Highly Anticipated Games that Failed to Deliver

Initially we thought we might do some kind of top five or ten list but decided that it's very difficult to rank games that failed to deliver mainly because some games listed may have come through in certain facets but failed miserably in other areas. Below we have included our thoughts on these gaming titles that just didn't quite live up to certain fan expectations.



While Dune 2000 was by no means a widely popular game, there is no denying that the original Dune was a pioneer in the RTS games genre and paved the way for games like Command & Conquer, Starcraft and Warcraft. So with that in mind, many thought the new iteration of Dune was sure to be a success, well, not so fast! It was indeed one of the first games to use a 3D environment but it looked almost unfinished, the campaign was lacking and multiplayer was poor. Oh, and did we mention the graphics weren't very good? lol



Skipping ahead to another real time strategy game which actually came out a bit prior to Dune 2000 but was by far more anticipated by fans, Tiberian Sun will go down as one of the biggest failures of Westwood/EA's tenure as an RTS game creator. That and the years of development time it took! The first trailer was packed into the original Command & Conquer back in 1995 so that meant there was around a 4 year span between the initial trailer and game launch. That's pretty significant!

The one upside the game had was a very solid campaign and great cut scenes as well as a pretty good musical track. The overall game play however was what doomed Tiberian Sun and its multiplayer aspect was incredibly slow. Westwood Studios (Acquired by Electronic Arts) really went out of their way to prevent rushing and in so doing so slowed the pace and action of the game tremendously. While a few liked this, most of those who were used to the faster paced nature of command and conquer were offended by this. There was also a bit of a hokey nature to the game. Very similar to Red Alert which it shouldn't have been. Redemption finally came after the launch of Command and Conquer 3 which recaptured that epic feel, coupled with fast paced game play and stunning realistic visuals.



For all those Amped, SSX and new Shaun White converted fans; you'll know what I'm talking about when I say Amped 3 was a horrible failure. The original Amped and especially the follow up in Amped 2 were two of the very best snowboarding games to ever be made. Amped 2 simply added more realism, style and substance as Amped 3 seemed to subtract most innovations the previous two had set.

The Amped 3 single player reminded me of some little girls Barbie doll game with the outlandish artsy approach. It was very hectic overall and half the time I couldn't understand what the narrator (screaming raspy voice) was saying and comprehending the storyline was nearly impossible. I couldn't get that far into the campaign because I got really sick of the storyline, I just wanted to shred, not learn about some convoluted 17 year old's back story. I know this was a 360 launch title but the graphics were a marginal improvement at best which shows the game was somewhat rushed in that department as well.

Now the multiplayer is where the game really goes down the toilet. The realistic feel that Amped 2 brought was completely gone and the tricks were at least 50% easier to accomplish. You could literally land sideways and not bust! The other god awful annoying aspect was the Japanimation style hearts, stars and stylistic point system. This was completely unnecessary and made the Amped 3 look extremely cheesy and cheap. But probably the most notable problem is that Amped 3 multiplayer was not a true multiplayer at all since it had no online portion which again shows a rushed development process and most time was spent on the horrible storyline.

For those wanting a return to a more realistic game, go get Shaun White snowboarding. While it's not exactly Amped 2 or SSX, it is a vast improvement over the quality of Amped 3!



While this might offend some and I will admit, I played Halo 2 a great deal. It's just, there were some aspects that jarred the hell out of me and annoyed me many times. Some of them I got over, others I have not. Yes, Halo 2 campaign was one of the biggest issues most had in that the ending was a "WTF!!???" moment. It had most gamers screaming and throwing their controllers at the TV in rage! Aside from that little aspect, lol, the Halo 2 campaign was an overall enjoyable experience.

The main problem it had was that Halo 2 multiplayer wasn't really innovative. It was basically Halo 1 with slightly improved graphics. Scratch that, it was that minus a few things, taking away the Pistol for one, something we'll never get back it would seem, unless Halo 3 Recon decides to return it to its glory perhaps? Another small complaint, maybe more so a personal one was the subtraction of the d-pad for movement and for some reason that is what I learned to move with in Halo 1 so this was rather jawing to say the least!

Unlike Halo 2, Halo 3 delivered in the mulitiplayer department with many new additions such as the "x button" feature that added a new level of game play. Most Halo gamers will know what I'm referring too. :-)



Spore was a game that could have really been big but flopped out of the gate. It was billed to be an epic RTS/God Game in terms of scale and playability. It failed on both accounts. Sure the game had a fair amount to it in terms of content but it was more of a "boring put you to sleep" kind of game rather than a build your civilization and go conquer others in vast epic style. This game felt more like a spin off of Sim City than a GG/RTS hybrid. The only truly unique and complex piece was actually building your creatures from the ground up. Past that, it just got redundant and boring and many promised features were left out of the game and shoved into later planned expansions just to get you to waste more money. Not to mention the many bugs that plagued the game, although it is EA so that should have been expected? lol

Well, that's about all we can think up for now, so tell us your opinions or games that you think didn't live up to the hype?