LucasArtsOh, Republic Commando. Fantastic game, but so much unrealized potential. As a QA tester on the project, I saw a lot of possible features get discussed, and then never make into the game. We still ended up with an amazing game, but it could have been that much better if it wasn't for some meddling by our executives (which is pretty typical in the games industry).
As development progressed, the director (Tim Longo) realized he had a pretty solid game on his hands, but he wanted to make improvements to make it a "can't-miss" title. He decided to hold a meeting where everyone on the project (from lead developers to QA testers) got together to discuss pie in the sky ideas that would help take Republic Commando to that next step. We came up with a bunch of amazing ideas, such as an improved story, boss fights, cooperative multiplayer, additional competitive multiplayer modes, vehicles, and my favorite: a persistent villain.
We were set to start adding some of these features, but then Jim Ward became president of LucasArts and insisted that Republic Commando go out ASAP, as it was originally designed. We were crushed, but ultimately, did our best to get it done (despite the fact that most of the team was told that they'd get laid off as soon as the game was done).
Ultimately Jim Ward was the reason why RepCom wasn't a huge mega-hit. Still, he did make sure the game was completed on time, and didn't get stuck in development limbo, so I can't fault him too much. He just didn't like the game... mostly due to it not being on the PS2, which was the big money-making platform of the time (unless you were Halo). He spent very little on marketing, while other games like Battlefront and Mercenaries had all sorts of marketing dollars thrown at them. The sales ended up being a bit of a disappointment, so no sequel was made (despite a couple pitches, one of which was the famous Imperial Commando).
Oh, and the cliffhanger ending is what Tim Longo likes to do. He did the same thing in Jedi Starfighter, where your wingman Reti gets chased off by Jango Fett toward the end of the game. It was his idea for adding an emotional punctuation at the end of the whole experience, and to get you interested in potential sequels (that sadly never happened).
TL;DR: RepCom was great, but was almost way better. Cliffhangers are the director's style
