Games That Failed to Live Up to Their Full Potential (2012 Edition)

By DeShaun Zollicoffer on December 18, 2012@geekREVOLT

PlayStation All-Stars_ Battle Royale - The Break Room - YouTube

PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale Meets Robot Chicken

It’s almost 2013 so it’s time to look back at some of the best and worst games of 2012. But before we do that let’s look at some of the ones that didn’t live up to their full potential. These aren’t ‘bad’ games, per se, but they could have been twice as enjoyable with a few simple tweaks.

SSX

EA took a lighthearted series and made it about survival. They may have dropped the deadly descents title, but the game still places too much emphasis on these mountain deathtraps. Tricking and racing takes a backseat and we’re left with something that isn’t half as enjoyable as its predecessors.

Far Cry 3

Far Cry 3’s marketing team hyped Vaas up like he was going to be one of the greatest villains in gaming history. He’s on the game’s boxart; apparently he’s a big deal, right? Nope, Ubisoft took a great character and just threw him to the side. Anticlimactic doesn’t even begin to describe this travesty. Seriously, what were the writers thinking? Insanity? No, this is self-sabotage at its finest.

Inversion

When I reviewed Inversion back in June I said it was a solid game, but a little rough around the edges. If Namco Bandai gave Saber Interactive more time to polish it up it could have been one of 2012’s best third person shooters. But they sent it out to die by releasing it when E3 2012 was in full swing.

PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale

Everyone was excited when PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale was announced; at E3 2012 it was the most popular game at Sony’s booth. It looked like it was going to be an instant classic; all they had to do was nail down the roster. Fast-forward a few months later, PSASBR hits stores, and its roster is absolutely underwhelming.

Maybe it was doomed from the start. Nintendo has an iconic first party line-up so Smash Brothers doesn’t need third-party characters. But the same can’t be said for the PlayStation brand, third-party support is what defined the PSO and PS2. I love Sackboy and Nathan Drake, but they’re new school all-stars. Where’s Crash, Lara Croft, Spyro, Cloud, Solid Snake, etc.

I don’t blame SuperBot; Sony should have nailed down these third-party characters before approving the game. That would have cost too much money, though. But you have to spend money to make money. In its current iteration PSASBR feels like a budget title (and maybe it is, you do get two versions for the price of one), the roster is weak, the UI looks like an afterthought, and there aren’t enough game modes.

More games could be added to this list (Resident Evil 6, Mass Effect 3, etc.), but I’ll let you do that. Tell me in the comments, which games failed to live up to their full potential this year?

I'm DeShaun Zollicoffer, and I approve this message/bio. "26-years-old, Proud Northeast Ohioan, a Gamer Without Loyalties, an Equal Opportunity Offender, Apple Evangelist, Apple Hater, Music Lover, Anime Junkie, Little Monster, Frequent Flyer, Dexter Fanatic, Title Case Addict, and Geek Revolt's Founder and Editorial Director."

Yes disk

Psasbr is so much fun
- http://www.geekrevolt.com/ DeShaun Zollicoffer
  
  Yeah, it’s a fun game, I won’t disagree with that.
DarthDiggler

Seems to me like you never finished Far Cry 3. It’s definitely a GOTY contender.
- http://www.geekrevolt.com/ DeShaun Zollicoffer
  
  Gameplay wise, but the story isn’t that great. As far as not finishing it goes, I’m being intentionally vague because I don’t want to spoil it for those who haven’t played it. My issue isn’t with the gameplay, though.
  - DarthDiggler
    
    Me thinks that you completely missed the point of the story. In some ways it’s a dark satire of most other video game.
    - http://www.geekrevolt.com/ DeShaun Zollicoffer
      
      No, I read that write up on Penny Arcade. The writer comes across as arrogant and he blames the fans for failing to understand his mediocre narrative.
      
      No one is going to look at that story and think, “Ooh this is from Jason’s point of view. He’s a privileged white dude so of course he thinks these poor native folk need saving!” All that Alice and Wonderland stuff, yeah, me thinks the story is garbage.
      
      But the silver lining is — the gameplay is great.
      - DarthDiggler
        
        He didn’t blame anyone he just said he didn’t want the message to beat you over the head. I don’t think the writer was expecting everyone to pickup on all the nuances that were laced within, but there was enough there to suggest that this wasn’t your typical boy saves girl archetype. He was just a little taken back that more people didn’t pick up on them.
        
