10 Video Games That Totally Wasted Their Biggest Selling Point

6. A 'Vertical' Cover-Shooter - Dark Void

Remember across the 2000s, every developer under the sun was trying to cash in on the Gears of War's runaway success? Every other game was suddenly a cover-shooter; from Harry Potter's film tie-ins to new franchise-starters and anything in between, and aside from the completely bland Dark Void, it's a formula that's remained fairly unchanged - just look at the upcoming Quantum Break.

However, this 2010 release from Airtight Games actually tried something completely different; vertical cover. Hey, it could've worked!

Voiced by Nolan North (as everything was back then, before the ongoing golden age of Troy Baker), hero William Grey had the ability to boost between various cover points both on a horizontal and vertical plane, tackling enemies from all directions thanks to some pretty nifty jetpack controls. Like the criminally-underrated Singularity that also released in 2010 or 2008's slow-mo melee-fest Dark Sector, it was these mid-tier developers who had the ambition and funds to try something truly unique, yet somehow stumbled when it came to getting the eyes of the world to look their way.

Granted, in the end it didn't come together for Dark Void thanks to being way too repetitive for its own good, alongside combat just not having the requisite x-factor that titles like Gears have in spades. It was almost a victim of the timeless 'wrong place, wrong time' label that strikes down so many initially ambitious projects, but vertical cover remains a cool gameplay mechanic that another developer may eventually fully execute on.