5 video game reboots/remakes that failed to live up to expectations

Video game reboots/remakes are often required in the gaming world for various reasons. Some remakes are made to allow fan-favorite games from previous years to be created on upgraded hardware. Others are often made when developers feel that there needs to be some change in the direction of a particular series.

While some video game reboots/remakes work well, some go down in history over their botched performances. The next five games all have one thing in common - they failed to meet expectations and players. The examples also show that video games can have more than one reason to become failures.

Note: This article is solely based on the writers' views.

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Five video game reboots/remakes that should have been better

5) Alone in the Dark (2008)

Alone in the Dark became the first horror video game published in 3D. It naturally received a tremendous ovation from the players who loved the original version very much.

When the remake was announced in the latter part of the 2000s, fans were quite excited. In the end, they were about to get one of their favorite games with better hardware.

The biggest problem the remake suffered from was its high expectations. The developers forgetting the improvements in hardware didn't help too much. The combat was bland, the quality was poor, and the remake, Alone in the Darkness, ultimately failed to hit the spot.

To make matters worse, Atari has reportedly taken action against those who have negatively reviewed their game. What was a revolution in the horror genre became a glitchy, poorly-mad episodic title.

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4) Assassin's Creed III Remastered (2019)

This particular incident of a remake of the game had more to do with the Nintendo Switch console as the work fell outright flat. It's still unknown why Ubisoft decided to enter the handheld console with a remaster of this version. The expectations soon fell flat as the lack of quality became evident.

To put it very mildly, the game's remastered edition on Switch failed to please many fans. The game's graphics were outright horrible, and there were severe frame issues to make matters worse. The overall graphical performance seemed worse than in the 2012 version.

Despite the relative limitations of the handheld console, the remaster should have been better. The poor performance led to the game becoming an abysmal remake of a good video game.

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3) Medal of Honor (2010)

The Medal of Honor has earned its place in video game history with a series of brilliant games that were part of it. However, the decision in 2010 to change the series direction didn't bear fruit, as it led to disastrous results. The success of Call of Duty led EA to change the theme of 2010's release.

The change of scenery wasn't bad, and the focus on the war in the Middle East was undoubtedly refreshing. There were even moments of the Afghan war, but Call of Duty's success was overbearing.

While the single and multiplayer modes were reasonably solid, they weren't good enough. It was the same era where EA's own Battlefield series started to separate itself as the publisher's future as a military shooter. Medal of Honor 2010 was followed by an even worse sequel which ultimately saw the series end.

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2) GoldenEye 007: Reloaded (2010)

Standing in 2022, not many players will remember that the N64 classic GoldenEye had a remake version of it. The result isn't surprising as the remake is one of the worst in the history of video games. One should expect some major differences given that the remake and the original were separated by nearly fifteen years.

Trouble began when the rights to the original game couldn't be captured. The developers still went ahead with the game's development. However, the result was anything but fruitful.

Be it for weapons or gunplay, both were drastically better in the older version. The remake's graphics were terrible, and fans to date wonder why the game was even made in the first place.

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1) Duke Nukem Forever (2011)

The title is technically a sequel to Duke Nukem 3D - an FPS classic and a cult classic among video game fans. Fifteen years separated the hit title from Duke Nukem Forever, which is why the latter could be considered a reboot.

Iconic FPS titles being given a modern reboot is a success when one considers the likes of Wolfenstein and DOOM. Duke Nukem Forever did the exact opposite, as nothing went right for it.

The graphics, for starters, were dated, and the gameplay mechanics felt like a bygone era. Forever was poorly optimized, and the level design was hardly anything to talk about to make matters worse.

Overall, Duke Nukem Forever was supposed to take the series to a new light, but it became an abomination that tarnished the legacy of Duke Nukem 3D.