Great videogame concepts with bad executions

If it's not ZDoom, it goes here.
User avatar
insightguy
Posts: 1730
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 11:54 pm

Great videogame concepts with bad executions

Post by insightguy »

(3rd retype, flicking thought I got IP banned or something)

Shit was about to get close political and gloomy in another thread so why not talk about something less gloomy: Bad Video Games!

The video that inspired me to talk about this:
Spoiler: Barely SFW, might be too lewd for some (might just link it if it's too lewd)
If you don't want to open it, it's fine. the gist is that it's a korean developed game made from the serious sam engine with interesting gameplay that includes:
  • Interesting uneven Dual wielding
  • A somewhat interesting partner system (auto melee, reloads unequiped weapons, and can clear an area out as an ability)
  • Reloading that encourages weapon swap (empty unequiped weapon is reloaded by your partner)
  • A primitive shooting combo system.
But... the levels, enemies, and overall game was shit making this become another crappy FPS in the bargain bin. This game was an example to some of wasted potential.

What games do you think may not be good but probably deserve to be remade or revisited by another developer (or you, maybe it can be redone in zdoom.)

P.S. To the people wondering if this is similar to my "games that deserve a second chance" thread, but this is more "bad games with good ideas" rather than "Games that deserve another spin"
User avatar
Reactor
Posts: 2091
Joined: Thu Feb 03, 2011 6:39 pm
Location: Island's Beauty, Hungary

Re: Great videogame concepts with bad executions

Post by Reactor »

Yes, there are quite a few such games, which had very good concepts, but too bad they were given to incompetent nincompoops who should have worked as bakers or a car mechanics instead of a software developers. Many of such games can be found in the "Bad games to avoid" (now locked) topic, even though the great majority of games in there are fubar, there are some, which could have become at least a moderate success.

- Most LJN games which are movie-based. The AVGN elaborated on these a lot, I believe they need no introduction. Games like Nightmare on Elm Street or Terminator 2. I know that compared to a computer, NES has strict limits, but come on, these games could have been waaaaay better than what they are now.

- Many titles from Action 52 had great potential. For a starter, the Cheetahmen. The other, smaller games also had interesting and well-thought-up concepts which were ruined by making the games themselves utter crud. Such games would be Illuminator, Star Evl, City of Doom, Billy Bob, Meong, Beeps and Blips, and many others.
Funny thing is, there WAS a project to revive Action 52 and create 52 GOOD games out of the 52 abysmal ones. The project was never pulled thru, but several games have been remade, and they turned out the be very good - for instance, the remakes of Sombreros, City of Doom or Non-Human. THIS is how it should have been in the first place...!

- Transformers for the Famicom. AVGN again.

- Darkwing Duck for the Turbografx16. Yep, AVGN.

- Many Virtual Boy games could be remade for the current VR systems. I'm no fan of Oculus Rift or any other VR systems, personally I still believe it's just a fad and the technology is still much too young, but they would fare WAY better now than they did on VR-32.

- The game Calvino Noir. As I wrote in the corresponding topic, it could have been a good dark-gothic noir game, if it had better controls, and the option of using guns.
User avatar
lil'devil
Posts: 91
Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2016 10:22 am
Location: Heck

Re: Great videogame concepts with bad executions

Post by lil'devil »

Maybe Daikatana? I thought this game tried so hard to be innovative, but it all went wrong. All those weapons with unusual attacks and interesting setting and other stuff could've been really interesting in cool had it been implemented well.
But I don't know, I've never played the game, so I can only guess. :)
User avatar
SouthernLion
Posts: 776
Joined: Wed Aug 21, 2013 6:45 pm

Re: Great videogame concepts with bad executions

Post by SouthernLion »

Reactor wrote:
- Many Virtual Boy games could be remade for the current VR systems. I'm no fan of Oculus Rift or any other VR systems, personally I still believe it's just a fad and the technology is still much too young, but they would fare WAY better now than they did on VR-32.
I used to think it was a fad, until I bought one. Elite: Dangerous and Project CARS 2 in VR is life changing, and I don't use that term lightly. It's hard to play non VR games, now, it is such a fantastic experience.
Last edited by SouthernLion on Mon May 14, 2018 2:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
4thcharacter
Posts: 1183
Joined: Tue Jun 02, 2015 7:54 am

Re: Great videogame concepts with bad executions

Post by 4thcharacter »

Strife, since it doesn't know if it wants to be stealthy or not. But good thing that doesn't make it unplayable.
User avatar
leileilol
Posts: 4449
Joined: Sun May 30, 2004 10:16 am
Preferred Pronouns: She/Her
Location: GNU/Hell

Re: Great videogame concepts with bad executions

Post by leileilol »

Blood 2
Extreme Paintbrawl
Kingpin
Killing Time
Klingon Honor Guard
Montezuma's Return!
Powerslave
Rex Blade
Wetrix
All Serious Sams
Urban Assault
War Inc.
User avatar
Matt
Posts: 9696
Joined: Sun Jan 04, 2004 5:37 pm
Preferred Pronouns: They/Them
Operating System Version (Optional): Debian Bullseye
Location: Gotham City SAR, Wyld-Lands of the Lotus People, Dominionist PetroConfederacy of Saudi Canadia
Contact:

Re: Great videogame concepts with bad executions

Post by Matt »

Inside a Star-Filled Sky.

