Worst game sequel

The Mad Hatter · Post by **The Mad Hatter** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 2:30 pm

It's a close call between Empire II and Ultima: Ascension. I'd have to say Empire II, since I was such a big fan of Empire Deluxe and they tossed everything I liked about it out the window. It also marked the beginning of the endless stream of tactical wargames that took me right out of wargaming; I always preferred the grand strategic and those have been few and far between since.

Suitably Ironic Moniker · Tue Apr 19, 2005 2:48 pm

I would rate Ultima VIII ahead of Ultima IX as a terrible sequel. UIX is actually decent, if unremarkable. UVIII is just pitiful.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 2:58 pm

MOO 3

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 3:08 pm

SpiderMan 2 - PC. Not even the same game as the console spiderman2.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 3:59 pm

Hands down the Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force Expansion. It didn't even have a name - it was just 'the expansion'.

Tareeq · Post by **Tareeq** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 5:50 pm

Privateer 2: The Darkening. They took everything that was good about Privateer and replaced it with everything bad about the later Wing Commander games.

ChrisGwinn · Post by **ChrisGwinn** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 6:12 pm

Daehawk wrote:MOO 3

As cliched as it is to bash MOO3, I think you're right on the money. I certainly found it to be the largest drop in quality. So while Nazi Paintbrawl Tycoon Hunter 2 may have been a worse game, MOO3 was a pretty terrible sequel.

Edit, because people love numbers: Gamerankings suggests that Navy Seals: Weapons of Mass Destruction http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/915505.asp may be the worst game that is a sequel.

edosan · Post by **edosan** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 6:17 pm

When I saw Mortyr 2 in the store, I though it was a joke...

disarm · Post by **disarm** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 6:20 pm

Pyperkub wrote:SpiderMan 2 - PC. Not even the same game as the console spiderman2.

i'll agree with Spiderman 2 (PC)...totally screwed over the PC gamers on that one. i wouldn't consider it as big of a problem with they would have at least admitted to what they did. as it went down, however, they advertised it to be the same thing as the consoles. very lame...

Vinda-Lou · Post by **Vinda-Lou** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 6:42 pm

Unreal II. Loved the first one for atmosphere and decent fun. Hated the second one and never finished it.

ST Elite Force II. First one was fun, second one bit it. I hated killing insects for most of the game.

PS: I guess I am in the minority for enjoying Ultima 8 and 9. I started playing Ultima when III first came out, and I loved 4,5,6,7. While 8 & 9 were not as good, they were not as bad as everyone thinks.

Spock's Brain · Post by **Spock's Brain** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 7:05 pm

Might and Magic IX: an object lesson in how to suck all the fun and life out of a well loved franchise -- not to metnion that it was buggy and unfinished to boot.

EddieA · Post by **EddieA** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 7:12 pm

"ST Elite Force II. First one was fun, second one bit it."
Wow - I'd put Elite Force 2 on my list of the best sequels. The first was OK, but the second is great - better plot, characters, much-improved graphics, more variety, etc. I don't play many FPS games, but EF2 is by far my favorite.

Caine · Post by **Caine** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 8:29 pm

bad sequels

star control 3. quite bummed the way this one turned out

ultima 9. what's left of the world is a small section of what i remembered from 7. and they made it a linear single person game. i also knew what 9 originally looked like before they went 3d. so the end product only paled to what could have been.

nolf2. unfunny and lame end-game. graphics and gameplay improvements did not alleviate the bad parts.

privateer 2. again, take the good parts of the first, toss them out, add badly done cg and acting roles and no continuity to the first game or the wc universe at all, and there you go. no wonder origin began its death spiral.

RWConspiracy · Post by **RWConspiracy** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 10:33 pm

Interstate 82. It violated the MO of the original: "Never get out of the car." Interstate 76 was a PC masterpiece, but 82 killed any chances of ever seeing a worthy sequel.

