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00:00When you have a hot property, it must be tempting to be precious with it, which is a shame as those
00:04that dare and succeed are their own biggest reward. These aren't baby steps forward so much as they
00:09are massive jumps. I'm Sy for WhatCulture.com and here are 10 big leaps between video game sequels.
00:16Number 10, Half-Life 1998 to Half-Life 2 2004. The original Half-Life is considered a milestone
00:22for first-person shooters. Its focus on narrative knocked down the boundaries of what was expected
00:27from the genre, creating the most immersive FPS up until that point, which is why it's incredible
00:32that Half-Life 2 put some things about the first game in stark contrast by innovating even further.
00:37It established more of the world for the series outside of the Black Mesa research facility,
00:42giving the franchise an edgier tone that was able to ask grander and more philosophical questions
00:46about evolution and fate. In fact, grander is a good catch-all term for what Half-Life 2 did.
00:52Instead of being a sci-fi corridor shooter, it allowed players to explore large, uninterrupted
00:56environments, go off the beaten path and via a number of vehicles, traverse some really
01:00impressive, grimy scenery. Of course, one huge improvement over the original was the depth of
01:05gameplay content. The brand new Havoc physics engine made the game a sandbox in and of itself
01:09and the likes of the game's gravity gun gave players some incredibly fun tools to take full
01:14advantage of it. It's pretty remarkable that both games have been in a conversation for the best of
01:18all time, especially considering the leaps and bounds Half-Life 2 makes from its predecessor.
01:23Number 9, Jak and Daxter 2001 to Jak 2 2003. Capable of displaying at 480p and 16.9, Jak 2 is part of an
01:32elite crew of PlayStation 2 games that squeezed more out of the console in this way. Whilst the first
01:37game was plenty pretty, this push in the sequel is shown in the great texture work, lighting, and
01:41number of enemies on screen at once. But Jak 2's place on this list isn't about its graphics so much
01:46as the leap it made stylistically. Jak and Daxter The Precursor Legacy released in 2001 in the months
01:52following the unmatched sea change that was Grand Theft Auto 3's release. Whilst the game is considered
01:57a cult hit, it struggled to find its audience at a time when gaming was changing. Of course GTA would
02:02have been a great pick for this list if it wasn't so painfully obvious, but it isn't facetious to say
02:07that the impact that game had on the industry came full circle for Naughty Dog when approaching Jak 2.
02:12Whilst the platforming and collect-a-thon elements are still present, the sequel takes its heroes in a
02:16darker direction, giving them firearms, letting them cuss more frequently, and following a more
02:21mature story. It was a divisive choice to be sure as nobody saw it coming, but it certainly stopped
02:27the fledgling franchise from being left in the dust of the industry's change.
02:31Number 8 Red Steel 2006 to Red Steel 2 2010. Remember Red Steel? Most people seem to have forgotten,
02:38so subscribe to the channel if you like people bringing up weird games like this. Red Steel was a
02:43logical launch title for the Nintendo Wii. Set in the Japanese criminal underworld of America,
02:48the game was about cutting down enemies with a sidearm and the katana by using the console's
02:52motion controls. Unfortunately, its concept perhaps oversold its execution. Many critics and gamers found
02:58the game to be awkward to play at times, with the best sword moves poorly, if at all explained,
03:03and the graphics leaving a lot to be desired. So it's kind of incredible that it got a sequel at all,
03:08and in fact that Red Steel 2 might be one of the best games on the system when it comes to
03:12utilising its strengths. The original's Metacritic score of 63 compared to 80 for the sequel is a
03:18good place to start. Red Steel 2 ditches the modern day setting for a really stylish samurai
03:23cowboy aesthetic. Its cel-shaded graphics mean that it's aged remarkably well. Most importantly,
03:28with the arrival of the Wii Motion Plus and the failings of the first game to learn from,
03:32Ubisoft Paris were able to craft a, what they called, first-person brawler, which is exceedingly
03:37rewarding to learn and execute. Whilst the game might be heavy on the tutorials at first,
03:42it's worth it to understand and appreciate the combat of this sequel, which finally reaches the
03:46promises of the original. 7. Street Fighter 1987 to Street Fighter 2 1991
03:52If there's ever been a series that has tried its best to make you forget about its awkward first
03:57entry, it's Street Fighter. Most people basically treat the franchise as starting from Street Fighter
04:012 and its many revisions, and for very good reason. The original Street Fighter might have made
04:06plenty of money in the arcade, but it was very flawed. Its control system was a mess. The sole
04:11playable character moved horribly slowly, and sprite work was all over the place in quality.
