10 Video Game Bombs That Made ONE Fatal Mistake
9. Marketing Itself As Another Bland War Shooter - Spec Ops: The Line
The marketing for third-person shooter Spec Ops: The Line seemed hell-bent on selling it as the most generic war-themed cover shooter imaginable, but that approach apparently proved too dully cynical even for Call of Duty fans, who largely ignored this game when it launched in June 2012.
Once reviews were out in the wild, though, it became clear that Spec Ops wasn't just another chest-beating slice of military fetishism, but a more cerebral, thoughtful, and disturbing thriller about the psychological toll of war.
The trailers did basically nothing to highlight this facet of the game's story, focusing instead on adrenalised set-pieces and little else.
And so, in a genre already wildly oversaturated by empty spectacle, Spec Ops posted disappointing sales, in turn contributing to Take-Two's underwhelming financials in 2013.
Time has at least been kind to the game, which endures as a bonafide cult classic today, no matter that it was recently delisted from all online storefronts due to expiring license agreements.