METAL GEAR – METAL GEAR SURVIVE

You’d think that Konami couldn’t have given the Metal Gear franchise a worse sendoff than it did with the troubled launch of MGS5 and the acrimonious departure of series mastermind Hideo Kojima, but the company decided to follow up on those disasters with another major screwup. That came in the form of Metal Gear Survive, an abomination of a survival game with mindless, repetitive mechanics, uninspired design, and an unimaginable misuse of a beloved IP. Metal Gear Survive isn’t mainline, of course, and as such easily ignorable- which is good, because that’s exactly what you should do with it.

However, there are some whose open worlds either don’t live up to the potential of their gameplay and setting, or crash and burn by doing everything that we’ve already seen a million times before but worse. Some are still good games and even classics, while others…not so much. Let’s look at 15 open-world games that wasted their potential.

Forspoken

As dire as the final product ended up being, Luminous Productions’ Forspoken had an interesting premise when first revealed. The idea of exploring a vast fantasy world with magical parkour, sailing over objects and unleashing powerful magic was enticing. It felt like the team, full of Final Fantasy 15 veterans, was using that knowledge and focusing on what players enjoyed the most about that RPG – its open world.

Unfortunately, not only was the story bogged down by awful dialogue and characterization, but Athia felt artificial. The vast empty fields full of endlessly respawning monsters, the fetch quests, and typical towers which unlock new icons on the map, adding to the “to-do” list, didn’t come together well. There are some interesting optional dungeons and bosses, for whatever that’s worth.

DEAD RISING 4

The Dead Rising series had already suffered a bit of a dip with its third instalment, but Dead Rising 4 turned out to be the final nail in the coffin for what had at one point seemed like a major Capcom franchise. Unfortunately, it seemed like the game just never got what it was about the series that fans liked. From the questionable changes made to Frank West’s character to the ridiculously over-the-top tone that tried too hard to be funny, from poor design decisions (like the removal of timers) to disappointing boss fights, there was too much about the game that just didn’t work out.

Land of the Dead: Road to Fiddler’s Green

Released in 2005, George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead offered strong socio-political commentary in a post-apocalyptic world. It also provided the unique twist that the undead may not be as brain dead as many thought. By comparison, Land of the Dead: Road to Fiddler’s Green by Brainbox Games is an uninspired FPS where players mow down hordes of zombies in a prequel-esque set-up (which ultimately means nothing in the grand scheme of things). Multiplayer is also a thing and while co-op survival makes sense, other modes like Team Deathmatch don’t. Both were horrible anyway so it didn’t matter.

The gameplay is painfully slow, whether you’re attempting to bash zombies to death or dealing with the clunky gun play. The visuals, from the environments to the zombies themselves, are awful but still somehow better than the audio with its horrendously repetitive music and mundane voice-acting. Sadly, in terms of movie tie-ins, it was par for the course for games released in 2005.

DLC Required

Remember how Frank West valiantly sacrificed himself at the end of Dead Rising 4 so that Vicky and Brad could escape? Yeah, that’s not the “true” ending. Purchasing the Frank Rising DLC reveals that West actually became a zombie, got better and then maybe escaped (or not, depending on your choices). Unfortunately this wouldn’t be the first time that a game’s “true” ending would be gated behind DLC – see Asura’s Wrath, also conveniently published by Capcom.

Microsoft had recently unveiled its next round of ID@Xbox titles for Xbox Game Pass including Undertale and My Time at Portia. Turns out they’re arriving sooner than expected – both titles will be available on Game Pass today along with Monolith Productions’ Middle-Earth: Shadow of War. That’s already quite the steal.

But that’s not all. However, recent tweets by the official Xbox Game Pass Twitter confirmed that Blazing Chrome, Dead Rising 4, LEGO City Undercover, Timespinner, and Unavowed would also be joining the service on July 11th. So whether you’re seeking open world action, side-scrolling action or adventure, this month should have you covered.

