Assassin’s Creed: Revelations tower defense
What went wrong?
Similar to zombie craze, the term “tower defense” can raise eyebrows and even raise a game’s stock. Think back to Gears of War 3’s Horde mode. When journalists began describing it as a tower defense experience, gamers went insane with excitement, and rightly so, because the formula worked to perfection. But Assassin’s Creed: Revelations proved that tower defense isn’t right for every game. It’s almost comical looking back at media outlet’s reviews of the hit, because that’s the glaring gripe about the game, so much so that many reported that they couldn’t finish that game due to the tower defense being so absurd. But when you answer, “What went wrong,” I think it’s only justifiable to say that it wasn’t fun. Tower defense wasn’t needed in the Assassin’s Creed series – a series who’s hallmark moments have been concreted around lurking and murdering in cold blood.
How could it have been done successfully?
Easy: it couldn’t have been done successfully. The series wasn’t founded on protecting buildings and being the hunted. No, Assassin’s Creed has always been about being the predator that always has the upper hand in any situation. Scratching it and focusing on the core roots of your past success would have been the correct way to go about things in this instance for Ubisoft.
Fable 3
What went wrong?
Snarky, yes. True, definitely. At the drawing board for this editorial I begin thinking in my head ways to explain how Fable 3 went, well, just wrong, but I quickly just came up with a list of things that did, indeed, go wrong: incredibly short campaign, pacing, story, bugs, and much, much more. Fable 3 sounded brilliant from its early concept stages, possibly due to Mr. Molyneux’s smooth voice that we’ve touched on many times before here at GameZone, but in all reality, it shouldn’t have failed. It was backed by Microsoft and a team that experienced every high and low with the Fable series. But instead the game came and went with no heart and soul, and is certainly one of the major gaming disappointments in recent memory.
How could it have been done successfully?
Lets first look at the story of Fable 3: You’re evil brother is attempting to take down Albion, so you must rise up and win the people over. That, itself, is a grand concept, but it was so predictable throughout that you felt like you wrote the script. Throw us for a loop with family background. With struggle for power. Insight into your brother’s madness. The better part of Fable 3 was undoubtedly when you actually take over the crown and begin making decisions that shape the entire world and its coming fate. Once again, a brilliant idea, but this part of the story is so incredibly short that you never can enjoy that ride and what you accomplish as king. I would love to have seen more insight to each decision with quests that attached to each to help each major decision become more personal and heartfelt. Really, what Fable 3 lacked was heart. It was bland and it showed in full affect. In other words, it ended up “sucking.”
So there you have it – five favorite things in gaming that sounded cool but ended up sucking in epic proportions. Whether it was a detail in a game that failed, or the entire game itself, it’s unfortunate to see a good idea go to waste, especially when it has all the ingredients to inevitably succeed. We now turn to you: is there any things in gaming that you thought was really cool, but ended up stinking? Let us know by commenting below.
You can view more of Tate Steinlage’s life ramblings including college, Sporting KC, and yes, games over @SteinlageT.
Have you ever wished that you could sit in on your favorite game’s development meeting months, even years, before it ever hit store shelves? Hearing producers, designers, and artists toss around ideas that would be transported from paper to digital media, and eventually boxed on a compact disc for the world to see – simply put, it has to be an amazing process. But what happens when some of those ideas go wrong? When a grand idea turns south when players finally get their hands on it? It’s happened hundreds of times in gaming, and we’ve compiled a list of our five favorite things in gaming that sounded cool but ended up, well, sucking.
American Football in Kinect Sports: Season 2
What went wrong?
As if it wasn’t embarrassing enough to be captured on a camera wailing your arms from side to side, gamers were fortunate to be introduced to shoulder soreness and strained vocal chords with American Football in Kinect Sports: Season 2. The idea itself actually sounded pretty fun: playing against an opponent with voice commands in a sport that’s not as generic in gaming as golf or bowling. What happened, though? Pretty simple, actually: Cheesy gameplay that involved absolutely no skill whatsoever, laughable character models that oftentimes coordinated their attack to get past defenders by teleporting through their bodies, and lets not forget about the, seemingly, ten second lag between “HUT!” and the actual snap of the ball (granted that’s pretty realistic when your accustomed to Kansas City Chief’s games).
