What game do you wish was better?

Every year there are just some games that we are all set to love but the games just don't meet our expectations.  What games stand out in your mind as being a game you wish was better then what it actually was?  By this I mean a game that had a ton of potential but the game just didn't meet that potential.
 
I have a few that really stuck out to me...
 
-Mirror's Edge
-Fallout: New Vegas
-Metroid Prime 2
-Heavy Rain

All games that I have ever played.

" All games that I have ever played. "

Not that I think it ever had a huge amount of potential, but Bullet Witch. I've always thought the idea behind that game seemed really cool, and it had some interesting level and character designs, but none of them were executed particularly well. I still enjoyed playing through it though, even if it did get a bit monotonous.

"All games that I have ever played. "

" All games that I have ever played. "

Heh, well I guess I wasn't expecting smart-asses.

" All games that I have ever played. "

New vegas would be up there.  A little more polish and that game would have been great like Fallout 3 was.

dead rising 2

" All games that I have ever played. "

@SuperSambo said:

" All games that I have ever played. "

Then you should start to play better games. 
 
If we're talking 2010 stuff then Alpha Protocol, Heavy Rain, Mafia II, Medal of Honor and Mass Effect 2 (the lack of a proper Citadel blows my mind. But, that's pretty much it. And the fact that Liara just didn't want to hang with me anymore. But, apparently Lair of the Shadow Broker may fix that. I haven't played it yet.)

prototype

Hah, second thread of the night that I get to bring up Jurassic Park: Trespasser.
 
Also Alan Wake. Its not BAD...but these guys made freaking Max Payne!!! I think they took it more seriously than I realized, to the game's detriment.

Where to begin with this list?
 

1. Final Fantasy XIII
2. Splatterhouse
3. Prototype
4. Dead Rising 2
5. Fallout: New Vegas
6. GT5
7. Call of Duty: Black Ops
8. Far Cry 2
9. Devil May Cry 4
10. NASCAR '09

Advent Rising. The ending of that game was terrific, everything else was mediocre and/or shit. It could have been a great trilogy if only they didn't rely on the tried-and-true strategy of "Let's not care about the first game, because we will have two more games to improve!". It's still gotta sell to be a trilogy, dumbasses. 
 
Mirror's Edge is a fine choice. More than anything, I wish it got a bigger marketing push. Dead Space 2 is coming out this month, and Mirror's Edge has been completely forgotten. *tear* 
 
Alpha Protocol looked AWESOME from the first trailers. Too bad EVERYONE fucked up - the game part was bad, and even Sega fucked up the launch, they forgot to announce that they had pushed the launch! God dammit... 

Darksiders. I really enjoyed it, but it was so close to being a AAA game, that I couldn't stop myself from wishing it was just a bit better or just a bit more polished.

Oblivion.

Ghostbusters.

Epic Mickey.  I wanted *so* badly to like this game, but I just can't force myself to sit through any more of it.

Command and Conquer 4

Oblivion and Far Cry 2 are good choices. Both full of potential, but ruined by lots of stupidity.

Final Fantasy XIII.

Force Unleashed. If done with respect to the source material, it could have been one of the best games ever. But in order to be quicker to develop and have a mass appeal, they turned it into a fun and honeyed experience. Great, mindblowing at times, still with enough flaws to never be critically acclaimed.

Far Cry 2 and Just Cause 2 come to mind.

Alpha Protocol, GT5, Final Fantasy XII, Lost Planet 2, and Brute Force.

" Advent Rising. The ending of that game was terrific, everything else was mediocre and/or shit. It could have been a great trilogy if only they didn't rely on the tried-and-true strategy of "Let's not care about the first game, because we will have two more games to improve!". It's still gotta sell to be a trilogy, dumbasses. 
  "

" Every year there are just some games that we are all set to love but the games just don't meet our expectations.  What games stand out in your mind as being a game you wish was better then what it actually was?  By this I mean a game that had a ton of potential but the game just didn't meet that potential. I have a few that really stuck out to me...  -Mirror's Edge -Fallout: New Vegas -Metroid Prime 2 -Heavy Rain "

@l4wd0g
 
Heavy Rain had a great premise.  I even liked the gameplay despite the bad walking controls.  But, the story needed to be further worked on.  There were way to many plot problems.  Many elements were dropped for convenience causing errors in consistency.  The plot twists were odd especially the final twist.  It was a game that was exciting and fun while you played it but puzzling and concerning once you stopped.  Ultimately, when I beat it I felt like I had just wasted my time.  It wasn't a fulfilling experience.  Besides the plot, the characters needed work.  I the two main characters (the man who lost both his sons and his love interest) weren't great characters.  The man especially.  How do you lose two kids?  Plus, the hallucinations/dissociation/whatever that cause him to lose his second kid was never explained and was conveniently dropped/forgotten.

