Top 5 Games This Generation That Deserve a Second Chance
- Jan 20, 2017
- 8 min read
Ryse: Son of Rome
Crytek | Xbox One, PC
In the build up to the launch of the Xbox One, Microsoft were hammering TVs, billboards and internet ad-space with promotions of their upcoming next-generation console. Amongst all of the Xbox highlights, Ryse: Son of Rome, a third-person action game based in Ancient Rome, was at the forefront of Xbox One advertisements. Upon release, however, the game fell short of expectations, with the title currently sitting at 6/10 on Metacritic (with the PC release not faring much better at 6.1/10).
Ryse: Son of Rome was one of the reasons I opted to go for the Xbox One at launch over the PlayStation 4 (it had nothing to do with the fact that my girlfriend offered to buy me one of the two, and the Xbox One was more expensive...), as third-person action games are my favourite genre, and the opposition was lacking anything I wanted to play at launch. When I sat down to play Crytek's Roman hack 'n' slash title, I actually wasn't one of the ones who found it to be boring. In all honesty, I loved it.
The game's fun, though admittedly repetitive combat, interesting story and amazing setpieces, kept me entertained the entire time. Even the multiplayer, which was the weakest part of the game, provided me with entertainment for a good number of hours.
A couple of years ago, there were rumours that a sequel to the game, titled Ryse II: Knights of England, was in the works. Supposedly, the sequel would have focused on the knights of the roundtable, and sport a medieval setting, including dragons.
What with Crytek's recent money problems and the closure of a great deal of its studios, a sequel to the franchise seems unlikely. And when coupled with the fact that the original's sales weren't quite sequel-beckoning, any hopes of a second game in the series are quickly snuffed out.
The Order: 1886
Ready at Dawn | PlayStation 4
The Order: 1886 was poised to become the PlayStation 4's first big new franchise, and coming from the developers that created highly-praised PSP titles God of War: Ghost of Sparta, God of War: Chains of Olympus, and Daxter, gamers were sure it was to become a hit. Come February 2015 and problems begin to arise.
Rumours were spreading like wildfire that the game only lasted, on average, 6 hours, and that the majority of Ready at Dawn's latest title was made up QTEs (Quick-Time Events), excessive hand-holding, and cutscenes. Whilst the developer attempted to brush of these claims as untrue, my time with the game can verify their legitimacy (albeit, my playthrough took around 8 hours).
In a world where third-person, single-player action games were trying harder and harder to crack what made games such as Uncharted and Gears of War so popular amongst gamers, The Order: 1886 genuinely stood out as different. The game's alternate history, steampunk Victorian-era setting was a far cry from the backdrops of other titles, and its focus on exciting, varied combat, with Sir Galahad able to acquire an armoury's worth of wonderful weaponry, made it a highly-anticipated title amongst the community.
Though critically it received a lukewarm reception, sales of the game were respectable, especially for a brand new franchise. As of 2016, VGChartz* has the game's total sales pegged at almost 2 million.
Unlike some of the others on this list, there is a chance that The Order could return. Executives from Ready at Dawn have dropped a number of hints that the series was never intended to be a one-off game, and that there are "legs to this franchise." Considering it sold well, and the fact that Sony are happy to greenlight sequels to games that were received far worse (Knack 2 was revealed last month with the original holding 5.3/10 on Metacritic), perhaps Ready at Dawn have been working on something new for the fans. Hopefully they've taken on all of the criticisms of the first, and will be ready to show something insane in the future (if it is indeed coming).
*VGChartz are not an accurate source of information, but as Sony have not released official sales numbers, they're all we've got to get a general idea of the game's commercial performance.
Sunset Overdrive
Insomniac Games | Xbox One
During the last generation, and even the two generations before that, Insomniac Games and PlayStation had an incredibly close relationship, with the former developing nothing but PlayStation-exclusives games since the company’s first release in 1996 (Disruptor), all the way up until 2013 when they created the multiplatform title Fuse. Nobody is quite sure why exactly Insomniac has only just now decided to embrace the idea of making games for all platforms (though most of their games are exclusive to a platform), but the break away from PlayStation was a huge gain for Microsoft when it was announced that 2014’s Sunset Overdrive would be exclusive to the Xbox One.
This crazy, mayhem-it-up title was the embodiment of everything that Insomniac Games have come to be known for in their 20+ years of developing games: hectic, fun gameplay with a varied, imaginative assortment of weapons. The game was great (even if I, myself am yet to completely finish it), so why is it on this list? Releasing exclusive games during the holiday season, anywhere between October and December, is often a risky move. The industry heavy-hitters and annualised franchises dominate this season: Call of Duty, Halo, Assassin’s Creed, and others will trample anything else released in their path. Unfortunately, Sunset Overdrive tried to brave it in late October, 2014, and as a result, though critically it was praised, commercially, it didn’t fare quite as well.
In my eyes, Sunset Overdrive was the perfect summer game. Strangely enough, summer is often quite barren for brand new game releases, so placing an exclusive in there to fill the gap – but only for people who own an Xbox One – suddenly makes all eyes on Microsoft’s machine.