Kaigen · Post by **Kaigen** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 10:38 pm

I thought Deus Ex: Invisible War was a good game on its own right, but I can't deny that as a sequel it failed almost utterly.

Napoleon · Post by **Napoleon** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 3:31 am

A couple have already been mentioned: NOLF2 (dissapointing because I completely adored the first one), Deus Ex 2 and most of all MOO3.

I'd also like to mention Doom 3 (I loathe, loathe, loathe this game.)

JayG · Post by **JayG** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 4:41 am

I'd agree with Invisible War, even though I also enjoyed it.

Jedi Knight 2 was awful, I really hated that game. It had so much potential.

KOTOR 2. I could have been a classic, but ended up an unplayable mess.

Monkey Island 4. It ended up as a series of in jokes, and was never as funny as it thought it was.

Beyond Divinity. It has Divinity in the title, so for me it's kinda a sequel.

Blood 2.

Lands of Lore 3.

I really liked Ultima 8, but then I played the patched version where jumping was easy. It was my first Ultima game, and while it isn't a patch on U7, I'd still consider it a classic RPG in it's own right. It's a pity that these type of RPGs aren't been made any more.

Kasey Chang · Post by **Kasey Chang** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 4:52 am

Glad SOMEBODY mentioned Interstate 82...

Not that I ever played it, but I knew it sucked already.

Another one is Nove 9, sequel to Stellar 7.

Scraper · Post by **Scraper** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 9:16 am

Tomb Raider 3-16, with 3 being the worst.

When part 1 and 2 came out I played through them all the way and had fun, part 3 is comparible to the grind setting in MMORPGs and after that they did nothing to change the gameplay, CONTROLS or level of fun.

The screen shots for the upcoming game look promising, but if they dont improve the play control then you can forget it.

Ka Faraq Gatri · Post by **Ka Faraq Gatri** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 10:00 am

Cyberstorm 2 & M.A.X. 2 spring to mind.

D.A.Lewis · Post by **D.A.Lewis** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 11:06 am

My Top 5

1) Beyond Divinity, took a great game (Divine Divinity) and made it almost impossible for me to buy any subsequent games from this developer.

2) Final Fantasy 7. When graphics became "the thing" instead of the game play and story, I could no longer play or stay interested in more than a few hours of play on any of the new FFs.

The rest aren't bad games, just disappointing sequels.

3) Land of Lore 2. The sequel wasn't bad but LOL1 was a classic and LOL2 was just so disapointing in how if failed to soar. I liked LOL2, but due to LOL1, I had very very high expectations for this game.

4) Settlers 3. Never played one. Played 2 and loved it. Then they went all cartoony in 3 and 4. Five looks better but I'll wait for clearnance prices.

5) Kings Quest 9 (?). It wasn't really a Kings Quest game at all. They just put a Kings Quest titlle on the game. Not really a bad game in and of itself but a horrible sequel.

Rowdy · Post by **Rowdy** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 12:38 pm

I'm sorry, did someone just list FF7 as one of the worst sequels ever?

I'm torn between the two biggest gaming disapointments of my life: MOO3 or HOMM4. Both followed up some of the best gaming I've ever had, both were frantically anticipated, and both were massive let downs. I didn't even buy MOO3, at least word got out in time on that one, but HOMM4 was a day one purchase. I still remember being about 20 minutes in to my first game, hating the bizarre navigation on the battle screen and then getting to the enemy's town and realizing... he hadn't claimed a single mine, or recruited a single army. The AI that terrorized me in HOMM3 had been reduced to a vegetable. I think I returned the game that evening.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 2:24 pm

I loved FF3 on the SNES and was looking forward to FF7..then I found out all it was was graphics that made you wait and wait and wait for a spells animation to show itself off...over and over.....boring.

Defiant · Post by **Defiant** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 2:31 pm

I remember hearing that LGoP 2 was awful.

