Days Gone is one of the best PlayStation exclusives.
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00:00Crafting a piece of art and releasing it into the world takes guts, and video games are
00:04such a big time investment for developers and publishers that if it doesn't meet expectations
00:08that can be devastating, both personally for those that poured their heart and soul into it,
00:12but also from a financial standpoint. The industry is constantly moving and there are times where
00:17video games might not get a second chance, no matter how badly they deserve it. I'm
00:21Sy for WhatCulture.com and these are 10 awesome recent video games that didn't deserve to bomb.
00:2710. Guardians of the Galaxy
00:29Considering how the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been one of the most valuable entertainment
00:33properties of the last decade, you'd think we would have had more high-budget video game
00:37tie-ins or adaptations. Still, even though they wouldn't be using the actors' likenesses,
00:41there was some excitement when Square Enix started working on several Marvel products.
00:45Square claimed that, even though the game came in at number two on release, only behind FIFA,
00:50Guardians of the Galaxy had undershot sales expectations, which is a shame and sadly a
00:54common situation with the company's western releases. There's a couple of reasons why
00:58this might be that include a marketing campaign and presence that was perhaps a little too
01:02overbearing and the fact that it was coming not all that long off the back of Marvel's Avengers.
01:06That game also undersold Square Enix's projections and the critical reaction to Avengers was a lot
01:11more divisive. It's a shame because Guardians doesn't have nearly the amount of issues that
01:14Avengers had with its grinding games-as-a-service approach and was a more streamlined affair
01:19geared towards a good linear campaign. Despite the lack of big screen actors, Guardians characters
01:23were all well-written and identifiable-a goofy but human story amid high-octane combat.
01:299. The House of the Dead Remake
01:32If you're of a certain vintage like me, you may well have fond memories of visiting the
01:36arcade and not being able to resist popping your pocket money into a House of the Dead cabinet.
01:40Instead of pitching a new title, developer Megapixel Studio instead opted to remake
01:44the original game, which has been notoriously locked on old PCs and Sega Saturns for decades.
01:50The House of the Dead Remake is a pretty faithful return to the 25-year-old game that offers the
01:54kind of ridiculous co-op zombie-blasting fun you'd expect, along with some new options to
01:59give it some extra replayability, all in a bright and bold new art style. Criticisms of its awkward
02:03controls are fair, but many thought the game was short and outdated, which, considering it's a
02:07remake of an arcade title from the late 90s, begs the question, what were you expecting?
02:12Considering Megapixel are set to remake fan-favourite The House of the Dead 2 next,
02:16hopefully the legitimate control and tech issues are something they can address moving forward.
02:20That being said, for a new studio to handle a beloved game so respectfully is always nice
02:25to see, and House of the Dead Remake isn't anything more than it needs to be.
02:298. Aliens Fireteam Elite
02:32In this lobby, nobody can hear you scream, because the playerbase have moved on.
02:36Aliens Fireteam Elite actually sold reasonably well at first, being the best-selling game in
02:40the UK on its release week in August 2021 and hitting about 15,000 concurrent players at
02:46launch. But developers Coldiron Studios failed to maintain the momentum and now
02:50barely 200 people play the game, only nine months from its release.
02:53Coldiron's roadmap for content unfortunately doesn't seem to be taking the game's criticisms
02:57into account. Adding more weapons and cosmetics is fine, but most players would rather the studio
03:01fine-tune the AI, construct more story missions or, what should be standard for a multiplayer
03:06experience in 2022, add crossplay. Fireteam Elite is fundamentally a fun game, an action-packed
03:11team-based shooter that retains the alien tone and scare factor, with enemies that can come out
03:15of anywhere and break down your defences. The game's multiple classes are all rewarding in
03:19their own right, and so is the challenge card feature, which offers bigger prizes for a tougher
03:23experience. And, if you're a fan of the franchise, the game handles the lore of the series tremendously
03:28well. Whilst its general audience moved on quickly, Aliens Fireteam Elite is still a blast
03:32to play if you can rally up some friends. 7. Resident Evil 3 Remake
03:37Whilst it wasn't quite as faithful an adaptation as Resident Evil 2 Remake, Jill's fight to escape
03:42Raccoon City was another visual triumph for the RE Engine. Additionally, it revitalised several
03:47dormant Resi characters. Valentine herself hadn't been seen for 11 years by this stage,
03:52and it reinvented the sometimes boring, sometimes sexist Carlos into a boundary-respecting lovable
03:57Himbo. The gameplay basics are as strong as the former remake, but with a relaxed sense of horror
04:01and a slight increase in the action, much like the original RE3. Jill has an incredibly satisfying
04:06dodge move that allows her to roll out of the way of incoming attacks and pop off a few shots in
04:10return. Whilst criticisms were made regarding its length, most don't seem to realise that the
04:14true joy of Resi 3, like many of the series' oldest titles, is in its replayability, honing
04:20your skills to beat your best time and additional difficulty settings. Landing just one year after
04:24the award-winning Mr. X meme-creating classic that was Resident Evil 2 Remake, it had a tough
04:30act to follow. Audiences were pretty satisfied with what they'd already experienced and didn't turn
04:34out for its follow-up, which of course arrived in early 2020 at the start of the pandemic.
