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00:00 When the hype train steams into town, even some of the most shrewd gamers are powerless
00:03 to resist its pull.
00:05 But resist we must, if this history of mega disappointments is to teach us anything.
00:10 I'm Sy from WhatCulture.com and these are 10 video games everyone wanted, but hated.
00:15 10.
00:16 Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War
00:19 Call of Duty is not a game series known for innovation, not unless you count it being
00:23 used to recruit for the US Army.
00:25 Yes, that's a real thing.
00:27 With ever decreasing campaign times, increasing monetisation and a greater focus on online
00:32 play, however, some players have been at the end of their tether for years.
00:36 Enter Black Ops Cold War.
00:38 Developed by Treyarch, who were responsible for the runaway success of the original Black
00:41 Ops, this interquel to the series with its early 80s Cold War setting should have been
00:46 a dumb deal.
00:47 As the best-selling game of 2020 in the US, everyone bought it and critics raved about
00:52 it, but that didn't stop fans of the series dragging it into the street and putting a
00:55 bullet between its eyes.
00:57 The campaign is as short as usual, the multiplayer is laggy and underwhelming and the game overall
01:01 is considered buggy and rough around the edges, but that hasn't stopped them making more.
01:06 9.
01:07 Superman - The New Superman Adventures
01:09 Even those intimately familiar with Superman 64 may not know that its full title is the
01:14 ever-catchy Superman - The New Superman Adventures.
01:17 Titus Interactive began development for the game in '97, designed as a companion piece
01:21 to Warner Bros' popular animated series and was originally intended to be a cross-platform
01:26 release for both the N64 and PlayStation 1.
01:29 With three very promising E3 presentations and extensive pre-release media coverage,
01:34 everyone wanted it, but everyone came to hate it.
01:36 It was unresponsive, glitchy, repetitive and just looked terrible.
01:41 Behind the scenes, Warner Bros' licensing team were meddling in the process from the
01:44 beginning.
01:45 Placing firm restraints on what the developers could and couldn't do with their beloved
01:48 character meant that whole sections of the game were hacked off, along with common sense
01:51 features like breakable architecture and Superman's ability to use all of his powers.
01:56 The game's setting was also shifted to a virtual world created by Lex Luthor in order
02:00 for the Man of Steel to not harm real people, but given the state of the graphics, this
02:05 was probably for the best.
02:07 8.
02:08 Assassin's Creed Valhalla
02:09 Once upon a time - 2007 to be precise - Assassin's Creed was a unique proposition.
02:14 Drawing from big gaming successes such as Prince of Persia and real-world influences
02:18 like Parkour, laid over an engrossing blend of sci-fi and history.
02:22 Though some would say the series fell into a rut, supplying gamers with essentially the
02:25 same title each time, it nonetheless kept things interesting enough to retain the anticipation
02:30 surrounding each one.
02:32 That was until the company decided to evolve things, emphasising combat and exploration
02:36 over stealth with Assassin's Creed Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla.
02:40 With a successful launch and initial praise, things were going swimmingly for the latter,
02:44 capitalising on the Viking hype generated by a heady combination of Marvel and the hit
02:48 History Channel series.
02:50 But a myriad of problems generated fan backlash the like of which few other entries have seen.
02:55 Amongst the issues were powerful gearsets locked behind additional payments and an unwieldy
02:59 customisation feature which cost in-game loot to use.
03:03 On top of this, the title had a host of bugs, many introduced to the game by post-launch
03:07 content.
03:08 Many were dismayed with the results, all leading to a pervasive belief that Ubisoft placed
03:11 the store ahead of the actual game.
03:14 7.
03:15 Duke Nukem Forever
03:16 The iconic first-person shooter Duke Nukem was due a revival a long, long time before
03:21 Duke Nukem Forever hit shelves in 2011, so it was an especially sharp knife in the back
03:26 for fans when the title didn't deliver.
03:28 Needless to say, the original series' success drove a hype train quite unlike any other,
03:32 especially considering Forever's predecessor, Duke Nukem 3D, was released way back in 1996.
