11 Half-Baked Video Games That Totally Ruined Their Franchises

8. Perfect Dark Zero

Perfect Dark Zero
Rare

It's crazy to look back at how well Perfect Dark Zero reviewed in 2005. Standing tall with a solid 81 on Metacritic, on the surface you might be fooled into thinking that the soft-reboot of the classic FPS was an impressive launch title for the Xbox 360.

But time has not been kind to Rare's shooter.

Attempting to revitalise the series for a new generation, Rare simply couldn't keep up with increased competition from the likes of Halo and Call of Duty. Clunky controls and misguided attempts at stealth held the shooter back from recapturing former glories, while its online multiplayer lacked the features and the staying power necessary to challenge its younger rivals.

As a result we haven't seen anything from the series since, and considering the sate Rare is in at the minute, fans probably shouldn't be holding their breath for any new entries into the once popular franchise.

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Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.