10 Potentially Great Video Games That Were Dead On Arrival

Remember when Driv3r readied the gun to its temple with that name, and then blew its own brains out with terrible gameplay? Those were the days.

Every era is recognised as much for its failures as its successes, from the ones which deliver on their promises perfectly, to the likes of Ride to Hell: Retribution. The sad thing about video games is that the vast majority of such let-downs are the disappointing kind. Even when it€™s so dire the developers might as well be mocking your very existence, you can realise how they might have succeeded. Put in enough hours or look far enough into the behind the scenes work, and you can just about see the great game developers were trying to bring to life, even in the absolute worst of games. The shovelware tie-in for Batman Begins might have been dreck of the worst kind but you could at least see the beginnings of ideas which would make it into Arkham Asylum. You're likely already thinking of a few in your head. Anything from a few potential classics, EA releases ruined by executive interference, and probably at least one game with Peter Molyneux involved. Others perhaps were just games which couldn€™t live up to their hype, promising to completely change the face of gaming entirely only to deliver an average experience. Surprisingly no, Fable isn€™t on this list; it was beaten out by even worse offenders. To commemorate a few of these failures, brief selection of bitterly disappointing titles which promised the world to players but crashed and burned even as they hit shelves...
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A gamer who has played everything from Daikatana to Dwarf Fortress. An obsessive film fanatic valuing everything from The Third Man to Flash Gordon. An addict to tabletop titles, comics and the classics of science fiction, whatever media they are a part of.