Xbox Game Pass is also available for PC, having launched last month with over 100 titles. These includes games like Imperator: Rome, Metro Exodus and much more. You can also expect The Coalition’s Gears 5 to be available on the service when it launches in September. In fact, those who pick up Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for $15 gain early access to Gears 5.

https://twitter.com/XboxGamePass/status/1146404224697171975

In this feature, we’ll be taking a look at fifteen such disappointing Xbox One exclusives- note that some of these games have been improved significantly since launch thanks to updates, and that we’re primarily talking about disappointing launches. Also note that for the purposes of these list, we’ll only be looking at Xbox One console exclusives.

With all that out of the way, let’s get into it.

RYSE: SON OF ROME

Ryse: Son of Rome took our breath away when it was first revealed, showcasing stunning visuals and looking like the kind of cinematic action adventure killer app that the Xbox family had always been desperately searching for. What we got was a disappointing mess that didn’t even come close to achieving what we had all hoped it would. Sure, it still looked good- but that’s about as far as it went with positives.

You probably expected this after news broke out earlier that Capcom had suspended all projects and development at the studio, but it seems like the publisher will be closing down Capcom Vancouver, the Canadian subsidiary primarily known for its work on the Dead Rising series, entirely.

In a statement made to Kotaku, Capcom said that the decision was made after an internal review, and the decision to focus the development of its major titles in Japan. Unfortunately, 158 people – a staggering number – will be losing their jobs as a result of this shutdown.

“As a result of reviewing titles in development at Capcom Vancouver, Capcom has decided to cancel the development projects at this studio and will concentrate development of major titles in Japan. A skeleton crew will remain until January 2019 to finalize closure operations and logistics,” the rep said.

This is a major shame, honestly. Dead Rising 4 underperformed, but there was always a chance for the studio to come back in a big way with its next game, a chance that they will now not have. Unfortunately, with game development being as expensive as it is, and Capcom being a financially constrained company, you can see why the decision was made to let Capcom Vancouver go.

I just hope that the people affected as a result of this closure can get back on their feet as soon as possible.

Capcom has announced today in a statement that it will be cancelling all projects currently under development at Capcom Vancouver, the studio that is behind the Dead Rising series. Capcom says that the studio, which was a subsidiary it had set up to create games for an international audience, went under review for the projects it was currently working on, which led to the cancellation of all of them.

The result of this cancellation is that Capcom now expects to take a massive ¥4.5 billion loss for the fiscal year. This is in spite of the incredible performance of titles like Monster Hunter World, and the vast profits that the game has brought them.

The last game that Capcom Vancouver worked on, Dead Rising 4, significantly underperformed. The game was meant to be a back to the basics approach for the franchise, but fans disliked how many regressions it made from previous games in the series, and the game didn’t do well. It’s not surprising that the studio is in crisis following that.

Capcom Vancouver best known for their work on the Dead Rising series, has been hit by quite a few layoffs. Capcom has stated that this has taken place as part of the company’s “periodic assessment of upcoming projects and overall studio goals”. They also revealed that the team is continue to work on Puzzle Fighter on mobile alongside their dedication to “flagship Dead Rising series.”

“Capcom Vancouver has undergone a restructure which has impacted approximately 30 percent of the studio, as part of its regular periodic assessment of upcoming projects and overall studio goals. The team is continuing to work to support the recent release of Puzzle Fighter for  mobile and is dedication to it flagship Dead Rising series,” reads a statement from Capcom.

Following reports by IGN and Kotaku, it seems that around 50 people were laid off from the studio. It was also reported that the scope of the next entry into the Dead Rising series has been reduced. Furthermore, they were also working on a new unannounced game which has now been canceled.

Dead Rising 4 had released back in 2016 for the Xbox One and PC and late last year for the PS4. We’ll have to wait and see just how much the next title in the series will be affected by these layoffs.