04:38Not many people were all that keen to play a game about a virus, for obvious reasons.
04:436. Titanfall 2
04:46Most people agreed that the original Titanfall was an awesome concept that largely delivered,
04:50so when a sequel was revealed, most were optimistic. The multiplayer portion of
04:54Titanfall 2 did so much right, including the most important thing of all, listening to your
04:59audience. The progression system was more robust than the first game, gameplay was less chaotic
05:03and allowed players to make worthwhile decisions on the fly, and maps were deeper and more
05:07interesting. Additionally, Titanfall 2, unlike the original, shipped with a campaign. It wasn't
05:12anything mind-blowing and got some pretty mixed reactions, but the fact that it was there at all
05:16was nice. Even if the story was just fine, the gameplay was fun enough that the campaign was
05:20worth experiencing. EA have said since the release that they're happy with the positive reaction that
05:24Titanfall 2 garnered. That's good to hear, because it's pretty much on them that the game didn't sell
05:29as well as it could've and should've, only moving about 10 million copies in its first year. EA
05:33decided to launch Titanfall 2 a week after Battlefield 1 and a week before Call of Duty
05:39Infinite Warfare, both hotly anticipated releases from franchises with far bigger pedigrees.
05:44Titanfall, a scrappy underdog of the FPS genre, was always going to get overlooked by players
05:48who would've put their main squeeze first. 5. Metroid Samus Returns
05:54At E3 2017, Nintendo announced that Metroid was to return in a big way, with both the still-upcoming
06:00Metroid Prime 4 and the extra-avid surprise of Metroid 2 Return of Samus getting a 3DS remake
06:06that September. Rebranded as Metroid Samus Returns, it took the most disappointing and
06:10dated game in the franchise and brought it to life again using the 3DS's wonderful visuals.
06:15The game rides the fine line of faithfulness and freshness, the titular hero now equipped
06:19with a new counter-attack which only adds to the game's overall fluidity. Finally,
06:23Metroid 2, once trapped on Game Boy, was now flying free. Despite all this, the sales for
06:27Samus Returns were not all that promising for a major Nintendo IP, especially one returning after
06:32such a long absence. Perhaps due to the waning interest in the 3DS, Samus Returns never topped
06:37any charts, landing at number 8 in the UK and number 3 in Japan in its first week. Thankfully,
06:41the announcement of Metroid Dread not only bumped those sales up, but the Nintendo Switch
06:45entry swooped in to more than make up for the loss in sales. Hopefully this secures Mercury
06:50Steam's value in Nintendo's eyes, but even with the success of Dread, we shouldn't forget
06:54the beautiful simplicity of Metroid Samus Returns.
06:574. Days Gone
06:59Sony's biggest power move in recent years has been its exclusives, and whilst we all rightfully
07:04sing the praises of Spider-Man and Horizon, it's Days Gone that deserves more love than it gets.
07:09Upon release, critics were unimpressed, stamping pretty middling review scores on the game and
07:13complaining about its lacklustre story and repetitive missions. The public seemed to
07:17disagree, however, giving the game much higher numbers than the average Metacritic score.
07:20It's possible that critical expectation was too high, as most who played the game pushed back at
07:25the idea that Days Gone World was boring and just because it hadn't reinvented the wheel doesn't
07:29mean that it wasn't worthwhile. Similarly, just because its narrative wasn't as expertly delivered
07:34as The Last of Us doesn't mean that the game deserves total admonishment.