I'm sure that I could think horrible sequels if I thought about it, but the first game that pops into my mind would be The Merchent Prince 2. IIRC, it sold for like$30, but it wasn't even a graphically updated version - it was the exact same game as the original Merchant Prince, except that it was made to run in Windows. Most ironic was that I've had more trouble getting the new version to work than I did with the old version.

EddieA · Post by **EddieA** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 2:37 pm

"Final Fantasy 7. When graphics became "the thing" instead of the game play and story, I could no longer play or stay interested in more than a few hours of play on any of the new FFs."
I've heard this many times, and it just makes no sense to me. In what way did any of the later FF games skimp on gameplay or story? The stories are much more in-depth, the characters more fleshed out, and the gameplay at least as good, if not better. FF7 has been greatly surpassed as far as graphics go, but is still remembered today for its story. I can see personal preference for certain stories or characters, but none of the FF games have sacrificed story or gameplay for good graphics. They have both.

It's interesting to see so many of the same games appear on one person's best list and someone else's worst list.

Gizah · Post by **Gizah** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 3:54 pm

Cyberstorm 2 & M.A.X. 2 spring to mind

Ditto to both.

Eightball · Post by **Eightball** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 4:34 pm

I'd have to second Ultima VIII, Super Ultima Brothers.

And definately MOO3. That game was awful, and followed two great games. That's a double donkey punch.

D.A.Lewis · Post by **D.A.Lewis** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 6:31 pm

EddieA wrote:"I've heard this many times, and it just makes no sense to me. It's interesting to see so many of the same games appear on one person's best list and someone else's worst list.

you know what they say, different strokes for different folks.

FF7 forward were boring. I think it was the way battles were handled, or maybe the way the coversations were handled, I don't know why exactly but I never had an all night session of Final Fanatasy 7 gaming like I did in FF3. Sheezz I'm getting sleepy just thinking about a FF7 session. So sleepy. So Seeeeeeepppeeee. Sleeeeeeeeep . . . . . .

(head falls on computer desk) WHAT!!!

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 7:24 pm

Allied General - a pale shell of the greatness that was Panzer General

HOMM4 - 5th time to the till, and they forget the AI? Unforgivable.

Age of Sail II - Horrible, just horrible. At least Akella redeemed themselves with Age of Sail II.V - Privateers Bounty

Warlords IV - The previous 3 were all classics. WTF happened?

North vs. South - The Great Battles games were all good, and the market would have supported taking it to Genghis Khan. But all the way to the American Civil War? It was a disaster.

Archangel · Post by **Archangel** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 8:17 pm

My candidates would be "Need for speed 2" and "Driver3", at least until they have fixed the deadzone issues for those with wheels.

yossar · Post by **yossar** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 11:45 pm

I liked Ultima 8, but then I never played anything before it. U8 and UO were actually the only two in the series I liked, but maybe that's just because the others were so dated when I tried them.

Worst sequels I've played are:
Quest for Glory 5 (only one in the series I didn't finish. Not sure if it was me or the game. Maybe both)
Star General (Hard to top the perfection that is Panzer General but this wasn't even close)

Kasey Chang · Post by **Kasey Chang** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 12:17 am

Star General wasn't THAT bad. It's just that "Panzer General in Space" motif can only carry you so far.

Cyberstorm 2 actually ain't that bad in itself. However, it seems to have gone the route of complexity disguised as "challenge". Compared to the original it is a bit on the "bleh" side.

Napoleon · Post by **Napoleon** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 3:43 am

D.A.Lewis wrote:
3) Land of Lore 2. The sequel wasn't bad but LOL1 was a classic and LOL2 was just so disapointing in how if failed to soar. I liked LOL2, but due to LOL1, I had very very high expectations for this game.

Good one. Although I'll disagree with you in that I thought LOL2 was a pretty bad game, actually. Shame too, LOL1 is so incredibly classic.

swissmtndog · Post by **swissmtndog** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 2:28 pm

MAX 2 would my choice for most disappointing. But Homm IV is a close contender. Both of these games were very poor followups to excellent games.

