There have also been many games that use a shiny exterior rather than solid content, donning a glamorous appearance but are actually quite disappointing. Of course, there are still some titles that are generally worth trying, not necessarily terrible, but they have shortcomings that only become apparent once you have them in hand, as the game developers did not alert players beforehand. Here’s a list of 10 games that have blatantly deceived gamers.
SimCity (2013)
SimCity (2013) promised to be a significant upgrade compared to the previous five installments. The game promised 3D graphics, zoned areas, and even an online multiplayer mode, all thanks to the brand new GlassBox engine. Before its release, many people praised it for its captivating gameplay mechanics. However, upon launch, gamers quickly realized they were confronted with a major hurdle – DRM, which forced them to connect to a server to play the game, even if they just wanted to explore it in single-player mode. To make matters worse, EA could not handle the number of connections to the server because the player count was too high.
Despite receiving a wave of backlash, EA remained steadfast in not removing this DRM from the game. Developer Maxis stated that removing DRM was impossible, as it would require significant alterations to the game. But this was indeed a deception, as a former Maxis employee exposed this falsehood, and later a hacker found a way to “bypass the barriers,” allowing players to play without an internet connection.
Prince Of Persia: Revelations (2005) and Rival Swords (2007)
The Prince of Persia series had a fairly successful development journey in the early to mid-2000s. Both versions, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within and The Two Thrones, received significant praise and greatly boosted Ubisoft’s revenue before the release of Assassin’s Creed in 2007 (which effectively “killed” the series). The series continued with two installments, Revelations and Rival Swords, released on the PSP. Everyone thought this would be the next chapter in the journey of the Persian Prince, but Ubisoft pulled a major trick on gamers.
Once players held the game in their hands, they realized that these two parts were actually just ports of the previous games onto the PSP, with Revelations being the PSP version of Warrior Within, and Rival Swords being of The Two Thrones. While it did add some new content, the different naming led many players to believe that this was an entirely new title rather than a port. It can be speculated that Ubisoft did this to extract more money from unsuspecting gamers who were not aware that this was just a port.
Pokémon: Sword (2019) and Shield (2019)
Still from the renowned GameFreak, Pokémon fans were eagerly awaiting the announcement of the eighth generation Pokémon games with the two versions, Sword and Shield. However, bad news began to emerge. GameFreak announced that the Pokédex in both versions would be cut down, eliminating over half of the Pokémon. The reason was that the development team would focus on creating new animations and revamping all the Pokémon models.
However, upon the game’s release, things did not turn out as fans had hoped. Many animations and models were reused from previous versions; the hashtag #GameFreakLied exploded on Twitter when players discovered numerous old models hidden in the game code. To be fair, the GameFreak team at that time was constrained in terms of resources and had to race against time, putting immense pressure on everyone. However, GameFreak could have “avoided” this issue if they had decided to postpone the release of Sword and Shield, using that time to polish their beloved project.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001)
Hideo Kojima knows how to make a game trailer. After the phenomenal success of Metal Gear Solid, it was only a matter of time before the sequel would emerge. At the E3 2000 event, gamers were treated to a 9-minute trailer, following Snake infiltrating Big Shell to confront the Sons of Liberty. The game cover prominently featured Solid Snake, complete with a tagline proclaiming that Snake would thwart the terrorists’ plot. However, when players started the game, they would indeed get to play as Snake… but only for the first 10 minutes.
Because after that, players would travel two years into the future and control a new character named Raiden… until the end of the game. This can be considered one of the most spectacular bait-and-switches in the gaming industry. Although MGS 2 received many accolades, fans were understandably upset about this character switch. This kind of magic trick must be on par with David Copperfield and is no joke.
Final Fantasy VII Remake (2020)
Before 2015, many fans were hoping that Square Enix would remake the legendary game Final Fantasy VII. And so Square Enix responded, and fans eagerly awaited for 5 years to relive their childhood with stunning 4K graphics. Overall, the remake received a lot of positive feedback thanks to its more intense combat and an upgraded Midgar. However, the pacing of this installment felt quite sluggish.
Some short segments from the original were brought into this version and “stretched” to extend the duration; even minor characters were fleshed out with backstories. To be frank, the entire first disc of the original FF VII was what the remake focused on. So why call it a remake? Tetsuya Nomura clarified that this remake is not meant to replace the original game, and the twist at the end of FF VII Remake seems to confirm this. It suggests that subsequent events may no longer resemble those in the original, meaning that the sequel may not be a duplicate of FF VII but rather have its own distinct storyline.
