We are gamers, and as gamers we play games, we enjoy games, and we love games. Sometimes we love specific games and when we’ve played them through, we eagerly await the next one. We wait, and we wait and for this list, we’re still waiting. This, is my personal top 10 game sequels that haven’t been made.
10: Bayonetta 2.
Now, I love this game. The combat was silly amounts of fun, the characters were over-sexualised to an almost hilarious degree, and at the end you got to fight god. Now I understand that it may be difficult to improve upon the climax of Bayonetta, after all once you’ve punched God into the sun where can you really go from there? But I was promised a sequel! Now I hear that the project has been “Indefinitely shelved” which is marketing speak for “canned.”
9: Oddworld 5.
The Oddworld series is a curious collection of four games. Basically you’re on an alien planet actually called “Oddworld” and usually have to rescue as many X from evil corporation Y as possible. I remember spending several (somewhat unnerving) hours rescuing Mukodons from Rupture Farms. The series died with Strangers Wrath, which is odd considering it lets you use tiny fuzzy animals as ammo. Although Stranger’s Wrath is getting an HD re-release on the Xbox 360/PS3 and PSvita.
The best parts of the Oddworld series were it’s truly interesting and unique story, visual aesthetic and gameplay. Also it had some of the best cut-scenes on the PS1, outdoes Square-Enix games from the same period.
Apparently there will be more Oddworld games, beginning with “Hand of Odd” but development of that particular title was halted in 2004 and re-started in 2011, so we’ll see.
8: Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy 2.
No, I don’t care that you’ve never heard of this game. Go back to your mainstream garbage, my dad had to drive me to six different shops to find this game, eventually we found it in Toys R Us just before we were going to give up.
It focuses on Sphinx, a demigod who had to defeat an evil sorcerer, save the world and find exhibits for the local museum. The other character is the mummy of Tutankhamen, who can’t die and uses that useful ability to solve a variety of puzzles from within the sorcerer’s stronghold, sending items and information back to Sphinx as he finds them.
Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy is surprisingly good, the story takes you through a variety of areas, you meet a few of the Egyptian gods. The gameplay varies between fetch-quests, combat, platforming, puzzle-solving and exploration. I still have it on the Playstation 2, and now I want to give it a re-play.
7: Jak and Daxter 4.
No, Jak X doesn’t count. No, terrible PSP exclusives don’t count. When will I, as a fan of the series, get a proper current-gen sequel to one of the greatest game series’ on the Playstation 2? One that will not spit on the entire established canon, and will once more let me fly around with angel wings? The best only three games in the series recently came out in an HD collection, so I can placate myself with them at least.
6: Beyond Good and Evil 2
The original Beyond Good and Evil was a critical success, but not a financial one. This is probably why we haven’t even heard of a sequel being discussed. The original game was so good it’s already had the HD treatment (released in September), and that’s unheard of for a game on its own. There’s a sequel on the way, but it isn’t going to be here until the next console generation, and considering Sony and Microsoft haven’t even announced the names of their next consoles, we might be waiting a while.
5: Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen 3.
Once I got into it, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 became one of my favourite games. Here’s a small list of some of the things it contained: vampires, ghosts, demons, time travel, a sword that eats souls and a giant squid that pretends to be a god. To anyone that hasn’t played it: doesn’t that sound good? And yet we’ve been waiting years for the conclusion to a series stretching five games. The final game in this series has apparently been cancelled. And for this I am saddened.
4: Timesplitters 4.
Crytek recently stated that there wasn’t enough interest in a Timesplitters 4 to justify the project. To that I reply, what the fuck!? Everyone loved the Timesplitters games; where else could you play as a homicidal monkey with a rocket launcher? Has any other Multiplayer FPS been so much fun? I don’t think so, and I still wait, impatiently, for the fourth installment of this wonderful series.
3: Okami 2.
One of the last great games of the Playstation 2, Okami was a beautiful game with great characters, brilliant combat, and a magic brush that you use to cast spells. The same as the Jak and Daxter series, Okami suffered from a handheld sequel. Despite the controls being theoretically perfect for the DS, Okamiden was a mediocre title at best. The original game got a re-release on the Wii, so perhaps the Wii-U will give us more wolf-god spell casting in feudal Japan. One can dream.
2: The Last Guardian.
I know there’ll be a few people thinking I’m cheating here, but Shadow of the Colossus was a prequel to ICO. So it’s reasonable to assume that The Last Guardian will take place in the same universe as Team Ico’s previous two gems. Also, look at that Gryphon. Look at it! It’s adorable.
Unfortunately, we may not be seeing it. Ever.
1: Half Life 2 Episode 3.
Oh come on, you all knew this was coming. The half-life series is arguably one of the best video game series’ ever made, and yet gamers have been waiting for Valve’s magnum opus to finally reach the magic number.
Of course it’s entirely possible that this one will never appear. Valve have enjoyed trolling us for a good while now, so it could be a conspiracy to keep us forever praying to Valve, or it could be that the release date is put back a month every time someone mentions Gabe Newell’s weight.
A connoisseur of all things Geek and Nerd, Mark can often be found hunched over the latest issue of Teen Titans, engrossed in his 435th viewing of Rocky Horror Picture Show on Blu-Ray, or searching diligently for the elusive Spiderman 2 for PS2. It is said that he attends Comicon each year, but only after dark, and dressed as Catwoman.
I want G-Police, Colony Wars, Crimson Skies, and Strangers Wraith.