Disappointing Video Games of 2011

There's no doubt that 2011 was great year in gaming. We got to experience amazing video games like Skyrim, Skyward Sword, Batman: Arkham City, and Gears of War 3. Of course, not every game released this year can live up to gamers' high expectations. Here are four video games that disappointed me most in 2011.

F.E.A.R. 3
I've been a big fan of the F.E.A.R. series since the beginning. After the events of the second game, the third one seemed like it would be full of scares and crazy twists. While the shooting aspect of F.E.A.R. 3 felt improved from the other titles, it lacked anything remotely scary. Instead of fearing the Wade family, you play as them. Being Paxton or Point Man was an interesting idea, but for me, it turned this game from creepy survival horror to average FPS.

L.A. Noire
L.A. Noire didn't have to be a disappointment. Instead of just running around and shooting the "bad guys," players got to do detective work. You searched for clues, talked to witness, and interrogated suspects. It was different, interesting, and fun. Unfortunately, L.A. Noire does have major flaws. The cases seemed too short and weren't fleshed out enough. If you got stuck, you were able to skip over the action, and if you couldn't figure out something fast enough, the answer was provided for you. The worst thing was not feeling any emotion towards Cole. How could a video game that was suppose to be story driven not give you any reason to care about the characters involved?

Duke Nukem Forever
The video game stuck in development for over decade was finally released in 2011. However, it seems to be stuck in a 1990's time warp. While mocking today's best FPS games like Halo, Duke Nukem Forever uses their innovations like regenerative health meters. The game also has very Half-Life 2 puzzles that feel so out of place, you wonder why Duke takes the time to solve them. The game looks and feels dated, and the load screens go on forever. The bright spot is the shooting. Other elements like platforming feel forced.The game could have been a wonderful ode to Duke's over-the-top history, instead it disappoints.

Brink
Brink had the potential to be an amazing FPS game. Unfortunately, it feels unfinished, repetitive, and bland. Brink takes place in the near future on a floating city called Ark. After sitting through a very long tutorial, the action starts. While you can play both sides, the Security or the Resistance, the story never feels fleshed out enough. There are four classes, the Solider, the Engineer, the Medic, and the Operative. A representative from each class needs to be on the team in order to do the mission objectives. You can change classes when needed, but it also means you can't play whatever one you want most of the time. The AI doesn't help much either, as they tend to run around aimlessly instead of focusing on the mission. A little more tweaking and polish could have done Brink wonders.

Not every game can live up to the pre-release hype, but these four really should have. What makes 2011's disappointing games worse than its terrible ones is the potential to be great was there, and it was never realized.