18 awesome games that died at retail

Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath (2005)

Average Metacritic score

What was it? A weird, Wild West-themed shooter about a monstrous bounty hunter who uses live animals as ammo and hides a strange and terrible secret.

What made it so great? A standout title even among the usually excellent Oddworld games, Stranger’s Wrath mixed first-person shooting – using a crossbow and different kinds of (very) live ammo – with acrobatic third-person climbing and platforming. It also starred a bounty hunter who looked like Clint Eastwood crossed with a goat, and who wandered a Wild West hellscape capturing cowboy-looking thugs and handing them over to the chicken-faced townsfolk. This being an Oddworld story, it also hid a deeper, anti-corporate story for those who stuck with it – one involving water rights, natives being forced off their land and the last survivors of a noble species that used to rule the countryside. No matter how heavy-handed its satire got, though, it was always a blast to play.

Highest praise: “[Stranger’s Wrath] offers such a mix of modern game genres that pretty much everybody will find something to love and many, like myself, will find a lot to love. … A perfect 5 out of 5 gaming experience and the first great Xbox game of 2005.” – GameShark 

Why it tanked anyway: It probably didn’t help much that Stranger’s Wrath veered sharply away from the established Oddworld narrative – no Abe and no Munch meant a lot of fans didn’t really see it as worth their time. Add to that the fact that it was hyped as a first-person shooter – a genre that was flooding the Xbox in ’05 – and you can see how certain would-be gaming “connoisseurs” might turn up their noses at it. (Oh, cruel irony!)

Armed and Dangerous (2003)

Average Metacritic score

What was it? A third-person shooter about a ragtag band of Cockney mercenaries out to liberate a planet from some tyrant or other.

What made it so great? While Armed and Dangerous was a respectable shooter, there was nothing all that special about its basic gameplay, aside from maybe that you could demolish a lot of buildings and that you were followed around by at least two chatty, marginally useful sidekicks at any given time. What set Armed and Dangerous apart, though, was its tongue-in-cheek presentation, which included plenty of dry Brit humor, over-the-top violence and some genuinely funny cutscenes. It also featured some outstandingly creative weaponry, not the least of which was a gun that shot live, burrowing sharks.

Highest praise: “This is a game that re-invents nearly everything it does, from weapons fire to storytelling to rescue missions to boost-and-hover gameplay to bold new ways to humiliate farm animals.” – Play magazine

Why it tanked anyway: Remember that 2003 holiday season we mentioned earlier? Yeah, not even shark launchers could save Armed & Dangerous once it decided to hit the market in the middle of that.

Otogi 2: Immortal Warriors (2004)

Average Metacritic score

What was it? A mystical Japanese hack-and-slasher about an ancient, possibly undead swordsman and his five allies, which included a werewolf and a floating tree.

What made it so great? Like the original Otogi, the sequel was a deeply stylish, extremely Japanese action game in the vein of Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden. Unlike the hordes of also-ran hack-and-slashers that flooded the early-to-mid-‘00s, however, Otogi 2 distinguished itself by mixing a lot of boss battles with absolutely ridiculous amounts of destruction, as mute demon-killer Raikoh and his new buddies rapidly and indiscriminately tore through legions of lesser demons and huge chunks of fully destructible scenery. It was also really, really pretty, which just made its wanton carnage that much more breathtaking.

Highest praise: “A text book example of how to make the perfect follow up. ... Bigger, better, and hell of a lot sweeter.” – GameReviewer.com (defunct)

Why it tanked anyway: The first Otogi barely kept its head above water, so it wasn’t entirely surprising that the sequel would eke out abysmal sales figures before fading into the night. The almost total lack of a marketing push ensured that Otogi 2 never rose above niche-game status, ultimately condemning its brilliance to become just one more of the liabilities that dragged Sega down during the first half of the decade.

Space Station Silicon Valley (1998)

Average Metacritic score

What was it? A whimsical puzzle game/platformer/robot-animal simulator by the creators of Grand Theft Auto, starring a computer chip that can hijack the bodies of robot animals on a derelict space station.

What made it so great? Like Body Harvest, the other N64 game by developer DMA (now Rockstar North), Space Station Silicon Valley could be seen as a test bed for the design principles behind Grand Theft Auto III. The protagonist was Evo, a robot who’d been destroyed in an accident, leaving only a spider-like microchip that could crawl around and “drive” the bodies of deactivated robot animals. And there were a lot of them, including dogs, sheep (who could execute floaty jumps), mice, foxes and bizarre variations on the above that sported racing wheels, giant springs, battering-ram heads and rocket launchers.

Highest praise: “I'm going to stand up on my chair and applaud the originality behind this game right now. … Despite how crazy this game sounds, Space Station Silicon Valley is easily one of the most enjoyable and rewarding videogames I have ever played. The zany touches are quite brilliant but the challenging and original gameplay is what really makes this cartridge rocket. Grab this one!” – The Electric Playground 

Why it tanked anyway: Discounting the fact that SSSV came out within a month of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Space Station Silicon Valley was weird, and weird can be a hard sell – especially if your game looks suspiciously like it’s for little babies. There also wasn’t much of a marketing push or any sort of widespread knowledge of the game, and so the best it ever really achieved in terms of audience was a small (but devoted) cult following.