Sequels Slump: What's Wrong with the Industry?

Game sequels have been popping out faster than anyone can play them. It appears that for every original intellectual property we get, there are at least two sequels that we have to suffer through. Just look at games like Fable 3 or Fallout New Vegas. These are games that offer slightly more content with kinda improved graphics for the same game play you already had. Sure there are some new weapons a few new gimmicks but it is basically just a lot of DLC collected on a disc. But perhaps that is better than doing business like Bioshock 2 and making us pay for DLC that I already had. Seriously The Sinclair Solutions Test Pack was on the disc, you just had to pay to unlock it.

Speaking of Bioshock I’d like to point out that not all sequels are a bad thing. I cannot tell you how excited I am about Bioshock Infinite. However Bioshock Infinite is a perfect example. Ken Levine (writer of Bioshock) wanted a time consuming and ambitious sequel to Bioshock, to which 2K said no thank you. They put 2K Marin on the job and got the turnaround they were looking for and we all saw the results, mundane multiplayer, a couple of new gimmicks and an ok story overall. Then Irrational Games announces the true successor to Bioshock a year later.

Financial times are hard and for multimillion dollar companies looking at the bottom line this could not be truer but at some point popping out sequels like kittens has to hurt a business. With the success of Call of Duty: Black Ops the industry has sealed its own fate. No game developer is going to bother rebooting a franchise that sells that well. So why bother buying a game that will be released again next year with new features and graphics? At least with games like Halo Reach you know they might wait 2 or 3 years before making another.

Sequels have also become so prominent that games now “tease” the sequel in the game you are playing. Did anyone play Gears of War 2, does anyone believe that 3 will be the last one…NO. Mainly because they let you know after the credits that there are still unresolved conflicts in this “epic” story. And yet I’m supposed to believe that GOW 3 is the last one right? As much as I anticipate getting my claws on Dead Space 2 they have even found a way to ruin it for me before the release. Not too long ago it was said that there is a “tease” for Dead Space 3 somewhere in 2. Seriously, I just bought this game and you are telling me that I’m going to have to buy it again in 2 years or whenever the hell you decided to release it. I mean let’s face it people Dead Space 2 does offer new mechanics but will 3 really give us anything that couldn’t have just been some intense DLC?

Oh but my favorite was when Valve released Left for Dead 2. Valve swore to us that this game added a new smarter A.I. and content that just could not be put into DLC. Well some people called shenanigans and started a petition. Luckily the petition went away after the person who started it was invited to Valve to play the game and see that it was a true sequel. The author then stopped his own petition after this visit saying that it is truly a standalone game (I’m sure the bribe he had to have received didn’t hurt either). Fast-forward to The Sacrifice DLC release for Left for Dead 1 and 2. This was an amazing add-on that gave Left for Dead 1 the new special infected, weapons and A.I. from L4D 2 that Valve claimed was not possible with DLC. Oh and it deleted any achievement progress for Left for Dead 1 when installed, stellar job Valve.

Sequels are obviously nothing new to the game industry (how many Mario games are there again?) but we are no longer talking about a simple sequel anymore. Dead Space, Resistance and Kill zone have started joining the ranks of Call of Duty, Gran Turismo and Need for Speed. Will Isaac Clark still have an interesting tale when he’s a traumatized forty something psychiatric patient still chasing the Marker? Or even worse they kill him off or pull a Metal Gear Solid 2 and don’t even have him in a majority of the game.

While there are millions of stories in the world that cannot be summed up in one movie, game, book etc., there is just as much soulless money making attempts. I beg the industry to start some new IP’s and if they suck then move on. Don’t beat the good ones to death in order to get its retarted clone out in two years. Money is the only real way to talk to any business. So just ask yourself while standing in the game isle holding that copy of Killzone 5, is this really worth it?