Top 10 Laziest Video Game Sequels Ever
Top 10 Laziest Sequels in Video Games
Top 10 Video Game Sequels We're STILL Waiting For
Welcome to WatchMojo and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the top 10 laziest sequels in video games. For this list, we’re looking at follow-up games that, while not always terrible, are still blatant attempts to profit from the popularity of an IP rather than doing something new and innovative with it. Let us know in the comments which you thought was the most unoriginal.
#10: “Destiny 2” (2017)
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After creating the wildly successful “Halo” franchise, Bungie left Microsoft to try something new and in 2014, “Destiny” was released. But publisher Activision wasn’t on board with Bungie’s “ten-year plan” and encouraged the studio to push out a sequel as quickly as possible. At launch, “Destiny 2” was a complete mess that barely changed anything carried over from its predecessor. It took years of content updates, robust expansion packs, and Bungie leaving Activision to make “Destiny 2” free-to-play, but the game is finally worth spending your time on. Back in 2017, many saw it as a lazy cash-grab from Activision and little else.
#9: “Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts” (2008)
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A highly regarded 3D platformer, “Banjo-Kazooie” getting revived as a vehicle-based title was baffling to fans of the franchise. The vehicle construction may be solid and enjoyable in its own way, but aside from the characters, there’s absolutely nothing in “Nuts & Bolts” that makes it recognizable as a “Banjo-Kazooie” game. For a time, there was a team at Rare reportedly working on a prototype kart racing game tentatively named “Banjo-Kazoomie”. We would’ve loved to see it! But “Nuts & Bolts”, as delivered, probably would have worked better as a completely new IP. Re-using old ideas and slapping a familiar name on for good measure isn’t a great way to make a game.
#8: “Perfect Dark Zero” (2005)
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One of the best games of the N64-era, “Perfect Dark” was always going to be a tough act to follow. But no one could’ve predicted just how much of a struggle it would be for Rare to bring the series to the Xbox 360. Though they took full advantage of the 360’s more powerful hardware in a lot of ways – like with solid graphics and animations – it was still disappointing over all, with poorly-functioning enemy AI and a boring story. It’s not a terrible game by any means, but it just couldn’t fill the original’s boots. “Zero” proved far too formulaic and ultimately forgettable. The “Perfect Dark” in the title was it’s only real selling point—and it didn’t live up to the name.
#7: “Dragon Age II” (2011)
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After the resounding success of “Dragon Age: Origins”, all eyes were on BioWare to see what they’d do next. But “Dragon Age II” was sorely disappointing upon release. Gone were the numerous potential character backstories of “Origins”. In this sequel, everyone played as Hawke. Players could determine gender and class type, but it still felt like a step back in terms of player freedom. To make matters worse, the entire game took place within the walls of the bleak city of Kirkwall, recycling environments ad infinitum. The game suffered from a rushed development cycle and it showed in the finished product. In hindsight, “Dragon Age II” works better as a prequel to “Inquisition” than a worthy sequel to “Origins.”
#6: “Borderlands 3” (2019)
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If you absolutely loved the other “Borderlands” games then chances are you also loved “Borderlands 3” when it was released, because it offered more of the exact same gameplay and humor as the rest of the series. Hardcore fans may applaud the game for sticking to its guns and Gearbox for doing what they do best, but that doesn’t excuse it for its complete lack of originality. And in a lot of ways, it was actually worse than previous games because its villains were unmemorable, and the available playstyles didn’t actually add much variety. Nothing in “Borderlands 3” was new to the industry or to the series, and its reputation suffers as a result.
#5: Every “Guitar Hero” & “Rock Band” Game
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The late 2000s saw a craze around rhythm games. For a few years, everybody was playing “Guitar Hero” and its slightly less revolutionary cousin “Rock Band”—both of which were initially created by Harmonix. After the wild popularity of the first “Guitar Hero”, the fad was heavily capitalized on, with more entries being released featuring additional songs and modes. There were even games dedicated to specific artists, like the Beatles and Green Day. But at the heart of it, no sequels in either franchise ever managed to innovate. Even the more recent “Rock Band VR” fell flat on its face because it was essentially the same game we’d been playing for over a decade.
#4: “Far Cry: Primal” (2016)
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Fresh-off 2014’s “Far Cry 4”, Ubisoft quickly went to work developing the next sequel, a spin-off following a tribe of cavemen in prehistoric times. “Primal” did plenty of things right; the graphics were great, the zany “Far Cry” humor was still there, and they even devised a unique language for the characters to use. But while the map was full of extinct beasts to hunt, there was something uncanny about the topography: it turned out that Ubisoft had entirely recycled the map from “Far Cry 4”. In principle, this isn’t so bad, but when “Primal” commanded a full $60 price tag upon release, many couldn’t help but feel ripped off.
#3: “Batman: Arkham Origins” (2013)
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In 2013, Rocksteady was busy hammering away on what would eventually become the critically acclaimed “Arkham Knight”, so Warner Bros. selected its own unproven studio, WB Games Montreal, to create a prequel. “Origins” would follow a much younger Batman still vilified by the GCPD during his first encounter with the Joker, but it fell short on almost every level. “Origins” isn’t a terrible game, but it’s nowhere near the level of artistry as the other three “Arkham” titles. It was clearly just Warner Bros. attempting to milk the name for all it was worth before “Knight” wrapped up the story. Even die-hard DC fans care little for “Origins”; it’s no wonder the games are still referred to as a “trilogy.”
#2: “Resident Evil 5” (2009) & “Resident Evil 6” (2012)
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Despite the incredible success of “Resident Evil 4” and its predecessors, in 2009, Capcom decided to convert the series into a bland run-and-gun shooter. Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine may have been present, as was a tricky inventory management system, but the fast-paced action gameplay lost what made the series special. And then they went and strayed even further from the path with “Resident Evil 6”, which, for all its homage to the originals, had even more action and far less suspense. It was a lazy attempt to make the games conform to popular trends in what was seemingly a bid to sell more copies. In doing so, however, Capcom lost sight of what made the franchise so successful in the first place.
#1: “Duke Nukem Forever” (2011)
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In 1997, “Duke Nukem Forever” was announced and quickly entered development hell, where it was passed from studio to studio for the next fifteen years. When it was finally released in 2011, it was clear that this was a game that belonged in the ‘90s—when it should have been released. The gameplay was sorely outdated compared to other FPS giants, the plot was criticized by many for its uninspired toilet humor, and the graphics were pretty lackluster as well. The studio which finally finished the game, Gearbox, released it as quickly as possible and clearly never saw an issue with the game’s glaring faults.
