Games That Should Not Have Been Live-Service

As a seasoned gamer with more years under my belt than I care to admit, I’ve seen trends come and go in the gaming industry. One of the most recent trends is the rise of Live Service games, which have been a mixed bag at best. While some developers nail it, many others fall short, leaving players like me scratching our heads and wondering what could have been if these games had stuck to an offline experience.

Over the past few years, a significant shift in the gaming sector has emerged, focusing on titles based on the Live Service approach. This model appeals to creators because it offers consistent revenue and long-term benefits.

Even though some Live Service games manage to captivate players with continuous content for years, many fall short of their potential. This leads to disappointment among players who question what might have been if these games were designed for offline play instead.

7 Skull And Bones

Ubisoft Could Have Invested In An Assassin’s Creed 4 Remake

Many fans consider “Assassin’s Creed 4” as one of the top games from the series, thanks to its smooth gameplay and thrilling ship-to-ship battles. As a result, there were high hopes for “Skull and Bones“, considering Ubisoft’s expertise in developing games within this genre. Regrettably, the final product didn’t meet the expected standards.

As a fervent admirer, I can’t help but express my thoughts about the rollercoaster journey of “Skull and Bones“. The persistent delays it faced were indeed a thorn in its path. Adding to this, the choice to debut as a Live Service left many players questioning what they were actually getting. To make matters worse, the gameplay didn’t quite live up to the depth and pleasure I found in “Assassin’s Creed 4” or even its rival, “Sea of Thieves“. Consequently, it wasn’t warmly welcomed by the market, often overshadowed by other games.

6 Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League

Disappointment Among Fans

Over the last ten years, Rocksteady’s Batman Arkham series has earned a place among the favorites for superhero enthusiasts. When it was announced that the studio would revisit this world with a multiplayer game, it appeared to be an intriguing concept. Regrettably, players were not pleased with the Live Service model and the monetization strategy of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, causing them to reject the game.

Alongside these creative choices in the storyline, which seemed to decrease the game’s appeal, were questions about why certain superheroes lost during the game. Although there were enjoyable multiplayer moments, the game struggled to keep players engaged for extended periods, causing many to miss the offline Batman games.

5 Marvel’s Avengers

Square Enix’s Foray Into The Superhero Universe

A highly anticipated online game, Marvel’s Avengers, produced by Square Enix – a renowned developer of top-tier games – appeared destined for success. Regrettably, the final product didn’t live up to player expectations due to several factors.

For example, the characters seemed ordinary because they didn’t look like the comic book versions or movie adaptations. The gameplay wasn’t exciting enough to keep players interested either. What’s more, many people found the necessity to grind in Square Enix’s Live Service service disappointing, which may have contributed to the game’s lack of widespread appeal.

4 The Crew 2

Overreaching Ambition And Disappointing Execution

In The Crew 2, they aimed to broaden the open-world format from its prior version, offering players the chance to race diverse vehicles such as cars, aircraft, and watercraft. Regrettably, the actual play experience didn’t live up to anticipation. The gameplay felt rough around the edges, and the driving physics in a racing title didn’t quite meet the desired realism.

The Live Service approach, touted as a continuous source of novel events and tasks, fell short on delivering significant content, instead offering repetitive missions. Consequently, what was anticipated to be a vibrant racing game morphed into a disjointed experience that failed to captivate players beyond the initial period.

3 Anthem

Bioware’s Wasted Potential

Back in the day, BioWare held a prominent position within the video game industry, renowned for creating popular franchises such as Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and the original Baldur’s Gate titles. With news of a fresh series in development, gamers eagerly awaited the final product.

Nevertheless, the Live Service approach used for Anthem didn’t quite live up to players’ hopes, with its gameplay offering occasional enjoyment but generally falling short compared to past games from the company. To many BioWare enthusiasts, the game’s launch was a misstep, and if it had been an offline game, it might have better demonstrated the team’s skills.

2 Battlefield 2042

A Failed Attempt To Revitalize The Franchise

Battlefield 2042 aimed to offer an immense multiplayer adventure with colossal maps and awe-inspiring battles, but its release was overshadowed by numerous technical problems such as bugs and malfunctions that hindered gameplay enjoyment. Additionally, the game received criticism for eliminating popular elements from the series, causing dissatisfaction among fans due to perceived changes in direction.

1. Over time, the Live Service model didn’t manage to keep the majority of players engaged, yet Electronic Arts continues to support the game with periodic updates. Moreover, the lack of a single-player mode was criticized as a mistake, as it distanced fans who enjoyed the storylines in earlier editions of the game.

1 Babylon’s Fall

Great Combat In An Otherwise Disappointing Game

The action role-playing game titled Babylon’s Fall, which was co-developed by PlatinumGames and Square Enix, had high anticipation due to Square Enix being known for exceptional combat mechanics in video games. However, despite its impressive battle sequences, where the developers excelled, other aspects of the game seemed to fall short upon release.

Consequently, the Live Service model for the game “Babylon’s Fall” didn’t sustain longevity. Just under a year after its debut, the developers declared that they would be discontinuing the servers, and during this short period, only minimal updates were rolled out to address the game’s problems, leaving many of its buyers feeling let down.

2024-08-27 06:06