10 Risky Sequels That Saved Dying Video Game Franchises

6. Wolfenstein: The New Order

Though it was once a pioneer of an entire genre, by the time the late 2000s came around, Wolfenstein had been left in the lurch. Failing to properly keep up with the times, the shooter series had continued to struggle to maintain an audience's interest more focused on online multiplayer and modern-military games. There was an effort to keep it alive, of course, with a reboot in 2009 doubling down on the supernatural, but even then it seemed as though the franchise's time in the sun was over.

But then, with a new developer at the helm and a new publisher in charge of overseeing the IP, The New Order was put into production. An attempt to revitalise the franchise without losing its key features, the sequel/reboot jumped ahead in time, to an alternate 1960s where the Nazis had won World War 2, and the resistance was all but finished.

It was a genius move (as was the decision to move away from the Nazis' supernatural preoccupations in favour of futuristic tech), allowing the series to breathe in a unique setting that nobody else was occupying. It helped that the combat was tight as well, and that the story managed to do the unthinkable and actually make people care about knuckle-head BJ Blazkowicz.