Games that had a fair bit of hype that have been completely forgotten

I remember magazine covers, E3 awards and big preview features, but haven't heard anyone even say the title in over a decade

40 Winks
40 Winks
Advent Rising
Advent Rising
Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare
Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare
The Game Boy Color version, especially, which attempted to pick up the baton that Capcom dropped when they cancelled the Resident Evil port
Amy
Amy
Brink
Brink
Brute Force
Brute Force
Bug Too!
Bug Too!
C-12: Final Resistance
C-12: Final Resistance
Covert Ops: Nuclear Dawn
Covert Ops: Nuclear Dawn
Again, I think it's more well known by its European title, "Chase the Express"
Dark Sector
Dark Sector
Defender
Defender
Dropship: United Peace Force
Dropship: United Peace Force
Fluid
Fluid
Fracture
Fracture
Free Running
Free Running
Ghosthunter
Ghosthunter
Hatred
Hatred
Haven: Call of the King
Haven: Call of the King
Herdy Gerdy
Herdy Gerdy
Homefront
Homefront
In Cold Blood
In Cold Blood
Inversion
Inversion
Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer
Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer
Litil Divil
Litil Divil
Malice
Malice
Marsupilami
Marsupilami
Sonic the Comic was fucking buzzed for Marsupilami
Messiah
Messiah
Micro Maniacs
Micro Maniacs
MoHo
MoHo
ObsCure
ObsCure
O.D.T.: Escape... ...Or Die Trying
O.D.T.: Escape... ...Or Die Trying
Project Eden
Project Eden
Rayman Rush
Rayman Rush
Remember Me
Remember Me
Run Like Hell
Run Like Hell
Spectrobes
Spectrobes
SpyHunter
SpyHunter
Taz in Escape From Mars
Taz in Escape From Mars
TimeShift
TimeShift
TrickStyle
TrickStyle
Turbo Prop Racing
Turbo Prop Racing
I think this was more of a thing in Europe, where it was called "Rapid Racer" and there was an assumption it had something to do with Ridge Racer
Two Worlds
Two Worlds
Wheelman
Wheelman
Wild 9
Wild 9

19 Comments


1 year ago

Driv3r, Wheelman, Advent Rising

1 year ago

Driv3r is still the posterchild for shite sequels, and the temporary death of well-regarded franchise, but I'll accept the other two

1 year ago

Dinosaur Planet/Starfox Adventures
Grabbed by the Ghoulies
40 Winks
Homefront
Lair
Tokyo Mirage Sessions
Hatred
The Order: 1886

1 year ago

I think the bar is that if there was news about any of these titles now, like there was a rerelease or an interesting story about its development, nobody would bother reading the article. A few of the suggestions have been notable commercial or critical failures, or they're tied to popular developers or series that remain relevant.

1 year ago

Haven: Call of the King. It was supposed to be a trilogy series that blended multiple genres, and Midway came up with the term "FreeFormer Gameplay" to trademark and describe it. It was all over G4 for a while back in the day, and iirc someone noted that the protagonist on the cover artwork reminded them of Victor Lucas of Judgment Day/Electric Playground fame.

1 year ago

Remember Me

1 year ago

Great suggestion @Vee

1 year ago

Pretty funny that there's a game in there called Remember Me. XD

1 year ago

Black (PS2)

1 year ago

brink, baby. never see anyone talkin about brink

1 year ago

Homefront and Fracture were made for this list. I'm going to suggest Haze, though it might already be on there and too boring for my eyes to see it. Maybe Viper for the PS1. The From Russia With Love videogame. True Crime: Streets of LA.

1 year ago

Sorry to dismiss every suggestion, but Haze will forever be held to contempt for killing off Free Radical, every James Bond game seems to retain a weird relevance within its cabal, True Crime is a staple of the second-hand PS2 aisle and I don't remember a single person ever looking forward to Viper. Better luck next time!

1 year ago

I have made a fool of myself. I hope to return to this list someday a better man.

1 year ago

How about Two Worlds, the "Oblivion Killer"?
Not sure if this could count, but there's a TPS in the seventh gen called Inversion. I remember seeing some adverts and even the game itself during my walk around the gaming department in various stores, yet I never hear anyone talk about it nowadays.

1 year ago

Lair?

1 year ago

I think Inversion largely passed me by until I saw it on a shelf, but I trust there was enough of a media blitz running into its launch.
Two Worlds is borderline to me, but I'll allow it because I doubt anyone who isn't intimately familiar with rubbish has likely totally forgotten it by now.
Lair seems like too memorable a bomb to me, sorry. Taking out Factor 5, and pretty much killing all of Sony's SIXAXIS ambitions in an instant.

1 year ago

Needs Haze on here

1 year ago

Wheelman is a classic in our hearts already


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