There’s nothing quite as sinking as the realisation that the game you’d been waiting for – in fact anything you’ve been eagerly anticipating – is a resounding flop.

The video game sector is a growing industry; complimented by the ever-improving quality and availability of devices to play on, more and more people are opening their phone or computer to play a game. Studios are putting bigger and bigger budgets behind marketing campaigns as the industry becomes increasingly competitive, but not all of the highly-marketed games are worth the hype this can build up. This article looks at those games that have come out in the last year that were disappointing despite their backing, including the infamous Crackdown 3.

Crackdown 3 was announced as one of the biggest X-Box exclusive games for this year, however there were concerns from the offset; the most highly-anticipated aspect of the game, the Wrecking Zone multiplayer, was announced as not being available on X-Box Live Party function, as well as the overall network performance not being to Crackdown’s original standards. What’s more, the game kept its blueprint even after the complaints that followed the release of Crackdown 2, meaning that the city map is well and truly exhausted. The game’s studio, did make some changes, including new moves to discover and improve the overall physics of the game. Credit where it’s due, it is fun to get creative with finding shortcuts, but this is a rudimentary thing to get excited about.

Ultimately, the road leading up to Crackdown 3’s release is more exciting than the game itself. You can replay the original and find as much enjoyment as you would with the new release.

In a similar manner to the disappointment of Crackdown 3 is Jumanji; Granted, the game is of a completely different ilk, but it was marked as one of the best slot games due for release and NetEnt put a lot of marketing budget behind a long campaign. However, what it actually turned out to be is an unsophisticated game without anything new to get excited about. It brought very little joy and a lack of tension or interest, as the slot offers very little variance, with players only able to obtain small wins at best. Similarly to Crackdown 3, Jumanji provided nothing new, despite what the marketing campaign would have you believe.

However, Legend of Jaguar has proven itself as the dynamic alternative to Jumanji. The slot game offers plenty of opportunities to win on whichever device you choose as the player sets the variance (low, medium or high). The game offers multiplier and win-cascade features supplying more opportunity to get a winning combination. Playtech has created an engaging slot with quality graphics set in an Aztec world – keep an eye out for the jaguar symbol in the middle reel as this can lead to the multiplier increasing up to five times. The Legend of Jaguar is another quality creation from Playtech and offers great bonus features, filling the gap where Jumanji has failed.

Following Crackdown 3, Dead or Alive 6 was finally released and everyone is pleased to discover that this is a studio that has listened to its customers and their feedback. The studio have rethought the one-on-one fighter game and made the overall experience much more realistic, removing the excessive and actually mildly-embarrassing nudity. The fighting is fluid and often fast-paced and allows gamers to mix buttons to find new moves. The premise of Dead or Alive has always been straightforward, but the new release benefits from improved tension and better-quality gameplay with linear progression and good tutorials.

In such a competitive industry, there is a game for everyone, which means you should never waste your valuable time playing a sub-par game.