In recent years, the expression “Everything new is well forgotten old” has become more relevant than ever in the gaming industry. And we are not only talking about endless remasters, which the public has always had an ambivalent attitude towards. We are talking about full-scale remakes and sequels of long-forgotten series.
Who would have thought that after almost a quarter of a century, the fourth part of the legendary Streets of Rage would be released? And a sequel to Psychonauts? You see, the day will come when Half-Life 3 will no longer be a dream, but for now let’s talk about 10 undeservedly forgotten series that could also use an adrenaline shot.
Jak & Daxter
Naughty Dog, the studio that gave PS1 owners the Crash Bandicoot trilogy, decided to start from scratch on the PS2. In 2001, Jak & Daxter was released – another platformer, but much more diverse in terms of setting and gameplay. It had enough mechanics borrowed from other genres, and the sarcastic humor contrasted with competitors, who were emphatically childish and saccharine. Jak and Daxter was more likely aimed at teenagers, and also, in the best traditions of Naughty Dog, served as an excellent demonstration of the PS2’s capabilities.
And here is the same story that happened with Crash Bandicoot. Naughty Dog went to conquer new horizons, and the further development of the series was given to third parties, who did not do a great job, and the series was put to rest. What is especially offensive is that the Ratchet & Clank series from Insomniac, which appeared a year later, is still alive, and a sequel was recently released. However, there are few worthy 3D platformers nowadays, especially outside of games for Nintendo Switch. Therefore, it is definitely worth bringing back from the other side a series with some kind of background.
Killzone
Although the sales of PS2 were noticeably ahead of Xbox and GameCube combined, at some point Sony decided to improve on the already excellent results and create an exclusive shooter-killer Halo. As practice shows, artificially grown projects, designed to bite off a piece of someone else’s pie, usually promise one of two things: either quietly merge, or reveal their potential in the future. And the second is more likely to apply to Killzone – the audience met the first part without much enthusiasm, since the game turned out to be bland. There was nothing special in it, except for the design of the main enemies and the general technical execution.
However, Sony saw potential in the series and allowed itself to pull off one of the most scandalous scams in the industry – feeding guests and viewers of E3 2005 a fake video with fake gameplay of the second part, which at that time was not yet properly developed. This is how the team from Guerrilla Games found itself in an awkward position, to put it mildly, but everything worked out.
Despite some flaws, Killzone 2 immediately received cult status with high ratings from the press, and in some places it managed to compare graphically with the scandalous video – and even now the shooter looks good, although it is already 11 years old. And the narrative has made great strides. Effectively staged shootouts, technologically advanced graphics and a futuristic setting, largely serving as an allusion to the Third Reich, became the three pillars on which the series rested.
True, over time, the developers began to move away from this concept, which is especially noticeable in the latest part. Killzone: Shadow Fall was released at the start of the PS4 and pleased not only with the setting, but also with the variety of situations and gameplay. But for some reason, the audience met the new product without enthusiasm. Despite good sales, Sony decided to put the series on the back burner and entrusted the developers with a new IP – Horizon Zero Dawn.
Burnout
The racing genre is inexorably rushing towards the cliff. While smartphones have enough variations on the theme of drag racing, runners and other nonsense designed for the most unpretentious, hardcore fans of the genre are left to be sad. It is even more offensive that Burnout, one of the brightest and most original representatives of the arcade racing family, sank into oblivion back in the days of Xbox 360 and PS3. And in general, this is a rather rare example of a series that started rather inconspicuously, and then took off as if not a couple of years had passed, but a generation of consoles had changed.
Burnout 3: Takedown used all the capabilities of the PS2 and Xbox , but impressive graphics are not as important as incredibly dynamic gameplay and the ability to derail enemy cars. The game also had an absolutely crazy and innovative mode in which you need to launch a car into the thick of evening traffic and create a devastating accident.
Alas, the triumphal march did not last long – EA still saw the barely alive Need for Speed as the most promising series. However, problems with it began in the second half of the 2000s, when the rethinking of Hot Pursuit was entrusted to the authors of Burnout, Criterion Games. And subsequently, the franchise simply disappeared from the company’s plan.
