Travon Wimberly
Online Passes
Before microtransactions became the norm and every multiplayer game featured a Battle Pass, the greed of major publishers such as EA knew no restraint. For the uninformed, online passes were codes included with every major release that granted online access for players. Whether multiplayer was co-op focused, such as Mass Effect 3’s horde mode or competitive in the vein of the 2012’s Twisted Metal reboot, online passes attempted to discourage the sale of used games at retail shops such as Gamestop. What this meant for players at the time was that even if they purchased a legal copy of the game at a discount, they were still forced to cough up more money if they wanted to enjoy every aspect of the game. For this reason, it’s no wonder that this arbitrary form of nickel and diming players didn’t last long.
Forced Multiplayer Modes
With the advent of online multiplayer on the 7th generation of consoles, every developer/publisher was eager to obtain success levels reached by titles such as Call of Duty, Halo, Gears of War, and plenty more. This generation became a metaphorical gold rush that brought innovative ideas to the multiplayer space. However, a consequence of this phase was that many publishers of traditionally single-player games felt that games without multiplayer components were more likely to either not sell well or be returned after completion. With this mindset within the industry, games such as Dead Space 2, God of War Ascension, and even Batman Arkham Origins received multiplayer modes that may have been fun for a short period but usually detracted from the single-player experience in some form.
Invisible Walls
During the 6th generation of consoles, players explored more complex and complicated words that seemed boundless until an invisible barrier destroyed any immersion experienced by players. Oftentimes this occurred as a result of hardware limitations along with the fact that games weren’t attempting to mimic the cinematic qualities found in movies. Times were simpler and gameplay/graphics topped all. Of course, there were outliers such as the legendary Metal Gear Solid 2, but for the most part, it was not uncommon for you to run into invisible walls with no rhyme or reason.
Movie Tie-in Games
It was not uncommon for many movie studios and game publishers to collaborate on one major marketing push that featured countless merchandise centered around a film. The idea was that fans of the established franchise would not only buy a movie ticket on opening night but would also spend $50 dollars on a game based on the film. Naturally, tie-in movie games were common in the industry for a long time and some are even legitimate classics in their own right. Games such as X-Men Origins: Wolverine (although the film is terrible), Spider-Man 2, and of course Goldeneye are remembered fondly by gamers. But they all can’t be winners and while it’s easy to list the countless failures, simply looking back at Atari’s E.T. is proof enough that basing a video game on a popular intellectual property is not enough to create a hit.
Quick Time Events
After the original God of War and Resident Evil 4 executed Quick Time Events in engaging and fun ways, the rest of the industry followed as usual and many games began to implement it. However, instead of dodging out of the way of a giant boulder like in Resident Evil 4, many titles would feature poorly timed Quick Time Events that would only frustrate players. Instead of these events being special surprises that added flare to regular gameplay, plenty of QTEs would make the player question why these segments couldn’t have become regular cutscenes because they didn’t add much to the overall gameplay or narrative. Quick Time Events are meant to enhance certain sequences within a game and when you see them too many times they become stale and extremely repetitive the more times you see them. Still, narrative-driven games such as Heavy Rain, The Walking Dead, and many more get a pass because there are usually heavy consequences associated with these QTEs and the entire game is based around them. Can you think of any more gaming sins that should be left forgotten? Sound off in the usual place down below to let us know.
