And no, I refuse to put Duke Nukem Forever on this list for 3 reasons:
1. I had fun with it
2. It actually felt like a sequel to Duke 3D, carrying over everything I loved about it
3. This is my list and I can put whatever I want on it.
10. Quake 2
When you compare Quake 2 to the original Quake, it's really hard to see it as a true sequel. Let's be honest, Quake 1 didn't have much of a story but it did have a setting, taking a lot of inspiration from HP Lovecraft and creating probably id's darkest horror setting to this date. The manual taunts you that the final boss will be Quake himself, and that Quake might just be a codename. Who knows, maybe it's one of the elder gods himself! However instead of fighting him, the final boss is just a giant slimy bitch who gives birth to the monsters you've fought and you kill her, leaving the real enemy still out there. The game didn't feel like it had any real closure and not even the mission packs helped add any to it. I was looking forward to beating Quake's ass in the sequel, Quake 2. So I put it in and what do I see? AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT GAME ALTOGETHER!!! While Doom 2 might have felt a tad bit too similar to Doom 1, Quake 2 has the polar opposite problem, it's way too different from Quake to even REMOTELY be considered a sequel! The name Quake 2 is incredibly misleading in this regard and from what I understand, originally it was supposed to be a new IP and they just, well, couldn't find a name that wasn't licensed and stuck with Quake 2. While I'll admit Quake 2 isn't a bad game, and it's a hell of a lot of fun, especially in multiplayer, it's impossible to see it as a good sequel. And for that, it deserves a place on this list.
9. Fallout 3
While Fallout 3 isn't a bad game per se, it's simply too average and too tame to feel like a good sequel to Fallout 2, one of the most over the top and out there RPG's I've ever played. For crying out loud, I became a pornstar and fucked a guy to the point where he exploded! There was so much fun to be had in Fallout 2, the guns felt immensely satisfying, and you could turn on bloody mess from the beginning! It was an amazing game and how do Bethesda follow it up? They make a dumbed down semi FPS RPG that doesn't even bother finding a new setting, just badly ripping off the setting in the first game, throwing in a bland uninteresting story of "bad guys" vs "good guys" and leaves little to no room for actual roleplaying. That and the graphics haven't at all aged well. With mods, the game is slightly more tolerable but no mods can make the core experience any less disappointing. Overall I was really disappointed in Fallout 3 as it had so much potential to be a great RPG but they threw it out the window for one of the most overrated games this generation.
8. Deus Ex: Invisible War
Again, in of itself, Invisible War is not a BAD game, it's just way too simplified and dumbed down when compared to the original Deus Ex. The story is also a bit all over the place and in some weird way makes all 3 of the different Deus Ex endings canonical. It's hard to explain how they did it but it sure left me a bit confused. As a shooter it works just fine and you can have a lot of fun being an asshole who just shoots everyone, but I wouldn't recommend this if you want an experience like the first Deus Ex gave you.
7. Bubsy 3D
Now, it's not like the first two Bubsy games were any kind of masterpieces so it's kinda weird that this game got made in the first place. While I'll admit Bubsy 1 and 2 had their charm on SNES and Mega Drive, there is no charm to be found in this game. Just look at the above screenshot and tell me if you can believe it's a PS1 game. Yeah, looks more like an early 90's experimental ALPHA of a game, doesn't it? It controls bad, it has zero to no redeeming values, the graphics are atrocious and it's hard to believe Accolade even released this game in such a state back then.
6. Ultima IX
To call Ultima IX anything but a giant middle finger to the fans of the Ultima series and anyone who actually cared about the characters and storyline in the games, considering it has so many inconsistencies and just outright WRONG things about it that makes it immensely out of canon with any of the other games, would be to lie. Not only that but to get this game working on any modern PC requires so many patches that it's just not worth the hassle. It's easily one of the worst games EA have ever published and makes Mass Effect 3 seem like a masterpiece in comparison.