How could it have been done successfully?
Oh, I don’t know, maybe involving some actual intelligence. It’s understandable that Kinect Sports wasn’t created for the hardcore crowd, but my sever year-old cousin found it absurd that he was just throwing his arm back and forth and seeing the ball going in whichever direction it felt. Kinect’s voice commands offer an excellent opportunity for American Football because you can call audibles, let your lineman know which side of the line to pursue and overprotect, and even run hot routes. Madden NFL 13 got the Kinect part down pat, and if Season 2 would have even somewhat matched that, then its arcade-y format would have been unbelievably fun to play, especially with friends.
Social Media Applications
What went wrong?
I’ll be the first to admit that I was an outspoken believer that social media applications would change the way we played games and interacted with other games, but who wasn’t? The thought of Facebook and Twitter integration, especially for the Xbox 360 crowd, seemed to pave the way between gaming and other media. However, what we got was a pointless, bare-bones format of our favorite social media sites that are a hassle to even get to. Why would I ever want to back out of my game, head to the Xbox 360 dashboard, then find the Twitter application and wait thirty seconds, when I could simply pull out my nearby phone or computer and tweet in less than ten seconds?
The applications themselves also had no importance or connection on gaming whatsoever. Sure I could tweet an achievement I just received in Halo 4, but what about the ability to tweet my final K/D in a match? What about the ability to attach an embarrassing tea bag to my friend’s Facebook wall in game? That’s what we were sold years ago, and to be frank, we were tossed garbage that doesn’t pair in comparison to other applications’ worth like Hulu Plus or Netflix.
How could it have been done successfully?
Begin by implementing the examples I listed above that actually bridge gaming and social media. Make social media viable and needed on our favorite consoles. Hulu, Netflix, and ESPN’s applications all thrive because they have valuable worth on consoles, and offer an experience that’s unique and convenient for entertainment connoisseurs. In addition, introduce social media for gamer’s gamertags and ID’s. Give users the option to have their current Facebook status or latest tweet on their profile’s (at the consent of the user, obviously), with the ability to add and follow users you meet online. Oh, and for the love of carpal tunnel, please come up with a way to quickly type using a controller. My 2004’s T9 SMS texting operating system runs faster than rummaging through the entire alphabet to type a simple sentence.
Crackdown 2 zombies and orb collecting
What went wrong?
Maybe it was the fact that we were getting access to Halo 3’s beta – a marketing genius – but there was something about collecting orbs in the original Crackdown that kept us coming back – kept us climbing to new heights. However, something went horribly wrong in Crackdown 2 with our beloved orbs, and not even zombies could save the day. Instead of discovering new pathways that led to dark alleyways and ledges that directed us to towering skyscrapers, we were told to climb buildings to find already visible orbs. Oh yeah, we forgot to mention that there were hundreds of these things. Crackdown 2 also proved that zombies can’t fix everything in a game. These baddies weren’t threatening and to be honest, their only worth was sweet zombie treading.
How could it have been done successfully?
As we alluded to, go back to the original installment and what made it fun: exploration. Most of the orbs in the first game weren’t visible from the streets, and could only be discovered by finding ways to climb towers and enter mysterious alleys. Exploration is such an invaluable aspect of incentive for gamers that goes beyond what any achievement or trophy could provide. It offers bang for your buck and lets you play a developer’s work – work that goes beyond the main path. Oh, and about those zombies, scratch them. They aren’t needed, but if you insist, make them insane and life threatening. We have an arsenal of weapons and vehicles – make us feel like we’re fighting for our lives. That’s where fun comes back into play.
