Bugs are an unfortunate reality in video games. No matter how much testing developers do, they simply can’t catch them all. Some bugs are small and nearly invisible. Some are huge and in your face. These eight games tend to be in the latter category, but they’re still so much fun that we love playing them anyway.
Thanks to Escapist community member Bob_McMillan for creating the thread this gallery is based on!
Far Cry 3
First mentioned by: Johnny Novgorod
Far Cry 3 had some really entertaining bugs in it. So entertaining, in fact, that you could be forgiven if you thought they were part of one of the episodes brought on by Dr. Eanhardt’s drugs. You’ll see animals walking on the water, dancing brooms, and more. Some enemies remain standing, even when they’re dead, and if you manage to shoot the gunner in a patrol car, everyone in the car dies along with him. Still, you can’t deny that Far Cry 3 is a blast to play, and most of the bugs are just worth a hearty chuckle.
Fallout 3 / New Vegas
First mentioned by: erttheking
The Bethesda-published Fallout titles have been full of entertaining glitches and bugs. It’s not unusual to see bodies stretched or contorted into strange positions, or just randomly catapulted into the air. Falling through the map, getting stuck, or finding yourself floating through the air are also not uncommon. Most disturbingly, you can sometimes hear NPCs continue speaking even after they’ve been killed. Specifically, erttheking mentions a door in HELIOS that vomited out two dozen barrels, a bunch of dogs and Old Lady Gibson. Despite all the strange bugs, both of these games were well-received and enjoyed by many.
Crysis
First mentioned by: Asclepion
Crysis was well-known for its ridiculous (for the time) graphics and the fact that you needed a space computer to run it maxed out, but it was also a haven for weird glitches and bugs, especially in its scripted sequences. There are even flying tanks. Complete a game objective out of sequence, and you might find that the helicopter you need to kill to advance has spawned so high up in the air you can barely see it with your binoculars. Objects vibrated for no apparent reason, you could get stuck in stationary guns, and the aircraft carrier level would constantly let you fall through the world. Not even your Nanosuit could fix that.
Left 4 Dead 2
First mentioned by: Vigormortis
Left 4 Dead 2’s zombie shooting can be interrupted at times by some strange occurrences and exploits. You can crouch behind a non-broken door and keep the tank from breaking in. You can fire incendiary rounds at a car, and it will not set off the alarm. You can even hang from a ledge during a horde rush to keep from getting killed off, as long as you aren’t the only one left alive. The funniest one I have seen so far is that you shoot both arms off a common infected, and it will still climb to the roof of a house to get at you. Now that’s dedication.
Skate 3
First mentioned by: Jimmy Donnellan
EA’s skateboarding sim sets players free to pull off whatever tricks they can, within limits of course. But thanks to an easily exploitable physics engine, players can instead do some of the wackiest things you’ll ever see. Characters bend in impossible ways, get trapped in scenery, and more. Jumping on and off your board quickly would boost your speed drastically, and could even launch you into the air. The glitches were so ridiculous that people made tons of YouTube videos highlighting them (like YouTuber HelixSnake).
Alpha Protocol
First mentioned by: small
Full disclosure: I love Alpha Protocol. That said, you can’t deny that it has some serious bugs. Loading an autosave will frequently mean no enemies or objects load, and when they do load, it’s not uncommon to see enemies shooting at you with no magazines in their rifles. At one point in the game, there’s a helicopter you need shoot down that won’t respawn if you die, and reloading the save usually won’t fix it (why is it always the helicopters?). There’s even a bug where grenades just don’t explode. Despite all of these issues, it’s become something of a cult classic. Maybe we can talk Obsidian into making a sequel.
Goat Simulator
First mentioned by: Keoul
This is probably the poster child for buggy games, as Coffee Stain Software intentionally left most of the bugs in the game, fixing only those that caused the game to crash. Bugs that didn’t affect stability got to stay, meaning that your goat’s tongue will sometimes stretch out to insane lengths, or you’ll go soaring into the air for no particular reason. The best part? You usually get rewarded for it! Of course you often get stuck in the world and have to respawn, but that’s a small price to paay for the unintended hilarity the bugs can bring to the game.
The Elder Scrolls Series
First mentioned by: Lilani, Caramel Frappe, Recusant
It’s no surprise to find The Elder Scrolls series atop this list. Both Skyrim and Daggerfall were mentioned in the thread, but the entire series is worthy. Bugs would have you walking on water, have giants launching NPCs into the sky, and most hilariously, letting you steam from a merchant as long as you first put a bucket on their head so they can’t see. NPCs vanish, monster follow you when you fast travel from a dungeon, and more. It’s so prevalent that we’ve come to expect it from The Elder Scrolls, and we almost look forward to trying to find the next funny bug that pops up.
