20 Disappointing Video Games That Didn't Fulfil Their Potential
12. Evolve
Ever since Left 4 Dead 2 hit store shelves back in 2009 (I don’t want to think about it), fans of the series have been crying out and begging for another instalment. With that seemingly not happening any time soon (but never say never), the team behind Left 4 Dead, Turtle Rock Studios, brought out a game that aimed to change the face of the multiplayer shooter genre, Evolve. It didn’t.
Sold as an asymmetrical shooter where a team of 4 hunters go up against 1 monster. It’s a cool idea and could’ve been the hit that Turtle Rock Studios intended it to be, winning over fans who, in all honesty, just want another Left 4 Dead. But unfortunately, things didn’t go to plan.
While not the buggiest game the world has ever seen, Evolve caused a massive uproar over the way DLC was handled. On day one, Evolve already had multiple DLC packs readily available, which should’ve been included in the base game. Not only that, but many critics said that the game was thin on content and the gameplay was unbalanced, which is a nasty mix when you’re a multiplayer-only shooter.
It wasn’t completely abandoned straightaway, like many other entries on this list, with Evolve going free-to-play in 2016 (a year after launch) and changing its name to ‘Evolve Stage 2’. This, however, was not enough. The damage had already been done and wasn’t enough to salvage whatever playerbase the game had left. Servers were shut down for Evolve, 2 years later. Maybe if the game had launched as free-to-play in the first place, then the day one DLC wouldn’t have been such a bitter pill to swallow.