Upcoming Video Games That Will Probably Disappoint Fans

Gears of War 4 wasn't a bad game by any stretch of the imagination. No, the problem was that, despite a change-up in the cast of characters, the fourth entry in this Microsoft franchise ultimately felt very predictable, without much in the way of innovation. As The Verge said in their review, Gears of War 4 was "as safe a sequel as you could imagine." It should be mentioned that this was a mostly positive review, but the point remains that much of Gears of War 4 felt like more of the same old bloody song and dance.

So it's with a bit of cautious optimism that we see Gears 5 trying to switch things up yet again. For one, the lead protagonist of the new entry is a woman, a welcome first for the franchise. For another, there's a new co-op mode in this game, called Escape. Unfortunately, this new mode has been described by Screen Rant as "nothing special," which leads to worries that the innovation is yet again being implemented in the wrong places. Hopefully Gears 5 won't just feel like Gears 4.5 and can stand on its own.

This game is in the strange position of trying to live up to the memory of a game that was already rather flawed. Phil Savage of PC Gamer watched a pre-alpha stage demo of Bloodlines 2, remarking afterwards that the new game "looks messy, but in that sense it's a faithful sequel." In the same report, after viewing footage of the demo for Bloodlines 2, PC Gamer's Tyler Wilde remarked, "The combat looks a bit rough." This is particularly worrisome when you consider, as mentioned by Den of Geek, that combat may have been the original Bloodlines' "worst feature."

The game certainly seems further along in development than one would expect for a game that was announced relatively recently. With Bloodlines 2 releasing in March of next year, does the studio have enough time for the combat system and enemy physics to be fine-tuned before gamers sink their teeth into the latest installment in the Vampire: The Masquerade saga? The first Bloodlines was rather infamously rushed and dumped by its studio in an unfinished form. Though it went on to become a cult classic, is there a chance that same lightning can strike twice?

The long-awaited Final Fantasy 7 Remake certainly looks impressive, with its hyper-realistic character animations and Square Enix's reveal that the first chapter of the episodic release alone will consist of "two Blu-Ray discs'" worth of content. The combat system is also promising, as it will combine classic turn-based Final Fantasy combat with the later entries' real-time fighting. 

Despite the excitement surrounding this return to one of the franchise's most beloved installments, it's easy to imagine Final Fantasy purists being put off by the major differences from the original's style. Folks who may not have loved Final Fantasy 15 may not be too keen on this remake embracing a combat system similar to that game. Not only that, but the odd release strategy of this new game may be off-putting to fans. The massive first episode is scheduled to drop in March 2020, whereas a release date has not yet been announced for the following chapters, which may make for a loss of narrative momentum between chapters.

This new iteration of the Wolfenstein franchise has the potential to reinvigorate a longstanding shooter series and has already made the exciting choice of focusing on female lead characters, perhaps giving a new storytelling perspective to the usually macho Wolfenstein franchise. Unfortunately, elements of the first trailer for Wolfenstein: Youngblood look like more of the same, at least in terms of the combat. In other areas, it's unclear how much this will feel like the Wolfenstein we know and love.

Make no mistake, Youngblood has a heavy emphasis on co-op gameplay. This seems to be a choice well suited to its new twin protagonists, the daughters of series hero BJ Blazkowitz. In an interview with Venture Beat, Machine Games' Jerk Gustafsson explained that Youngblood will have a much less linear narrative than previous Wolfenstein entries, as well as a lighter tone. 

In other words, there's a chance that new players may feel like it plays too similar to other shooters out there, while established fans maybe put off by the more playful feel of Youngblood. Hopefully the game will split the difference when it launches in July.

It's almost not fair to worry about a Watch Dogs game at this point, but the series' track record kind of encourages that. The first two entries of the action/hacking franchise overpromised and, depending on whom you ask, underdelivered. The first game featured weak AI and graphics that were downgraded before release, falling short of those shown in early demos. The second game likewise released without some of the features that had been promised (mainly parts of the multiplayer mode) and was described as a whole by VG24/7 as "clunky as hell."

That's why the newest installment, Watch Dogs: Legion, is best approached with cautious optimism. Eurogamer notes that the main gameplay hook, the ability to play as basically anyone in Legion's London, may not be as much fun as it sounds: "Perhaps this is the reality of having to turn this complicated system into an actual video game ... Legion's character classes felt like variations on the same theme." This also results in less attachment to the many, many playable characters. It could be that Legion's ideas are too big to be implemented smoothly or distinctly, much like the previous entries in the series. 

The upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is a "soft reboot" of the Modern Warfare sub-series, and there are plenty of reasons to get excited. It's meant to be a return to the gritty, realistic combat from the earlier entries in the Call of Duty franchise, taking place in a much more "morally gray world" than its predecessors. 

The worry here is that, in the pursuit of producing a return to form for the increasingly uninspired series, Modern Warfare may end up being a swing too far in the wrong direction. It could end up feeling, as Digital Trends put it, "aggressively familiar," with too much fan service and too little innovation. Digital Trends also said, "Modern Warfare's campaign is a return to the comfort of earlier titles, and I doubt it'll prove as effective as the developers seem to hope." If Infinity Ward can strike a balance between innovations in gameplay and the series' familiar tropes, then they may have the comeback that they're aiming for. Otherwise, it could just feel too safe, which is the last feeling an action game needs to inspire in its audience.

Let's be honest: it's been a hot minute since we've had a decent Contra game. The once-great action franchise never quite got a foothold in the 3D gaming era, with the most recent effort being the spin-off game Hard Corps: Uprising way back in 2011. Contra: Rogue Corps is an all-new twin-stick shooter for the Nintendo Switch, which is exciting. However, the new game seems to be embracing a juvenile sense of humor that feels entirely at odds with the tone of the franchise's earlier installments. How else can one explain the swearing and the cartoon panda?

Contra has never taken itself super seriously, mind you. It's just that Rogue Corps feels very off-model in strange ways. From the foul language and cartoonish designs to the drastically changed combat of this new game, it's barely recognizable as Contra. Game series have to grow and innovate, sure, but when updating a series that carries a lot of nostalgic baggage like this one, it's hard not to feel like the series' name was slapped on a barely related game in a bid to gain more interest.

To be fair, it's hard to accurately judge Starfield, considering how little we actually know about it. Officially announced in 2018 with an mysterious teaser trailer, Bethesda's Todd Howard has revealed that the game has been in some form of production for the past several years. In fact, Bethesda started active development on Starfield around the time when Fallout 4 was finished. Furthermore, Howard has said that Starfield exists in a "playable" form, suggesting it's further along in its development cycle than gamers had realized.

That's why it's a bit of a shame, as well as a surprise, that Starfield wasn't shown at E3 2019. Given the disaster that is Fallout 76 and the fact that Bethesda plans to keep much of the same engine from its previous games for both Starfield and the upcoming Elder Scrolls 6, one can't help but feel like the lack of any further footage from Starfield constitutes something of a red flag.