Top 10 Overhyped Video Games
#10: Star Wars The Force Unleashed (2008)
Kicking off our list is Star Wars installment that was touted as breathing new life into the series, extending its official canon, and allowing you to embrace the dark side of the force. Set between the bad and good Star Wars trilogies, it ended up pretty in-between, or if you prefer...mediocre... in terms of quality: poor targeting and enemies that were immune to your force powers made for a tedious experience after the initial glitz wore off.
#9: Fable (2004)
Developer Peter Molyneux is credited with fueling this hype monster himself, having shamelessly claimed that he was creating “the best game ever” over the span of 4 years with a team of 70 developers. Sure, it was an enjoyable game, but it didn’t deliver on its many revolutionary promises, and ushered in the age of polarizing morality choices. Oddly, Molyneux learned nothing from the experience and did the same for Fable II. And Fable III…
#8: Night Trap (1992)
Between the era of 2D sprites and 3D models, full motion video was thought to be the wave of the future. This Sega CD title is guilty of over-promising a cutting-edge FMV experience. As a member of SCAT, you monitored a slumber party turned vampire raid. A clunky experience, complete with clips that were easily missed, it penalized players for spending time watching the plot segments... and tastelessly prompted the creation of the ESRB rating system we know today. Thanks alot!
#7: Spore (2008)
Who doesn’t want to play God while destroying him by turning evolution into a game, sounds promising right? Originally titled “SimEverything”, it was an intricate and deep simulation game that was simple to play and billed itself as “your own personal universe in a box.” Unfortunately, the game actually boiled down to a series of loosely related mini games, and never really evolved past that…
#6: Haze (2008)
Take it in, you’re looking at 2008’s supposed “Halo Killer.” This FPS told the story of a drug that made soldiers fight harder and smarter while experiencing reduced pain and an altered perception of reality. Cue the space marine violence. It featured horrid plot, bad level design, countless glitches, a miniscule campaign, weak characters, and dumb AI. Turns out Halo isn’t as easy to make as you might think…
#5: Virtual Boy Games (1995)
Okay, so it was the 1990s. Avatar was 15 years out. Technology, while primitive by today’s standards, was constantly producing new and amazing things, and everyone was sure that virtual reality was just around the corner. But it wasn’t. 3 dimensions are nice, but 2 colors are not…
#4: Enter The Matrix (2003)
On the topic of virtual reality...what holds more promise than entering the Matrix? Produced by the Wachowski brothers and released when we still loved the series, it was filled with glitches, awkward controls and bland environments. More importantly, you couldn’t play as “the one” or his friends...instead you took on a side story that resembled a poor man’s Max Payne. Oh ya, and spoon or no spoon, those wheels are square.
#3: Too Human (2008)
Remember Eternal Darkness? Well this was created by its developer Silicon Knights and was one of the most expensive games ever made with an 80 million dollar budget. This futuristic Norse tale was promised to be more epic than God of War. Instead, it provided us with 10 years of development hype and very little fun. Seriously, what’s going on...and what’s wrong with her face?!
#2: Duke Nukem Forever (2011)
I’m sure that when this game began development, the irony the choice of title was clearly not what they had in mind. 15 years later, forever was more than just a nice little pun. Duke jumped game studios, game engines and several console generations before making his raunchy return. Sadly, his arrival was marred by a bit of an identity crisis as the game couldn’t seem to decide whether it wanted to be a modern or retro shooter, and subsequently failed at both.
#1: Daikatana (2000)
Taking the top spot on our list is John Romero’s Daikatana, the most hyped flop in gaming history…straight from co-creator of the first person shooter genre. Intended as his Magnum Opus, the plot involved travel through various time periods to find a magical sword. However, it arrived three years late, ran on outdated software, had poor AI, and unplayable design. Romero even got his girlfriend to pose for Playboy to promote it... Guess the infamous poster is addressed to her?
Agree with our list? Which games had you hyped? Be sure to subscribe before heading over to WatchMojo.com for more entertaining top 10s.
