The Re-Inventors: 6 New Games that will Re-Invent their Franchises
- August 05, 2009 14:10 PM PST
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These upcoming sequel giants for PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii are anything but "more of the same."
Words by Patrick Shaw (Left)
and McKinley Noble (Right)
These days, launching new video game franchises is risky business and there's truly no stopping video game sequels from coming out. But don't get us wrong -- we're not complaining because many of the most promising games on the horizon are in fact sequels: God of War III, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Halo 3: ODST, Uncharted 2, Left 4 Dead 2, and Mass Effect 2 just to name a few.
But what about the upcoming games that strive to be more than just a continuation of the previous game with some minor improvements? We're talking about video game sequels that are fundamentally different from their predecessors and have a real shot at redefining what their franchises are. Here are six high-profile game sequels that are pulling out all the stops to make their series feel brand-new again.
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
How it seeks to re-invent the franchise:
Shattered Memories is technically a "re-imagining" of the blood-curdlingly moody PlayStation survival horror classic, but Konami has literally built this beast from scratch, salvaging only a pinch of Silent Hill lore in the process. How much is actually new in Shattered Memories? Well, everything aside from the set up from the first game: you're on a quest to find your daughter Cheryl who disappears after you wreck your car.
There are a buttload of exciting things to talk about that pertain to how exactly the game's developers are going about bringing fresh ideas into Silent Hill. The big focus and the most innovative aspect of Shattered Memories I've seen is your psychological profile that you're continuously building from the moment you boot up the game, which ultimately shapes how the game plays out.
This isn't as simple as choose option one and you'll run into something scary and choose option two and you wont. Instead, the decisions you make in the game effect everything from the paths your character will take to the physical appearances of enemies and characters you meet.
The best example I can give of altering the appearance of characters occurs towards the end of the first scenario in Silent Hill: Shattered Memories where the female police officer Cybil appears in three different variations depending on how you play the game. She'll either be a swat-type hardass, a non-threatening local cop, or a rather slutty police officer who has her uniform zipped down a bit.
Patrick's gut feeling:
To be honest, I wasn't all that stoked on the last few Silent Hill offerings, which are part of a series that's been in a slow decline since Silent Hill 3. Shattered Memories, which I played a bunch of at E3 2009 and before that at a Konami event, is shaping up to be not just a reinvigoration of the horror brand, it has a real chance at being the best Silent Hill game of all time. Some gamers may hear "Silent Hill," "Wii," and "Remake," and then assume that this is just the original Silent Hill game with some crusty motion controls tacked on -- but nothing could be further from the truth.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
How it seeks to re-invent the franchise:
Castlevania's never really been known for its forays into the 3D action-adventure genre, but with Lords of Shadow it finally looks like the series is ready to make the jump to become a hack-and-slash action-adventure worthy of the Castlevania name. Of course, the biggest news isn't just that Lords of Shadow is a new story in the Castlevania mythos, it's that Kojima Productions is also overseeing the project.
We're not sure how things are going to turn out, but the God of War-meets-Castlevania vibe we got from the game's teaser trailer has us convinced: Lords of Shadow could change future Castlevania titles for the better. Lament of Innocence and Curse of Darkness weren't bad, but it was clear that Konami still had a few things to learn.
Still, we can tell from the teaser that Konami's on the right track with Lords of Shadow.
McKinley's gut feeling:
Personally, I haven't really liked any of the 3D Castlevania games... and Castlevania Judgement was a complete atrocity to the senses. If Lords of Shadow takes a page from God of War for general combat, I hope they also borrow from Shadow of the Colossus for its boss battles. Even if Gabriel isn't a Belmont, he should come to the Castlevania series with whip tricks and over-the-top stunts that would make Kratos and Dante green with envy. I wonder how that Combat Cross gizmo's going to change the gameplay?
Max Payne 3
How it seeks to re-invent the franchise:
Even though I'm thrilled that the developers behind one of the most criminally underrated modern video games, Bully, is handling Max Payne 3, a change in developer isn't why Max Payne 3 has made our list. Nope, it's because this game, which Andy Burt amusingly nicknamed "The Fat, Balding, Spaghetti-stained Demise of Max Payne" due to his appearance, reeks of an ambitious and welcomed new direction, one that's submerged in the dread and chaos of Max's new life.There are few plot details about Max Payne 3 that we know at this time, but we do know that Max's life has fallen apart since we've seen him in Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne. In the twelve years that have lapsed since that game, he's not only become fat, lost all his hair, and stopped caring about wearing clean undershirts -- Payne is also no longer an NYPD police officer and apparently has sunken as low as being a security guard in South America (I was a security guard for two years and I know how brimming with shit that job can be).
Even Sam Haouser, the founder of Grand Theft Auto-creators Rockstar Games, is adamant about Max 3's bold new feel as he's said that "we're starting a new chapter of Max's life with this game -- this is Max as we've never seen him before, a few years older, more world-weary and cynical than ever."
Patrick's gut feeling:
It's been a bit too long since Max Payne 2 for Rockstar to pull a "more-of-the-same" sequel on us (let's face it: Max 2 was essentially a great, but glorified expansion pack). And Max Payne 3 shows some serious potential to blow us all away. I just hope that, in Max's heavier state, he can still bust out those slow-mo, bullet-time leaping/shooting moves of his.
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- Aug 05 2009 at 12:32:51:PM PST
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I think you got me even more stoked up for ALL of these games... I think as a whole the industry has passed some of the older more tired franchises up becasue they failed to grow with the power of the consoles and the maturing tastes of gamers... hopefully this handful of great games will collectively open the eyes of all the devs and publishers out there to the fact that gameplay must grow along side of the more powerful consoles, leaving behind the same old tired gameplay with a new coat of paint.
I give kudos for all the devs involved... now, the only thing left is to make sure the new games don't suck...lol
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all these games look and sound amazing i just hope they dont dissapoint. metroid other m looks the most intresting to me
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superstoned wrote:
all these games look and sound amazing i just hope they dont dissapoint. metroid other m looks the most intresting to me
Did you play metrude 3 correpshun for wii yet? and beat it?
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Sweet feature guys. But McKinley brings up a good and disturbing point, I wonder if Max Payne 3 will have jiggle physics? In slo-mo no less.
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I can't wait for MGS:R but I have my concerns that they might try something stupid, like making it similar to Ninja Gaiden, God of War etc. But that would be blasphemous to the series, so I don't think I'll have to worry.
All the other games they showed looked awesome, except for Splinter Cell, I just never really cared for those games.
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Is it just me or does Max Payne on page 3 look like a young Captain Spalding?
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PlasmaSnake wrote:
superstoned wrote:all these games look and sound amazing i just hope they dont dissapoint. metroid other m looks the most intresting to meDid you play metrude 3 correpshun for wii yet? and beat it?
yes i did. i own the game and its a great game and ive completed the game like 3 times...
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to be honest, silent hill looks pretty good for wii. not graphics wise, but gameplay wise. same for metroid. and i'm jealous of splinter cell.
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