04:16It had a spark of potential, being the first game to include variable strengths for punches and kicks,
04:21as well as hidden special moves, but it now lives in a huge shadow. Street Fighter 2, which arrived
04:27four years later, outdid the original game in every way. Combat was tight, fluid, and infinitely more
04:33satisfying. It took the original's worldwide tournament concept where it needed to go by
04:37including a variety of fighters from all over the globe. The artwork and character designs were
04:42stunning, introducing players to the most enduring renditions of some of the most iconic characters
04:47in gaming. More than anything, the shine to perfection execution of Street Fighter 2 is responsible
04:52for the beginning of the fighting genre boom in a way that the first game could never be.
04:56Number 6, Metal Gear Solid 1998 to Metal Gear Solid 2 2001. No video game better displayed the leap
05:03from the 5th to 6th generation consoles than Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty. In 1998, the first
05:09Metal Gear Solid game helped to turn the original PlayStation on its head. Games from the system's
05:13first year, like Tekken, Jumping Flash, and Gex, could never have foreseen what some developers
05:18would squeeze out of the console in just a few short years. Kojima's MGS was one of these,
05:23using brilliant art direction and choreography to make something unforgettably cinematic out
05:28of the PS1's sharp polygons. But MGS2 was another story entirely, continuing the series'
05:34habit of cutting edge thinking just three years later on the PlayStation 2. Its use of motion
05:39blur and depth of field were unprecedented. Shiny surfaces actually appeared to be reflective.
05:45Rain effects from the game's opening actually bounced off the ground and off of the player.
05:49Master models didn't just finally have eyes, they were actually incredibly expressive. Sons of Liberty
05:54seemed to laugh in the face of the mere idea of limitation. This was one year into the PlayStation 2's
06:00lifespan and the game would spend the rest of the generation and the decades following it
06:04being rightfully praised as one of the most remarkable titles on the console.
06:08Number 5, Resident Evil 3 Nemesis 1999 to Resident Evil 4 2005.
06:14The difference between Resident Evil 3 Nemesis and Resident Evil 4 is so huge that presented
06:19to a non-gamer it wouldn't be surprising if they assumed they were totally unrelated.
06:23Now that's not to say that there weren't Resi games in the six year gap between the third and
06:27fourth numbered entries. The 2000s was one of the busiest and most experimental times for the series,
06:32with Capcom releasing side games spin-offs and a remake. Even so, people were hungry for the next
06:38mainline game that would push the series forward after the destruction of Raccoon City.
06:42However, people were not expecting the gigantic jump that Resident Evil 4 would bring in absolutely
06:48every way. Its story is completely separate from the rest of the series going so far as to wrap up
06:52the fate of the malevolent umbrella in the opening monologue. Its quipping action star interpretation
06:57of returning hero Leon might as well be a different person. It dropped virus infected zombies for
07:03parasite infected humans and it traded all of the gameplay tropes it helped establish for
07:07something completely fresh. It's such a wild departure that it's still discussed amongst Resident Evil
07:12fans today for how it boldly cleaned the slate for better or for worse. This aside, there's no
07:17arguing that it saved the series from stagnation and changed gaming forever with its at the time
07:22innovative over-the-shoulder panic horror action. Number four, Uncharted Drake's Fortune 2007 to
07:29Uncharted 2 Among Thieves 2009. They can't all be immediately obvious leaps and bounds. Sometimes it's fun to
07:35get a little more granular. When it comes to refining an idea and learning from experiences, the first two
07:40Uncharted games are a brilliant example of iterating a sequel within the same console space.
07:45Aesthetically, despite just two years between them, there's quite a strong difference between the
07:49first two Uncharted games, especially when it comes to character models. Obviously Naughty Dog already had
07:54plenty to build from and had experience working within the PS3's tech at this point, a console that
07:59was notoriously hard to develop for, so plenty of time was spent turning the flat-faced action figures of
08:04Uncharted into more detailed and more handsomely chiseled characters. This really helps the improved
08:09script to land as well. But it's not just about graphics, sequels can be about finding one's feet.
