10 Expensive Video Games Nobody Wanted
9. Brütal Legend
Poor Tim Schafer. Whilst he makes some oft-considered cult classics, they never seem to find their place in mass-selling legacy. Yet fans still raised three million for Broken Age, so there's clearly some love there.
It's a shame the same can't quite be said for Brütal Legend. On paper, it should have been a multi-platform rock adventure. It had Jack Black, it had a killer soundtrack, not to mention a who's who of rock legends in there too. Ozzy Osbourne, the late Lemmy, Rob Halford... and even Tim Curry!
It could have been great, had Schafer not pulled a bait-and-switch on what kind of game Brütal Legend was going to be. The opening act (and conveniently the demo portion) had players believe it was a Dante's Inferno-style hack and slash.
Which then suddenly turned pseudo-Command & Conquer, hybrid real time strategy game with base management. As you can imagine, people weren't happy with the switcheroo.
Backlash was aimed at marketing hiding this reveal, with critics citing the muddling gameplay not being strong on either component. The only thing that sold well... were the licensed songs used in the game.