Usually, to impress gamers, developers try to pack as many cool features into a game as possible. Sometimes they chase trends just to cash in. But often, this backfires and causes games to fail unfairly.
Last time, we covered the first 5 games with some bad luck. Now, let’s dive into the rest of the top 10 games that tried way too hard and ended up falling flat!
Sonic Boom, Turning 2D into 3D when no one asked for it
Sonic Boom tried to take a different path in the legendary blue hedgehog series instead of sticking to what made it great. For some reason, Sega kept pushing new directions nobody really wanted. The early 2D Sonic games were beloved, but Sega kept making 3D Sonic games that mostly failed because they had to compete with heavy hitters like Mario, Spyro, and Crash.
Sonic Boom aimed to compete with games like Super Mario Galaxy and New Super Mario Bros on the Wii. But instead of focusing on fast-paced gameplay, it added some offbeat mechanics and weapon-based combat. Sonic games never really needed those, but Sega insisted on going against the grain.
Star Citizen, Overambitious and cramming too much in
Star Citizen has been in development for nearly 10 years without an official release, despite hundreds of millions of dollars invested. The main reason? Overpromising. The game keeps promising loyal fans and newcomers tons of content to explore, from epic space battles to planet exploration and ship customization. These are just a few of the many features still in the works.
Trying to pack so many features has dragged development out endlessly. Originally, the plan was to make a grand space ship game with gameplay spanning years. But it slowly morphed into a separate campaign mode alongside multiplayer. As of now, the game is still taking investments with no release date. The devs should have known when to stop and release a polished game.
Call Of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Stubbornly sticking to space battles
Every year brings a new Call of Duty, but Infinite Warfare probably got the most backlash. Fans were tired of futuristic, space shooting and wanted a return to classic ground combat. Instead, Infinite Warfare stubbornly pushed players into outer space.
The trailer got tons of dislikes, possibly the most for any Call of Duty trailer ever. The devs kept pushing futuristic themes without realizing fans wanted classic CoD gameplay. Infinite Warfare isn’t a bad game itself, just way off from what players wanted. Plus, its pay-to-win elements and aggressive monetization turned fans off even more.
Mario Party 9, Changing the core gameplay
Mario Party 9 made a huge mistake by changing what fans loved about the series just for the sake of change. Fans enjoyed Mario Party because it felt like a board game with friendship-testing mini games and all the Mario characters. While some elements remained, the core gameplay was completely overhauled.
Traditionally, players roll dice to move characters individually on the board, competing in mini games while collecting coins and stars. In Part 9, characters moved together in vehicles, which diluted the strategy and excitement. Coins and stars were removed too. Although many mini games were still fun, it wasn’t enough to save a game that changed too much.
Metal Gear Survive, Mixing genres just to milk players
Metal Gear Survive was made after Hideo Kojima, the legendary creator of Metal Gear, left Konami. Unfortunately, Konami rushed this game to make money fast. They exploited the Metal Gear name but took the series in a direction no fans wanted, tarnishing the brand.
Konami thought fans would like a mix of Metal Gear, zombies, shooting, and survival, but it ended up a messy mix. Everything Kojima built was undone in this one game.
Konami didn’t understand why fans loved Metal Gear or Kojima’s vision. Instead of learning, they just grabbed bits from here and there to cobble together Metal Gear Survive. Meanwhile, other games did these genres much better. Konami even made players pay real money for extra save slots. No wonder Metal Gear Survive flopped so badly.
Source: What Culture, translated by gearvn
