10 Pre-Order Bonuses That BROKE Their Video Games
Breaking everything before you've even hit start.
DLC. Micro-transactions. Loot boxes. They have become the bane of existence for many gamers today, but what about another industry-favourite practice that routinely gets out of hand, pre-orders?
Surely, having faith in a developer or series and putting some cash down to reserve yourself a copy of a new release is simply a way to guarantee that you can get said game at the earliest possible moment, right?
Well, no.
The idea of pre-ordering games has become so vital to developers, publishers and retail outlets that they are now providing special bonuses with pre-orders as an incentive to get your hard-earned money more quickly, even if the game happens to suck.
Sometimes, these bonuses are reasonable and fun and worth it - a different costume, early access to online play, a different pet to delve into dungeons with. Other times, however, they've had the effect of breaking the very game they are trying to coerce you into buying, by stacking the deck way, way in your favour before you ever hit 'Start'.
Let's take a look at some of the worst offenders.
10. Just Cause 3 - 'Tourist Guide'
Pre-orders of Avalanche's open-world sandbox game Just Cause 3 Collector's Edition included what they cheekily called a 'tourist guide' to the island of Medici.
Sounds like a cute extra, sure.
In reality, though, it was actually a map of the hidden locations of all bases and towns in the game, allowing you - if you so chose - to skip much of the exploration that is half the fun of the game. It turned out to be an excellent tool to chart the easiest and quickest way to your objectives.
And, as a bonus, you also got access to three exclusive higher-end vehicles that came with all pre-orders - a speedboat, dune buggy, and Serpente supercar. So not only did you have a complete map of the island, you had three heavily armed and dangerous ways of getting there.
For a game that prides itself on exploring and experimenting to see what kinds of combinations of vehicles, weapons, and destruction you can create, Avalanche was giving anyone who pre-ordered a considerable leg up from the get-go.