Borrowing from AndyC's movie thread but with video games instead of movies.
Lots of games out there have awesome covers but are total crap when you play them.
Like Vampire Rain (http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/vampiresrain/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary;read-review).
(http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/3537/256pxvampirerainbox1419.jpg) (http://img265.imageshack.us/i/256pxvampirerainbox1419.jpg/)
Yes, the cover looks cool, but don't let that fool you.
Vampire Rain is one of the most terrible and infuriatingly frustrating games ever made. It's been universally panned by almost every game website and critic out there and has no redeeming qualities whatsoever.
Can you think of any other video games that have awesome covers but are total garbage?
Oh, you already made the thread.
Not that this cover is too great, but it convinced me to buy this over Castlevania. Castlevania.
(http://www.theoldcomputer.com/Libarary%27s/Pictures/NESGameCovers/Section%20Z.jpg)
Section Z is a terrible, terrible game.
(http://bluelinepro.com/storecomics2/images/ROGUE%20OPS%20PS2.jpg)
I was looking forward to...well, you know what I was looking forward to. I did not get it :bluesad: Gameplay was pretty crummy too. One of those that leave you wandering around for hours on end with absolutely no idea what you're supposed to do next.
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/41/Big_Rigs_-_Over_the_Road_Racing_Coverart.png)
This game is probably the worst game ever created by man. The entire Internet can express their feelings about this game better than I can.
However, this game did give us one of the greatest things ever said in a game:
(http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/475/277192-bigrigs_winner_super.jpg)
That's right! I are winner!
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Nintendo 8bit.
(http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/1161/eeei.png) (http://img30.imageshack.us/i/eeei.png/)
I may catch flack for this but...
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/05/Wolfenstein-3d.jpg)
The game is a classic BUT the cover is way better than the game.
(http://www.gamershell.com/static/boxart/large/3456.jpg)
Admittedly, even the box cover isn't great . . . but the concept it represents is great. You choose virtually any country in the world and try to manage its stability, growth, military, and expansion across the globe! Yeah, right. Most of the game takes place on a map of the world with overlays for various things like military production and buying and selling resources. If you play as a major power like the U.S., you have plenty to do during the game. But if you choose to play as a small country (which is much more challenging . . . the U.S. can attack just about anyone and win . . . smaller countries require more strategy and patience), it could take hours of gameplay just to build a small army. If a war breaks out, the "tactics" are played on a screen that looks like it was stolen from an Atari game from the 1970s. Plus, the original release would crash just about every time you played it. Patches are available, and I think I downloaded the first one, but I gave up after attempting 4 or 5 games.
(http://www.menago.com.pl/images/fullsize/playstation2/gry/residentevilsurvivor2codeveronica.jpg)
(http://www.atensionspan.com/psx/TN_Psychic_Force_ntsc-front.JPG)
(http://www.megghy.com/immagini/Psx/FICHE%20J/COVERS/Jet%20rider.jpg)
(http://www.pwned.com/gamecovers/playstation/f433207ffa715b1ad01b282dbdf7ec10-Star_Wars_Episode_I__Jedi_Power_Battles.jpg)
(http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/resources/2007/03/250px-EverQuest_Box_Art.jpg)
Alright, I admit, I've never actually played this game, but come on, you know they're just putting the scantily clad elf chick on there just to get the attention of the target audience (lonely males.)
(http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/6/589806_front.jpg)
Just thinking about the game makes my skin crawl.