10 Broken Triple-A Video Games You Didn't Realise Got Fixed
Sometimes waiting a year or two gets you a great game.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Now AAA gaming is a medium that comes with a boatload of great feelings, but there is a yin
00:05to that yang. For every amazing AAA experience, you get plenty that miss the mark, and it's become
00:10all too familiar a feeling for players to get their hands on a game that they're incredibly
00:15excited about, only to find it in a broken and unplayable state. This has led to growing
00:19frustrations within the gaming community, and even some of the best studios can suffer from this,
00:24and at the end of the day, nobody wants to waste their money. But you know what,
00:27while it is easy to point the finger at developers and say you have ruined my game,
00:31there are plenty of times when a broken title actually gets repaired, becoming closer to what
00:35they originally promised. So let's take a look at them as home jewels, this is WhatCulture.com,
00:39and these are 10 Broken AAA Video Games You Didn't Realize Got Fixed.
00:4410. Assassin's Creed Unity
00:46Oh wow, that is a face that sunk a thousand consoles, just look at it. Seeing the once
00:52phenomenal Assassin's Creed franchise turned into a joke was a pretty big gut punch back in 2014.
00:58The highly anticipated release of the eighth mainline AC game was met with jeers and
01:02boos when it arrived with so many glitches and bugs that you could barely look at it,
01:06let alone play it. The infamous picture of a faceless Arno with his eyes and teeth exposed
01:11became the poster child for criticising AAA game development. That was the case then,
01:15but how does it stand up now? Well shockingly, the game is much better if you pick it up and
01:19play today. Those monstrous bugs have mostly been ironed out, and the core game presents
01:23you with a classic Assassin's Creed experience. The patches have turned Unity into a much better
01:28product, and it's hard to think of a better option if you want to relive the old school
01:32simplicity of the series. Plus, losing these technical issues helps you focus on the game's
01:36best selling points like the gorgeous Parisian setting. Many were, rightfully, quick to write
01:41this one off upon its release, which is why not enough people know that it has much improved since.
01:469. Batman Arkham Knight on the PC
01:49If you picked up Batman Arkham Knight on the PS4 or Xbox One back in 2015,
01:53then barring some potential frustrations with the Batmobile or the story, you were likely more than
01:58happy. But then there were those unlucky few who grabbed a PC copy, and oh boy, happiness was the
02:03last thing on their minds. You see, the PC port of the Caped Crusader's battle against the Arkham
02:07Knight was woefully broken. Playing it was damn near impossible, as it was the victim of all of
02:12the worst problems a game can face. You had severe lag, poorly loading textures, unpredictable frame
02:17rates, and crashes, crashes, crashes. Batman would not stand for this. However, somehow,
02:23Rocksteady managed to turn public opinion round, even if not many people, console gamers especially,
02:28actually knew about it. Nowadays, the PC port of the game is not only good, but according to
02:32ScreenRad, is arguably better than the console versions. The bugs, glitches, and constant crashes
02:37are nowhere to be seen, and it runs at a buttery smooth frame rate of 60-90fps, well over that of
02:43the 30fps cap that is found on consoles. After this port's dire release, many avoided it like
02:48the plague, but now you'll have no trouble running it on PC.
02:518. For Honor
02:53A multiplayer action game where you take on the role of a viking, a samurai, or a knight? I mean,
02:57this should have been a massive IP for multiplayer gaming. Sadly, it was a concept that Ubisoft
03:02immaculately fumbled, as it was broken as a shield is after being whacked with a warhammer. For Honor's
03:07online connectivity problems were dreadful, as the game didn't even run on dedicated servers. Then
03:12there were crashes and disconnects galore, which is naturally a death knell for any online
03:16multiplayer experience, and it also came with a fair few bugs which remained consistent post-launch.
03:21This all led to a mass exodus of the playerbase, with For Honor's initial promise left to fester
03:26in disappointment. But as of right now, the game is in its best state that it's ever been. There
03:31are still plenty of problems, but the game runs much smoother. The online connection is stronger,
03:35and the bugs are lesser. Plus, there's two brand new factions, the Wulin and the Outlanders.
03:39While the number of active players has definitely dwindled, there is still a dedicated fanbase,
03:44so you'll still be able to enjoy the challenging combat against some other skilled gamers. For
03:48Honor will never be the game-changer that it was supposed to be, but it is definitely worth a play.
