T
ThomasTomasz
Guest
We are in the midst of a gaming drought. It is right before when the new games start releasing as we build towards the holiday season, and right after E3 where we learn all about the games coming out over the next year. It's at this time that I tend to pull old games from my memories of years past and wish they made sequels. So this year I deceided to make a list! This list is based solely off games I've played, so I am sure I am missing some of your favorite games and I likely ran heavy on Star Wars games. But hey, that's what discussion is for, right?
Note- Images are in spoiler tags, due to being sized for Wordpress
#5 Red Dead Redemption
I was late to the Red Dead Redemption party, not playing until the Game of the Year edition was released. I soon found that I couldn't put it down until I finished and the end credits rolled. I wasn't done, and immediately hopped into Undead Nightmare and played that to completion.
John Marsten was a character all of his own, one of the best I've played. Add in the morality system where you can gain positive or negative honor, and you could make Marsten a character in your own image. Rockstar, famous for creating sandbox worlds, went above and beyond in creating a Wild West sandbox.
Considering the success of Red Dead Redemption in the previous generation of consoles, a sequel is a foregone conclusion. The question is, when?
#4 Knights of the Old Republic
The first of two Star Wars games to make my list. I came into KOTOR on the X-Box 360, as I did not have an X-Box or a PC to run it. As with all Star Wars games that provide you with a lightsaber, the beginning of the game is frustrating as you go through the game without Force powers and the lightsaber. Once you get through that, the game really picks up.
This was the first game in the Star Wars universe to explore the Old Republic era, and Bioware created a compelling story that unfolded based off your actions. Your character could be male or female, and that changed the interaction that you had with each person in your crew. As Dark Forces II made popular, there was a morality system present, and your character could fall to the Dark Side, which would again change your interaction with your crew and other characters in the game.
Technically, KOTOR did receive a sequel, but it gave just as many questions to what happened to Revan as it solved. With the release of the MMO The Old Republic (as well as a novel called Revan, which I highly recommend reading if you are a Star Wars fan or fan of the game) the Expanded Universe gives us an answer as to what happened with both Revan and the Jedi Exile from KOTOR II. It is highly unlikely we see a sequel at this point, especially with the support and plans currently for The Old Republic.
#3 Warzone 2100
I am sure most of you are asking what game this is. Warzone 2100 is my favorite real-time strategy game and I have spent hours playing through the campaign and setting up many skirmish battles in the game. It may actually be the game that I have put the most time into individually, unless you tally up time spent with different franchises like Madden.
Warzone is different from many RTS games, where you are operating from a set base- one of the key gameplay points is setting up your base to increase technology and unit production, and also defending yourself from attack. Missions either take place off the map, or expand the map around your base. Even on lower settings, Warzone was a difficult game as you were constantly behind the opposing factions as far as technology goes. I can go on and on about my love for this game, but I'll stop at this point.
Since the release of the game, developer Pumpkin Studios closed their doors and Square Enix purchased Eidos Interactive. I highly doubt anyone has plans to revive the game, but it currently has a large independent development community.
#2 Too Human
Yes, a game that spent a decade in development hell over three console generations makes this list. Too Human was considered a flop, but I loved the game. Norse mythology is something I enjoyed in school, and I enjoyed the storyline that had the Norse Gods being enhanced by cybernetics. The art in this game was great, the music was great and the character class and skill options for your version of Baldur were top-notch.
I believe I've had two playthroughs with them game, one co-operative with a friend of mine and one solo. I'd certainly love to do more, and for me, collecting random loot never gets old. One thing that did bug me about the game was how dying never really mattered. Considering everything else I liked about the game, I could overlook that.
Too Human was originally designed as a trilogy, but a sequel looks like it will never happen. Epic Games won their countersuit of Silicon Knights, and they were ordered to destroy their remaining unsold copies of Too Human, so good luck finding a copy of the game. SK also owes Epic over $9 million and has essentially ceased to function as a company, so barring a THQ-like bankruptcy sale, there isn't a shot of a sequel.
