10 Video Game Sequels That Utterly Ruined Their Franchises

10. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2

Taking the core tenets of Diablo's combat and throwing in the loveable cast of Marvel's finest was a recipe not only for success, but pure air-punching "F-YEAH!" moments whenever you unleashed something like Deadpool's twin pistol attack to wipe a room clean, or deftly dodged out the way as Spidey just for Wolverine to leap in and make the save. Part of the spark was down to fantastic developer Raven being at the helm (the guys who also did X-Men Origins: Wolverine) although they were taken off the project and replaced by the B-gradeL Vicarious Visions, who then essentially cranked out a title with spruced up graphics and none of the gameplay nuance that made the first so enjoyable. Gone were character-based grapple attacks and powers or you could unleash to save your skin at the last minute, replaced instead by 'fusions' between two heroes - although they all boiled down to the same set of animations with minor alterations (usually in their colours) to make them appear character-specific. Where the first M:UA had heart and you could get lost exploring everything from Asgard to the Marvel Quiz computer inside Doctor Strange's mansion, M:UA 2 provided a good graphical kick and a meatier Civil War-centric plot with absolutely none of the heart necessary to make you care.
Gaming Editor
Gaming Editor

WhatCulture's Head of Gaming.