E3 rolls around every year, and with each passing convention, the graphics in game trailers just seem to get better and better. In 2006, the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld complaints that pre-rendered CG trailers were “misleading,” making many wonder how much game publishers would lean on fancy cutscenes to sell their games. The truth is now that pre-rendered CG and in-game engines are becoming closer and closer in quality, nobody needs to rely on those “misleading” cutscenes any longer since gameplay can be made to look nearly as beautiful, rendering the ruling outdated. However, in a trend that sadly has been popping up more often than it should, publishers and developers have stretched the truth of what their game is truly capable of and displayed gameplay that far exceeds what is technically possible on the average person’s gaming devices. Once E3 is wrapped up and we are no longer lost in the moment, the coming months see more trailers and screenshots. Some hold up, but other games slowly, but surely, start to lose their luster. The game’s release date finally arrives, and when you pop the game into your console for the first time and turn it on, you realize that it doesn’t look a thing like what was advertised. Fancy lighting changes. Enemy AI no longer works. Geometry and level design look entirely new. What could be the problem? You looked at the screenshots and watched the trailers and got yourself hyped. This simply isn’t the same game, and now you are feeling duped for buying a product below the quality of what was advertised. Sadly, this occurrence has reared its head one too many times over the last year to our liking, and here are a few of the growing list of infamous cases. Aliens: Colonial Marines

The poster child of misrepresenting a game. SEGA first sold this attempt at the Aliens franchise with nothing but sky high dreams. Amazing graphics and atmosphere was only the beginning of what they were promising. Aliens would feature unscripted AI which would allow them to sniff and find you through any air duct in the game’s setting, giving the game a sense of unprecedented unpredictability. SEGA’s lofty goals and expectations received an extra boost of confidence once the press got a hold of the game’s demo at conventions which proved that they had made their promises come true. Creepy atmosphere lurked in every corner, as did the vile aliens who hunted your character down just as SEGA had described. Then the game hit development hell as it fell into the hands of several different studios. Aliens: Colonial Marines was released to horrible reviews and is regarded as one of the worst games of 2013. All of its ambitions gone, the developers had managed to turn what was promised to be a masterpiece of software into “another bug hunt.” Mindless shooting, stupid aliens, boxy rooms. Nothing of the amazing demos, which were revealed to be specially built for conventions, remained. We’re still not sure who to blame for this fiasco. Gearbox Software, Nerve Software and TimeGate Studios have all pointed fingers at one another, but it was SEGA who broke the silence, claiming responsibility and promised to do better. “Sega Europe acknowledged your objection that the trailers did not accurately reflect the final content of the game. They agreed to add a disclaimer, both on their website and in all relevant YouTube videos, which explains that the trailers depict footage of the demo versions of the game.” Just to show what kind of reputation this practice can lead to, SEGA has a new and brilliant looking Alien game in the works from The Creative Assembly called Alien: Isolation. In fact, the hype sounds not so different from Aliens: Colonial Marines, but since SEGA is still a lingering stink, this new game isn’t nearly getting the attention or praise it might deserve. Can you blame people for not getting hyped over this? Dark Souls II

We recently reported on an apparent downscaling in the graphics of the critical hit, Dark Souls II. Fans on NeoGAF produced many comparison screenshots and videos from the reveal trailer, TGS and E3 demos, beta test, and final retail build, all of which unmistakably showing that the game suffered a significant downgrade in graphics over the course of its development. A viral campaign looking for answers as to why the graphical change was not advertised or made known until after the game’s launch managed to reach developer FromSoftware, who blamed it on the difficulties of the developmental process. “Throughout the game development process, a game is constantly being balanced not only in game playability, but also in the realm of resource management. A developer is always challenged with creating the most rewarding gaming experience while delivering continuity in graphical quality, gameplay dynamics, and balance within the game. The final version of Dark Souls II displays the culmination of this delicate balance and we’re very proud of the positive media and fan reception for the game.” Underneath the flowery language, he basically states that the rapidly aging power of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 was unable to live up to the intentions From Software has originally envisioned, and the graphics suffered because of that. Nobody had questioned that fact.

What remains unknown and addressed still is why the trailers did not reveal the changes until the 11th hour. Why was a potential PC build used on a PlayStation Access channel? Why was the dolled up demo at conventions able to run something resembling the reveal trailer’s graphical style? Why does the game’s box advertise the reveal trailer’s graphics? Most importantly, which seems to be the main cause of concern for fans, will the PC version reflect From Software’s original vision or will it suffer from the same “resource management” as its console brethren? Had many console gamers known about the changes, most claim they would have been happy to wait out the final month to pick up a potentially superior version. Fortunately for From Software and Bandai Namco, Dark Souls II has been nothing short of a critical success and has escaped the fate of Aliens: Colonial Marines because it is still a competent game. Many gamers are willing to overlook a graphical downgrade as long as the gameplay holds up, but others who prefer style along with the substance have been unable to get past what they describe as promises coming up short and a flat environment. Does good critical reception negate the fact that this game was oversold during its marketing? Watch_Dogs

What hasn’t gone wrong during this unfortunate game’s development cycle? Fraudulent trademark abandonment, untimely delays which push it well beyond the next-generation launch window, rumored cancellations of the Wii U version. The last thing Ubisoft needs needs is a graphical downgrade controversy. However, that’s just what has been happening over the last few weeks. The more and more of this game we see, the further and further it looks from its impressive reveal. What was once a vibrant and exciting city, set to define what the next-generation consoles were capable of, has slowly become a re-rendering of everything we’ve seen from the past ten years. Fans pulled comparison videos from the trailer and compiled them side by side with the reveal trailer, and it looks none too pretty.