Procedurally generated infinite top-down arena shooter that lets you switch bodies and enter levels with themes based on the insides of the characters sounds like it'd be great fun, but:

- badly coded, computer kept overheating
- cheap faux-retro graphics with lots of distracting (and apparently processor-intensive) effects
- the variations weren't actually obvious enough not to feel very samey after a short while
- true to its name, no end in sight, so you're just playing constantly without any goal or reward aside from pure Skinner-box (and even that element isn't engaging either)
- the gunplay is just really, really tedious (and not a good "they're as good as us, we need to break through, 20 minutes of tense cat-and-mouse sniper battle" tedious, in fact almost literally the exact perfect opposite, "you know exactly what it's doing and it's completely stupid and predictable but you just stare at it for 20 minutes with this delusional hope for an opening until you give up in despair" tedious)
- what is wrong with that music

Despite all these years of Doom, the one time I had a dream that was explicitly about hell and was based on a gaming experience was based on this game.


EDIT: How I'd change it:

- High scores and permadeath (possibly involving a callback to "Passage"?)
- More visual cues as to what is changing and why.
- More text on the HUD explaining what is what. (really cheap and effective way to add more perceived variety and help the player understand the actual variety)
- Quiet overworld/hub/base/safe space that's fairly consistent, for contrast
- Occasional, rare callbacks to previous encounters
- Longer range for all bullets



EDIT: Brainstorming random shit that could be added to a hypothetical "Inside This Barf-Filled Guy"...


Powers/Traits:
- movement speed
- movement acceleration
- movement deceleration
- how and how much shooting affects movement (recoil, tendency to walk towards facing, etc.)
- hitbox size
- bullet size
- ability to alter own appearance (and "inner" level upon death) by shooting bots and grafting pieces of them onto yourself
- whether the above happens voluntarily or involuntarily
- recharge rate for shots

AI:
- shooting effect on movement, recharge rate, etc.
- precision
- target prediction
- hunting
- perfectionism (will not shoot unless target in sight)
- wall-following
- tendency to randomly change directions
- tendency to chase the player
- firing rate
- bullet colour
- chance of positive/negative space being inverted if a bullet hits you and you're forced to go back inside
User avatar
NeuralStunner
 
 
Posts: 12325
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 12:04 pm
Preferred Pronouns: He/Him
Graphics Processor: nVidia with Vulkan support
Location: capital N, capital S, no space
Contact:

Re: Great videogame concepts with bad executions

Post by NeuralStunner »

Shadowcaster. IIRC the developers have mentioned that they weren't exactly happy with the final product either.

The shapeshifting mechanic is interesting enough, but combat itself is tedious and unrewarding. Balance is all over the place: Early on you are easily massacred by anything in melee range, by the end of the game you can pretty much just transform into a giant stone dude and punch the final boss to death with impunity.


I could also point out Lifeline, though this seems mainly like a fault of the technology not being mature enough.
User avatar
Reactor
Posts: 2091
Joined: Thu Feb 03, 2011 6:39 pm
Location: Island's Beauty, Hungary

Re: Great videogame concepts with bad executions

Post by Reactor »

Street Fighter 2010 should also have a remake. That game had lots of potential, but it did have several flaws. It wasn't a bad game, or it wasn't "ruined", it's just could have been a lot better, starting with the storyline, it really should be tied closer to the original Street Fighter-saga. Besides just shooting, hand-to-hand combat should also be included. Addig more levels and more powerups would also be extremely nice, and since the limitations of a NES cartridge don't exist anymore, technically, all gates are open for its revival. And besides, the story didn't finish after killing the final boss, so there should have also been a sequel.
The only problem would be the date. It is eight years past 2010, and nowadays, labeling a game 2000-something with ultra-futuristic stuff in it is...well...pretty awkward. Gosh, I remember how everyone expected the 2000s to be something like in Total Recall, with flying cars, hovershoes- and boards, cities in the sky, teleportation and shit, and when 2000 passed...meh.
Reality sucks...
User avatar
R4L
Global Moderator
Posts: 400
Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2017 9:53 am
Preferred Pronouns: He/Him
Operating System Version (Optional): Windows 11 Pro
Graphics Processor: nVidia (Modern GZDoom)
Contact:

Re: Great videogame concepts with bad executions

Post by R4L »

leileilol wrote:Blood 2
Powerslave
All Serious Sams
Seriously??
User avatar
leileilol
Posts: 4449
Joined: Sun May 30, 2004 10:16 am
Preferred Pronouns: She/Her
Location: GNU/Hell

Re: Great videogame concepts with bad executions

Post by leileilol »

Yes.

