We all love to play video games. That’s why we can’t forget the good games for many years, and we can ruthlessly criticise the bad ones. Story decisions that don’t matter to ordinary people can become the most important thing in our lives. In today’s article, I would like to open a third category next to good and bad games. That’s Failed Video Games That Wasted Potential. Buckle up.
Now that we’re not in the ’90s, there are too many features to separate the good video games from the bad ones. This is also why scoring in game reviews no longer works as before. How can you compare Stardew Valley, developed by one person, with Warzone, developed by thousands?
That’s why we have to rank the games on different common points. What today’s games have in common are games that fail despite having great potential.
DayZ Standalone
The early 2010s were all about the DayZ hype. DayZ, which showed itself as a mod of ARMA 2 and was loved by millions of players, came out in 2013 with its Standalone version. It’s out, but we’re currently in 2022 and the game is still not complete.
Since it is one of the first popular examples of survival-themed games, we have to give it its due. But everyone has to admit that it has continued to be developed for 10+ years and has not reached its potential. Still server problems, graphics bugs, insufficient animations, insufficient social features for today’s games… DayZ’s potential was huge, maybe it could replace current BRs, but it didn’t.
When you play DayZ, you will quickly realize that this potential is wasted. Rather than a tense survival game, it survives on social interactions you rarely have. Imagine if DayZ had content like Escape from Tarkov, it would be awesome. Maybe it will find that potential with DayZ 2.
Plants vs Zombies 2
Oh boy. It is not normal for a series to receive such different reactions between the first game and the second game. Plants vs Zombies was a great tower defense game. It managed to make players of all ages fall in love for it with its funny texts, clever episode designs and the general concept it had. Then EA’s idea of making money through mobile games came into play and… The rest of the story, as you can imagine.
The second game was released in a structure designed entirely to earn more money with microtransactions. In fact, this was such a clear decision that after 9 years, the game still hasn’t been released to the PC. Plants vs Zombies 2 is a free downloadable mobile game. But there are plants, maps, features and boosts that you can make countless purchases while playing.
In summary, you can decide how the potential is used according to which side of the line you stand. EA has made great use of its monetization potential. But it was a big disappointment for players who love tower defense games.
We Happy Few
If you have read the novel 1984, you can immediately understand what kind of game We Happy Few is. In the spiritual game version of the book, we play as a character in the city of people who think they are happy. I say just this because unfortunately there is a gap between the first potential of the game and the point it has reached.
We Happy Few, developed by Compulsion Games under the umbrella of Xbox Game Studios, was a very exciting project when it was first announced. It had a single player scenario, incredibly different and beautiful-looking graphics, a message that challenged the system, and plans with high potential. We don’t know what happened next, but the game has turned into a strange single player survival game.
It was released as a game where you fulfill repetitive tasks by escaping from NPCs in a city that failed to be an open world. If you look at places like Reddit or Steam, you’ll see that everyone is as surprised as I am. When I look back now, I see that a game I was very excited about in 2017 has turned into “something” mediocre.
Anthem
If we want talk about failed video games that wasted potential, this is it. Anthem should be evaluated not only as a game that cannot reach its potential, but also as one of the biggest disappointments in the gaming history. The game developed by Bioware and distributed by EA was the biggest event of 2019. It was a game that takes place in a huge open world, has a Destiny-like structure, and wears exosuits with different features.
So what happened? The game created so much hype until its release that it failed to meet any of them when it came out. It was criticized a lot due to insufficient content, server problems, repetitive missions, RPG elements that did not go deep enough and negative features that we can count until the morning. Anyone who ordered the game early wanted a refund. The servers were drained within a few months, and that huge potential was completely forgotten before it reached its first year.
All developers working on the game last year were transferred to EA’s other games. Anthem was stillborn, officially ending before his second year.
Fallout 76
The only game on this list that I was not disappointed with is Fallout 76. Because when Bethesda boss Todd Howard announced the game with great excitement in 2018, I knew what would happen to us like millions of players. Fallout game engine, which is far from today’s technology, was not enough for an online game.
Do not get me wrong. The existence of any game set in the magnificent Fallout universe is enough to make me happy. Even today, I continue to play Fallout 76 occasionally. But the problem here was that the potential of the project was wasted, perhaps in the worst way possible. The game was released so badly that everyone rightfully hated it.
Fallout 76 is playable in 2022. Unfortunately, it doesn’t even come close to its potential. I turn my disappointment into hope. Because I know that we will play a great Fallout Online game in the coming years.
Mafia 3
I hope this choice won’t be too personal. Because the Mafia series has always a special place for me in the gaming history. What the first game accomplished in 2002 is mind-boggling. The perfect open world, the perfect scenario you wouldn’t expect from any action game, and of course iconic characters. The second game was also very successful, but I cannot say the same for Mafia 3.
When Mafia 3 was first announced, I knew I would hate this game. Although the main character Lincoln looked very cool, it was clear that he did not fit the Mafia setting. The fact that the developers of the first two games were not involved in the project also made all the fears come true.
Is Mafia 3 a failed game? No. But it doesn’t feel like it belongs to the Mafia series and it does nothing but waste the potential of the series.
