Sequels in the games industry get a harsh rap, with players calling for new IP’s like a hoard of insatiable children, who’s attention span is comparable to that of a Ninja Gaiden quick-time event.
It’s a shame too, because often developers need that second game to truly hone and fulfill their original vision, although this is not always the case. It’s not unheard of for big name sequels to fall short of expectations, even if when held up on their own they offer a decent experience. That got us thinking, what are the best and worse sequels of this current generation?
For this list, three is definitely not the magic number, as all titles must be the second entry in their respective series.
10. The Bad… Crysis 2
Ask a hardcore PC gamer what they think of Crysis 2. I could leave it there but for those of you without a hardcore PC gamer to hand, I should explain. Graphical prowess is intrinsic to the very heart of PC gaming, no matter what a shiny new, or in the case of 2012 a rickety old console can produce, if you want cutting edge visuals there’s only one place to go. Developers gain tremendous satisfaction when pushing the graphical envelope, and PC players get a similar buzz from building machines to run their games.
The first Crysis was just that, a benchmark, a game to truly show what your PC was capable of, so imagine the excitement when Crytek announced a sequel. Now imagine the disappointment when Crysis 2 launched with a severe lack of graphical options and a linear slog through the concrete jungle of New York.
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9 Comments
I think Dead Space 2 is a massive step up from the original, the second is completely non stop, story focused action which is a lot more about the main character, whilst the first was a walk and collect, mission based thing which although good didn’t get interesting until the last two levels.
I totally agree with no.1
AC 2 REALLY improved the franchise
Hoping to see AC3 on future lists :D
To qoute wiki Red Dead Redemption is a “spiritual successor” to Red Dead Revolver, thus it is NOT a sequel. That being said I did enjoy Red Dead Redemption.
Fable 2 was brilliant. Fable 3 on the other hand…
I agree! Fable 2 was amazing. It should have been Fable 3
In terms of graphics and animation Assassin’s Creed 2 unfortunately sucked. The only game I know to actually have worse graphics than its predecessor
What about Gears of War 2? The first game was no slouch and the second didn’t improve much in terms of core gameplay, but the story was approximately 10 times better. It’s not just a great sci-fi shooter, it’s also an excellent adventure. The third game’s story was just a ton of fetch quests though.
Ahem… GTA IV?
Halo 4 should be in the good list, Halo 3 in the bad. Halo 3 continued what I felt was a downward slide of the Halo series begun with the release of Halo 2. The first Halo was epic. A great story and fun multiplayer. It felt like in 2 that Bungie/MS got to a point where they seemed to tell the developers “Ok, finish what you have on the campaign, then it’s all hands on deck for the multiplayer experience.” Doubt if it went that way, but that’s how it felt. Nothing like the first game. Halo 3 was a huge disappointment as well. I’m so glad 343 Studios picked up and ran with Halo 4. It feels like playing the first game again.