03:527. Aliens Colonial Marines
03:55Is Aliens Colonial Marines the biggest missed opportunity in gaming? Well,
03:59that's a tough question to answer, because there's so many other options to choose from.
04:02But still, the fact that so many people think it is kinda says it all. The idea of a video
04:05game tying the aftermath of the 1986 film Aliens to the FPS action genre was mouth-watering,
04:11especially after those epic gameplay footage trailers. But then it came out,
04:14and gamers felt as though a xenomorph had ripped their hearts out. There were bugs everywhere,
04:18game-breaking glitches, and most egregiously of all, utterly abysmal AI on the titular Aliens.
04:24If the terrifying enemies barely functioned, then why even bother playing this game?
04:28However, that last issue has, in a rather unexpected turn of events,
04:31been vastly improved. It was discovered years later, as revealed in a report from Kotaku,
04:35that a typo in the game's coding was actually messing up the creatures,
04:38and fixing it made them a hell of a lot smoother. Shockingly,
04:41this improvement was diagnosed and executed not by Gearbox, but by an intrepid modder.
04:46Of course, the game is still far from being an excellent title,
04:49but with that issue fixed, it's at least worth trying.
04:516. Street Fighter V
04:53With the release of Street Fighter VI this year, it's safe to say that Street Fighter fans are
04:57eating bloody well, but there was a time when lovers of this seminal fighting franchise
05:02were being fed utter rubbish. Enter Street Fighter V. The release of the fifth mainline
05:06Street Fighter game was not a smooth showing for Capcom. It arrived in a deeply unfinished state,
05:11and not only did it experience a slew of technical issues like its broken servers and bugs,
05:15but it was also missing a bunch of content. I mean, where were all the bloody fighters?
05:18The roster was tiny. Plus, there wasn't even an arcade mode. How could this even be called
05:23a AAA release when it was missing so much? Many disappointed players had to accept this
05:27and move on, but a blessing came two years later with Street Fighter Arcade Edition.
05:32This free, updated version of the game fixed a lot of bugs and added plenty of content to
05:36make up for the latest release. And if that wasn't enough, the Champion Edition then came
05:40in 2020 and buffed the title up even more. With Street Fighter VI kicking butt right now,
05:45it's funny to look back at how Capcom nearly caused this iconic IP's health to drop to zero.
05:505. Middle-Earth Shadow of War
05:52So let's just shout this one quickly from the rooftops. MICROTRANSACTIONS RUIN SINGLE-PLAYER
05:57GAMES. Now, to be fair, they often ruin multiplayer games as well, but there's just something so much
06:01worse about cramming them into a game that absolutely has no space for them. Unfortunately,
06:05though, that is what happened with Shadow of War. This follow-up to the awesome Middle-Earth,
06:09Shadow of Mordor, should have been a loving exploration of the iconic fantasy property
06:13and an update to the game's nemesis system. But its use of microtransactions and controversial
06:18endgame left people angrier than Gandalf whenever Pippin breaks something. However,
06:22while these maligned features caused problems at first, the devs eventually listened to their
06:26fans and fixed the issue by making a series of improvements. One of the most notable updates
06:30was the complete removal of the marketplace. Buh-bye, microtransactions! And the endgame was
06:35also revamped, with the number of missions required to complete the Shadow Wars greatly
06:39reduced. Beforehand, the game's true ending was locked away behind a monstrous grind,
06:43which encouraged you to spend real-life money on loot boxes to try and get useful gear. But
06:47if you want to pick the game up now, you won't experience such troubles.
06:504. Halo Master Chief Collection
06:52The Master Chief Collection felt like it was going to be the holy grail for Halo fans back
06:57in 2014. It was a chance to return to one of the greatest gaming franchises ever produced,
07:01and the iconic multiplayer mode that brought so much joy to gamers. Then came the matchmaking
07:06issues. Those damn matchmaking issues. The multiplayer connectivity problems were so bad
07:10that it caused fans to turn on the game instantly, as you could barely even make it into an online
07:14game, and if you did, you'd experience heaps of trouble. 343 Industries fanned the flames by
07:19publicly apologising, then repeatedly claiming to have fixed the issues before players realised
07:24they hadn't. This vicious cycle continued on for some time, like a snake eating its own tail.
07:28But thankfully, things did eventually get better, even if many had already moved on.
07:32By 2018, the patches produced for the title managed to get it into a more playable state.
