10 Disappointing Video Games That Never Lived Up To The Hype

Marketing can often make or break any video game. No matter the quality, making the public aware of - and excited for - a game before release is the surefire method companies have used for decades, to make sure any new release is an instant smash.

Whilst many games deliver on the promises sold by the huge billboards and epic TV adverts, several titles that were hugely anticipated by the public sadly never quite lived up to the hype and legendary status built around them before release.

As a result, they hugely disappoint both casual and hardcore gamers, as well as reviewers who were all undersold on the original promises of the developers. In some cases the damage caused by sub par games failing to live up to the hype was enough to kill off entire franchises and all prospective sequels to what should have been classic games.

Technical issues can also be heavily responsible for killing the hype. This has come to the forefront in recent years with some mostly online games having huge server issues on launch preventing players from accessing elements of the game, and thus effectively killing all anticipation around release.

The oldest game on the list, 2011's Duke Nukem Forever has a long a troubled history. It was the sequel to the hugely popular Duke Nukem 3D released back in 1996 which was a pioneer in the 3d first person shooter genre.

Originally announced in 1997 there was so much initial hype for the game, even debuting a massively promising trailer at E3 in 1998 with a release promised that same year. What followed can only be described as pure chaos, as the development team switched game engines several times. Development of the game was even restarted from scratch in 2006 after years of flailing around.

The game then lingered in development hell for a full 14 years until it was bought by Gearbox Software, who finally finished it. Duke Nukem Forever was then heavily marketed with the launch of several tie-in mini games and online sites to promote such a long awaited release.

Upon launch however, it was quickly hailed as one of the most disappointing and worst games of the year. This was mostly down to obvious signs of its hellish development including outdated graphics, gameplay, level design, and frankly downright offensive and out of date humour.