03:37 But this was perhaps also the thing that delayed it for so long.
03:41 Recognising the sales potential, 3D Realm struggled on through the years, unwilling
03:45 to give up the rights to another, better developer.
03:48 Then they ran out of cash.
03:50 Gearbox bought the property in 2010 before completing the new title in collaboration
03:54 with Triptych and Piranha Games for a prompt release in 2011.
03:58 But in the 15 years between titles, gaming had moved on.
04:01 And was there a place for Duke Nukem?
04:03 The graphics were shoddy, the game was dated and everything about it had the hallmarks
04:07 of a last minute class project, rather than a game that everyone had waited a decade and
04:11 a half for.
04:12 Fans had been desperate for the game for so long, but it was nigh impossible to find anyone
04:16 who actually liked it.
04:18 6.
04:19 Star Wars Battlefront 2
04:20 A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, there promised to be a video game unlike any
04:25 other, bringing together characters, action and conflict from the entire Star Wars saga.
04:30 With a name like Star Wars Battlefront 2, this game was always going to have a lot to
04:33 live up to.
04:34 Not only did it have to right the wrongs from the first instalment of this next gen reboot,
04:38 it also had to outdo the original 2005 Star Wars Battlefront 2 which remains one of the
04:43 most enjoyable split screen offerings ever available.
04:46 While developer DICE may have successfully introduced a much needed story mode, they
04:50 somehow also tore apart the quality and focus of the skirmishes from the first game, one
04:54 of the things it got right.
04:56 This frequently caused AI units to spread too widely throughout the levels, which though
05:00 lavish and true to the source, were left feeling empty and only lit by brief sparks of action.
05:05 On top of this, pay to win mechanics earned the ire of fans.
05:08 While an improvement on the half a game that your money bought you the first time around,
05:12 this nonetheless ushered in a new set of issues, making money players the reigning champions.
05:17 Gamers seeking a fully fleshed, single player Star Wars experience were also at a loss,
05:21 with the campaign lasting a meagre 5-6 hours.
05:24 5.
05:25 The Simpsons Road Rage
05:26 Brand tie-ins are the bread and butter of contemporary consumer culture, but few of
05:30 these are as frequently appalling as the video game tie-in, which is more often than not
05:35 sold on the title alone.
05:36 That was certainly the case when EA went full tilt on the Simpsons in 2001 and 2002, releasing
05:42 a triplet of terrible games - Skateboarding, Wrestling and, in some people's eyes, Road
05:47 Rage - that found steady footing thanks to their big yellow brand marketing.
05:51 Where Wrestling and Skateboarding were just poorly made cash-ins, Road Rage was a blend
05:55 of The Simpsons and Crazy Taxi, with some shallow graphics, some shallow gameplay and
05:59 barely a passing connection to the Simpsons canon.
06:03 Sometimes it struggled with framerate and its loading could be charitably called slow.
06:07 Whilst Wrestling and Skateboarding received somewhat limited exposure thanks to being
06:10 single console releases - PS1 and PS2 respectively - Road Rage was put out across the three major
06:15 6th gen home system consoles as well as the Gameboy Advance.
06:19 So everybody bought it, everybody played it, but it's not going to be anybody's favourite
06:23 game.
06:24 4.
06:25 Aliens Colonial Marines
06:26 Since the release of Ridley Scott's Deep Space Horror in 1979, nobody has been able
06:31 to get enough of Alien, and it is this enduring love that has enabled movie studios and video
06:36 game developers alike to churn out some ungodly messes whilst still making bank.
06:40 And we need look no further back than Aliens Colonial Marines, a Sega and Gearbox collaboration,
06:45 the first person shooter spent six turgid years in development.
06:49 Set shortly after the events of 1986's Aliens, the game follows the titular Marines as they
06:53 battle xenomorphs in an attempt to rescue survivors on a decimated spaceship.
06:57 With temperamental AI and glitches out the wazoo, the game was far from shelf-ready when
07:01 it hit shops, and yet the hype secured sales for over one million copies worldwide.
