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Shooters that Need Sequels June 15, 2006 John JCal Callaham |
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Summary: JCal goes over some old game franchises in need of sequels. He gets the usual suspects, the obscure, and the unexpected... but hey, where's my Terra Nova sequel?!
 Overview | Page:: ( 1 / 4 ) |
Basically, our criteria for inclusion in this list were pretty simple. The first person shooter franchise must be a good one and one which hasn't had a new release for at least the past couple of years. It also shouldn't have an announced game in the works (so Duke Nukem Forever isn't allowed). With that in mind let's look at the shooter games that we would like to see more of, in no particular order, along with our predictions on whether or not they will be revived.
Aliens Vs Predator: The animalistic hive creature and the alien hunter are huge movie properties for Twentieth Century Fox and have been the subject of comic books, novels and arcade and portable video games. But it wasn't until UK developer Rebellion released a PC first person shooter game in 1999 that had playable Aliens, Predators and Colonial Marines that the franchise really took off for gamers. It was one of the few shooter games that allowed for three completely different types of gameplay experiences and its multiplayer modes, while flawed, still allowed you to do things like get players by being a face hugger. Monolith created a sequel that followed the same formula in 2001 that was even better. The team-ups worked so well that the movie Alien vs Predator finally was released in 2004 (although it deviated from the game formula so much that it was a critical, though not box office, failure)
Odds For Revival: Possible. The two games were both critical successes and with a sequel to the AVP movie now officially set for production this fall, can a new Aliens vs Predator game series be in the works as well? Our fingers are crossed that Vivendi Games (the publishers of the franchise) can bring this back in time for the movie release. We hope that they decide to stick with the game formula, however, rather than just make the typical crappy movie adaptation.
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Soldier of Fortune: Perhaps one of the most controversial game released by a major publisher, developer Raven Software and publisher Activision took a risk with this series. When the first game was released back in 2000, this modern day action title used a real soldier of fortune, John Mullins, as both a consultant and as the fictional persona of the player as you went to various locations to basically shoot lots of bad guys. The violent content of the game, which allowed people to blow off body parts, actually was threatened as being classified as an adult movie in the Canadian province of British Columbia. A sequel in 2002 raised the ante on violence and blood but was even better than the original.
Odds For Revival: Unlikely. With Raven working on Marvel Universe: Ultimate Alliance and the upcoming next Wolfenstein game, it doesn't look good that they will return to this franchise for a while. However, the two Soldier of Fortune games are still fan favorite so we are not shutting the door on this series. We would love to be in John Mullins’ shoes once again.
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Hexen/Heretic: Yet another franchise from Raven, this fantasy shooter series began life as an Doom engine title way back in 1994 and was the first showcase for Raven to use id Software' graphics engine in new and interesting ways. The gameplay was also different in that you had both fantasy weapons and spells that you could use. A sequel, Hexen, was released in 1995 and in 1997 yet another game, Hexen II, used id's Quake engine (and let you send sheep in the air). Finally, Heretic II, using the Quake II engine and changing the gameplay to a third person action game was released in 1998. Critically acclaimed, the game unfortunately did not sell as well as expected.
Odds for Revival: Slim to None. As we mentioned above, Raven already has a lot on its plate at the moment and there's also the fact that the last game in the series wasn't really a commercial success. With not a lot of urgency from fans, the Hexen/Heretic franchise seems to be pretty much dead. It’s too bad, since the advances that are being made for the Doom engine would make a Hexen revival very interesting indeed.
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| Blood, Shogo, et al. | Page:: ( 2 / 4 ) |
Odds For Revival: Slim to None. Monolith has a number of projects on its plate, including planned sequels to their far superior first person shooter F.E.A.R., but thanks to the bad taste that Blood II left for gamers we can pretty much write off a new game in this series. It just goes to show you that even with a good concept, it can’t save a game from poor bug testing.
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Shogo: Released in the same year as Blood II (1998) Monolith's other LithTech 1.0 engine title remains a cult favorite among first person shooter fans. The Japanese anime influenced title had the player take on the typical first person shooter formula (running around with weapons and killing enemies) and also had the player control powerful mechs that could actually transform to faster moving vehicles. The game was self-published by Monolith as well which may have hurt its chances for a commercial success.
Odds For Revival: Possible. With Japanese anime far more popular now in the US than it was back when Shogo was first released, we think it would benefit Monolith to look back at one of its first titles and see what can be done with a Shogo remake or sequel. With the visuals used in the R.E.A.R. engine we can just imagine what mech battles in a new Shogo game would be like.
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Odds For Revival: Slim To None. They gave it the college try, but the No One Lives Forever series simply didn’t get enough sales to warrant a third game in the series. We still think they are among the best shooters ever made and if Monolith decided to revive this series at some point we would be first in line to buy a copy. We are still amazed that this series didn’t catch on.
