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7 Games That Crashed and Burned (Hard)

7 Games That Crashed and Burned (Hard)

A lot of games develop tons of hype ahead of launch. Maybe they’re going to be one of the first titles on a new system. Perhaps they are based upon a much-beloved character, comic, or show. They could revive a classic series. Sometimes, they just try to do something new. The problem is, not every game can deliver on the potential they seem to offer. Something goes wrong, leading to massive crashes that get talked about for years. These sorts of fires have happened a lot in recent years, so let’s go over some games that seemed like they could have been great, but went terribly wrong.

The Order: 1886

The Order: 1886

The Order: 1886 is a game I actually loved. It had problems with its gameplay, having shooting sections that weren’t great and an over-reliance on quick-time events. It was also quite short and very linear. However, the alternate reality it presented looked gorgeous and had a story that could have used a lot more exploring. As one of the launch window titles, it was primed to acquire an audience and maybe create a new series, but its technical issues and length held it back.

Overkill’s The Walking Dead

Overkill’s The Walking Dead

A lot went wrong with Overkill’s The Walking Dead , a first-person shooter based upon the comic and TV show of the same name. There were development issues that led to delays. It had poor design and unbalanced difficulty. The console port was canceled. Also, The Walking Dead as a whole is a bit played out. It just couldn’t find a place for itself.

Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite

Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite

Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite is a game that found itself in a sad situation. It had a solid cast and some mechanics that really improved upon and refined the crossover fighter’s formula. (I mean, we liked it !) Unfortunately, the character designs didn’t land with people and it mainly brought back all of the same old characters. It also had a soundtrack people didn’t like. The real deathblow was Capcom and the fighting game community not supporting it at tournaments.

Duke Nukem Forever

Duke Nukem Forever

There was so much wrong with Duke Nukem Forever. This was a development hell game that was announced in 1997, then didn’t actually get released until 2011. It was dated, it didn’t play well, and it, well, felt like the sort of game you would play in 1997. That’s not a good look about 14 years later. It also released with a lot of bugs and issues, which is never a good look. Sorry, Duke.

Apex Legends

Apex Legends

Apex Legends is one of the more unfortunate inclusions on this list, because it is a game that is genuinely good and enjoyable. It’s a lot of fun to play, there are plenty of characters to choose from, and it generally works well. The problem is, it is a battle royale in an overcrowded market. It performed extraordinarily well when it launched in the beginning of 2019, but its delayed update pace can’t compete with titles like Fortnite, which are getting new content weekly. Revenue and player counts dropped drastically as a result.

Fallout 76

Fallout 76

There were a lot of things that contributed to Fallout 76 , the first multiplayer Fallout game, failing to live up to the hype. Being an always online multiplayer game is a lot for people to deal with. But, that might have been more acceptable if there had been NPCs in the world, more people could be in a wasteland at a time, and there weren’t so many bugs. The game is littered with problems, many of them gamebreaking, and these persisted months after launch.

Anthem

Anthem

Anthem is a case of a developer people loved doing something entirely out of its wheelhouse and failing. Instead of a game with major RPG elements, a strong story, and relationship building with genuinely engaging characters, Anthem is a loot-shooter and Destiny -like that needs other people to work. It also needs, um, a lot of fixes from BioWare to be properly functional, as problems keep coming up. Some balancing would be good too. Oh, and more frequent updates should hopefully start arriving on a better schedule. Yeah, there’s a lot that needs to be done.

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