Why Hype Can Be Bad, Even if the Game is Good
Like many gamers in 2021, I’m reeling from a disappointment. For those having lived under a rock, December 2020 saw the release of Cyberpunk 2077 by polish game studio CD Projekt Red. A leap in storytelling, gameplay, and immersion had been promised and, prior to release, Cyberpunk picked up a slew of ‘gamers choice’ and ‘most anticipated’ awards voted on by consumers who believed in that promise. Over 8 million people (me and my partner included) pre-ordered and went to bed at night dreaming of Night City.
The reality was more of a nightmare. The released game ran poorly on PC and was nearly unplayable on current-gen consoles. Features shown off in gameplay demos were missing and the world and story were found by many to be hollow, misogynistic, and transphobic, and altogether nothing new. Willaim Gibson, author and pioneer of the Cyberpunk genre, shared an article, agreeing that the game was ‘deeply average’. In an unprecedented move, Sony removed the game from the Playstation store and tried to place the blame for the game passing quality controls firmly on CDPR.
When I did play the game (on Stadia after I returned my PS4 copy) I agreed with the mob that it was nothing special. Certainly not the game we had been promised…
And yet, playing the game, I couldn’t help thinking about the dissatisfaction I was feeling would still be there if the game had been well made. In the wake of Cyberpunk's disastrous launch, many industry pundits had something to say about hype culture. How millions of nerds had bought into marketing and believed that Cyberpunk was going to be great despite, often believing so hard they forked out £60+ for a pre-order, despite the fact, nobody had played the game yet and got burnt. I was certainly one of the schmucks hyped for the game. But whilst these articles often talked about the risk of getting yourself too excited for a game that turns out bad, I reflected on how I’d got too excited for games that turned out good.
Taking part in the act of creation
The first game I got hyped for was Dishonored. After seeing the first trailer I was hooked into the mysterious world of Dunwall. I bought relevant issues of PlayStation magazine, watched E3 press conferences, and, of course, preordered a copy of the game. By the time the game came out, id read everything I could find about the powers, the level location, and the story. I was like a detective trying to piece together any available piece of information. The drip-feed of updates from Arkane kept my hype building over the course of at least a year.
And when the game finally came out it was fantastic. The things I’d read were suddenly manifest on my screen. I demolished the 12-hour campaign and started again from the beginning. My hype had paid off in a big way. My months of research meant I could get into the game’s world and gameplay loop immediately.
Most importantly, this became my MO for games going forward. About once a year there would be something that would grab me and I’d hunt down and information I could find about it. When the game was a new entry in a series I would play the prequels. When a game was a new IP I would read or play stuff in the same genre. Sorry William Gibson, but Cyberpunk 2077 is the only reason I read Neuromancer…
Too much of a good thing
For a while, this strategy of obsession worked. I jumped into Persona 5 and Arkham Knight having with their prequels and an understanding of the story, mechanics, and the world I was about to see under my belt. But then cracks started to show.
After playing the taster that was Ground Zeroes I turned my hype sights onto Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. I began my regular process of consuming everything the developer put out, and, true to form, Hideo Kojima didn’t disappoint. MGSV had multiple long demos at E3 and the other conferences as well as live streams showing off the different gadgets and locations. I used the time before the game came out to play Metal Gear Solid 1, 2, 3, and Peace Walker, filling in some of the plot gaps with esoteric YouTube videos called things like “Who are The Patriots” and “What does the ending of [any MGS game] mean?”. There was such a breadth of content that before I played the game I had seen maps of both locations, knew who all 4 available buddies were, and had seen 90% of the tools in action. I had seen so many theory YouTube videos that the eventual twist was a forgone conclusion at this point.
As you might expect this put a damper on my gaming experience. I spent most of my time on missions wishing I had some end-game gadget or buddy. During cutscenes, I internally complained that events and interactions weren’t playing out like I had imagined they would.
MGS V isn’t a perfect game. There are legitimate criticisms of both gameplay and story. However, it does still have great elements; elements that I ruined for myself.
No expectations; no disappointment
When I think back over the last few years about the game I enjoyed the most, somewhat ironically and surprisingly the game that springs to mind first is the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Ironic because it’s the last game CDPR made before Cyberpunk. Surprising because it’s not a game I was excited for…
I was aware of the Witcher 3 before launch but it never particularly grabbed me. 6 hours of Lord of the Rings and 10 of Skyrim had previously confirmed to me that I wasn’t into fantasy and it looked a bit too dreary for my liking. However, when the game came out and was heaped with praise I found myself with £40 in my wallet (remember when games were only £40) and decided to go in.
Despite my lack of hype, I absolutely loved the Witcher 3. It’s a fantastic game but in a lot of ways, I think my lack of hype helped. I was thrown into a fascinating world I knew nothing about and left to explore some beautiful landscapes. Working out the mechanics of the game and all their quirks wasn’t a case of applying what I’d learned in developer diaries. For the first few hours, I didn’t know what I was doing but that's kind of the point, isn’t it?
Switching off
I replayed Metal Gear Solid V this year, knowing exactly when you get which gadget, which turns the story takes, and with the idealized version I imagined in 2016 long faded. I had a great time. I had the same experience when I replayed Uncharted 4 and Dishonored 2 when they were divorced from my expectations.
Cyberpunk's launch proved to many people that you should get too hyped for games that might end up being bad. But for me, I hope it finally convinces me to not get hyped for games just in case they end up being good.
Joe Rackham
