Ten Of The Biggest Gaming Disappointments Of All Time

Non-Fiction Gaming writer Steve B pulls his palm dangerously close to his face for this list of Gaming Disappointments.

Of course gamers are nothing if not full of opinion. Let us know what should have made this list or should have been left out.

[Excalibur]

For the life of me I don't know why Duke gets so much hate, DNF (IMO) was actually a pleasant surprise and was a little better than I expected BUT I didn't expect the greatest game ever made either.

[MikeMyers]

Because it was so long in development and when it was finally released it still didn't have the refinement of a finished game.

Doom 3 and Rage are also games that were disappointments to me.

[PopRocks359]

I don't think that's a fair reason because that build of the game was not in development for that long. The designers had to stop development and start from scratch a few times over for the past decade and a half.

This last build was probably made over the last three or four years? Not to mention Gearbox had to step in just to finish the code when 3D Realms went under.

I personally liked the game. I didn't expect the next coming of shooters. Instead it was a nice little parody of what modern shooters are like. I never saw why everyone, critcs and gamers alike, hated it so much.

[Nerdmaster]

I'm always surprised when people say that they were expecting DN Forever to be an awesome game because of the development time. I thought it was common knowledge that it went through a development hell, and that's why it took so long. It was not because they spent so many years refining it.

[MikeMyers]

But when the game came out it didn't compare well to games at that time. You could tell that some of the assets were now old.

[PopRocks359]

Well no kidding man. It's a game that was designed ten years ago and had to be started over for different engines multiple times. Take the old design and release it now when the game is finally finished and what do you get? A bunch of antsy reviewers throwing a shitfit because they expected the next Halo or Call of Duty.

People attacked that game for having long corridors, two weapon slots and recharging health. Those features are all prevalent in other shooters and no one criticizes them for it, only this one.

[MikeMyers]

PopRock, you talked me into trying the game out again.

[NukaCola]

DNF wasn't a disappointment. It was a failure that had to get finished, so Gearbox could move on and make the real nextgen Duke they wanted to. It was going to be a flop.

[admiralvic]

Same.

Though I think all the hate from DNF comes from misconceptions and people assuming the best for the game. Like most of the hype for DNF didn't come from the company, but people referencing it / talking about it. (think FF Versus / The Last Guardian) Also a lot of people went in assuming that it had been in development for 10+ years, when the game had plenty of set backs and was remade a few different times.

In a lot of ways I think DNF did a lot for the industry. Not only did it FINALLY end the DNF jokes, but it also proves that a long development cycle doesn't always mean success. I think a lot of people forget that there ARE reasons for delays and titles that end up in limbo typically have a reason for ending up there. Hopefully now people will learn to manage their expectations a little better.

[Tetsujin]

I actually liked DNF mainly for the 90's parodies and references it had; reminded me of the last decade with some sort of common sense. No it wasn't the greatest game but it at least put a smile on my face knowing there's people who still remember some part of the 90's and poke fun at it.

If anything I'd put Activision on that list as #1.

[Excalibur]

Exactly.
I played ALL the Duke Nukem' games back in the day with every mod and every extra level that fans made for it.

The Duke games were never AMAZING feats of technology or breakthroughs in graphics or anything of the sort BUT they were fun as hell to play so no one really cared about that stuff.

TBH I got exactly what I was hoping to get, a fun and Cheesy Duke Nukem' game.

I seen some of the reviewers giving the game a 1/2 star out of 10, really? REALLY?

To the reviewers, Did you stick the game in and your console or PC explode because that is about the only way anything could rate a 1/2 star out of 10.

If you finished the game on the hardest level it opened up a timeline from conception to completion in one of the menus.

The game went through a true development hell, from story changes to various engines to various owners, for the game to even hit the shelves was an Amazing accomplishment.

Kuddos to Gearbox, when the next duke title comes out I'll buy it day one as well.

[NFGaming]

There are a number of factors in why DNF gets a lot of hate. This is of course just opinion and I have nothing to really back this up.

We tend to go to extremes:
When discussing an issue or even an opinion we become very polar with our wording. "Worst game ever", "Funniest thing ever", "Nazi slave driver communist". Possibly because starting at a polar position makes it easier to compromise and still sit on the side of your opinion. That topic is best left for a longer discussion.

Long time between games:
We have a tendency to expect more over a long development time. Even though as PopRocks359 pointed out here the game wasn't in development the whole time. We did see bits and pieces, then it was scrapped, then it started again.

The Humour:
I'm a fan of Jon St John and the Duke one liners. But I can see how they can rub people the wrong way. Even gamers that grew up playing Duke Nukem I, II and 3D have aged and perhaps have changed their tolerance on the jokes degrading women and abortion.

You've Changed Duke:
While I enjoyed the game for the most part, I was a bit dissapointed that despite making fun of other games (Like Halo's power armour) Duke had regenerating health and could only carry two weapons. I was hoping for a modern Duke Nukem 3D with a Half-Life size arsenal of weapons.

We hear more bad that good:
Have you ever been in a customer service job? In induction they usually tell you something like, "If a customer has a good experience they might tell one other person. If they have a bad experience they will tell ten people" Or something along those lines. I assume this holds true to video games as well.

Any one of those or a combination could see hate spew forth for DNF. I'm sure there are probably some other reasons I haven't though of. For one I enjoyed the game and hearing the Duke catchphrases playing on the Ultra Action Hero type with some self awareness. It wasn't what I was hoping for and that could be the biggest issue of all. Do we just expect too much?

-Dan

(Crap, that was longer than I was expecting. Maybe I should just write it into an article next time :D )

[Hellsvacancy]

Im a gaming "disappointment" I cant believe I didnt buy/play Portal 2 when it came out, I only got it last week, its absolutely amazing, one of the best games ive played this gen

I feel very disappointed with myself for not playing it sooner, I probably would of had a co-op partner then, theres no players online now

[thebudgetgamer]

Pac Man for the 2600 could also be on the list.

[CommonSenseGamer]

And yet how many drones proclaimed each of those games as going to be AAA before they were released.

[PopRocks359]

Justify your opinion by attacking others for theirs. I look specifically at the word "drones."

Stay classy.

[BlaqMagiq24]

And I'm pretty sure you were one of those "drones".

[CommonSenseGamer]

I'm pretty sure I wasn't. I often get slammed for disagreeing with opinion before a game is released.

[Blastoise]

Devil May Cry 2. What a disaster. I'd say Resident Evil 6 but after playing the demo I already knew it was gonna suck.

[Igor89]

Skyrim on PS3.

Bethesda lost all its magic with me after that.

[ziggurcat]

which is why i will never buy another bethesda game ever again, regardless of whether they develop or produce the game.

[ape007]

Shadow Man 2 on PS2 was a major disappointment, shadow man 1 is one of the best games ever made

a sample of the masterpiece music

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[BattleAxe]

From my perspective I think there were much worse disappointments like:

- Socom 4
- Socom: Confrontation
- Resistance 3 Multiplayer
- Ghost Recon 2 for PS2
- Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter for PS2
- CoD: Black Ops Single Player
- Modern Warfare 3 Multiplayer
- Crysis 2

I'm not trying to pick on Playstation, but Playstation is what I have the most experience with.