8 Video Game Reboots That Failed TWICE
3. Spy Hunter
There are few video game franchises with a history as weird as Spy Hunter. It surely ranks as one of the more rebooted series, which is pretty impressive considering the total lack of name value it holds in 2024.
Following the success of two arcade games and Super Spy Hunter on the NES, the series got its first return in the early 00s for the PS2. These two entries did well enough to attract Universal Pictures to purchase the rights to a motion picture starring The Rock but the film got caught in development hell and has never made it out. However, this didn’t stop the release of the tie-in game arriving in the form of 2006’s Nowhere to Run.
Ironically, critics praised the cinematic feel of the title and Dwayne Johnson’s chops as a leading action hero but releasing late into the PS2’s life meant it hit a well-established ceiling. Furthermore, the game itself wasn’t really anything to get excited about. Rigid and derivative, Nowhere to Run could’ve done so much more with its mix of vehicular combat and third-person shooting considering the budget it had been afforded.
That said, the 2012 reboot makes the 2006 game look like a genre-smashing masterpiece. Whilst smaller and more to-the-point action titles have their place, the problem with the final Spy Hunter reboot was that it launched at full-price despite feeling entirely like a budget game. The 3DS and Vita entry was low enough in variety that it felt like parts of it were copy-and-pasted to rush it out to release, which would also explain the woeful controls and painful difficulty spikes.
Maybe the fourth time is the charm when it comes to Spy Hunter reboots.