FFXIII. I really wanted to like it, I wanted it to wash the taste of XII out of my mouth and prove the whole 'Japanese game design is dead' fallacy wrong. Unfortunately, it pretty much did the opposite of that.
 
Heavy Rain. It had a lot of potential, even if it was basically just a new Indigo Prophecy (despite all the bullshit hyperbole about how it's so innovative and is going to push video games forward). Unfortunately it was pure crap, unlike its merely flawed spiritual prequel.
 
Red Dead Redemption. After hearing so much about how this game was so awesome, I was baffled at how stunningly mediocre it was. Honestly, though, I shouldn't have been surprised. I felt the exact same way about pretty much every GTA game; Rockstar is great at making these huge interesting worlds you want to explore and play around in, but not so much at making the actual gameplay any fun. At least they fixed the checkpointing and put in regenerating health though.

" @Winternet

@SuperSambo said:

" All games that I have ever played. "

Then you should start to play better games. 
 
If we're talking 2010 stuff then Alpha Protocol, Heavy Rain, Mafia II, Medal of Honor and Mass Effect 2 (the lack of a proper Citadel blows my mind. But, that's pretty much it. And the fact that Liara just didn't want to hang with me anymore. But, apparently Lair of the Shadow Broker may fix that. I haven't played it yet.)

So you have played a perfect game? "  

Trespasser 

BF:BC2

" @SuperSambo said:

" @Winternet

@SuperSambo said:

" All games that I have ever played. "

Then you should start to play better games. 
 
If we're talking 2010 stuff then Alpha Protocol, Heavy Rain, Mafia II, Medal of Honor and Mass Effect 2 (the lack of a proper Citadel blows my mind. But, that's pretty much it. And the fact that Liara just didn't want to hang with me anymore. But, apparently Lair of the Shadow Broker may fix that. I haven't played it yet.)

So you have played a perfect game? "  

If by perfect game you mean a game that I wouldn't change anything, then yes, I have. "

Indigo Prophecy instantly comes to mind >_>

" @Winternet

@SuperSambo said:

" All games that I have ever played. "

Then you should start to play better games. 
 
If we're talking 2010 stuff then Alpha Protocol, Heavy Rain, Mafia II, Medal of Honor and Mass Effect 2 (the lack of a proper Citadel blows my mind. But, that's pretty much it. And the fact that Liara just didn't want to hang with me anymore. But, apparently Lair of the Shadow Broker may fix that. I haven't played it yet.)

So you have played a perfect game? "

Alpha Protocol. The game had such promise.

" @Winternet said:

" @SuperSambo said:

" @Winternet

@SuperSambo said:

" All games that I have ever played. "

Then you should start to play better games. 
 
If we're talking 2010 stuff then Alpha Protocol, Heavy Rain, Mafia II, Medal of Honor and Mass Effect 2 (the lack of a proper Citadel blows my mind. But, that's pretty much it. And the fact that Liara just didn't want to hang with me anymore. But, apparently Lair of the Shadow Broker may fix that. I haven't played it yet.)

So you have played a perfect game? "  

If by perfect game you mean a game that I wouldn't change anything, then yes, I have. "

Which one is that? "

Fable 3 is the first thing that comes to mind.

"

prototype

"

There are obviously a few, but the one that sticks out is Daikatana. I was 14 when it came out, and all that in-yo-face marketing really worked on me. I had played the Doom and Quake series but was obviously too young to appreciate them fully. This game was going to be their masterpiece.... WHAT COULD GO WRONG RIGHT?!  
 
At least it taught me the importance of game reviews and researching before you buy.. so not a total loss I guess.

Red Dead Redemption and Limbo. I was so psyched up until I actually played them for a while and realized they got kind of boring towards the middle. Really bummed me out.

I can't think of anything special, so I'll go with every game as well

Fable 3

Half Life, Broken Sword: The Shadow of Templars and Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror, Bioshock, Max Payne 2, Half Life 2, Call of Duty 4, GTA Vice City, Braid, Total Annihilation, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin. I wouldn't change anything in these games.  P.S.: Well, maybe scratch GTA Vice CIty. There was one early mission which was to drive an RC helicopter. I didn't like that the first time I played it. The other times I didn't mind it. So yeah, I would maybe change that on Vice City. "