Paul Frew
Sequel after sequel after sequel
May 10th 2009 23:43
Dr Game,
Does it bother you that every game coming out these days seems to be a sequel?
- George, via email
Well George, I've been thinking about this and I actually read an article over the weekend on Kotaku trashing Eidos for having nothing but sequels on their release schedule.
I don't have a problem with sequels as long as the series hasn't got stale.
Since I mentioned Eidos - let's look at their upcoming releases. We've got a new Hitman game coming allegedly which I think is great. These games don't have a central storyline. You've got a character who does hits for a living. This series could go on forever as long as they keep the gameplay fresh and come up with interesting ways to perform the hits.
Next up was Just Cause 2. Just Cause didn't exactly light my fire but it looked great. This is the second game in the series so we can't really criticise it as on most occasions the sequel is a better game then the original.
Deus Ex 3 - not exactly a game we see every year. It's a classic series that's getting rebooted. I don't see any problem with that at all.
Thief 4 is apparently going to be announced on the 12th. Again, it's not a series we see very often and it's one that's loved by all. There's still a lot of story to be told.
Now here is where it gets interesting - a new Tomb Raider is in the works and the only reason I think they continue with this franchise is because they still believe that Lara is still bankable. I think they should give up on this series and maybe look at new options. But hey - one out of five ain't bad.
Now it's funny that Kotaku will trash Eidos but then cream themselves when a new Mario game is announced - and when I say Mario game I don't mean the likes of a Mario Galaxy, I mean a Mario Tennis, Mario Football, Mario Handstands or whatever. There's plenty of other sequels out there that doesn't seem to get any harsh criticism like Sonic, Zelda, Guitar Hero and Spider-Man. Zelda is essentially the same story every time but because it's done well no one whinges about it.
Consistency guys - that's what it's all about. If you're going to target one publisher then target everyone.
If you've got a question for Dr Game then email paulfrew@hotmail.com.
| 42 |
| Vote |
Comment by Shane O'Hare
Modern Existence
The Niche Blog