Many poor video games are mediocre or unenjoyable in every regard. They have very little to recommend them, even besides their most significant flaws. It’s rare for a bad video game to have a great or unique mechanic or one with genuine potential. However, it isn’t unheard of.
Some video games are all the worse because they waste a good mechanic. They contain design choices that could enhance a good video game into a great one. In a bad game, however, it falls by the wayside. Sometimes these games underuse these mechanics to their detriment. Other times, it’s just not a good enough design choice to save the title.
10 Kinect-Controlled Martial Arts (Fighter Within)
Fighter Within is a game based on one single gimmick. However, it’s a gimmick with potential. A major part of what stands Fighter Within apart from other fighting games is that it lets players act out their character’s attacks. It’s a Kinect-controlled game where the player’s movements theoretically translate into their character’s.
However, Fighter Within wastes this appealing gimmick. It’s infamous for how poorly it controls. Characters tend not to respond properly to the Kinect controls. A player has to resort to just waving at the screen to make their avatar do anything. A better-made game could have found success with the idea of Kinect-controlled combat. However, Fighter Within squanders the premise.
9 Limited Four-Player Co-Op (Resident Evil 6)
Resident Evil 6 is the black sheep of mainline Resident Evil titles. It’s panned for its nonsensical story, sharp departure from survival horror, and generic nature. However, it does have one innovative mechanic. Resident Evil 6 builds on Resident Evil 5‘s two-player co-op. Most of the game is spent with one partner. Players can, however, team up with up to three others for a limited time.
Resident Evil 6‘s campaigns intersect at specific points. If two groups happen to reach those points at the same time, they can play together. This is a genuinely original way to breathe life into the game. However, it’s in the weakest Resident Evil and barely used in the game. Some would be interested to see a similar, less luck-based system in a later title.
XCOM: Apocalypse is generally held to be a game with vast, poorly-executed potential. It suffers from poorly-implemented mechanics and many bugs that hold it back compared to XCOM: UFO Defense, Terror from the Deep, or the modern XCOM games. However, it does have some genuinely great design that it wastes.
XCOM: Apocalypse splits the difference between strategy game and city sim. XCOM does much more than fight aliens in the title. It contends with the complex politics of Mega-Primus. Characters can forge alliances, engage in proxy wars, or even dominate all other corporations and rule the city. This incredible system is buried under the game’s many flaws, however.
7 Flight (Anthem)
Anthem is infamous as Bioware’s worst game ever. It’s known for squandering its impressive hype with incoherent design and underwhelming games-as-a-service gameplay that goes against all of Bioware’s strengths. Anthem has few defenders, even in fans of similar games like Destiny.
However, Anthem does have one well-liked mechanic. Its flight is intuitive, well-crafted, and flat-out fun. It’s one of the few praised parts of the game. The downside is that it’s surrounded by unexceptional combat and plenty of repetition. On top of that, it’s wasted in the game itself. Flying is little more than a glorified sprint. Nothing in the game revolves around it. This is due to being cut and re-added during development.
6 Settlement-Building (Fallout 76)
Settlement-building is one of Fallout 4‘s most notable features. It’s a side activity that can dominate the game for many. Fallout 76 attempts to take this mechanic and expand on it. In Fallout 76, players can build a CAMP in the game’s open world. This serves as a mobile base of operations that players can tweak and take with them on their travels.
However, the CAMP system is underbaked. Even if Fallout 76 were a well-liked game, it would serve little purpose besides vanity. Fallout 76 fails to encourage any real settlement-building beyond the mere basics. It’s certainly not a selling point for a widely-disliked Fallout title.
5 Jedi Mind Trick (Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II)
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed has carved out a fandom for itself with its impressive story and satisfying gameplay. Its sequel isn’t so lucky. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II is hindered by a lack of innovation, its short length, and a vast amount of repetition in its limited content.
Much of The Force Unleashed II‘s gameplay resembles the first game with minor changes. One of the few significant additions is the Jedi Mind Trick power. The iconic Star Wars ability lets the player influence enemies to turn on enemies or remove themselves from combat. However, it comes late in the game and is less practical than killing foes.
4 Transformation On Death (Resident Evil Re:Verse)
Resident Evil Re:Verse is the latest attempt at a multiplayer Resident Evil that has gone as well as every other title. It’s a hero-arena shooter hybrid that casts players as some of Resident Evil‘s finest protagonists. However, there is a twist in the form of an intriguing mechanic. Players come back as one of the franchise’s monsters when they die.
Characters come back as one of Resident Evil: Biohazard‘s Fat Molded by default. However, they can pick up Virus Canisters to become Jack Baker, the Hunter Gamma, or even a Tyrant. This shapes entire games and gives Resident Evil Re:Verse something unique. However, it’s buried under the rest of the mediocre and ill-considered gameplay.
3 Weapon Crafting (Dead Space 3)
Dead Space 3 is considered the weak point of an otherwise stellar trilogy. It drops the ball in every regard, lessening the franchise’s beloved story and changing its gameplay for the worse. It takes far too hard a turn into generic third-person shooter gameplay. It adds cover shooting, many human enemies, and weapon crafting.
Only the latter is redeemable in many fans’ eyes. Dead Space 3 lets players assemble unique weapons based on pre-existing components. The system as a whole is somewhat underbaked but still fun to play with. It gives players plenty of freedom without trivializing the game. However, it’s another step away from classic Dead Space that doesn’t help the game’s reputation.
2 Intelligent Enemy AI (Aliens: Colonial Marines)
Aliens: Colonial Marines is an interesting case. Wasting one of its promised mechanics is part of the reason it’s so infamous. Aliens: Colonial Marines takes the iconic creatures from the beloved science-fiction franchise Alien. Its prerelease materials suggest the aliens are as lethal and intelligent in the game as in the movies.
However, Aliens: Colonial Marines is infamous for the sheer stupidity of its enemies. They’re noted for their lack of responsiveness or danger. This isn’t because their intelligent AI wasn’t implemented. A single typo in Colonial Marines‘ code renders the aliens almost non-functional. Had their AI not been wasted, the game might be significantly better.
1 HUDless Gameplay (Trespasser)
Trespasser is a Jurassic Park game and an old example of a game with ambition outclassing its capabilities. It attempts to be a tense, immersive survival experience. The player controls a woman named Anne who is trying to survive a wilderness overrun with dinosaurs. Its attempts at being immersive include the lack of a heads-up display.
Trespasser doesn’t have a health bar, ammo counter, or other mechanics. The player has to instead listen to Anne’s comments about her weapons and look at a tattoo on her chest. It does help create a more cinematic experience. However, it’s trapped in a game that few could play due to its poor performance, and that became swiftly dated compared to other titles.
