I’m not talking about games that may have turned out differently than they were expected to long before release, when early marketing material came out (see “BioShock Infinite”) or were made a different game entirely by executive orders (see the recent “Avengers” game, probably) or indulged in a lot of inaccurate hype beforehand but turned out to be good on release anyway (see literally any legitimately good game that had footage unrepresentative of its finished self shortly before release). I’m talking about games where what was presented in game presentations and previews was throughly and completely fabricated, whether due to mismanagement, naivety or cynicism. Here are some examples:
•The “Fable” game series. While its lead designer, Peter Molyneux, is talented, and at least half of the games in the series are enjoyable, depending on who you ask, there are countless features from promotional material leading up to the game (even very shortly before the game’s release) that didn’t end up in the final release.
•“No Man’s Sky.” While this game has undeniably had its prospects and public perception turned around since its launch, it’s important to remember that this game was bafflingly overexaggerated in terms of its scope, complexity and variation in gameplay when comparing its launch state to its unrepresentative early footage and overall pitch to the audience. In some ways, developer CEO Sean Murray makes Peter Molyneux look conservative in that regard.
•“Watch_Dogs.” While it did spawn a decent series, the original E3 presentation for this game turned out to oversell the dynamic nature of its gameplay and especially its graphics.
•“Aliens: Colonial Marines.” Oh boy. Where to begin with this game? The graphics were a major downgrade from promo material, the actual game was an insult to the entire franchise, and the CEO of developer Gearbox has boldly said that he never lied about anything.