07:36There were still problems, but they were less common. In 2023, though, the game is
07:41very much worth it, with the majority of issues nowhere to be seen,
07:44and plenty of incentive to enjoy the once-dire multiplayer suite.
07:473. Mass Effect Andromeda
07:49Returning to the world, or universe, of Mass Effect was something that fans were pretty
07:53sceptical about. The Bioware trilogy was, barring a controversial ending, pretty much perfect,
07:58and sometimes it's nice to just leave things alone. Sadly, all of those fears were realised
08:02when Andromeda came out, and it was utterly laughable. Just like AC Unity, you only need
08:06look at a couple of shots of the game's poorly rendered characters to see what was wrong here.
08:11Space might be scary, but the horrendously uncanny faces pulled by these characters,
08:15well, they make cosmic horror look like nothing. It wasn't just poor animation,
08:18though, as bugs and glitches also plagued every step of the game. Besides the technical issues,
08:22players were also disappointed with the lacklustre story that came far from capturing the epic scale
08:27or emotion of The Adventures of Commander Shepard. All that said, though, the game has
08:30had multiple upgrades since its release. Andromeda still has its problems, as following up on the
08:35previous games was just an insurmountable task, but it's a lot less broken now, with many of the
08:39technical issues being eradicated. If you want a galaxy-spanning sci-fi adventure, this is a flawed,
08:44yet fairly decent option.
08:452. Battlefield 2042
08:47The ups and downs of the Battlefield franchise are about as tepid and unpredictable as being
08:52out in the middle of an ocean during a storm. An all-time low for the franchise, though,
08:56was undoubtedly Battlefield 2042, which rocked the gaming world with its poor decision-making.
09:01But those who are playing it now are singing a slightly different tune. EA's bizarre choices for
09:05this game could be seen instantly, as it was decided that this would be a multiplayer-only
09:09triple-A release with no story mode. While not every Battlefield game has come equipped
09:13with a full single-player campaign, it has been a recent trend for the series for one to be
09:17included, and it became an instant turn-off for a lot of players that BF2042 did not even include
09:23one. Then there was the gutting of the class-based system that left a sour taste in many mouths.
09:27This all somehow got even worse after the game was released. Players were met with a metric ton
09:32of issues, like extensive bugs, awful server connectivity problems, and a general lack of
09:36features. Whoever paid full price for this, well, they felt robbed. But that was then,
09:40and EA has surprisingly turned this game around. The company has patched away at the title and
09:44eradicated a lot of its technical issues. On top of that, the class system was then reinstated,
09:49and post-launch content has added depth to the game. It's no surprise that many slept on this
09:54title, but if you liked the franchise, you might not be as disappointed to dip your toes back in.
09:581. Star Wars Jedi Survivor
10:01Star Wars Jedi Survivor was quick to become the whipping boy for gamers everywhere,
10:05as they pointed to it and said, well, AAA games should not come this broken. Truthfully,
10:09this backlash was entirely justified, especially considering that the title was supposed to be a
10:13shining beacon of next-gen gaming, but EA have done their best to remedy it with September 2023's
10:19Patch 7. Survivor was released with plenty of noticeable bugs, and a deplorable habit of
10:23dropping framerates, especially whilst in performance mode. And while you can forgive
10:27lag in some titles, it's hard to write it off in a game like this, which takes the souls-born
10:31approach to combat. Losing a couple of frames when you need frame-perfect precision is a death
10:36sentence to Cal, which becomes very obvious during boss fights and battles with large hordes of
10:40enemies. However, finally, gamers can play this game at 60fps on consoles thanks to recent updates.
10:46The game runs far better now, as the performance mode has been reworked. The save system has also
10:50been tweaked to avoid save-game corruption, bug fixes have been implemented, and plenty of other
10:54issues have been addressed. Now would definitely be the time to pick this game up if you were
10:58waiting for it to get fixed. And there we go, my friends, those were 10 broken AAA video games you
11:03didn't realise got fixed. I hope that you enjoyed that, and please let me know what you thought
11:06about it down in the comments section below. As always, I've been Jules, you have been awesome,
11:10my friend, hope you're treating yourself well, and also, big love from me to you,
11:13you massive ledge, now go out there and absolutely smash it. And also, while I've got you, why don't
11:17you swing over to the FGS, or Future Game Show YouTube channel, where I'm doing all of my gaming
11:21content going forward, and it would be lovely to see you over there, my friends. Until then,
11:24take it easy, big love, goodbye.