10 'Next Big Thing' Video Games That Failed Miserably

10. Heavenly Sword

There was a time when Sony were putting all their eggs into Heavenly Sword's basket. Nariko was set to be "the next big PlayStation icon" (a female one at that!), all-new facial tech was going to allow for an 'unprecedented level of cinematic immersion', and the budgetary clout of being a first-party Sony studio meant every last voxel was primed to be as shiny as possible.

Then it released, and Heavenly Sword was about as fun to play as Mass Effect Andromeda's facial animations are to look at. It was clear for all to see that Ninja Theory had prioritised story over gameplay, falling back on two base gameplay types; God of War-influenced hack n' slashery, and 'follow-the-arrow' slow motion archery sections.

Needless to say, the reception was so flat, what was supposed to be a new franchise never even saw a second instalment. Ninja Theory went on to release another 'conceptually-solid-yet-forever-naff-when-you-played-it' game in Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, and are currently about to release Hellblade as something that - YET AGAIN - is being sold off the back of 'jaw-dropping' facial technology.

How about nailing down some innovative gameplay mechanics first?