#1: X-Wing/TIE Fighter
The second Star Wars game on my list, the X-Wing/TIE Fighter franchise is close to my heart. As a kid, I poured most of my gaming time into these flight simulators and went through three joysticks because of it. I completed X-Wing once, TIE Fighter at least four times and X-Wing Alliance was played four times as well. I even opened the log files of X-Wing Alliance to allow for capital ships to be piloted during the skirmish battles you could set up.
The X-Wing/TIE Fighter series put you into the role of a specific pilot, and you had primary mission objectives to complete in each mission. Completing bonus objectives could unlock more information for a secondary storyline. The games put you in the cockpit of a variety of ships, from the classic X-Wing and TIE Fighter, to the Millennium Falcon, and everything in between. They even added new fighters to the universe from this game.
Sadly, X-Wing/TIE Fighter is in the dead flight simulator genre, and likely won’t see a remake either. I miss the depth of these games, and with online gaming now at a peak, I would love to kit out a starfighter and have dogfights with other games. Chances are that a full-fledged flight simulator game isn’t in the cards anymore.
However, I would be remiss if I didn’t include the arcade flight simulator Lucasarts had, the Rogue Squadron series. The depth of a flight simulator wasn’t in these games, but they were all well done (with the exception of the third) and would be a welcomed addition to game libraries everywhere. With the new films imminent, we could see a Rogue Squadron remake.
Honorable Mentions:
Super Mario 64- yes, we’ve seen many Mario games since the launch of the N64, but who here wouldn’t want to explore Peach’s castle again, jumping through portraits to the next area?
Star Wars Battlefront- this was originally going to make this list, but it’s been saved as a draft since before E3. It seems we will finally get a new console Battlefront, being developed by DICE, but I will hold my breath until the game comes out.
LA Noire- I might be in the minority that loved being on the right side of the law in a Rockstar Game, as I really enjoyed LA Noire. With the issues surrounding Team Bondi and the closure of the studio, we may never get the chance to go back to the 1940’s as a police detective.
Competition in Sports Gaming. It’s a dead horse on the forums, but the only sport that has two games being put out is the NBA. EA’s Madden and NHL games are the only football and hockey games, and Sony’s MLB The Show, a console exclusive, is the only baseball game. Lets see a return of MVP Baseball or NFL 2K.
Agree? Disagree? Let's here it in our Community Forums.
Note- Images are in spoiler tags, due to being sized for Wordpress
#5 Red Dead Redemption
I was late to the Red Dead Redemption party, not playing until the Game of the Year edition was released. I soon found that I couldn't put it down until I finished and the end credits rolled. I wasn't done, and immediately hopped into Undead Nightmare and played that to completion.
John Marsten was a character all of his own, one of the best I've played. Add in the morality system where you can gain positive or negative honor, and you could make Marsten a character in your own image. Rockstar, famous for creating sandbox worlds, went above and beyond in creating a Wild West sandbox.
Considering the success of Red Dead Redemption in the previous generation of consoles, a sequel is a foregone conclusion. The question is, when?
#4 Knights of the Old Republic
The first of two Star Wars games to make my list. I came into KOTOR on the X-Box 360, as I did not have an X-Box or a PC to run it. As with all Star Wars games that provide you with a lightsaber, the beginning of the game is frustrating as you go through the game without Force powers and the lightsaber. Once you get through that, the game really picks up.
This was the first game in the Star Wars universe to explore the Old Republic era, and Bioware created a compelling story that unfolded based off your actions. Your character could be male or female, and that changed the interaction that you had with each person in your crew. As Dark Forces II made popular, there was a morality system present, and your character could fall to the Dark Side, which would again change your interaction with your crew and other characters in the game.
Technically, KOTOR did receive a sequel, but it gave just as many questions to what happened to Revan as it solved. With the release of the MMO The Old Republic (as well as a novel called Revan, which I highly recommend reading if you are a Star Wars fan or fan of the game) the Expanded Universe gives us an answer as to what happened with both Revan and the Jedi Exile from KOTOR II. It is highly unlikely we see a sequel at this point, especially with the support and plans currently for The Old Republic.
