5 really good games, that got shutdown

A few days ago, I connected with a like-minded gamer. A fellow lover of offline gaming, and all the freedoms that entails, the guy behind Offline Bots. And, while chatting, he told me about an amazing offline game I’d never even heard of. A game I can no longer purchase on Steam. Which made me decide to write today’s blog entry titled – Five really good games, that got shutdown

Games that got shutdown

In a previous post, I talked about Overwatch 1. So, today I will not be including it in this list. I myself never played Overwatch 1 (or 2 for that matter), but I see the shutting down of Overwatch 1 servers as a grave mistake. Read more here, while I proceed with today’s list.

1. Driver: San Francisco

This game was not just a regular driving game. So much work went into its unique mechanics, and script writing. The dialogues and characters required a dense amount of voice acting and writing. And, its a pity that you can no longer buy this game officially. Unless if you find an odd hardcopy stashed away somewhere, or if you are willing to pay an obscene amount of money to resellers. And I do mean obscene! Cause this driving game is THAT good, or at the very least… unique.

2. MINImax Tinyverse

Frankly speaking, the shutting down of this game hurt. It was a real-time, chess-like, minion game. A bit like Minion Masters, but with more “adorability” in its graphics. The studio behind MINImax Tinyverse tried to take their characters into a separately launched mobile game – Nano Legends. But that too got shutdown, pretty quickly (if I may add).

3. Battle Realms 2

Next into the graveyard, comes a real-time-strategy game from 2001 – Battle Realms. It was meant to have a sequel (apparently), but it turned out to be too costly to make. The game was made by Ubi Soft, and if you have ever played games like Rayman Legends, you’ll know that Ubi Soft took animation serious. Their games used to have very unique animations, and Battle Realms was no exception. The units felt unique, the lore felt like it would branch out into sequels. But, it never did.

4. Battleborn

Anybody who still talks about this game will tell you the same thing. Most people agree that – it was poorly launched. The communication and timing of this games launch killed it before it even had a chance. Nevertheless, the game was a real gem. And even up to now, you’ll still find a super loyal band of players who are in the middle of reviving the game, right now. As we speak. The original devs need to just give them a hand!

5. Bully 2 (games that got shutdown)

This one never even got made! Bully 2 would have been a very edgy, controversial game. If we are to use its predecessor as measuring scale. And truth be told, the world lost out when this series got discontinued. As I look at the first one, I try and fantasise about how radical a sequel might have been.

Conclusion on games that got shutdown

As someone who loves offline games, with bots (or not). I am happy, as long as the games are offline. And, they don’t need online servers or an excessive amount of user accounts, or multiple game launchers. I long for the freedom that comes with offline games. If this games ever see the light of day, I hope they would be playable offline.