Even the hottest property in the hands of the best AAA developer isn't always enough to secure a hit video game, and these titles are proof of that. Whether it's bad timing, a lack of marketing, or fierce competition from other platinum-level games, some titles simply get lost in the shuffle, robbed of their moment of glory.
Thankfully, a lot of these games have seen a resurgence of interest over the years, while others are still struggling for attention. Though the quality differs between titles, there's a solid foundation built underneath each one. Perhaps someday they'll get the recognition they so justly deserve, one way or another.
10 Marvel's Avengers
With the cinematic MCU having closed a massive chapter in its story following the 2019 release of Avengers: Endgame, it seemed like many fans had gotten the closure they desired. That might be why Marvel's Avengers failed to strike a chord with gamers when it would normally have been a hit if released just a few years prior.
It's possible the title was plagued by Marvel fatigue, combined with hefty competition from titles like Final Fantasy VII: Remake, DOOM Eternal, The Last Of Us II, and Cyberpunk 2077. It's a fine, albeit imperfect game with some great starting content, but it'll need a serious injection of passion in order to turn things around.
9 LawBreakers
Upon first glance, the writing for LawBreakers seemed to be on the wall. It looked great, it seemed to have all the kinetic action of a game like Overwatch, including a roster of memorable characters and inventive game mechanics. Ironically, that was the problem, and it eventually became the game's undoing.
Released just a year after the enormously popular Overwatch took the world by storm, LawBreakers felt like a second-rate copycat. Sure, the game scored well with critics and fans, but it was doomed to failure because of rotten timing, and a design approach that was much too similar to its primary competitor.
8 Anthem
Anthem is a good game. It isn't a fantastic game or a great game, but a good game. Unfortunately, a spat of bad marketing, notorious bugs, and poor design decisions ended up driving a nail through the forehead of this title long before its time. It ended up becoming one of the most infamous video game releases of all time.
In the end, Anthem was forced to go up against the likes of Apex Legends, The Outer Worlds, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Coupled with a fan base soured by BioWare's questionable behavior regarding the much anticipated Mass Effect: Andromeda, and the game was never truly able to take off and meet its goals.
7 Kingdoms Of Amalur: Reckoning
This forgotten classic made enough money to be considered one of the highest-grossing games of 2012, but it wasn't enough to offset its costs or its original vision. Kingdoms of Amalur was originally intended to be a sprawling massively multiplayer online RPG, but the team was forced to scale it back dramatically into its current form.
There's still a great game to be had in there, and it's popular with fans to this day. However, when propped up side by side with games like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Mass Effect 3, and the continuing popularity of big MMOs like World of Warcraft, this ambitious game got mobbed from all sides, leading to its downfall.
6 Super Mario Run
Super Mario Run is a great title, and one of the most accessible in Nintendo's flagship Mario franchise. The ability to play the game on a smartphone was the definitive barrier-free alternative to titles like New Super Mario Bros., which required both a console and a decent chunk of coin to play.
Nintendo learned the mobile lesson the hard way. Gamers had a plethora of freemium content available at their fingertips which allowed them to choose their microtransactions at will. Super Mario Run had a hard paywall obstacle, plus a lot of mobile-based competition that had already been established long before it entered the arena.
5 Shenmue
While Shenmue has become something of an iconic cult classic among hardcore video gamers, the road to its popularity was littered with pot-holes. It's a masterpiece with some characteristic flaws, but that hasn't stopped fans from clinging to its legacy ever since it first dropped on the Dreamcast way back in 1999.
The choice of platform was a major stumbling block, especially at a time when the PlayStation 2 was already burning up the charts. Worse, 1999 was loaded with 3D adventure hits like Silent Hill, Resident Evil 3, and Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. The arrival of Grand Theft Auto III just two years later was the final nail in the coffin, at least for a good decade and change.
4 Vanquish
SEGA didn't seem particularly interested in hyping Vanquish when it first came out, which is a shocking travesty. It's one of the single-best third-person shooters ever made, with adrenaline-pumping combat against a slew of over-the-top boss battles and set pieces. In fact, Vanquish probably hasn't achieved a tenth of its potential exposure since release.
It's hard to believe the game was released in 2010. At the time, games like Mass Effect 2, Final Fantasy XIII, Super Mario Galaxy and Halo: Reach were making huge inroads into living rooms across the nation. Such stiff competition, combined with SEGA's lackluster marketing initiatives made this excellent shooter an underground hit, at best.
3 Fallout 76
Yes, a lot of the reasons for Fallout 76's bad launch had to do with disastrous programming, a slew of unforgivable bugs, and a complete void of meaningful content. It was a PR nightmare for Bethesda, who were forced to implement some significant changes to Fallout 76 for the sake of long-term damage control.
At the time, Fallout 4 was still relatively popular, but Bethesda had more competition coming from games like Far Cry 5, Ghost of Tsushima, God of War, and Red Dead Redemption 2. The thought of diving into a Fallout MMO built on an extremely dated engine didn't seem particularly appealing, especially when compounded with day one launch issues.
2 Jet Grind Radio
Another massively lauded title hampered by its platform of choice was Jet Grind Radio, released on the ill-fated SEGA Dreamcast. The game scored huge praise, a number of high-profile awards, and legendary status within the annals of artistic and unique video game titles.
However, the year 2000 was stuffed with competition from the likes of Deus Ex, Diablo II, Metal Gear Solid, and The Sims, which was nightmare territory for a niche title like JGR. Fortunately, the game would get ported to a number of platforms later on, giving it some much-needed exposure, and a second shot at life. It's definitely worth the money.
1 Titanfall 2
Titanfall 2 took everything that made the original Call of Duty-inspired sci-fi shooter such a hit and built upon it with more mechs, more weapons, and a single-player campaign to help flesh out the franchise universe. It's still one of the most popular FPS shooters around, but it didn't start out that way.
The game had stiff competition with the arrival of mega-hits like Overwatch, Battlefield 2016, and of course, the long-awaited DOOM reboot. As such, it fell short of sales, only to experience mammoth player growth and popularity when it migrated to the Steam platform in 2020. Better late than never, because Titanfall 2 is one seriously fun title. Better still, Apex Legends fans can take advantage of some key tips when firing up Titanfall 2 for the first time, since they both take place in the same universe.
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August 04, 2021 at 12:00AM
