As the game industry continues to grow, more and more companies and designers step into the sector to try their hands at crafting their own video games. With all the new talents entering the ring, players have a veritable buffet of choices in the modern age, but quantity isn’t the same as quality. Unfortunately, the uptick in releases means there are many more bad eggs for players to sift through. That said, there have been some genuinely intriguing ideas over the years.
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Poor execution marred some of these hyped releases, but it doesn’t mean the design ideas and structure behind the proposed games were bad. In fact, some terrible releases and underperforming games have some of the best ideas (on paper) that the industry has seen in recent years. Here’s a look at some of the worst games to release that had some of the best ideas. Through proper execution, these titles might thrive if remade.
5Balan Wonderworld
When it comes to recent games that fall under the “good idea, terrible execution” umbrella, Balan Wonderworld stands out as a prime example. A callback to yesteryear, Balan Wonderworld proposed itself as a 3D platforming adventure with explorable sandbox environments, similar to those seen in smash hit titles like Banjo Kazooie andthe iconic Super Mario 64. At first glance, via trailers and screenshots, Balan Wonderworld looked as if it was shaping up to be a visually gorgeous adventure with solid gameplay elements.
Unfortunately, on release, players were greeted with a barebones, dumbed-down adventure that featured a slew of bugs and incredibly dull and repetitive gameplay. Balan’s concept was great, with over 80 different costumes for players to find and unlock, but each outfit only featured a two-button control scheme that consisted of jumping and one basic ability.
4Mario Is Missing!
The 90s were filled with Super Mario games but not all of them were smash hits. Mario is Missing! was produced by Radical Entertainment,with a blessing from Nintendo themselves, a decision they would regret after the title hit store shelves. The concept for Mario Is Missing! wasn’t necessarily bad. Many gamers would likely scoff at the idea of education fused into their gaming, after all, most were hopping on their consoles as a means to escape the stress of school. But, when done correctly, historical events and gameplay elements can be used to great effect, as seen in the Assassin’s Creed series.
Unfortunately, Mario Is Missing! was nothing like the action-packed AC series. It was dry, repetitive, and played more like a puzzle-solving game with platformer elements than a traditional Super Mario release. The plot is pretty non-sensical too, with Bowser trying to melt the ice of Antartica, for some strange reason, with a mass of hairdryers. It seems as if the release was trying to capitalize on the comical style of the Mario games while offering actual education via historical events and trivia. It’s a novel idea but it was horribly executed.
3Two Worlds II
It’s safe to say there is no shortage of ambition in the gaming world. Designers and developers are constantly attempting to push the envelope, taking pre-established ideas and cranking them up to eleven in order to create new and grandiose adventures. Unfortunately, there are many studios that end up biting off more than they can chew and, as a product, end up producing a release that feels like it’s unfinished and unpolished.
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Two Worlds II is a prime example of this, employing some unique systems and some truly innovative gameplay for its time, marred by poor development execution. The game is incredibly rough around the edges, but does show a lot of great ideas, like a robust crafting system and an interesting Magic mechanic that allows players to mix and create their own spells. Poor voice acting, bad visuals, glitches, animations, and a slew of other problems kept Two Worlds II from being a truly spectacular open-world release.
2WildStar
NCSoft has managed to build an impressive catalog of MMOs over the years as a publisher, with a few solid standouts being the Guild Wars series and Blade & Soul. That said, not every project they touched was destined for greatness. A prime example is WildStar, an ambitious Sci-Fi/Fantasy MMORPG that had some incredible ideas going for it, some engaging combat, and a rather hilarious aesthetic. WildStar appeared to be the complete package and had one of the most robust and eye-opening Player Housing systems ever built into an MMO. It seemed like WildStar had everything going for it and managed to spur quite the cult following.
Unfortunately, developers opted for a subscription-based model at the time of release, something that was being done by MMO giant World of Warcraft. They failed to sway players from the already massive Blizzard release and soon went to a Free-to-play model. Sadly, the shift to Free-to-play couldn’t undo the damage, and a frustrating and grindy questing experience paired with a rather poor story would eventually cause the MMO to shut down. It’s a shame, as it stands as one of the coolest and most engaging MMOs of its time.
1Anthem
There are few hyped games that were released in the last decade that are more heartbreaking to dedicated fans than Anthem, a truly spectacular-looking open-world release that showed immense promise when it first hit store shelves back in 2019. Everything that could have gone wrong with the release seemed to come to fruition, and it wasn’t long after its initial release that the studio would stop working on the project, and it would eventually be scrapped.
The movement in Anthem was unparalleled, with the flying mechanic introduced as one of the most entertaining andengaging ways to travel through an open worldnot yet utilized by games in the same fashion. Unfortunately, past the smooth gameplay and beautiful visuals, the game was a mess. It was buggy, had performance issues, and was bare-bones upon release, not featuring much in way of items, weapons, or unlockables.
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