10 Botched Features That Almost Ruined Iconic Video Games
Seriously, what the hell was up with Oblivion's dialogue system?!
Although some iconic video games have gone down in history as being perfect, no title is without its flaws. Bad features haunt great releases as much as they do terrible ones; it's just that some games have a better way of recovering from their missteps than others.
With so many ideas being crammed into one project and with titles having to sustain their quality for hours upon hours, it's no surprise that not everything the developers throw at the wall sticks.
GTA IV is an amazing sequel and one of the most critically acclaimed games of all time, yet even a title as impressive as that still managed to feature one of the most derided mechanics of all time, somehow thinking that NPCs calling players up every twenty minutes wanting to go bowling was a good idea.
While they can cause issues, glaring imperfections in otherwise amazing titles like this are often happily overlooked if a game succeeds enough in other areas.
Even then, while some releases can get away with having a couple of botched mechanics or systems that detract from the fun, certain iconic video games over the years came awfully close to having their entire reputation ruined by a single terrible feature.
10. The Original Bioshock's Hacking Mini-Game
For the most part, every mechanic and feature in Bioshock contributes to the game's brilliant blend of survival horror gameplay and first-person shooting. The likes of one-use upgrade machines invite you to play smart and think about your decisions, while elements such as the vita-chambers encourage experimentation by reducing the consequences of dying.
The hacking mechanic on the other hand... well, even ten years later it's still not clear what that added to the game except controller-throwing frustration.
A basic yet infuriatingly punishing puzzle that constantly interrupted the flow of gameplay, the hacking in the original Bioshock lacked the polish that the rest of the game featured in droves.
Not only could they be needlessly complex, but failing one of these mini-games often brought the game's most annoying enemies directly to your position too, meaning that it was often never worth the risk to interact with them.
Thankfully the developers seemed to understand that the feature was a cumbersome waste of time and got rid of it altogether for Bioshock Infinite, to the widespread cheers of everyone who had to suffer through them in the first game.