Blood 2 suffers a lot from being rushed to the market and for a very unfinished engine to go with it. Most of it is slippery hitscan clunk with poor physics and feedback. There's nowhere near the amount of dynamite fun and enemy variety. It's like it was another game with a Blood cover slipped over it to make GT happy.

Powerslave also had poor control and performance issues. It came out a bit too late (wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb had it did its original 1995 release schedule, but.......Playmates). I imagined the console versions gave this the delay and missed polish on the backburner.

Serious Sam wears out its welcome quickly and becomes a drag. Extended Play's "hateful" 2/5 review of the Xbox release was on point. Not even counting the cult that revise Doom as if it was the original Sam all along (when BFE came out Sam fans always insisted its dullness was "a joke")...Serious sam, more like....serious same. Not hyped for 4.. The concept of a "old school fps" was novel in 2000 when there was the big rise of story, except the marketing on the percieved oldschoolness seemed to cloud over the not-actually-oldschool design issues, unless.....it's drawing from old bad Amiga games.
User avatar
insightguy
Posts: 1730
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 11:54 pm

Re: Great videogame concepts with bad executions

Post by insightguy »

leileilol wrote:Blood 2 suffers a lot from being rushed to the market and for a very unfinished engine to go with it. Most of it is slippery hitscan clunk with poor physics and feedback. There's nowhere near the amount of dynamite fun and enemy variety. It's like it was another game with a Blood cover slipped over it to make GT happy.

Powerslave also had poor control and performance issues. It came out a bit too late (wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb had it did its original 1995 release schedule, but.......Playmates). I imagined the console versions gave this the delay and missed polish on the backburner.

Serious Sam wears out its welcome quickly and becomes a drag. Extended Play's "hateful" 2/5 review of the Xbox release was on point. Not even counting the cult that revise Doom as if it was the original Sam all along (when BFE came out Sam fans always insisted its dullness was "a joke")...Serious sam, more like....serious same. Not hyped for 4.. The concept of a "old school fps" was novel in 2000 when there was the big rise of story, except the marketing on the percieved oldschoolness seemed to cloud over the not-actually-oldschool design issues, unless.....it's drawing from old bad Amiga games.
Also with Powerslave: The saturn version was way better than the PC one, trying out the PC one and seeing the console version baffled me at first.

Sorry if I'm pushing, but what about these games did you think had great concepts? Kind of want to see what concepts can still be salvaged.
CeeJay
Posts: 1467
Joined: Sun Mar 14, 2010 2:52 am

Re: Great videogame concepts with bad executions

Post by CeeJay »

4thcharacter wrote:Strife, since it doesn't know if it wants to be stealthy or not. But good thing that doesn't make it unplayable.
Despite it's minor identity crisis and somewhat underwhelming (and in some cases odd) weaponry, I found it to be a very well made and enjoyable game. But, yeah, the "stealth" mechanics never really did work properly.

As I've mentioned in another similar thread, I vote Witchaven. Interesting concept (for the time) and thick with atmosphere but piss-poor execution. Mostly it suffers from bad programming and really bland level design. Could have been so much more. But, that's Capstone for you.
User avatar
0mrcynic0
Posts: 83
Joined: Tue Sep 05, 2017 10:59 pm
Location: The corner of "screw off" and "none of your business."

Re: Great videogame concepts with bad executions

Post by 0mrcynic0 »

NeuralStunner wrote:Shadowcaster. IIRC the developers have mentioned that they weren't exactly happy with the final product either.

The shapeshifting mechanic is interesting enough, but combat itself is tedious and unrewarding. Balance is all over the place: Early on you are easily massacred by anything in melee range, by the end of the game you can pretty much just transform into a giant stone dude and punch the final boss to death with impunity.


I could also point out Lifeline, though this seems mainly like a fault of the technology not being mature enough.
I remember playing Shadowcaster as a kid...it was a tough game. The main character was basically a walking punching bag and all forms have at least only one useful ability. But I was able to finish it, regardless.

Moving on, I present Realms of the Haunting. An ambitious adventure + FPS hybrid with awful controls and monotonous first person shooting sequences.
User avatar
SamVision
Posts: 2425
Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2010 4:47 pm
Location: Behind You

Re: Great videogame concepts with bad executions

Post by SamVision »

That Robocop fps game, seriously it's ROBOCOP, it's practically asking for an awesome game but instead we got that mess.
Post Reply

Return to “Off-Topic”