Sequels that saved a franchise

[GreasyDogMeat]

I think the purest example of a 'franchise saver' would be the new Tomb Raider Legend and upcoming remake. The Tomb Raider series was suffering from no real innovation (each sequel would add maybe one or two new abilities like a sprint or rope walking), and poorer and poorer ratings and sales. Then Legends came along and boosted sales, ratings and interest in the series. Not only that but they finally made Lara easier to control and gave her the ability to move with some actual grace instead of the clunky awkward heffer she used to be .

 

We don't necesarrily have to focus entirely on games that saved a franchise's sales and ratings though.

 

I don't think, for instance, that the Resident Evil series was really suffering from lower sales and ratings before RE 4, but for me, RE 4 swooped in and saved the series from the awkward camera angles and hallways. I also disagree with those who say the game isn't scary, it is just scary in a different way. Previous RE titles scared you by having a zombie leap out of a closet or something like that. Unlike previous RE games, 4 just keeps my hairs standing on end as infected villagers come screaming at me with chainsaws, swinging inches away from my head. Enemies coming from every angle as I desperatly kick ladders down and move from house to house desperatly searching for ammo, leaping through windows and struggling against enemies who grab and strangle you.

 

In previous RE games, the only scare was the initial one when the enemy appears. The next time the zombie pops out of that closet it isn't as scary anymore. In RE 4 the combat can go in many ways with numerous hiding spots and tactics you can employ. Many times I've barricaded myself in a corner firing at the endless stream of infected enemies, thinking I'm doing ok only to jump in shock as hands close around my neck from a rear window I forgot to check.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_txY1gmVJw Heres the trailer that got me excited about this game 2+ years ago. The game is even more exciting to play imho.

 

Oh, Morgoth

 

"Make sure to install the official patch for graphical improvements. Also, there's a Mouse Aim Mod available: Clicky "

 

I have the US version which doesnt require the patch, a good thing, but unforunatly the mouse aim mod doesnt work with my version . I really hope they update the mod, but luckily I've become pretty good at aiming with the keyboard... I can actually get headshots and beat the D shooting range without too much trouble.

Edited May 30, 2007 by GreasyDogMeat

[Sand]

"Saving a frachise and being the best game of a franchise are two different things. NWN 2 can be a better game than the first one, but it didn't save the franchise."

 

Karka wins easily.

I have to agree with Karka and VOlourn. I may not have liked NWN1 OC all that much but Neverwinter Nights is far from needing to be saved.

[metadigital]

And thus, the third sign of the apocalypse ...

[Sand]

[taks]

Heck, the game does suffer from horrible fps, bad ai and such, but goddamn that made my day. I'm officially head over heels in love.

ai is definitely bad, though probably no worse than infinity games. can't compare it to NWN1 simply because you only had one companion. the biggest problem would be that ai was actually implemented _better_, but that meant it was harder to control and resulted in dire consequences. for the most part, IE ai was simply "attack" or "heal" or "cast," whereas now it's a bit more complex and the danged companions will use their entire arsenal of tricks against a lowly rat.

 

as for FPS, i'm not having those issues now (nor did i before the recent uber pooter upgrade i just did).

 

i'm surprised there are only 27 FF sequels this year... i'd have expected more, hehe.

 

i think the second bard's tale was the one that made that franchise memorable. granted, it stopped after the third, which was rather weak IMO, but it didn't really gain "fame" till the second. should duke nukem forever finally be released, maybe that'll reignite that franchise? how about a BGIII?

 

taks

[taks]

And thus, the third sign of the apocalypse ...

yes. visceris is the anti-volourn. it is and has always been that way. it may not be possible to hide from the impending doom.

 

taks

[metadigital]

There's probably a few older franchises that might be in this category. Utlima ][ was better than the first, SpaceQuest probably had a better sequel than the first game, same with the graphical (total copy) remake of the text adventure that was called Leisure Suit Larry.

[@\NightandtheShape/@]

Ahhhhh Leisure Suit Larry...

[Sand]

And thus, the third sign of the apocalypse ...

yes. visceris is the anti-volourn. it is and has always been that way. it may not be possible to hide from the impending doom.

 

taks

Eh? Volourn and I agree on a lot of things. On NWN1... Notso much.

[Volourn]

Yeah. That's true. Sand lloved the OC he played it about a half dozen times. I nliked it ok enough I played it a couple of times. He felt it was worth purchasing the Premiujm modules. i did not.

 

R00fles!

[taks]

Eh? Volourn and I agree on a lot of things. On NWN1... Notso much.

yeah, riiiiight. all those heated visceris vs. volourn debates at the old black isle/interplay boards were a figment of my imagination.

 

meta, i don't think Ultima ][ really _saved_ the franchise, though your point about it being better is probably true. ultima 8 probably ruined it, and the ninth was a last gasp at redemption which also failed. i suppose the same could be said for BT2. the second, in that case, _made_ the franchise, though michael cranford's disappearance into the realm of some religious thing subsequently ruined it.

 

taks

[Sand]

Yeah. That's true. Sand lloved the OC he played it about a half dozen times. I nliked it ok enough I played it a couple of times. He felt it was worth purchasing the Premiujm modules. i did not.

 

R00fles!

The expansion OCs yes, but not the base OC. The expansion OCs were a lot better than the base OC in NWN1. As for the PMs, it was only 5 bucks.

[metadigital]

meta, i don't think Ultima ][ really _saved_ the franchise, though your point about it being better is probably true. ultima 8 probably ruined it, and the ninth was a last gasp at redemption which also failed. i suppose the same could be said for BT2. the second, in that case, _made_ the franchise, though michael cranford's disappearance into the realm of some religious thing subsequently ruined it.

