Top 10 Dead On Arrival Games

We count down 10 games that didn't have a chance, prayer, or hope of survival at launch. RIP video games.

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Remember that game you were looking forward to? The must-have sequel, the promising new IP, the indie sensation making waves at trade shows and on YouTube. Yeah, that's the one. Now, do you remember how terrible it was? The gulf between idea and execution? The unthinkable notion that all those delays seemed to make the game worse instead of better? Shacknews counts down 10 games that didn't have a chance, prayer, or hope of survival at launch. RIP video games.

We took votes from our Chatty, staff, and Twitter to see what games make the list, so tune in as our Greg Burke counts down the Top 10 10 Dead On Arrival Games.

If you have a suggestion for a future episode of Shack's Top 10, please let us know in the comments section or tweet @shacknews & @GregBurke85 with #Top10.

Head of Video

Greg is the head of Video Production for Shacknews. If you've ever enjoyed a video on Gamerhub.tv, it was most likely edited by him. Follow him on Twitter @GregBurke85

From The Chatty
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    September 29, 2017 4:20 PM

    Greg Burke posted a new article, Top 10 Dead On Arrival Games

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      September 29, 2017 4:29 PM

      Okay I normally dislike how long your videos are extended by useless extra videos but that CliffyB with Overwatch overlay was hilarious.

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      September 29, 2017 5:03 PM

      [deleted]

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      September 29, 2017 5:16 PM

      Yeah, poor Duke Nukem Forever, I was litterally excited for that game from seventh grade, until I was in my mid twenties and was a parent when it finally came out.

      Nothing can live up to that hype. But my fanboy-glasses let me still enjoy it.

      I really was excited for it for that long, in seventh grade we had to make a magazine for a class project, I did a video game magazine, and Duke Nukem Forever was my cover story. I was 27 when the game finally came out.

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      September 29, 2017 5:29 PM

      Who's down voting my videos on shack? I know this cause its not live yet. Its only viewable on the site Directly

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      September 29, 2017 5:46 PM

      [deleted]

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        September 29, 2017 6:49 PM

        I try to keep them at 10min. But if inspiration strikes...

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        September 29, 2017 11:15 PM

        Even the 9-10 minute videos are too long with way too much shit in them imo. I watch them at 1.5x and even still find it hard to make it through them most of the time.

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      September 29, 2017 5:54 PM

      Good one! I had forgotten completely about the DC Infinite Crisis MOBA, and that was like...last year? I STILL don't know what X-Men Destiny is; I think you made it up for the vid.
      I disagree that there's nothing like Battleborn though, as Smite has been out quite some time.

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        September 29, 2017 10:48 PM

        Also Monday Night Combat and Super Monday Night Combat!

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      September 29, 2017 6:03 PM

      Battleborn? Great game? What the hell, Greg?

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        September 29, 2017 6:55 PM

        What? I had fun with it!

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          September 29, 2017 8:19 PM

          I think it offered nothing really entertaining.

          Singleplayer: I would literally fall asleep every time I tried SP / Co-op. You might think I am exaggerating but no, I think every time I played coop online, I would find myself growing bored / sleepy and would just move to engagement area, fall asleep while friendlies kill everything, then wake up to move to the next area. It was super boring.

          MP: It was mildly entertaining but their server system used Steam download, so if I queued up in JP my wait time would be like 1 hour, and if I queued up in Seattle, my ping would be around 150. BB is not a game you want to play with ping over 50. Their melee player collision system made it stupid hard to do anything with a higher ping. Having to grind a hero to unlock the skill tree meant I couldn't use the "optimal build" advertised on guides, and I couldn't level up heroes because queue times were often so awful for me. Grinding gear was even worse. Those who could get games quickly earned gear quickly. Those who could play more frequently than me got gear more quickly as well. So not only was I having to compete with players who may have practiced more than me, they come equipped with better gear than me as well.

          I think the last time I played, as a level 25 or 30? I was against an entire team of 100s.

          Great matchmaking. I'm glad this game died and I hope they lost money for it.

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          September 30, 2017 7:00 AM

          I liked it and I thought you had a decent description. Your list showed how often innovation gets burned, but then used Brink as an example of not innovating enough. Then there was a world of copycats who couldn't make it work. It is a tough list.

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      September 29, 2017 7:57 PM

      I still love that Megadeth Duke theme. Just overlay that on top of all DNF gameplay and it becomes OK instead of trash.

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      September 29, 2017 10:55 PM

      I still say the entire Sega Saturn library should have been included, just due to the size of the Saturn's failure.

      Also, damn dude, 15 minutes? Is the Shack taking on WhatCulture?

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        September 29, 2017 11:10 PM

        [deleted]

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          September 29, 2017 11:38 PM

          There were a lot of great games on the platform, but Sega fucked up the launch as much as Sony nailed theirs. Plenty of other problems, but they couldn't get any momentum after botching that release :(

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      September 29, 2017 11:07 PM

      [deleted]

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      September 29, 2017 11:41 PM

      Solid video. I have a different take on Brink though. Don't get me wrong, it deserves its place on this list, but main issues with Brink weren't about promises as much as it was technical issues and a lack of maps / content.

      Also, as others pointed out, Battleborn had other issues beyond it's release date. Mostly it just wasn't that fun for a ton of people. It was too much moba for FPS fans and too much FPS for moba fans.

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        September 30, 2017 7:04 AM

        Agreed. The tech issues really ruined Brink for me. The movement was okay for one class, but medium and heavy had nothing special and the maps were lacking. It was still quite innovative.

        Also, Battleborn had problems with its genre, Monday Night Combat somehow stayed off the list, but it had many of the same issues.

        Titanfall 2 is lucky it didn't make this list. As is the entire Crysis series.

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          September 30, 2017 7:32 AM

          In the original request thread a few people did say the second MNC. The first was kind of a shack darling.

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          September 30, 2017 7:40 AM

          I thought Monday Night Combat had a real strong initial base. Didn't know there was a sequel

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            September 30, 2017 10:35 PM

            It did then development moved to the sequel Super Monday Night Combat where they changed some things that made fans of the original (like me) quite unhappy.

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          September 30, 2017 7:41 AM

          Brink? Innovative?

          Uh...?

          They combined COD perk systems and guns with TF2 maps.

          Sure, 'innovation'.

          That was by far the most damning thing about it. People will look past tech issues if the core game is good (see PUBG for instance). But bad tech on top of a bad core game is a death sentence.

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      September 30, 2017 5:18 PM

      To be fair, my overwatch queues are often 3 - 5 min

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