I started playing Star Trek Elite Force 2 and whilst it’s not a bad game it’s not as good as the first one. This got me thinking “How often has a sequel equaled or bettered the original?”
Well, the answer for that is simple, once. Half-Life 2 was very nearly as good as Half-Life 1. Now I know not everybody agrees with me but it’s obviously a personal choice. In this case the technical improvement is clear but I truly believe that if Half-Life 1 were made in Source (Yes, I know about Black Mesa!) then it would surpass HL2. Of course the order you play them is important not just from the story point of view. See Level Combinations for more details.
Contrary to public opinion I am not that experienced when it comes to games. Perhaps games like System Shock 2, Blood 2, Serious Sam 2, Quake 2 were better than the originals I don’t know but when an industry is as new as gaming was when they were released opinions can so easily be affected by the technology. And let’s be honest the quality of the early FPS games was not very good. No disrespect intended to all the very smart people who spent many hundreds of hours developing them.
Yes I agree but….the lead story is RTCW2! 🙂 Any links, info, will it be just for consoles or PC?
Well, I read that it was going to be for PC but can’t find any info about that. But to be honest I haven’t looked recently.
You really should subscribe to my news and links feeds because both have info about RtCW2. One is a video:, the other a Website. The video comes from the website and that seesm to be the total content. However, even though the site is German it still seems to be the place to start looking once the details are released.
Thanks, I had found those however that’s the sum total of my searches. Early days yet, I guess. The video implies its only XBox 360 because they talk about its unique mapper tools.
I thought it was confirmed that the sequel to RtCW would also come for the PC?
But I agree, RtCW was fantastic and I hope Raven doesn’t screw up as they did with Quake 4.
I just got done watching the video for RTCW and it looks good! I sure hope they don’t put all their effort into the X-Box!! Raven has not made any effort to make a next part for Quake4, pity cause I feel I wasted my money on something that has no future! Too much of this online stuff and not much thought to the SP!
If HL1 was remade in Source it would be clearly a far superior game over HL2. Its because the “game mechanics” and the structural design is better than in HL2. HL1 was also better tuned gameplaywise than HL2.
However,HL2 is far better than Unreal 2 as a sequel for a classic shooter.
But im not generally disappointed with sequels.
I found Alien vs. Predator 2 better than the prequel,and System Shock 2 was also very high quality. Doom 3 was a stunningly well made refreshment of an aged gaming principle, but Deus Ex 2 sucked …
I’m with you, Philip, in regards to sequels. Unless the sequel is a planned part of a pair or trilogy or whatever, they typically turn out to be rather insipid, because they feel like a piss-poor attempt to wring more money out of the rubes.
HL2 is an excellent game; HL1 was excellent as well (and if it were done in Source, it would thoroughly kick ass, especially because the graphics would do the game justice).
Quake2 wasn’t as good a game as Q1, imho, partly because of Q1’s story issues, partly because it got too far away from what Q1 established as a viable game. Yes, Q2 (and the others it spawned) were popular, much moreso than Q1; but I think that was because they ended up where the players *expected* them to be, and not as a real sequel to Q1.
DOOM3 really took the original story and gave it teeth, with the improvements to the engine, graphics, and gameplay. I hope someone will take the first batch of DOOMs and put them in the D3 engine; with a bit of massaging, a complete story could be created from all three, making it necessary to play the first ones to understand the third.
I think, for a game series to be viable and interesting, they need to all be parts of a whole, a story with a beginning and an end, with all elements relying on other elements within the previous chapters or episodes.
In fact, I would daresay that some sci-fi or fantasy trilogys or series would make excellent bases for computer games. As long as the creators stuck with the original stories and plotlines, and interpreted the characters correctly, they would have a killer game series that would keep players immersed and involved, and spending money. 😉
I just seen Half_Life:Source preload complete, in my game list.Dont remember that before.why do they install sh*t to my computor without asking.
Blood 2 and Serious Sam 2 were nowhere near as good as the first ones.
Monolith even apologised for Blood 2. That’s how bad it was.