#3 Warzone 2100
I am sure most of you are asking what game this is. Warzone 2100 is my favorite real-time strategy game and I have spent hours playing through the campaign and setting up many skirmish battles in the game. It may actually be the game that I have put the most time into individually, unless you tally up time spent with different franchises like Madden.
Warzone is different from many RTS games, where you are operating from a set base- one of the key gameplay points is setting up your base to increase technology and unit production, and also defending yourself from attack. Missions either take place off the map, or expand the map around your base. Even on lower settings, Warzone was a difficult game as you were constantly behind the opposing factions as far as technology goes. I can go on and on about my love for this game, but I'll stop at this point.
Since the release of the game, developer Pumpkin Studios closed their doors and Square Enix purchased Eidos Interactive. I highly doubt anyone has plans to revive the game, but it currently has a large independent development community.
#2 Too Human
Yes, a game that spent a decade in development hell over three console generations makes this list. Too Human was considered a flop, but I loved the game. Norse mythology is something I enjoyed in school, and I enjoyed the storyline that had the Norse Gods being enhanced by cybernetics. The art in this game was great, the music was great and the character class and skill options for your version of Baldur were top-notch.
I believe I've had two playthroughs with them game, one co-operative with a friend of mine and one solo. I'd certainly love to do more, and for me, collecting random loot never gets old. One thing that did bug me about the game was how dying never really mattered. Considering everything else I liked about the game, I could overlook that.
Too Human was originally designed as a trilogy, but a sequel looks like it will never happen. Epic Games won their countersuit of Silicon Knights, and they were ordered to destroy their remaining unsold copies of Too Human, so good luck finding a copy of the game. SK also owes Epic over $9 million and has essentially ceased to function as a company, so barring a THQ-like bankruptcy sale, there isn't a shot of a sequel.
#1: X-Wing/TIE Fighter
The second Star Wars game on my list, the X-Wing/TIE Fighter franchise is close to my heart. As a kid, I poured most of my gaming time into these flight simulators and went through three joysticks because of it. I completed X-Wing once, TIE Fighter at least four times and X-Wing Alliance was played four times as well. I even opened the log files of X-Wing Alliance to allow for capital ships to be piloted during the skirmish battles you could set up.
The X-Wing/TIE Fighter series put you into the role of a specific pilot, and you had primary mission objectives to complete in each mission. Completing bonus objectives could unlock more information for a secondary storyline. The games put you in the cockpit of a variety of ships, from the classic X-Wing and TIE Fighter, to the Millennium Falcon, and everything in between. They even added new fighters to the universe from this game.
Sadly, X-Wing/TIE Fighter is in the dead flight simulator genre, and likely won’t see a remake either. I miss the depth of these games, and with online gaming now at a peak, I would love to kit out a starfighter and have dogfights with other games. Chances are that a full-fledged flight simulator game isn’t in the cards anymore.
However, I would be remiss if I didn’t include the arcade flight simulator Lucasarts had, the Rogue Squadron series. The depth of a flight simulator wasn’t in these games, but they were all well done (with the exception of the third) and would be a welcomed addition to game libraries everywhere. With the new films imminent, we could see a Rogue Squadron remake.
Honorable Mentions:
Super Mario 64- yes, we’ve seen many Mario games since the launch of the N64, but who here wouldn’t want to explore Peach’s castle again, jumping through portraits to the next area?
Star Wars Battlefront- this was originally going to make this list, but it’s been saved as a draft since before E3. It seems we will finally get a new console Battlefront, being developed by DICE, but I will hold my breath until the game comes out.
LA Noire- I might be in the minority that loved being on the right side of the law in a Rockstar Game, as I really enjoyed LA Noire. With the issues surrounding Team Bondi and the closure of the studio, we may never get the chance to go back to the 1940’s as a police detective.
Competition in Sports Gaming. It’s a dead horse on the forums, but the only sport that has two games being put out is the NBA. EA’s Madden and NHL games are the only football and hockey games, and Sony’s MLB The Show, a console exclusive, is the only baseball game. Lets see a return of MVP Baseball or NFL 2K.
Agree? Disagree? Let's here it in our Community Forums.