5. Diablo 3
One thing is to release a sequel to one of most popular hack'n'slash RPG's of all time, Diablo 2, and stuff it with needless MMO elements and microtransactions. Another is to force you to be always online, even for the single player, and then having your servers rendering players unable to sign in. On top of that, Blizzard have treated the players like crap if they complained about this game and some have even lost the chance to even play it. It's one of the most notorious examples of forced online DRM in recent memory and should be setting an example no other companies should follow. I would much rather play any of the two Torchlight games since they are actually made by the people who worked on Diablo 1 and 2.
4. Metroid: Other M
While the gameplay in Other M is pretty good, it is very hard to ignore the bland emotionless voice acting from the heroine herself, Samus. Expected to be the game where we would finally see her express herself and find out more about her, instead we are treated to one of the worst acting performances ever in game history. The other characters don't do a better job either and the story is pretty bad to add to the pain of it. Other M is easily one of the worst sequels in history due to its utter failure to deliver upon its promises.
3. Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
The Banjo Kazooie games are some of the most revered on the N64. While I am absolutely not a fan of them myself I can see how Nuts & Bolts utterly failed as a sequel. Originally meant to be the long awaited sequel Banjo Threeie, Nuts & Bolts instead tries to combine building cars and riding such cars with the platforming of Banjo Kazooie. Who thought this was a good idea? Microsoft sure did...
2.Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness
Supposed to be a reboot of the entire franchise, Angel of Darkness failed to deliver on pretty much everything. Forcing in RPG elements that didn't need to be there and just all around having terrible controls and gameplay compared to earlier titles, Angel of Darkness stands as the worst entry in this legendary franchise. The only saving grace is that Lara looks damn good in this game as usual, but not even she can save the disastrous gameplay.
1. Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
It's hard for me to talk about Dreamfall because I loved The Longest Journey so much. I had really high hopes for the sequel and it seemed to be such a wonderful game when I saw the initial trailers. The graphics were breath taking and I had all these expectations. Well, Dreamfall made sure to quickly blow all my expectations out of the water... The game is loaded to the brim with inconsistencies that made me wanna throw the game out the window, the characters had incredibly bland voice actors, the story was atrocious and characters from the first game were used with little to no understanding for their deeper desires and what drove them in the first game. April Ryan had turned from an optimistic charming girl into a passive emo bitch who didn't care about anything! I wanted to just slap her so hard she'd start giving a fuck! Charlie, for some reason, was running the Fringe café, EVEN IF HE STATED IN THE FIRST GAME IT WASN'T A GODDAMN FULLTIME JOB AND JUST SO HE COULD GET OUT OF THAT PLACE! Emma claimed she believed April in the first game WHEN SHE CONSTANTLY QUESTIONED HER SANITY AND APRIL BARELY EVEN MENTIONED IT TO THEM! Charlie claimed to be skeptical when he ALWAYS BELIEVED APRIL! Also, what the HELL was up with that Ring girl? Why even throw all those references in there? Seriously, this game is one of the worst sequels I've ever played and to this day the ONLY game in my collection I actually sold. It makes me physically ill talking about this game, makes me on the verge of crying, because this game DESTROYED any hopes I had for The Longest Journey to become a franchise. It was such a horrible sequel that it just utterly VAPORIZED the franchise. Now Ragnar Tørnquist wants to make an episodic sequel called Dreamfall Chapters but I think it's safe to say he lost me with Dreamfall for good...
- Alyxx
I remember id Software, when developing Quake 2, wanted it to be its own IP, but all of the potential names they came up were already copyrighted, so they eventually just slapped the Quake name on it for brand recognition. Funny enough, the Quake 2 storyline was the most referenced storyline in the Quake franchise (IV and Enemy Territory Quake Wars), but yeah, the Quake franchise has always been jumbled when it came to its plot.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to see id make another Quake continuing the Lovecraftian bent they had in Quake 1.
Quake 2 is a good game but as a sequel to Quake it just fails in my opinion since it feels like it just ditches the entire story set up in that game. In my opinion it doesn't deserve to be called Quake 2 which is pretty much my only issue with it. I still enjoy it, I just wish it wasn't called Quake 2.
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