I'd put Star General and Warlords IV in the 'good games but not quite as good as the classics they followed' category. Star General actually followed Fantasy General, which was a fantastic game, probably my favorite of the entire General series.

Anonymous Bosch · Post by **Anonymous Bosch** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 3:21 pm

Daehawk wrote:MOO 3

Winner.

There's simply no way to trump the splendiferousness-to-suckitude ratio of MoO2 to MoO3.

Defiant · Post by **Defiant** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 3:23 pm

yossar wrote: Quest for Glory 5 (only one in the series I didn't finish. Not sure if it was me or the game. Maybe both)

Having just finished this, I can only say "Huh?!"

The only big negatives that I can see in it was that the new method of fighting, and the amount of cameos from previous games. Otherwise gameplay was as good as the others in the series (that I played, anyway), with generally logical puzzles. The story was ok - maybe not spectacular, but not especially weak. There were plenty of different quests depending on what kind of character you were playing in addition to the main quest, as well as a number of non-linear options.

I suppose there were a few too many puns, but that's true of the whole series.

Peacedog · Post by **Peacedog** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 4:41 pm

Interstate 82. It violated the MO of the original: "Never get out of the car." Interstate 76 was a PC masterpiece, but 82 killed any chances of ever seeing a worthy sequel.

Wasn't I-82 more Twisted Metal like anyway?

EddieA wrote:The stories are much more in-depth, the characters more fleshed out, and the gameplay at least as good, if not better

I'm not including FF7 in this commentary, but 8-10 (I didn't play FF X-2, and never willI reckon, thanks to my experience with FFX). It is worth noting that FF7 is certainly the bridge game from the "old school" to the "new", containing plenty of elements of what was and what came to be.

There is more story in each successive game. There isn't much to speak of on the depth front (I might be inclined to give some points to FF IX here, but don't push it's luck). And the characters aren't particularly well fleshed out. Angsty characters with murdered parents/village/whatever do not characters with depth make.

The games have sacrificed gameplay for story. Not only have they gotten much more linear (researving that "open up and let them go anywhere" phase for later and later into the game, and giving less to do at that time as compared to FF3[US - what was the VI over there?]), but they've started throwing more (much more) story at you. You spend longer and longer watching cut scenes, and less time playing the game (which seems to more and more consist of going from A to B and fighting along the way). They're becoming interactive movies.

Yeah, they have both gameplay and story, but the former is being sacrificed for the latter. The cutscene watching is a bigger aspect of the game. The things in between seem to be getting less attention.

D.A.Lewis · Post by **D.A.Lewis** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 11:29 am

The Mad Hatter wrote:It's a close call between Empire II and Ultima: Ascension. .

Ultima Ascension was like the last Kings Quest. Not really a sequel but a different game entirely. Once I got over that and had the rig to run the game, I found that I really liked the game.

Still, while it was a very good game, I think it easilyl qualifies as a horrible sequel. And Ultima Ascension most likley killed off any subsequent commercial single player Ultima games for the foreseeable future.

JayG · Post by **JayG** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 4:09 pm

D.A.Lewis wrote:
The Mad Hatter wrote:It's a close call between Empire II and Ultima: Ascension. .

Ultima Ascension was like the last Kings Quest. Not really a sequel but a different game entirely. Once I got over that and had the rig to run the game, I found that I really liked the game.

Still, while it was a very good game, I think it easilyl qualifies as a horrible sequel. And Ultima Ascension most likley killed off any subsequent commercial single player Ultima games for the foreseeable future.

Very true, and very sad. I still think the Ultimas were the greatest RPG experience for the PC, and I could only imagine what they could do with todays technology. I also feel the same way about the Might and Magic series, and it's a sign of the times that the spin off is so much more popular.

bluefugue · Post by **bluefugue** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 5:02 pm

Jedi Knight 2 was awful, I really hated that game. It had so much potential.

FWIW, I'd put Jedi Knight 2 alongside Half Life, Jedi Knight 1, and a couple others in my top single-player shooters of all time.

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