10 Video Games That Were One Critical Flaw Away From Greatness

3. Borderlands

Critical Flaw: The boss fights. Sitting just on the periphery of mass-acceptance and 'everyone-should-play' recommendation, Borderlands saw another surge in popularity thanks to Destiny's many elements that were already done better many years prior, but regardless of the many things it does right, that first game ended up stumbling when it came to the boss fights. Something that often crops up as a point of contention when critics review games is the idea of making a choice that leads to something negative, and then choosing to then mark the game down for allowing it. In the case of Borderlands it's when you're fighting the often-sizeable enemies, that you can then choose to stand in particular places - like say, behind a rock - and said enemies won't be able to hit you. Cheap sure, but even the final boss had this problem, with many players realising there was one pillar-platform they could stand on that wasn't even programmed to be connected by the enemy - allowing for a ridiculously easy kill. Like Saints Row the following two sequels have gone far more down the 'internet'/random humour that ends up turning away as many people as love it, and so it's this original game that usually gets looked back upon as something of a missed opportunity, because everything else is still so proficient and mechanically polished.