12 Hugely Delayed Video Games (That Ended Up Sucking)

12. Perfect Dark Zero

The Delay: Perfect Dark Zero began development in 2000 as a title for the Nintendo GameCube, but the title hit its first road block when Microsoft purchased Rare, causing development to shift to the Xbox in 2002. However, when word of the Xbox 360 began doing the rounds, the game was again re-purposed for that console, and eventually released as a launch title on November 17th, 2005. However, the game only barely made this release date thanks to an accelerated manufacturing schedule. Still, given that it's easy to find Internet posts dating back to early 2002 complaining about the game, which already had its final title by then, being delayed, its 2005 release was clearly a long time coming. The Result: As with most launch titles, smart early adopters don't expect too much from them, but even so, Perfect Dark Zero was a major disappointment compared to the superb N64 original. Though it benefited from mostly strong technicals, the visuals were almost too shiny at times, giving the game a garish, even tacky look. Meanwhile, the story of the single player component is laughable at its best and nonsensical at its worst, and the gameplay is hugely hindered by how slowly Joanna moves around, as well as generally infuriating controls. The multiplayer provided some fun relief, but it wasn't enough to make this anything more than a colossal let-down after Rare's success on the N64.