Resistance
Long before the release of Killzone 2, Sony had a plan to create another Halo killer. Resistance was originally aimed at the PS3, although you wouldn’t know it from the graphics. It’s more like a slightly pumped-up old PS2. But this circumstance didn’t stop people from loving the shooter – the audience was instantly captivated by the unusual setting. The action took place in an alternative 1950s, where an alien world almost caused the disappearance of humanity. A kind of mix of Call of Duty and Halo.
After the success of the first part and the controversial second, the third one followed. And, alas, the final one in the main trilogy. Many critics called it close in spirit to Half-Life 2 due to similar art design and a number of gameplay elements. Sales were not going well at all. Perhaps the moral aging of the PS3 and preparation for the new generation had an effect, but, be that as it may, the modern industry lost, perhaps, one of the most promising shooters. It’s a pity.
Silent Hill
After the resounding success of Resident Evil and its sequels, everyone tried to repeat the Capcom formula , which, incidentally, was based on the completely forgotten Alone in the Dark. And no one managed to do it more successfully than Konami with its Silent Hill .
The special Team Silent team did not copy the idea almost exactly, as many imitators did, but approached the creation creatively. The source of inspiration was not trashy Italian horrors, but psychological thrillers like the cult “Jacob’s Ladder” and the works of David Lynch. The driving force of the atmosphere was not so much “Boo” from every corner, but the fear of losing touch with reality. Symbolism, reflected in the appearance of monsters and the design of locations, also became the hallmark of the series.
But, as practice has shown, the genre in its traditional sense turned out to be an extremely perishable product. And even Capcom quickly realized that it would not be possible to endlessly change the cast of characters and juggle the setting. As a result, the epochal Resident Evil 4 was released – it managed to successfully reboot the series. And Silent Hill was written off as unnecessary.
Metal Gear Solid
The success of the first two Metal Gear games was rather local. During the reign of the NES and SNES, the public was much more willing to accept platformers and scrolling shooters than bold ideas. But with the advent of new-generation consoles and polygonal graphics, literally everyone began to experiment, testing the waters and trying to change the usual foundations.
Despite the comical attempts to combine games with cinema, the public willingly accepted games stuffed with videos that relied on the story component. And all because the developers of such games sought not only to surprise the audience, but also to make them work coherently. And Metal Gear Solid was just one of them. You could safely skip dozens of long cut-scenes, enjoying the innovative stealth gameplay, or combine business with pleasure.
This is where Kojima found an outlet for his wild fantasy, rooted in a sincere love for cinema. True, at some point the genius completely lost his sense of proportion, and many rightly called the memorable Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots “cinema.” And the off-the-scale love for postmodernism led the series further and further away from its moderately serious roots.
And then came the famous scandal and Kojima’s departure from Konami, and now the rights to Metal Gear are in the hands of a company that has absolutely no interest in reviving the series. Unless the rumors about a remake of the third part turn out to be true.
Duke Nukem
Who didn’t try to hype up DOOM in the second half of the 90s. But ask yourself: how many of these one-day projects were there that left a bright mark in history? It’s even more offensive that Duke Nukem ran out of ammunition long before all the monsters were sent to their forefathers. The current generation of gamers may not even remember the cartoonish muscleman with a shotgun who showered barbs and shoved money into strippers’ panties.
But old Duke started out as a trivial character in an equally trivial cartoon platformer. But at some point, they decided to shake up the concept and change direction, turning the alien hunter into a satirical FPS hero. The decision was absolutely right – later, this would be fully confirmed, for example, by Gears of War or the recently revived Serious Sam, to which jokes only added color.
But Duke Nukem himself became a victim of great ambitions and a series of unfortunate circumstances. Duke Nukem Forever, which was conceived as the greatest FPS of all time, was thrown from one developer to another. And, as many probably remember, no one liked the monster that barely made it to store shelves. And modern shooters really lack irony.
Unreal
Nowadays, when the word Unreal is mentioned, even hardcore gamers with experience are more likely to remember the engine that has gone through several generations of gaming systems. However, in the late 90s, a shooter was released that made a strong leap for the entire industry in terms of graphics and the popularity of multiplayer. The latter received a global update in the form of the successor Unreal Tournament, which fought with the third Quake for people’s love for an eternity.
