When a game is successful developers usually are immediately working on a sequel, they want to make their second entry into the franchise bigger, badder and better. After looking through all of my games and their sequels I noticed that the number 2 in a series is generally the best, except in Devil May Cry, number 3 is best in that series, but it is a prequel so maybe that makes it number 1, hmmm. I digress, I found what I think are the best sequels ever made.
5. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
My father was actually a fan of the Uncharted series, he sat and watched me play the first three when my PS3 was connected to main television in the family room. I remember the first entry in the series, I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I remembered the controls being a bit finicky, upon replaying the HD collectors version recently I discovered that my memory was correct. I got through that one in about eight hours then reveled in the fact that I would be playing the best Uncharted game. Naughty Dog perfected the controls, no longer was I aiming like a spastic; the story was one of the best in a game that I had played up to that point; and the cast of character were so engaging that I fell in love with them, especially Chloe. I loved the story in this game so much, the villain was amazing, even though he was a bitch to beat on the harder difficulties. Naughty Dog in this game could do no wrong, and it shows.
4. Mass Effect 2
Nostalgia kind of makes gamers believe that the first Mass Effect was better than it actually was. Now, before you murder me online hear me out. I was a huge early 2000’s Bioware fan, KOTOR, Jade Empire, and Mass Effect are some of my favorite games, but the first Mass Effect has not aged well. I popped the PS3 version in recently and I was greeted with some subpar graphics and finicky controls. The controls were BAD, holy hell I could barely move Shepard around without getting riddled with lazer shots. Jump forward a few years and Mass Effect 2 takes the world by storm! Bioware dropped their sophomore title onto the world and perfected everything about it. The graphics were updated, the controls were spot on and the story was expanded to some amazing proportions. I loved rebuilding the crew, playing as resurrected Shepard and trying hard to make sure everyone lived in the suicide mission, sadly years later I still can’t get them all to survive. Poor Jack.
3. Red Dead Redemption
Most people reading this will wonder why I put Rockstar’s opus on the sequel list, and it is due to the fact that it is the sequel to Red Dead Redemption 2 in the timeline. Personally I loved this title, my father instilled a love of the Wild West in me. He would take me to all the historical areas in the west, Tombstone, Lincoln County, Custer Battlefield and so on. So I was super excited in 2010 to get my hands on this title, I played it on our main television at home and Dad would watch me gun down my foes. Then he would laugh as I spent a good twenty minutes riding a horse to get to the next destination. While I enjoyed Red Dead Redemption 2, the one that came before holds a special place in my heart. Dad never got to see the sequel, and I’m sure he would have been more amazed by the graphics and writing than the PS3 Red Dead. John Marston is also my favorite character in the series and I enjoyed playing as him a majority of the game rather than as other folks in RDR2.
2. Silent Hill 2
It took me years to complete the first Silent Hill game, I started it when it first came out in 1999 then finally finished it on Christmas Day, oddly enough, in 2011. That’s a whole twelve years in between saves because I couldn’t handle the babies attacking me in the school. I’m glad that I finally manned up because if I hadn’t I never would have played Silent Hill 2, I’m a stickler for playing games in order for some reason, even if they’re aren’t linked at all. The Silent Hill games, at least the first three are all somewhat linked more than the town they take place in. The second game of the PlayStation 2 trilogy was by far the best, Team Silent just seemed to click into perfect while developing this game. The game is so well written that you actually feel bad for James Sunderland, even though he wasn’t the best of human beings. The music while gorgeous is still unsettling and chill inducing. Mood and atmosphere will also give you the goose-flesh, the buildings you explore, the enemies you battle and of course Pyramid Head will forever be burning into my memory. I really need to replay this title because I’m beginning to get foggy about my playthrough (see what I did there?) and I just want to go through the classics again while I wait for the new classics.
1. Resident Evil 2
Resident Evil is my most favorite franchise in all of video gaming, and it was very hard to me to not pick Resident Evil: Code Veronica for the top spot. I love Code Veronica for what it did with the story, the villains, how epic all the set pieces were and the fact that that was the last time we got a pre-steroid Chris Redfield. However, after playing the Resident Evil 2 Remake my heart leaned a little more to this iteration than Code Veronica. The first two Resident Evil games on the original PlayStation are the games that pulled me back into gaming after my SNES years. My father would watch me play all these when I was on break from school and he got a kick out of every zombie I decapitated with the shotgun. The second title in this series definitely amped up the action, the suspense, the story and the mechanics. Yes, there were still Tank Controls, but somehow Capcom streamlined them and the graphics while great for the day didn’t age well; I still try to play the original once a year. This series and game changed the direction of my life, for the better I’m yet to find out, but I love it so. I don’t remember a game before this that used the save from a prior playthrough to affect the new playthrough. That alone is why this game tops the list, now countless games pull from that prior save and it is a normal mechanic, but for 1998 that was the FUTURE!
What sequels are your favorite? Did I miss one? Let me know on Twitter @Superjerry13 or on Instagram.