Of course, the reason for the poor sales could also be put down to the game being rather niche, or due to Xbox One sales really not being all that great at the time of release. As Insomniac Games own the rights to the franchise, they’re well within their right to make a potential sequel for multiple platforms. Therefore, it may be a wise idea to bring the series to PlayStation and PC next time around. PlayStation gamers in particular are fond of Insomniac Games, and with Sony’s console already selling more than 55 million around the world, Sunset Overdrive 2 could do very well there.
Currently, the team is working on the PlayStation 4-exclusive Spider-Man game, so let’s let them finish that up first.
Until Dawn
Supermassive Games | PlayStation 4
Beginning life as a PlayStation 3 exclusive that utilised PlayStation Move, Until Dawn, an 80s/90s-inspired, story and event-driven horror game, went dark for a few years, only to re-emerge for the PlayStation 4 some time later. Not only did Until Dawn change platforms, it also changed some of its gameplay mechanics. The two most glaringly obvious differences between the version we first saw in 2012 for the PS3 and the version we actually played in 2015 for the PlayStation 4 were the changes to a third-person camera angle instead of playing the game in first-person, and far less motion controls (though there were still some present, the choice of using buttons and analogue sticks entirely instead of motion controls is given to the player).
Until Dawn finally released in August 2015, and reviews for the game are positive, so it remains a wonder to many why Sony opted to promote and market the game very little in the lead up to its release. Some have theorised due to the way the game is played, a way which would lead many to label that game an interactive movie or a walking simulator (terms which are often used in a derogatory manner in the video game world), and with early 2015 PlayStation 4 exclusive The Order: 1886 being labelled by many in such a way, Sony opted to fly this game under the radar. Word of mouth eventually did most of Sony’s job, however, as the game managed to climb to the #2 spot on the UK video game chart upon release with little to literally no marketing to support it. And the best bit about it? It was a sleeper hit: nobody really expected the game to be quite this good, but it surprised many.
At the launch of PlayStation VR, Until Dawn: Rush of Blood, a loosely related spin-off of the game in which players ride a mine cart and shoot at oncoming enemies, was made available on day one. Despite this, a true sequel to Until Dawn may not be on the cards.
Supermassive Games, the development team behind Until Dawn, have worked closely with PlayStation for a long time, providing help to some of Sony’s first-party studios and creating content for other developers. This close relationship helped get Until Dawn into production, and when it became exclusive to PlayStation platforms, the rights to the IP (intellectual property) went to Sony. Because of this, any sequel will have to be OK’d with Sony first, regardless of whether or not Supermassive Games want to make one.
I, and by the looks of it, many others, would love a true Until Dawn 2. The first one was such an amazing experience, one that completely caught me off-guard by how brilliant it was, that when it was finished I instantly wanted more. The way any character can die or live depending on choices and actions taken made for really exciting gameplay, and at times, having to do things quickly and at the correct time really built up the adrenaline.
Tearaway
Media Molecule | PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4 (as Tearaway Unfolded)
It would seem that Tearaway was doomed to fail from the start. Despite being one of the most imaginative games in recent years, not just in premise but in gameplay functionalities too, gamers were always distracted by something else. The original launched for the PlayStation Vita in November 2013 – essentially, it launched on a platform with very little install base, in a month everyone was waiting for either the PlayStation 4 or the Xbox One. For those that did pay it some attention, however, they were treated to an absolute gem of a creative platformer.
The original PlayStation Vita release utilised the handheld’s capabilities in remarkably simple yet brilliant ways. Using the front-facing camera to put you into the game, having the player slide their finger across the rear touchpad to move in-game ground, using the touchscreen to draw and create unique decorations for their Messenger, and much more.
A couple of years after it came out for the PlayStation Vita, Sony launched a remastered version for the PlayStation 4, titled Tearaway Unfolded, presumably to try once again at introducing this marvel to gamers. But once again, gamers were too busy looking everywhere else to see it. Upon launching on the PlayStation 4, Tearaway Unfolded debuted at #26 on the UK video game charts.
The time of Tearaway’s launches have been the largest problem with getting it attention. Launching in November 2013 amidst the next-generation console hype was a terrible idea, and then launching a remastered version 2 years later in the same month as Forza Motorsport 6, FIFA 16 and Destiny: The Taken King was obviously not a bright idea either.
With Media Molecule busy working on Dreams (seriously, where is that beta?), which should be coming out this year, it’s unlikely we’ll be seeing a Tearaway 2 anytime soon, and that’s if Sony even allows them to use the time, money and resources to make a sequel to a game that gamers just didn’t care about. Like it or not (and I’m a member of the latter camp), video games are a business. They exist to make big corporations money, and from a business perspective, Tearaway 2 is not a financially viable project. But maybe if they tweaked when they launch it, perhaps a nice spot in early February, maybe gamers will notice it.
Or they could make Media Molecule work on LittleBigPlanet 4.
What games from this generation would you like to see receive a sequel? Let us know in the comments.
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