The single-player campaign sequel later proved to be less successful than the numerous Tournament sequels. But this fairy tale also ended clearly earlier than it should have. Epic Games began developing another successful series, Gears of War, and then switched to Fortnite. Therefore, the latest part of Unreal, which represented a reboot, died out before it really had time to take off. It was worked on by a small team in close cooperation with enthusiasts from the community, who also quickly lost interest in the project.
Max Payne
The original Max Payne from then little-known Remedy literally blew up the industry. Everything about it was perfect – innovative slow-mo, excellent graphics and a completely unconventional, but at the same time extremely “cinematic” presentation. The creators did not show angular models in close-up or spend a ton of money on expensive CGI videos, but offered comics with voice-over. The dark noir atmosphere has remained inimitable to this day.
Unfortunately, the developers’ imagination quickly ran out, and the sequel that came just two years later was made according to the classic principle of “all the same, but at a new technological level.” The public responded accordingly: most of the audience skipped Max Payne 2 as unnecessary.
Nine years later, the series was revived by Rockstar. You can argue for a long time about the lost atmosphere and pomposity inherent in the Finnish projects, but it is foolish to deny that in terms of narrative and gameplay, the third part has gone a long way from its predecessors. A real interactive movie in the best traditions of John Woo. But, as we know, you can’t earn billions on single-player projects, so the company decided not to continue the story of a cop who sank to the bottom. You know what it’s doing now.
Project Gotham Racing
And finally, a little more sadness about an undeservedly forgotten racing series. Long before the Xbox brand became associated with the Forza series, Project Gotham Racing was released on Microsoft’s first console. It evolved from Metropolis Street Racer for the defunct Dreamcast. The creators of this game paid attention to detail like no one else in the industry, recreating London, San Francisco and Tokyo with maniacal meticulousness. This is where the hackneyed term “photorealistic graphics” was 100% applicable. Just open the gameplay of any part on YouTube, including Metropolis Street Racer, and compare the level of graphics with competitors of that time.
But the series’ veneer wasn’t the only thing that was valuable. It also offered an innovative career advancement system. It wasn’t enough to just take first place in races; you also had to rack up points, called “Kudos” (not to be confused with the pirate firm of the same name from those years). They were awarded for careful driving or simple assignments.
Unfortunately, the series did not live the longest life. And it was cut short not because of the poor sales of the fourth PGR – after its release, Bizarre Creations released a commercial failure, but warmly received by critics Blur. By that time, the studio had already been bought by Activision, which in response to the poor circulation simply closed shop. However, individual elements of the series subsequently migrated to Forza Horizon, because the Playground Games staff includes former employees of the defunct British studio.
Bonus: Syphon Filter
While the early Metal Gear games were a local success, Metal Gear Solid was a real sensation in terms of both gameplay and narrative. And a year before that, GoldenEye 007 was released for the Nintendo 64, which also fueled interest in spy thrillers. The circle was closed by Syphon Filter from the future Bend Studio, which is now known for Days Gone. But back then, there was an amazing time when seemingly unpromising developers suddenly showed their true class. By the way, this was also the case with Naughty Dog, whose first projects are best left unmentioned.
Syphon Filter was a third-person shooter with stealth elements and, in the best traditions of James Bond films, sent the player to different corners of the world. Nowadays, the ability to quietly wring a sentry’s neck is in every other action game, but back then, such gameplay was a novelty. But, unfortunately, the liner did not stay afloat for long.
In all fairness, perhaps the team should have jumped from the aging PS1 to the then-new PS2. But instead, the third part of the game was released on the first PlayStation in 2001, when the entire progressive world was already playing on the PS2. And Syphon Filter, created for it, frankly missed the mark and looked like some kind of dinosaur against the background of the revolutionary Splinter Cell and the impressive Metal Gear Solid 2.
Later, the developers tried their luck on the PSP, where they released two excellent games, but later, for some reason, they were ported to the outdated PS2. However, a full-fledged continuation on the PS3 required a new approach, and Bend Studio, it seems, was not interested in this. Proof of this is the podcast of the game director of Days Gone, who was offered to revive the series, to which he refused.