        I for one think he makes many good points, if we are going to truly expand the gaming experience we need to come up with ways that don’t initiate so much hand holding. The whole article was merely a rebuttle to other people’s misinterpretations of the story and he just wanted to make sure people understood there were more interpretations than what was available on the internet.
        
        IMHO the blogging and editorials about racism / colonialism / sexism / 1%ism / [insert political correctness ism here] in Far Cry 3 were just mechanisms to create controversy for web traffic. The problem with these stories is they are becoming a bit too prevalent and it’s nearing the “boy that cried wolf” point.
        
        I am not saying the story is the best I have ever seen in a game, but given the Open World frame work I think they did a pretty good job of maintaining the story although it was getting a little long near the end.
        
        And who doesn’t like a clam bake in a pot field? Made it a little hard to aim though.
XavierLeromeLangham

me and a few people i know calls Psasbr “Sony Garbage” i played it and didn’t care for it and i was saddened by inversion when i first saw the game i thought it was going to be one of the greatest of all time and it turned out to be something like that the greatest dud of all time smh
- DarthDiggler
  
  I had the beta and it was fun, I may get it after Christmas. My nephew seems to love it so maybe it’s a generational thing. I think people bashing it since it was similar to Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros is retarded. I mean are we bashing Call of Duty because it copied Quake?
  
  EDIT: Bad example we now bash COD for copying COD.
  
  What I really liked about PSASBR was the battlefields, a great way to get a little nostalgia with a new twist.
  - XavierLeromeLangham
    
    lmao that was funny yeah i think people need to stop doing that
  - dakan45
    
    Yet on this midst of cod copies, medal of honor, bf3 singleplayer, homefront, crysis 2 and far cry 3 multiplayer, syndicate and darkness 2 ultra scripting campaigns, we got black ops 2 doing something completly diffirent from the previous cod games and stepping up the fps genre, yet halo 4 gets goty..FUUUU
- http://www.geekrevolt.com/ DeShaun Zollicoffer
  
  Garbage may be too strong, but the roster ruins it for me. I only play it with my 12-year-old nephew. He enjoys it because he doesn’t know anything about Crash, Cloud, Lara Croft, etc.
  - XavierLeromeLangham
    
    garbage is the only way to describe my experience but then again i don’t like smashbothers so that could have something to do with it
http://www.geekrevolt.com/ DeShaun Zollicoffer

Iconic characters are ones that even non-gamers would recognize. Everyone knows who Mario is. Some of those characters are iconic for PlaySation gamers, but that’s about it.

I’m not sure why you threw Cole MacGrath, Fat Princess, Spike, Radec and Nariko in there.
- Josh Gordon
  
  I know, if you read my comment you will see what i mean by iconic characters. He got a point but your points bigger
  - http://www.geekrevolt.com/ DeShaun Zollicoffer
    
    Oh, that reply wasn’t for you
Josh Gordon

I agree and disagree with you here. The thing about this game is it has all the wrong characters in. Where are the real iconic oldschool playstation ALLSTARS. People who still have a bigger reputation then Drake Kratos and Fat Princess… Wheres Croft? Spyro? Sora Riku Cloud Crash Snake.. Wheres the resi influence… Croc… All those people. Would of liked to see the guy from GTA 3 in here aswell just something like that, The character range is way 2 mixed up. Some people fit some just dont. Feels like they are forced in there. Look at smash all characters fit the script perfectly. Then u got Ps allstars with Sly.. Parappa.. which is very good then u have people like kratos who fight totally different and are much easier to play with. I like PS Smash alot (thats what i call it) But it does need improvement. It does kick smash bros ass in alot of ways but then again it doesnt.
- http://www.geekrevolt.com/ DeShaun Zollicoffer
  
  Exactly! It’s like making an NBA dream team with just guys like Kobe, LeBron, and D. Wade. Sure, they’re great players, but that’s a new school dream team. I want a dream team that encompasses the entire history of the NBA so give me Jordan, Bird, and Chamberlain too!
  
  PS3 All-Stars would have been a better name. Big Daddy? Wouldn’t he be more of an Xbox 360 all star? The roster is weird, the game is good, though.
  
  I think that’s what people need to understand. I’m not saying these games suck.
  - Josh Gordon
    
    Yeh i understand
http://www.geekrevolt.com/ DeShaun Zollicoffer

Let’s not go that far, The Last of Us will be one of the greatest games ever! I’m not even joking — just wait and see
dakan45

NOTHING was wrong with far cry 3, asssasin creed 3 on the other hand… and sleeping dogs, oh sleeping dogs.

Games That Failed to Live Up to Their Full Potential (2012 Edition)