8 Video Games That Wasted Genius Ideas

8. NeverDead

You can't deny that NeverDead sounds like an absolutely brilliant idea on paper. An immortal demon hunter who hacks and slashes his way through monsters with a gigantic sword and dual-wielded firearms?

Okay, this may all sound suspiciously similar to Devil May Cry, but could Dante pull off his own head and roll it around like a bowling ball in order to navigate tight spaces and solve puzzles? It's not every day you can market a game as Devil May Cry meets Kula World.

The game's dismemberment mechanics are initially very entertaining. Protagonist Bryce can reassemble his body in any order, so the player could potentially navigate the environment as a head hopping along on a single leg, or continuing to roll with two arms flopping about comically by the ears. Couple this with a flamboyant art style and some irreverent humour, and you've got a recipe for a hit.

Unfortunately, the one stumbling block was that NeverDead wasn't actually very good. While Bryce's ability to explode and recoup his body parts was innovative (and admittedly hilarious), the combat and puzzles grew stale very quickly and failed to evolve. Throw in enemies that could consume Bryce's head and instakill the player and it went from "NeverDead" to "InfuriatinglyDeadAlot".