The only thing worse than a bad game with no redeeming qualities is a great gameplay mechanic wasted on an otherwise terrible title. A game that's obviously bad can be simply ignored and forgotten, but an unsuspecting consumer could be tricked into wasting their time and money on a title whose poor quality is hidden behind an exciting idea.
Many factors can ruin what should have been a great game. Meddling mandates from upper management, hardware limitations, looming deadlines, or creative differences can turn promising games into disasters.
10 Dark Void's Fun Jetpack-Based Gameplay Runs Out Of Fuel
Games that give players the ability to fly in a 3D environment inevitably involve complications. Designers must account for how much of the level structure and challenge will be ruined if players can just fly over it. For the most part, Dark Void manages to overcome these problems with its exhilarating, jetpack-focused gameplay. It does include the predictable invisible walls, but the ability to organically switch from ground to air is responsive and cathartic. Unfortunately, the fun doesn't last forever. Dark Void's rushed development cycle shows in long sections that shift the focus to boring gunplay and its ridiculously abrupt ending.
9 The Psychological Horror In Silent Hill: Shattered Memories Is Telegraphed
The therapy sessions in Silent Hill: Shattered Memories were a nice reprieve from the horror sections of the game, much like the room mechanic in Silent Hill 4. The perspective switches to first-person as Dr. Kaufman asks the player personal questions about their relationships with their family, their social life, and their sexual activity.
The answers the player gives during these sessions affect future gameplay by changing the appearance of monsters. Unfortunately, Shattered Memories goes on to ruin this mechanic by telegraphing the chase sections and removing any feeling of danger, a critical misstep for a horror game.
8 Shadow The Hedgehog's Moral Choice Level Grid Is Wasted
Shadow the Hedgehog's morally ambiguous nature allowed his spin-off game to introduce a choice system that affected the path of the main campaign. Each stage had the player choose between helping the good guys, helping the bad guys, or looking out for number one. If Shadow helped Sonic fight off the aliens in the intro stage, the next level would put him on a highway. One playthrough is not enough to see all the stages and cutscenes, but the platforming, combat, and camera controls were so utterly incompetent that Shadow the Hedgehog isn't worth finishing even once.
7 The Punisher's Darkly Comic Interrogations Are Undermined By Tedious Gunplay
The Punisher was admirably faithful to its violent and wacky source material. It set itself apart from other third-person shooters with its interrogation sequences, in which the player used the environment to grill criminals for information. Frank could threaten enemies with a wood chipper, a piranha tank, and even an electric chair. Once The Punisher got the information he needed, he could choose to spare the goons or kill them in a suitably over-the-top fashion. Unfortunately, every level is the same run-and-gun affair devoid of variety, and The Punisher is far outclassed by games like Max Payne.
6 Crash Twinsanity's Team Mechanic Suffered From Rushed Development
Crash Twinsanity attempted to breathe new life into the declining Crash Bandicoot series by having Crash team up with his arch-nemesis Dr. Cortex. The mad scientist could be used as a weapon, thrown to high places to solve puzzles, and even controlled simultaneously alongside Crash.
Crash Twinsanity makes great use of physical comedy, especially in the fight-cloud sections, reminiscent of Super Monkey Ball, and the levels where Crash uses Cortex as a snowboard. Unfortunately, the game's rushed development cycle led to frustrating trial-and-error level design, game-breaking bugs, and brutally sparse checkpoints.
5 Mindjack's Possession Mechanic Is Wasted On An Ugly Mess Of A Game
MindJack had a unique selling point: players could possess, or "jack the minds" of, enemies and bystanders in the heat of a gunfight. This fresh idea is utterly wasted on a detestable third-person shooter that fails at every turn. MindJack's visuals were woefully behind the times, and the uninspired art direction does little to make up for its technical shortcomings. 2011 saw a glut of cover-based shooters, and MindJack stood out for all the wrong reasons.
4 NeverDead's Insipid Combat Ruins Its Limb-Based Gameplay
The idea of controlling a character who not only can't die but can detach and reattach their limbs to solve puzzles is a compelling concept that Konami utterly botched with NeverDead. While Brice can't technically die, missions can be failed if his comrades fall in combat or if his head is swallowed by certain monsters. Instead of focusing on puzzles that take advantage of the unique premise, NeverDead has an ill-advised emphasis on gunplay and melee combat that's made worse by an awful camera and low frame rates.
3 Remember Me Had Two Mechanics That Could Have Been Games On Their Own
Capcom and Dontnod's Remember Me featured two unique gameplay mechanics that each could have been compelling games on their own. Instead, they were awkwardly mashed together into. One mechanic involved tampering with other characters' memories to alter their recollections of events, while the other allowed the player to customize their own melee combos in the game's fighting sections. Neither had any room to breathe, resulting in a game that's less than the sum of its parts. Players who are intrigued by these mechanics might want to try Ghost Trick or God Hand instead.
2 Alone In The Dark's Unique Mechanics Are Undercooked
Alone in the Dark's reboot had some unique ideas that could have made a great game. Certain secrets require closing the character's eyes with the press of a button. The game's dynamic, real-time fire system allows players to protect themselves from the dark with flaming objects. Alone in the Dark utilizes a crafting system where the player accumulates materials and can forge weapons like Molotov cocktails. All these neat mechanics are unfortunately wasted on an unpolished mess surrounded by unlikable characters, profanity laced dialogue, and tedious fetch quests.
1 Knack's Unique Vision Was Severely Compromised
It's hard to believe there was a time when Knack was a hotly anticipated title for the then-upcoming PlayStation 4. The pitch involved a small cuddly creature growing into a Godzilla-sized monster capable of taking on giant goblins and robots. It seemed like a great demonstration of the hardware and a fun gameplay mechanic.
Unfortunately, the final product failed to live up to such lofty promises. While switching between small and big forms on a whim would have been fun, the size-changing is more scripted in the final game. This paired poorly with overly simple combat to make Knack one of the biggest disappointments of recent years.