10 Games That Needed More Time in Development

The recent Duke Nukem Forever proved that some games can turn out to be total ass even after 15 years (!) of development. We’ve seen other games over the years that might have been great (or at least playable) if only their respective companies had left their game in the development cycle longer. Now, we’re not saying these games would have been outright masterpieces with more polish time. Looking back is a bitch like that; you can only think of ways that things could have been better. Regardless, we did see some potential in these releases and feel that they needed more, or, with certain cases, a LOT more time on the cutting room floor before they were actually released to the public. Good things come to those who wait, especially when talking about video games. Just don’t wait TOO long (we’re looking at you again, Duke Nukem).

Okay, let’s start this list off with a GOOD game. Don’t get us wrong. We still LOVED BioShock 2. Taking on the role of a Big Daddy and journeying into Rapture for a second time was surprisingly just as creepy and fun as the original. We loved revisiting the weapon/plasmid dual ass-kicking scheme. We loved the storyline, and we loved the added (but frustrating) Big Sisters. Even with all this love, though, the first BioShock was so good that we wished that 2K actually scraped the whole idea of going back to Rapture and leaving the BioShock saga to the sky worlds of BioShock Infinite. Rapture was so unique that going through it a second time felt like a retread. Again, we loved the game. But just think of how amazing a seamless transition would have been from the underwater pseudo-utopia of BioShock to the politically ravaged skies of Colombia in Bioshock Infinite. Can we call it the Pixar (pre-Cars 2) of video game companies? We think so.

Honestly, the first Force Unleashed was just aiight. But the sequel felt like only half a game. It’s extremely short, the combat is almost impressively boring and, since it follows the storyline of the first game (is he a clone?! Gasp!), you pretty much have all of Starkiller’s abilities fairly early on in an already short game. It gets old. Fast. Would more development time have helped it? Possibly. LucasArts would certainly have benefited from making the game longer. But with it already being pretty repetitive as it is, would they have made the quality any better? Again, possibly. We’re still on the fence with this one.

We never played the original American McGee’s Alice (hey, we’re just being honest). But since this sequel took about a decade to make, we’re inclined to remember the Duke Nukem Forever fiasco. No, we’re just kidding. Alice: Madness Returns is a far stretch from the embarrassment that was DNF. The problems in this one are it’s unnecessary length, and the lackluster combat. Even visually the game seems to have seeped into a rushed development, and the glitches start to run rampant as the levels progress. It’s not a bad game by any means. But if Spicy House had taken a more time play-testing and refining the action-adventure game, all those scant beautiful moments (like the aerial platform built from a deck of cards) wouldn’t have seemed so, well, scant. While it certainly wasn’t a bad game, more development time would have definitely helped Alice in her returning madness.

What? You thought this list would only have recent titles on it? Perfect Dark Zero was doomed from the get-go. The game was originally intended for the GameCube. Unfortunately, once Microsoft bought Rare, the game was brought over to the 360 in such a slapdash manner that it pretty much sunk the whole series. Of course, we weren’t too upset with it when it came out. But we quickly started to see how poor the single player game was and how cheap the multiplayer turned out to be. Microsoft wanted Perfect Dark to be a launch title for the 360, and they got it. Too bad it kind of sucked. They should have just given it more time in the incubator. How much more? Who’s to say?

Here’s another game that really wasn’t all that bad, but was definitely missing something. The parkour elements didn’t always seem to work, as some things could be leapt on and grabbed while others, strangely enough, could not. The initial maps for the game (we haven’t played Brink since) were extremely slight, and the team battles didn’t seem to gel as well as we would have liked. The fundamentals were there but, well, something just didn’t feel right. It felt rushed, and unpolished.

Lair was a beautiful game…for its time. Too bad Factor 5 seemed to have spent all their time on the visuals, because everything else about it was pretty awful. Controlling your dragon with the Sixaxis motion controls was a pain in the ass. Trying to hit anything that was moving was an even bigger pain in the ass. Add that to the fact that the camera kept going batshit crazy on you, and you had one stinking piece of shit game. Maybe we wouldn’t have had such high hopes for it if it wasn’t hyped up the ying yang. But, like most supposedly big launch titles, it needed much more time to be developed. What a disaster.

Speaking of disasters, what a buggy mess this game was. The glitches we stumbled on were out of control. Walls ended up being your main villain, as the camera would shift behind them frequently effectively blinding you. The story, which was supposed to fill in the gaps of The Matrix: Reloaded, wound up being nothing but superfluous garbage. And the combat, good Lord. It was awful. Like we said before, what a disaster.

Wow…the 2006 version of Sonic the Hedgehog is shockingly horrible. Did the Sonic Team take a single day to develop this game? Because, seriously, if they took more than that, we’re pretty sure they were drunk for the remainder of the development time. Or at least we hope they were, because no game should be this bad. The story was ludicrous (what’s with the animal-on-woman love?), the gameplay was atrocious and the glitches were even worse than those in Enter the Matrix. This game should never have been released. Sonic has never recovered in the public eye since this atrocity. Just look to Sonic Colors as an example. That game was actually decent, but nobody played it. And you know why? 2006’s Sonic the Hedgehog, that’s why.

You knew that THIS game had to be on the list. Superman for the N64 is a game that BEGGED to have more work done on it. Instead, all we got was a broken mess where the man of steel flew through rings. Through rings! Couldn’t Titus come up with anything better than THAT for a Superman game? We honestly have no idea what happened after the first level because the clock kept running out. We’ll say it again. Through rings?! Good God, what a bomb.

Alright, alright, alright. We all know Super Street Fighter IV 3D is awesome. But a system seller? Are you kidding us? How could that be the best title for your latest handheld, Nintendo? We’re not saying that the launch titles were awful or anything. But when you talk about a new Nintendo handheld, don’t you think Mario, Link or Star Fox should have been there on day one? Apparently, you didn’t, which is why those games (besides Link, who already has an albeit old game out) are coming out later. So, in actuality, those games GOT the development time that they needed. This top spot isn’t about THOSE games, Nintendo. No, this slot is reserved for your entire handheld system. Not so much because the hardware sucks (it’s okay), but because your launch makes us think that you rushed, and that resulted in you seilling something that needed better software. Don’t agree with us? Well, what other Nintendo device needed an immediate price drop after just a few months from its release? You’re right: the Virtual Boy. And remind us how that did.