Many players have favorite game series that they want to return to again and again. With the right approach, developers continue to develop projects and try to release better and better games each time. But it also happens differently — unsuccessful sequels bury cool series. Let's talk about such cases now.
BioWare's major failure over the past few years, which undermined the credibility of the series. Andromeda has nothing in common with the main Sci-Fi trilogy, loved by a huge number of players. And everything about her is really bad. The rehearsal gameplay is diluted with stupid mini-games, useless monotonous battles and a boring story that does not engage the player in any way. The tasks are monotonous, the world is completely empty, and there are more than enough plot holes. Is this the Mass Effect fans have been waiting for?
Everything that players loved about the original trilogy was completely forgotten. Well-developed lore has faded into the background, there is no opportunity to influence the destinies of entire nations, and the game clearly lacks charismatic, memorable characters. In addition, Mass Effect has turned from a truly exciting RPG into a simple shooter.
However, the recent re-release has corrected everything a little.
Arcania: Gothic 4 failed to breathe new life into the famous series. The German studio Spellbound only managed to recreate colorful landscapes. In all other respects, the game noticeably lagged behind progress, was filled with crooked animations, emotionless characters' faces and boring gameplay. The world is almost empty, and the battles have become completely casual, not in keeping with the spirit of the original games.
The story turned out to be weak, and the tasks were monotonous. They didn't even deliver a full-fledged pumping system. All initial characteristics of the hero are pumped up automatically, so the player is only occasionally allowed to improve some parameters, for example, stamina and stealth, in order to unlock new skills.
Arcania: Gothic 4 turned out to be an absolutely dull and tasteless game, of which only the famous name remains. Will the original developers be able to to maintain the familiar atmosphere, we won't find out very soon...
The Heroes of Might and Magic series has had a rocky road. After the release of the successful third part, subsequent projects often changed developers. And if Heroes of Might and Magic 5 managed to save the franchise from the failure of the previous part, then the next two games completely destroyed the spirit of the beloved series. The plainness of the story, unsatisfactory work with the production of videos and the casual style of Might and Magic Heroes 6 and Might and Magic Heroes 7 (2015) finished off the series.
The developers have dealt mercilessly with players' favorite features. For example, they removed the castle page, which displayed visual changes during the construction of various buildings, and completely simplified the process of collecting resources, controlling the territory, and leveling up characters. All this broke the tactical component of the game.
Tons of bugs, terrible graphics, even more terrible physics and weak gameplay greeted fans of the series who had been waiting for a game from Hangar 13 for six whole years. In the third part of the franchise, it is quite difficult to enjoy the events taking place. The player had to constantly engage in monotonous grinding, which in no way contributed to immersion in the atmosphere of New Bordeaux of the 60s.
Between really important tasks that at least somehow developed the story, players had to monotonously clear monotonous locations from numerous opponents. And the physics of the cars was simply monstrous.
Unfortunately, Mafia 3 was the worst game in the series.
The developers from the Czech studio successfully managed to recreate the atmosphere of loss and abandonment. However, the entire unique atmosphere crumbled before our eyes during awkward clashes with monsters. Block, hit, block, hit — the worst solution that the developers could implement. And the game couldn't boast of famous complex riddles at all. If you find a code or turn a couple of valves, the path is clear.
Taken together, we got a completely unnecessary game, which, despite all the makings, not only failed to revive the series, but also drove it into a long anabiosis for ten years.
Tiberium Alliances is a browser-based real-time MMO strategy that cannot offer anything special to fans of real big and serious strategies. The entire gameplay was completely redesigned, not for the better, and the game began to look like a typical primitive mobile phone.
There are no usual large-scale battles here: players only have access to small tactical battles that can captivate them for just a couple of evenings. In an attempt to make quick money, Electronic Arts completely destroyed the beloved series.
Since then, about a new strategy in the Command & Conquer can't hear anything. In nine years, only two optional games were released: a good remake of the original and another mobile phone.
The legendary long-term construction: for 15 years the developers have not managed to make a good game. Duke Nukem Forever suffered not only from changes in studios and engines, but also from the lack of any fresh ideas. The game completely repeated all the gameplay mechanics from the 90s.
The hero's sparkling humor and some epic boss battles could not save the game and the series.
Three years after the end of the original Prince of Persia trilogy, Ubisoft tried to reboot the series. The 2008 game featured a captivating plot and easy-to-control acrobatics. And the ending of the game was completely amazing with its complex, ambiguous choice, forcing players to argue about the correctness of the main character's decision. However, the project clearly lacked unique gameplay mechanics and memorable gameplay. Enemy combat and puzzles were mediocre, and the solution to every problem was to press a single button.
Prince of Persia was losing to Ubisoft's title Assassins Creed on all fronts. Now it is difficult to say whether the developers are ready to revive the series that has lost popularity.
The Postal series has always gone beyond the usual evaluation criteria. Peeing on people, playing football with someone's head, or using a cat as a muffler was fun. But not in Postal 3…
The game from the Russian TrashMasters actually destroyed the sandbox beloved by many, turning the already trash series into a complete orgy that will appeal to rare gamers. A lot of undeveloped details, an abundance of technical errors, outdated graphics, boring gameplay and a disgusting story presented as several missions buried Postal 3.
As one would expect, the people's love instantly dissolved, and the players forgot about Postal for eight years. Today, the developers from Running With Scissors are trying to resurrect their favorite game, and have already released Postal 4: No Regerts into early access.
***
What games do you think were able to ruin all the years of work? Share with us in the comments!
Is it necessary to return popularity to your favorite series?
Take the poll