07:06 So bad was the game, in fact, with its subpar graphics and short, predictable campaign that
07:10 several players sued Sega and Gearbox for false advertising.
07:14 But in the courts, no one can hear you scream.
07:17 3.
07:18 Sonic the Hedgehog
07:19 Sonic the fastest hedgehog alive has been loved the world over since his first appearance
07:23 in 1991, but a drought of decent main console content throughout the first half of the noughties
07:28 put him on the back foot.
07:30 It makes sense then that 2006's Sonic the Hedgehog, which promised a return to form,
07:34 was high on everyone's to-do list.
07:36 As is often the case with legacy titles, there was a big buzz around this one from its announcement
07:40 onwards.
07:41 Such extensive pre-release hype ensured that day one sales would be through the roof, no
07:44 matter what the critics had to say.
07:47 Released on Xbox 360 and PS3, it was panned from day one, yet somehow people continued
07:51 to buy it in their droves.
07:53 The control system proved difficult to handle and navigate from the outset, but this was
07:57 just the beginning.
07:58 As players spent more time with the game, they came to rue its extensive loading times,
08:02 silly, often cringeworthy story and numerous glitches.
08:06 Broadly speaking, the game looked and sounded good, but this alone wasn't worth either
08:10 the weight or the price of the disc.
08:12 As such, it has maintained the title as the worst Sonic game of all in the years since.
08:17 Long may it reign.
08:18 2.
08:19 No Man's Sky
08:20 Touted as one of the best games of all time, with pre-release awards and heaps of praise
08:24 from all corners of the industry, Hello Games' No Man's Sky was supposed to completely
08:28 redefine the possibilities of gaming.
08:30 Or so they said.
08:32 With the largest map ever to make it onto our screens, this open world, or open universe,
08:37 space exploration epic boasts a potential 18 quintillion planets for players to visit.
08:43 Which is great, so long as they're not all the same.
08:45 They're not all the same, right?
08:47 Released on PS4 and PC in 2016, No Man's Sky was the must-have game until everyone
08:52 had a chance to really play it.
08:54 Completing identical tasks on planets that were essentially the same in solar systems
08:58 much like the next one grew old very quickly.
09:01 There was simply not enough to do and not enough variety and it was severely limited
09:05 by the core assets driving the game's procedural generation of new creatures and worlds.
09:10 Plus, with no multiplayer, the lackluster and repetitive gameplay was, well, even more
09:14 lackluster and repetitive.
09:16 By the second month of release, sales had plummeted, players had dropped out and Hello
09:20 Games' social media had gone dark.
09:22 Ouch.
09:23 1.
09:24 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5
09:26 The rushed mess of rushed messes, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 holds a special place in the
09:30 video game canon for simultaneously being one of the most hotly anticipated games of
09:35 all time, while also one of the most crushingly disappointing.
09:38 A flat, uninspired and wholly unfinished offering, Five gave players a clunky disaster that would
09:43 feel more at home amongst 5th and 6th generation consoles rather than the 7th and 8th that
09:48 it was released on.
09:49 The level designs were basic, the controls and mechanics robotic at best, the missions
09:53 were two dimensional and lacking a story mode, and there were no NPCs to speak of, leaving
09:57 it feeling very much like the ghost of its forebears.
10:00 And everyone hated it.
10:02 Everyone.
10:03 Thankfully, this misstep has since been rectified by the sublime remaster of Tony Hawk's Pro
10:08 Skater 1 and 2, which brings the original games back in glorious HD, combining new and
10:13 old features and music for a perfectly pitched contemporary offering.
10:16 The lesson?
10:17 If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
10:19 Now roll on that remaster of Underground 1 and 2.
10:23 And that's the list!
10:24 Let us know down in the comments below what you thought of this video, and as always,
10:27 the opinions of the writer in this video are just opinions, and if you disagree, that's
10:31 fine, let us know which of these games, if any, you actually enjoyed!
10:35 Make sure you like this video, share it with your friends, subscribe and hit the notification
10:39 bell.
10:40 I've been Sy for WhatCulture, and have a good week!