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Delta Force: Novalogic developed and published this series of first person action games and it quickly became a favorite for its multiplayer options and for its vast outdoor levels as you fought in the secret US Army team in a variety of hotspots throughout the world. The first game was released in 1998 and two more games were quickly put on shelves in 1999 and 2000. However, the last game in the series, Delta Force: Black Hawk Down, was a major disappointment, especially as other similar titles surpassed the series in terms of graphics and gameplay.
Odds For Revival: Unknown. We say, "Unknown" because quite frankly we don't know what the heck Novalogic is up to these days. The developer has gone silent following the release of the PS2 and Xbox versions of Delta Force: Black Hawk Down in mid 2005. They are hiring for a new project and since the Delta Force series is their most well known brand a new game in the series would seem to be the best choice for a revival but we could be wrong.
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| Redneck Rampage?! | Page:: ( 3 / 4 ) |
Odds For Revival: Possible. Believe it or not, Vivendi Games actually purchased the Redneck Rampage rights from Interplay a couple of years ago but have not done anything with those rights so far. You would think that actually making the effort to get the IP would indicate at least some interest in reviving the game but so far there's been no word on any game in actual development. Our fingers are crossed that our virtual rednecks will rampage yet again.
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Kingpin: Here's yet another Xatrix game, this time on a bit more serious tone as you take on the minions ofan organized crime unit. The game used the Quake II engine and was quite impressive at the time for its enhancements to the visuals. However, the game also was very adult in tone and when the Columbine school shootings happened in 1999, publisher Interplay quickly shipped the game (reportedly before its completion). The final game sold well and got some solid reviews but quickly disappeared.
Odds For Revival: Slim to None. Interplay actually announced plans for a Kingpin sequel a few years ago before the company pretty much became a non-entity (it still exists but hasn't released a game in over two years). Xatrix turned into Gray Matter Entertainment and helped to develop Return to Castle Wolfenstein but then merged with Activision developer Treyarch. At the moment, Kingpin's revival is not in the cards.
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Dark Forces/Jedi Knight: The Star Wars first person shooter series is without a doubt one of the best licensed shooter franchises ever developed. The original Dark Forces from Lucasarts, released in 1995, was a solid shooter set in the Original Trilogy timeline of George Lucas' movie space opera, but it's sequel, Dark Forces: Jedi Knight in 1997, was flat out one of the best FPS ever made, thanks to great art and level design, an involving story and even a branching plot that could make the player be a good or bad Jedi Knight. Developer Raven took up the mantle for two more well done Jedi Knight titles (Jedi Outcast in 2002 and Jedi Academy in 2003) that used the Quake III engine.
Odds For Revival: Possible. It's hard to believe that Lucasarts won't take a look at this long running series and not release a new game at some point. Lucasarts is currently undergoing a revival and handling some projects in-house and perhaps a fifth game in this highly successful series would be an ideal candidate for their next project.
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Red Faction: Developer Volition and publisher THQ promoted the original Red Faction as a truly revolutionary game and the game's GeoMod engine that allowed for highly destructible environments were indeed something different when it was released in 2001. The sci-fi storyline set on a future Mars wasn't bad either. A sequel in 2002 wasn't quite as good but still showcased the GeoMod engine's abilities.
Odds For Revival: Possible. With the advances in graphics, hardware and gameplay physics, the type of environment destruction that the Red Faction series pioneered would look like it would be perfect for a revival. We've heard rumors from time to time on a next-gen Red Faction return but so far no official announcement has been made.
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| Conclusion | Page:: ( 4 / 4 ) |
Odds For Revival: Slim to None. This game had some unique elements that really haven't been done much since, but 3D Realms does have some other projects on their schedule (Prey, Duke Nukem Forever) that would seem to keep them busy for a while Still, Rise of the Triad has a lot of fans and maybe 3D Realms can give another developer a chance to revive it.
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Outlaws: Perhaps the best Wild West themed game ever made, Lucasarts' 1997 shooter combined their Dark Forces game engine with their SCUMM adventure engine to create both a solid action game and a Spaghetti Western style storyline (complete with some memorable music). The game received solid reviews and really showed that the Western game could be done right. Only the recent title Gun has approached what Outlaws did nine years ago.
Odds For Revival: Slim To None. As good as Outlaws was, it wasn't a big success in sales and now Lucasarts seems to be concentrating on their Star Wars and Indiana Jones properties for their upcoming titles. It would be great to hear that music again and ride the plains but it just doesn't look like it will happen.
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Odds for Revival: Slim to None. 3DO's bankruptcy a few years ago would seem to preclude any revival of this game. Still, we would love to bring our enemies back from the dead so maybe sometime we will see a game that will do some of the things Requiem did so well
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William Shatner's TekWar: . . . . Ok, calm down..we are KIDDING about wanting to revive this game.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are a ton of first person shooter games that are ripe for revival and we sincerely hope that at least a couple of the games on this list will reappear in some new form in the near future. In the meantime if you have never played some of these games, you can download demos for nearly all of them at the various file download gaming web sites. We think you will find that they are worth it. We also hope that the full versions of these older games will be released via paid electronic download at some point. Most of the PC versions of these titles haven’t been in stores for some time so making them available on the Internet would be doing a huge service to all of these games.