We all have favorite video games. The one game that we play over and over again. The one game we rave about to friends and even strangers. It’s the one game you never uninstall from your gaming laptop. We love it so much that nothing fills us with boundless excitement as soon as the announcement of an upcoming sequel.
Then it comes out.
The best AAA games that come out now are sequels of a successful title. In effect, creating a franchise. The pressure to make a successful follow-up is what often makes or breaks game these franchises. It has happened a lot of times that these sequels are the games that are just so bad that all PCs and gaming laptops should just avoid it like malware. It’s not worth the memory space, the processing speed, and whatever else playing it would take away from you.
So, what sequels shouldn’t have been made?
Resident Evil 6
The Resident Evil series has always been spotty. Resident Evil 4 was great, but Resident Evil 5 revitalized it’s floundering image. When Resident Evil 6 was announced, everyone couldn’t wait for it. Then it came out.
That. Was. Disappointing.
Sure. The game looked beautiful, and the interlocking stories were good (well, half of it at least). It introduced the Cover System, which I won’t explain because it’s wholly forgettable. And the most disappointing thing about it is that it forgot who it was. The game was always a survival horror game, but RE6 was an action shooter through and through.
They could’ve just used the elements that made RE4 and RE5 and stuck with the horror elements, with added elements. It could have been a winner.
If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.
Red Faction: Armageddon
Another game that suffered from trying to break away from its established reputation. And because of that, Red Faction: Armageddon killed its franchise. The other games before were really good and THQ (for all that it wasn’t a good company) was striking gold with this series. They decided to take all that made the game before it (Red Faction: Guerilla) great and do the exact opposite.
The writing was painfully insulting. The whole game was boring.
The sequel was so bad that THQ announced that Red Faction would never be re-made again because of how badly it performed in the market.
Halo 2
Halo 2 isn’t as bad as the first two in this list but considering the legacy of Halo, this was pretty bad for the standards it set.
Halo is one of the most popular games ever. Amazing and fun action combined with dazzling visuals. It’s considered one of the best sci-fi thrillers to grace gaming. Halo 2 failed to live up to that reputation.
The campaign sucked, combat was boring, there were a lot of glitches, and that horrible and sudden cliffhanger ending. It tried to be edgy by focusing on the political elements of the lore, and it lost our attention in the process.
For all that the game was sucky, the multi-player campaign made up for it. Kinda.
Deus Ex: Invisible War
Oh, Invisible War. Where to begin?
Slow and long loading times. Combat akin to drunk fighting. The mapping system that made me want to throw the controller at the TV. And bad bad bad AI for all characters (NPCs and enemies)
The game was so panned, even the project director of the game was unhappy with it.
It’s a good thing that the studio learned it’s lesson and the following game, Human Revolution (a prequel) made up for the mess that was Invisible War. Also, the follow-up to Human Revolution, Mankind Divided, is looking even better.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2
A game that was created out of capitalist obligation, instead of inspiration (which was how the first game was made). This is what happens when a fan fiction of a popular story is made into a game by a big company and riding on the coattails of past critical acclaim.
The game is undoubtedly beautiful, but that’s all it offers. Boringly repetitive gameplay and level design. The story was quick and all over the place; it was a convincing argument that the sequel was just a cash grab.
Not even an appearance from Yoda and Boba Fett could save this game from the Dark Side.
***
Some games weren’t meant to be made, either that soon or at all. It’s even sadder if it’s coming off the popularity of the game that was before it. There are better games to get for your gaming laptop or PC. Take our word for it.