While some franchises release a new game every year, there are some that ended too soon. Several factors decide whether a game will get a follow-up or not, be it sales, critics, or just a publisher's decision to shelf a game. Here is our list of games that we think deserve a comeback.
Splinter Cell
Splinter Cell: Blacklist was the last game in the franchise and it was released almost seven years ago. Blacklist wasn’t a bad game by any chance, rather both critics and players praised the game for its level design, story, gameplay, and multiplayer mode. However, there was some criticism over its outdated graphics, lack of challenge, and an underwhelming ending. The series was shelved by Ubisoft because it only sold two million copies and didn’t meet their sales expectations. For years there have been some rumors about a planned sequel. Ubisoft Creative Director Julian Gerighty even said that there was a sequel in works, but Ubisoft later denied it.
The publisher took a departure from the Splinter Cell series so strongly that we didn’t even get a next-gen console port. Currently, Blacklist is only available for PC, Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii U. We think that it’s time to bring back the series, especially with next-gen consoles right around the corner.
Dead Space
Dead Space was a franchise that can scratch that horror-shooter itch. The last game we received was Dead Space 3 back in 2013. The game received a positive reception, but was overall considered a step back from the critically acclaimed Dead Space 2. Although DS3 was praised for its action gameplay and environment, there were some criticisms directed toward its story and introduction of microtransactions in a singleplayer oriented game, critics also thought that game shifted its focus from horror-oriented to action-oriented too much. The game sold poorly and didn’t meet EA’s sales expectations. As a result, the series was canned by EA. Visceral Games, developers of Dead Space, later went on to develop Battlefield Hardline. The studio was later closed by EA after Hardline also failed.
If that wasn’t bad enough, did we mention that Dead Space 3 story DLC “Awakened” ended on a cliff-hanger? It seems like DS fans will never get closure on that.
Left 4 Dead
Valve develops very few games, but almost all of them are amazing, Left 4 Dead is no exception. Left 4 Dead is a multiplayer survival horror game released in 2008. The game garnered so much popularity that Valve made a sequel, which was released the next year. Just like Half-Life, the L4D series became a cult-classic with a very active community even today. Both games in the series were critically praised and performed well in sales. So you are probably wondering why Valve never made Left 4 Dead 3? Well, you are not alone. For some reason Valve just refuses to bend to fan demands and release a sequel. There have been several rumors about L4D sequels, but none ever came to fruition. It has been well over a decade since the last game in the series was released. We can only hope that a new game is in the pipeline.
Portal
Yes, another Valve game that stopped after two. The first Portal was initially developed as a bonus feature for The Orange Box compilation. The Orange Box was a bundle of five games developed by Valve, and contained Half-Life 2, HF2: Episode 1 and 2, Team Fortress 2 and the newly developed Portal. The game was a success, so a full-fledged sequel was made. Portal 2 was released in 2011 and it was nothing short of a masterpiece. It received critical acclaim from almost every media outlet, and won Kotaku’s 2011 Game Of The Year Award. It is even described as one of the “greatest games of all time”. Even with this much positive reception and good sales figures, Valve just stopped giving any love to the Portal franchise and yet again proved that they cannot count to three.
Crysis
You can’t have a Dead Franchise list without Crysis. Whatever your opinion about the game may be, you cannot deny that it had an everlasting effect in the graphics departments of studios around the world. The very first Crysis was launched in 2007, and it looked absolutely gorgeous, giving tough competition to games released even 10 years later. The game showed the full potential of the famous “CryEngine” game engine. But with great graphics came great system requirements. At the time the game was launched, not many PCs could run Crysis properly and that’s where the famous meme “But, can it run Crysis” was born. Crysis spawned two more sequels, and the series ended in 2013 when Crysis 3 was released. C3 was a graphical powerhouse in itself, and it can still give tough competition to games released even today.
Unfortunately, Crysis 3 did not meet the sales expectation of EA and was later shelved forever. We hope that EA revives the series and develops a brand new game for the upcoming next-gen consoles.
