10 Video Games That Tried Way Too Hard To Be Cool

3. Lawbreakers

Lawbreakers Game
Boss Key

Lawbreakers was a solid hero shooter that boasted explosive gunplay, well-designed levels and characters and intense game modes, but it was let down by a marketing campaign designed to be as abrasive as possible.

The brainchild of former Epic employee, Cliff Bleszinski, Lawbreakers immediately drew comparisons to Overwatch, and a huge part of the hype cycle was focused on differentiating it as much as possible. As a result, this new game was pitched as the cooler older cousin to Blizzard's colourful smash hit. Hell, Cliffy B even compared it to a Quentin Tarantino movie.

Pull quotes like that, combined with trailers that were full of ironic pop songs, explosions, and OTT reactions of professional gamers faking how much they were loving what they were seeing, all made it clear that Lawbreakers was trying its damnedest to impress potential players.

When you see every cringeworthy bit of hype put side-by-side - like in this excellent Crowbcat video - it's no wonder why fans didn't lose their minds over Lawbreakers.

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Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.