I never played past the third, actually, but they did get better and better, until the eighth ... I was just trying to fit a square peg into a round hole with this topic ...

[Guard Dog]

On a slightly different tack, how about a sequel that utterly ended a franchise. Master of Orion 3?

[Oerwinde]

Suikoden V (Much needed after III and especially IV)

 

Not so much III. It was very popular and got generally good reviews. IV was bad though.

[taks]

On a slightly different tack, how about a sequel that utterly ended a franchise. Master of Orion 3?

ultima 9, bard's tale 3, any one of the last several gold box games.

 

taks

[Volourn]

On that note, how about a different tact. How about game that was supposed to reboost an old franchise but utterly failed to do so. My nomination? POR2. Haha!

[Sand]

PoOR2 was pretty bad.

[Oerwinde]

On a slightly different tack, how about a sequel that utterly ended a franchise. Master of Orion 3?

 

Kings Quest 7? Lords of the Realm 3?

[GreasyDogMeat]

Call of Duty 2 killed my interest in the franchise. The first game and expansion were amazing, then they had to go and dumb it down and consolize it. Even worse, the only CoD coming out for PC now is a modern warfare terrorism shooter.

[Hell Kitty]

Call of Duty 2 killed my interest in the franchise. The first game and expansion were amazing, then they had to go and dumb it down and consolize it. Even worse, the only CoD coming out for PC now is a modern warfare terrorism shooter.

 

How was CoD2 dumbed down & consolized? The gameplay is just the same as the original.

[TravisPennington]

I'm totally with you on Resident Evil 4. After the awesome experience that was Resident Evil 2, the whole series went on a major downhill streak. RE4 came back with a bang and saved the entire franchise from mediocrity. Tomb Raider: Legend was a good restart for Lara Croft, but I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. It didn't have that Tomb Raider "feel" to it that I got from the first two games in the series. I think the problem with the TR Series was just way too many damned games. They just kept cranking them out and it got old. Did anyone even hear of Tomb Raider: Chronicles when it came out? And did anyone care about Angel of Darkness? I didn't. It was just like the next Madden or MLB game. I know they sell well, but they come out year after year with the same rehashed crap that I simply couldn't care less.

 

It's a problem with too many sequels. The game industry cashes in on these way too much, and it just leads to poor games. The movie industry does it too. Meh.

[metadigital]

Yeah, this is really a topic almost exclusively about the Tombraider series. I heard about the subsequent sequels, but I had franchise-fatigue ... until I decided to pick up Angel of Darkness: what a disappointment THAT was. Then I thought I'd go back and play the original series. I bought the first few games for the PC and hated them. Then I went and bought a second-hand PSone and the original game, and I was happy to play it. Seems either my enjoyment is wedded to playing it on a console, or the game just doesn't work as well on a PC.

 

I bought Legend, but I haven't played it yet, and I will probably buy the remake ... though I doubt I'll pay a premium for it, I'll just buy it to play on my PC, so I can ditch the console.

[Calax]

Call of Duty 2 killed my interest in the franchise. The first game and expansion were amazing, then they had to go and dumb it down and consolize it. Even worse, the only CoD coming out for PC now is a modern warfare terrorism shooter.

 

How was CoD2 dumbed down & consolized? The gameplay is just the same as the original.

COD2 had the infamous grenade indicator and the fact that your health could regenerate quite quickly, leading several of us to believe we were actually Wolverine of Xmen fame with severe amnesia fighting for three different governments because we could.

 

At least with medpacs you had the semblance of "hey man, it may be ludicrous but those there bandages are miracles in a box" where as now it was get hit by a tank, hid under a table for two seconds and that arm you just lost reappeared.

 

Also the levels were shorter, to the point where I no longer felt like I was actually in a war, rather in a series of semi related brushfights. And I think that the level designers decided that they could take a holiday after finishing half the game.

 

 

Then Came the Console only COD3 that EVERYONE hated (even Xplay gave it a very average 3)

[GreasyDogMeat]

What Calax said. Really, the ONLY thing CoD 2 improved upon was graphics, and even that wasn't a big or majorly impressive leap over CoD 1/UO. With only one real improvement over the original, and so many other things that were dumbed down (again what Calax said regarding health regen, grenade indicaters etc.) it was one of the worst sequels I've ever played. Even worse, they removed everything that made the expansion, United Offensive, great. For me, the health regeneration was a massive kiler to the excitement of the game. In the original CoD, it was intense and exciting because, omg, bullets could actually kill you. Taking cover and hiding MEANT something. In CoD 2, you still have an intense situation, but the fear and excitement is gone because, like Calax said, you can regenerate like Wolverine. The regeneration system in CoD 2 makes the Master Chief's (Halo) regenerating shields look pathetic. Atleast in Halo, the shield takes about 5+ seconds to regen, while WWII soldiers in CoD 2 literally take a second (You can see the health literally jump to full if you use a cheat to see a health bar).

 

It was even more depressing because the first game and expansion revitalized my interest and excitement over WWII shooters and to see CoD 2 just come along and wreck everything that was great about the first game...

 

As for Tomb Raider, I agree with Travis. When Tomb Raider first came out it was a pretty exciting game. I had wanted to be like Indiana Jones when I was a kid, and the whole Tomb Raider premise just clicked with me. The first few sequels were pretty good, making the stories bigger and better and locales more exciting. But after Tomb Raider 4 I just lost interest and the sequels after 4 actually looked worse (graphically AND story wise) than the originals.

 

I've been very impressed with the recent Legends though, they've finally made the world look realistic, instead of being nothing but a bunch of squares put together to form an area. That and Lara can finally move with grace.