Sequels... the good, the bad and the ugly

[Jason]

It's a fact of life - any half-decent game that attains a decent amount of commercial success is going to be sequel fodder. However, as with anything, it's always difficult to meet expectations the second time round.

Which sequels do you feel actually matched the first game in the series, and more importantly, which sequels were absolutely awful and a blight on the series?

[MyNameDidntFit]

Team Fortress 2. Win in a box.



Will add more later if I can be bothered.

[Landy]

I really think we should be playing HL ep 6 by now, Valve needs to get off their behinds and give us something already :/

[Lance]

Civilization II didn't just match, it was better hands down

I've previously said each GTA game gets better - maybe not story wise each time, but just for what it is - the graphics, the detail and immersion it presents improves each time in leaps and bounds. Story wise - Vice City and San Andreas were the better though.

Mechwarrior 2 (with the GBL addon and Mercs standalone) was the jewel of the whole series. The original just sucked and really had nothing to do with the Battletech universe.

Ummm - all I can think of off the top of my head.

[JustaBitOutside]

Assassins Creed 2 surpassed the first one in almost all respects.

Fight Night gets better every time.

Halo 3 really brings it all together.

Gears of War 2 has it's pros and cons, though I think the story wasn't as interesting as the first one, they added so damn much to the gameplay.

Mass Effect 2 in my opinion was a perfect sequel, except I would have liked them to keep the customization and Mako missions, BUT they then added those missions as DLC which keeps it perfect.

I am gnawing at my fingers for Dead Space 2

[MyNameDidntFit]

Halo 3 really brings it all together.

I have to respectfully disagree. Halo 1 is, by far, superior in all aspects to it's sequels, IMO.

[JustaBitOutside]

I get that a lot MNDF, and I suppose it has to do with me not really playing that one at the time it was new. I didn't have an xbox until much later, so it seemed outdated to me. What is it about Halo 1?

[Jason]

I'm with MNDF on the Halo thing. I think whilst Halo 3 is probably the best of the three games on its own, but in terms of achievements in comparison to the rest of the gaming world and what went before it, the original Halo was the game console gamers had been waiting for years to get their hands on, and whilst the others expanded on the formula of open-world FPS action, they never really broke new ground in the way the original did - there wasn't the same inspiration there that had fuelled the first.

Of course, I can understand exactly JBO's position having played the third game first - the first was as much a success because of the timing as the gameplay.

[MyNameDidntFit]

Well, I've not played Halo 3 in its entirety, but I think I've played enough to see that it really isn't anything new, it's nothing innovative or exceptional... to me, Halo 3 is just an average shooter held up by it's name.

Halo: CE was an amazing FPS, perhaps not if you compare it to the top dogs of today's gaming, but that's to be expected. The story was good, the gameplay was awesomely smooth, clean and fun, the multiplayer PvP was terrific fun no matter how many people you had and the co-op was... well, I could play Halo: CE's co-op forever.

Halo 2 had absolutely nothing on it. It had some new guns and some shiny MP modes but it was just Halo: CE revisited. Halo 3 has that same feel to me. Halo is a shining example of developers finding a formula that works and wringing it dry of every little drop of money -- resulting in games that just aren't as good as the first game, especially not for their respective times.

[Archangel]

Yep, pretty much what MNDF just said.

CE was new, and it pretty much defined the FPS genre, as well as the casual console gamers archetype. Halo 2 was limited in that Microsoft developed it for the XBox, not the 360, so there wasn't much they could do in terms of groundbreaking graphics or the like. But the fundamental gameplay mechanics barely changed at all--the only real difference was that you could get a second gun. Whoo, yay, it gave us a second arm. Amazing.

Halo 3 was probably most disappointing though,, in my opinion, because it was for 360. It had the ability to be entirely unique and difference in every facet--graphics, physics, gameplay, style and storytelling. But it wasn't. They got some shinier effects, some higher res textures, and made you do pretty much more of the same.

As for sequels that are awesome...

Well, Mass Effect 2 is a fairly obvious choice. ME1 was by no means bad, but it was a serious tedium if you ever tried replaying it, and the looting system had a high tendency to overwhelm. Combat was also lacklustre. ME2 fixed all these things and more--the story was even more riveting, and the companions were more likable. Combat was made far more enjoyable and balanced, and class diversity actually had more of an effect. Only real gripe is that there aren't enough armour and weapon types, now.

Supreme Commander 2 is another. SupCom1 was something new, and it was pretty good. But it was also a tedium, in the flesh. You play a couple games, get all the fancy technology, and then you realise that you spend 40 minutes just getting the fancy technology, and 2 hours putting it to use before the game actually progresses. Unless you rush, but that just ain't cool.
SupCom2 is almost a different style with the number of changes its gone through. The Campaign story, so far, is more engaging, and the play style is made to be more streamlined and faster paced, allowing for much smoother, quicker and more balanced matches. I do find myself missing the intense power of the Experimental units from SupCom1, or just being able to get tiered units instead of the same basic, generic tanks that are all the same. But I'd still say the new one is much more enjoyable than the first.

[dimples]

Just Cause 2 is far better than Just Cause 1

[Jason]

Red Dead Redemption.

The original, Red Dead Revolver was an okay game let down by a few key flaws. Redemption is a fantastic game on almost every level, and will be a very strong contender for game of the year when the time comes to hand out awards.

[MyNameDidntFit]

SupCom1 was something new

Maybe for ye of the young and unenlightened. Real men played Total Annihilation long before Supreme Commander.

Speaking of which (not to derail the thread, but) did anyone else here play TA?

[Jason]

I did, many many years go. That game was so far ahead of its time it was incredible.