20 Great Video Game Franchises That Became UNPLAYABLE
Metal Gear Solid and Batman Arkham were once untouchable. What happened?
To survive in the gaming industry, being solid isn't good enough. To contend with the high-flyers, a video game franchise has to be consistently great. Even if the latest instalment from a recognised brand is regarded as a masterpiece, the next entry has to match it to avoid falling behind.
Of course, even the best of the best will suffer the occasional slump. Tomb Raider, Final Fantasy, and Donkey Kong fell out of favour at one point or another, yet came back stronger than ever.
But more often than not, a gaming saga never finds its footing once it goes downhill. No matter how many sequels or spin-offs they toss out, none of them may be on par with the old-school line-up. Sometimes, the series in question will suffer a slew of duds, causing it to fizzle away slowly but surely. Other times, a IP can nuke its reputation with the release of a single dud.
It's unrealistic for a property to stay on top for decades, but it's still disappointing to see these supposedly untouchable games suffer such a fall from grace.
20. Dead Space
Once celebrated for its spine-tingling horror, Dead Space has struggled to maintain its relevancy in recent years. The one that started it all was a tour-de-force in nail-biting atmosphere, smart enemy design, and immersive audio-visual horror. Dead Space pushed for strategic combat, since players needed to rely on limb-targeting the enemies rather than blasting everything in sight. Paired up with the balanced resource management and haunting scares, the original game was a knockout.
Though the sequel was also a triumph in its own way, it was obvious EA was subtly substituting subdued tension with cinematic action. If Dead Space didn't course-correct, the IP could lose its magic.
Sadly, that's exactly what happened. Dead Space 3 fully embraced bombastic battles, diminishing the claustrophobic fear of the original. Also, the reliance on scripted sequences, predictable enemy encounters, and generic sci-fi elements rubbed many players the wrong way.
On the surface, Dead Space looked like it was shaping up for an epic return when the remake of the first game received glowing reviews. But things unravelled when the sales numbers came in, revealing that 2023's Dead Space tanked. There've been rumblings of a Dead Space 2 remake or an official continuation since, but nothing concrete has come of it.