interesting objects or maybe indoor environments to explore.
In other words, it seemed like a basis for a good game, released before they actually got to the point where they'd add gameplay.

Far Cry 2 could have been a lot better. Buggy, bad enemy AI, and there were some balance issues.

And as I turned around after posting, the last thing I could see was the blade of the ninja cutting through my post.

Dramatic fella. I like that. (1 billion virtual cookies if you get the reference)
On topic ... actually most games I have ever played have so much untapped potential ... or am I just really overly creative ...

 

[barryween]

Dead Space. If they focused more on tension like they do in your fist necromorph encounter instead of "WAHHH AN ALIENZ IN THE VENT!!! OZ NOZ!!!!!!!" the game would be SO much better. If there's one thing Americans can learn from the Japanese, it's how to make good horror.

 

[Easykill]

Oblivion COULD have been a shiny Morrowind set in a different place, but nooo. Sheesh.

 

[pantsoffdanceoff]

I really like who I can skip the chest high wall of text to get strait to the question. Persona 4 would have been excellent if the first four (read four) was not just a constant X-Pressing spree.

 

[AboveUp]

Oblivion COULD have been a shiny Morrowind set in a different place, but nooo. Sheesh.

Yeah, it's a shame they didn't stick to the kind of world Morrowind made it seem like.
Not a single trace of that corruption that I kept hearing and reading about back in Vvardenfell.

Unless they're all plotting together. Trying to make you, the main character, feel special about yourself before you realize that you've been brainwashed into enslaving all foreign races.

 

[Mirroga]

Fallout 3. If only the DLCs were already with the main game. Plus if only they'd fix most of the bugs. I wished their GOTY edition is the actual release they have given us since they're actually telling us that the earlier release is like an unfinished, rushed game.

Prototype. Fun game, and wonderful concept. It needs more polish as well as needs more powers for a man who can shapeshift.

 

[Booze Zombie]

Overlord 2 has an amazing concept and is certainly a step up from the previous game, however, I still felt that the Overlord game could benefit from the following:

More advanced customization options, a large open sandbox world with a metric tonne of side quests, a more in depth minion control system (such as a redial menu with "pillage" and "burn" as options and an aiming cursor) as well as a more advanced magic system which would tie in with an RPG style upgrade system.

Sigh...