Days Gone is almost upon us. Despite some previews coming in better than expected, this zombie biker adventure isn’t exactly setting the world on fire. This could be because of its E3 showings, which peaked early and got less and less impressive. While the jury is still out, it’s out of the norm for Sony and many other companies with press conferences for that matter. Typically, your big tentpole releases incite excitement, but sometimes they only breed contempt. With that in mind, let’s dig into video game conference history to find 10 more high profile E3 disappointments while we hope that Days Gone turns out A-OK.
You might think that we’re jumping the gun by lumping in Days Gone with other E3 disappointments. However, just because a game makes a bad showing at E3 doesn’t mean that it will end up as a horrible product when you bring it home. The original Halo: Combat Evolved famously had a terrible showing in the months before launch at the show, with levels that would crash repeatedly. Bungie turned in a genre-defining experience by the end of development, but it still technically qualifies as an E3 disappointment. Will Days Gone make a similar leap in quality? We can’t say for sure, but it’s always possible.
Even if Days Gone (Amazon link) is remembered as an E3 disappointment, that’s not the worst fate in the world. Plenty of games never see the light of day, or appear on lesser stages and fade back into the ether. Days Gone has been on Sony’s E3 stage enough times that it will always have a place in certain minds. The minds that scour over E3 history and pick apart decades-old marketing strategies. Isn’t it better to be a weird footnote in E3 disappointment history than to end up as a good video game?
Wait. No. No, it isn’t. Forget we said anything.
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E3 Dissapointments
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Days Gone and 10 Other HIgh Profile E3 Disappointments
Despite some Days Gone previews coming in better than expected, this zombie adventure isn't exactly setting the world on fire. Maybe that's because of E3 showings, which peaked early and got less impressive. It's out of the norm for Sony, and many other companies for that matter. With that in mind, let's dig into E3 history to find 10 more high profile E3 disappointments. -
Aliens: Colonial Marines
Perhaps one of the infamous bait and switch moments in gaming history, Colonial Marines' demo showed well with tense gameplay, detailed environments, and expressive lighting. The final version shifted off to a tertiary developer and failed to impress in the slightest. It wasn't a magic trick, just an underwhelming shooter. -
Halo 2
Halo 2 ended up coming out OK, but there was nothing in the final build that compared to its epic E3 gameplay demo. Warfare in the streets, Brutes falling from the sky, and that moment with a sticky grenade. It's one of the most famous Halo trailers, and that level just doesn't exist. -
Overstrike (AKA Fuse)
Not many people remember Fuse, the Insomniac third-person shooter that came and went last generation. Those same people are more likely to remember Overstrike, the Team Fortress-esque trailer that Fuse spawned from. The fun E3 trailer still looks promising, even with the knowledge that the game ended up less than exciting. -
Killzone 2
Played off as actual PlayStation 3 gameplay back in the day, Killzone 2's infamous E3 2005 trailer was actually just a target render. Featuring graphics that still look somewhat impressive in 2019, it's a constant reminder to always take any game's E3 showing with a pinch of salt. -
Agent
Rockstar's website still has a webpage for Agent, a would-be PlayStation 3 exclusive that only appeared as a logo at Sony's E3 2009 press conference. Several leaks of gameplay and images have come since then, but it's safe to say that Rockstar isn't going to be finishing this one after a decade. -
Deep Down
Capcom's Deep Down has a similar history to Rockstar's lost project. Shown during the PlayStation meeting at the birth of the PS4, this was going to be Capcom's attempt at a Soulsborne kind of game. Sadly, while Capcom is supposedly still working on it, whatever comes of the project will probably be much different than the initial reveal. -
Brothers in Arms: Furious 4
Gearbox's return to the Brothers in Arms franchise was supposed to inject it with that Borderlands style, but the fusion never came to pass. All we got was a stylish E3 trailer before the game transformed into Battleborn. Not exactly the greatest tradeoff in the world right there. -
Phantom Dust (2014)
One of many, many disappointments to erupt from Microsoft's doomed 2014 showing, Phantom Dust was supposed to be a remake of the cult classic Xbox card battler. Instead, we got a trailer that the developers didn't see until after it had already come out. The game was canceled later due to a lot of creative differences and the studio shuttered not long after. -
Scalebound
Right alongside Phantom Dust was Scalebound, a Platinum Games joint that combined character action and massive dragons. This game stuck around for several years, but Microsoft ended up canceling the project due to quality issues, which was highly disputed by the developer. At least Platinum has plenty of other enjoyable projects that did end up releasing. -
Star Wars 1313
Finally, the game that should have been. In an era where we're only just now getting a decent looking Star Wars adventure, we can look back at mourn at the canceled 1313. The Uncharted-like experience was only axed because Disney didn't want to make games themselves. Instead, we've gotten two Battlefront games and a pile of mobile stuff. A shame.