Battlefield 3 (2011)
At E3 2011, Sony revealed that gamers purchasing Battlefield 3 on the PlayStation platform would receive Battlefield 1943 for free inside the disc. The CEO of Sony at that time stated that it was all thanks to the large capacity of Blu-Ray discs, and fans were delighted. However, when they received the game disc, Battlefield 1943 was nowhere to be found. EA responded that to make up for this, all PS3 players would receive Battlefield 3 expansions earlier than players on other platforms. However, many pointed out that this early DLC access had been announced two months before the game’s release. The good news is that EA eventually gifted Battlefield 1943 (after being threatened with a lawsuit by a group of PS3 gamers).
Aliens: Colonial Marines (2013)
Aliens: Colonial Marines is one of the most notorious game launches in gaming history. The story begins when SEGA acquired the rights to publish the Alien game. They commissioned Gearbox to develop an Alien title, but unexpectedly, Gearbox outsourced most of the project to focus on Borderlands and Duke Nukem Forever. A terribly misguided decision.
Five years later, at E3 2011, a gameplay demo of Colonial Marines was showcased at the highest settings; but when gamers put the disc into their Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, the actual quality they received was quite poor. The graphics had been severely downgraded, the story was convoluted and clumsy, and the AI was best left unmentioned. As a result, SEGA had to pay $1.25 million for false advertising.
However, the matter did not end there. In 2018, a modder discovered a typo in the game code, which had caused the AI of the aliens to be extremely dumb. After correcting this error, the AI became significantly smarter. Whether this was a feature or not remains uncertain.
Anthem (2019)
Along with Aliens: Colonial Marines, Watch Dogs, and The Division, Anthem is also one of those games with an absolutely stunning trailer, but the actual graphics were worlds apart. In the trailer, players would see a magnificent game world with very smooth animations. Players soared high above, while a myriad of creatures battled enemies rising from the ground. Overall, it was incredibly captivating.
However, upon the game’s release, these elements were nowhere to be found. The in-game events were not as thrilling and “explosive” as shown in the trailer, and the animations were completely missing. A BioWare representative stated that during development they faced unexpected issues, so the discrepancies were unavoidable, but many gamers pointed out that for two E3 seasons they had continuously released impressive trailers, making that reasoning hard to accept. Even the trailer released five months before Anthem’s launch still showcased beautiful graphics and promised a lot. Little did anyone know, BioWare made many promises and then failed to deliver just as much.
Godus (2013)
Many of you may have heard of Peter Molyneux – famous for the Fable series and also infamous for making many promises but delivering very little. In 2012, he founded 22Cans and embarked on the project Godus – a simulation game conducted through crowdfunding (Kickstarter). Once he reached his goal, the beta version arrived on Steam nine months later.
But everything gradually went off track. Molyneux announced that DeNA would publish Godus on mobile, despite previously asserting that Godus would have no publisher and that a mobile version was not a top priority. Moreover, the microtransaction mechanics also appeared in the mobile version, completely contradicting Molyneux’s earlier claims that both iOS and Android versions would be free-to-play games.
Almost 2 years after the beta launch, Rock Paper Shotgun interviewed Molyneux, asking if he was a liar. He stated that he would no longer speak to the press and claimed that Kickstarter had not helped at all in fundraising, despite exceeding its goal by £100,000. To this day, Godus remains an Early Access game on Steam, although 22Cans insists that they are actively improving the game based on player feedback. Many backers of this Kickstarter project report that they have received nothing in return, and 22Cans has kept silent about the project.
Fallout 76 (2018)
At E3 2018, Bethesda unveiled a slew of blockbuster games including Elder Scrolls VI, Starfield, and Fallout 76. Promised to be four times larger than Fallout 4 and 16 times more detailed, gamers were all eager and anxious for its release. However, when they entered the game, servers crashed continuously, and the content was riddled with major and minor bugs. One YouTuber even created a three-hour video detailing 1001 bugs they encountered.
Additionally, players were misled about a canvas bag included with the purchase of the Power Armor Edition. Instead of receiving a canvas bag as promised, players received a nylon bag, and Bethesda had no intentions of compensating them. Worse still, players discovered that Bethesda had provided canvas bags (although these were not the same as those advertised) to gaming influencers. Bethesda even refused to refund players. Fortunately, six months later, they eventually provided players with the canvas bags as originally promised.
Source: What Culture