07:37If nothing else, and maybe this is controversial, but speaking on that comparison,
07:41Days Gone has some much more engaging combat encounters than The Last of Us. Unexpected
07:45zombie run-ins that turn into huge showdowns or escape attempts are always tense and satisfying.
07:50Technical blips at launch were also quickly ironed out, which means that this beautiful
07:53open world now runs smoothly. Despite its review scores, Days Gone sold pretty well indeed,
07:58so fingers crossed that this isn't the last we see of Sony's post-apocalyptic survival adventure.
08:033. The Wonderful 101
08:06Whilst we all love to see our favourite franchises and characters return,
08:09there's something special about new IPs and they deserve all the chances they can get to succeed.
08:14After all, if we don't let artists create something new, then the industry stagnates.
08:18Not only was The Wonderful 101 a new property from Platinum Games,
08:21but its innovative gameplay idea was fresh and instantly engaging. An isometric action game,
08:26players control a horde of superheroes and navigate stages to save citizens and solve
08:30puzzles by morphing their horde's shape as it grows. Nintendo pushed The Wonderful 101 as hard
08:35as they could in marketing, but the game sold poorly even by Wii U standards. For example,
08:40its first week placement in the UK gaming charts was at the disappointing and forgettable spot of
08:4522. This stings even more because it was an example of a game that used the system's
08:49advantages incredibly well. On a happier note, The Wonderful 101 got a second lease on life
08:54when Platinum Games launched a Kickstarter campaign for a Nintendo Switch port that
08:57had all of its targets smashed in hours. This further demonstrated the love that the game
09:02had garnered amongst those who played it and the curiosity it prompted from those who hadn't.
09:072. Batman The Telltale Series
09:10One of the most shocking video game falls from grace was the September 2018 reveal that Telltale
09:15Games was firing 90% of its staff and closing its doors. It seemed inconceivable, a juggernaut
09:21of storybook narrative games that only seemed to be getting bigger and bigger suddenly going
09:26bust. Apparently, in 2018, the bubble had quite simply burst. In the ensuing chaos,
09:31internal reports were revealed that out of all of the company's IP-based releases,
09:35only the first season of The Walking Dead and Minecraft had turned a profit. The studio's
09:40efforts with Batman were reported to have completely tanked. This was as big a surprise
09:45as the studio closing. You'd think anything with the Caped Crusader would have sold like hotcakes,
09:50especially high quality games from a well-respected studio. Batman The Telltale Series now has a
09:55bittersweet taste, knowing the damage it did to Telltale, but it remains a really fun look at the
09:59world's greatest detective, superbly played by Troy Baker. The story takes some interesting liberties,
10:04but it's pretty engaging throughout. Additionally, the upgraded engine allowed Telltale to really
10:08give the game a perfect comic book aesthetic. The sequel is so-so, but Batman The Telltale
10:14Series should be remembered for its quality, and not for being the anchor that sank the ship.
10:181. Fallout 76 The idea of an online Fallout game is the
10:23stuff that dreams are made of. Upon release, Fallout 76 had far too many issues to be coming
10:28from such a beloved studio and franchise that had, at the time, a pretty good track record.
10:34Bugs and technical problems were a big contributing factor to its downfall,
10:37but many lamented how empty its open world felt. As such, it became the lowest-scoring entry in
10:42the series. Whilst some stayed to review-bomb the poor thing, most gamers moved on.
10:47The fans that stuck with Fallout 76, however, have since experienced a different game. Updates,
10:52and most prominently, the free 2016 Wastelanders expansion fixed a lot of the game's initial
10:57complaints. The world is now populated with NPCs, and the quest system has been reworked entirely.
11:01The expansion even added a new tutorial quest to help onboard new players better.
11:06As with the main game, Wastelanders was similarly review-bombed,
11:09which belays the fact that many players thought that it was the turning point the game needed.
11:12Despite being a four-year-old title, thousands of gamers still can currently play Fallout 76,
11:17building together, completing quests together, and having a wonderful time,
11:20despite the hate that the game gets. With apparently five more years left on its roadmap,
11:25Fallout 76 is going to be around a lot longer than most people thought.
11:29And that's the list! Let us know what you thought of this video down in the comments below,
11:33and while you're down there, let us know of any video games that you've played that
11:37apparently bombed on release, whether that's review scores or sales,
11:40that you didn't think deserved the treatment they got. Make sure you like this video,
11:44share it with your friends, subscribe, and hit the notification bell.
11:47I've been Si from WhatCulture, and have a good week.