08:14Whereas the original Uncharted was a decent, if repetitive, cover shooter, Among Thieves saw the
08:18series become the video game action movie hybrid spectacle that it became known as. The sequel does
08:24an infinitely better job of pacing shooting galleries and climbing sections and features some of the best
08:28set pieces in the series, including the train shootout with its impressively immersive looping
08:33background. Uncharted 2 is what made Nathan Drake the Sony mascot he became for the next decade.
08:393. Kid Icarus of Myths and Monsters 1991 to Kid Icarus Uprising 2012
08:45Any series that manages to skip 20 years of console revolution is going to look different,
08:50but one of the best examples of this is the unlikely revival of Kid Icarus. And unlikely is a very
08:55deliberate choice of wording here. Despite the 1986 original being quite unanimously held in high
09:00regard as an underrated gem for the NES, it took five years for the game to get a sequel. Of Myths
09:06and Monsters for the Nintendo Game Boy strangely only released in America in 1991 and Europe in 1992
09:12and never came to its home country of Japan. Until the 3DS, but that's besides the point. However,
09:17with the main character Pit being drafted into the roster of Super Smash Brothers Brawl in the late
09:222000s, interest in Kid Icarus began to pick up again. In the 20 years of absence the video game
09:27space had changed as dramatically as Pit's original squat design had to his new Bishounen anime protagonist
09:33style. As such, 2012's Kid Icarus Uprising was a totally different take on the series,
09:38swapping 2D platforming for third-person shooting that utilized the stereoscopic 3D of the then-new
09:44Nintendo 3DS. The game actually takes a few potshots at the time the series spent dormant, yet despite
09:50decent sales and strong reviews it's now been another decade without Pit and friends.
09:55Number 2, Final Fantasy VI 1994 to Final Fantasy VII 1997. It would have been easy to fill this list
10:02with franchises that made the most obvious graphical jump in game history from 2D to 3D,
10:07but few reached the heights of Final Fantasy's transformation. Final Fantasy VI had pushed the
10:12Super Nintendo as far as it could go. The game's map, or two technically, which in itself was a
10:17shocking feat, was full of secrets and optional bosses. The story and characters were brilliantly
10:21animated in a way that felt epic for the time, but this was nothing compared to what would come in
10:26just three years. Final Fantasy VII wasn't just jumping to the CD-ROM-fed PlayStation, but had a
10:32whopping $45 million budget, making it one of the most expensive video games ever made at that point.
10:38This also made it an unavoidable must-play, taking the franchise to the worldwide stage in a big way.
10:43After the West had only gotten the sporadic FF game, usually numbered incorrectly,
10:48Final Fantasy VII was the launching point for the series globally. The huge game, split across four
10:53discs, boasted an entire suite of 3D work from overworld models, dozens of battle character models
10:58and animations, and more CGI than any other game to that point. Pairing this with fully orchestrated
11:04music made for a game that, whilst perhaps quaint, now had to be experienced to be believed at the time.
11:10Pretty good for a series seven entries in. And number one, every Elder Scrolls game.
11:15With some of the longest running franchises in gaming, it's possible to track the changes in
11:19the industry incrementally through new instalments. On the flip side, Elder Scrolls games tend to be so
11:25infrequently released that each one feels like a completely fresh experience, so to just pick
11:29one pair would be impossible. Perhaps the outlier to this is the two years between the original game,
11:34Arena and its sequel, Daggerfall. Whilst this is therefore also the smallest jump in quality,
11:40it's very clear that the Bethesda team had learnt a lot on their first RPG and applied that experience
11:45to every facet of its sequel, creating a bigger, prettier and more active map to explore.
11:51Morrowind arrived six years later following the real advent of 3D gaming being the first entry to
11:56come to Xbox and doing so in stunning fashion as the most impressive RPG on consoles at the time.
12:02Whilst the map this time is technically smaller, with a lack of procedural generation it makes for
12:07a more considered world to get lost in. Four years later, Oblivion added an unprecedented physics
12:12system to Elder Scrolls as well as HDR lighting and a spectacular draw distance. Five years on
12:18marked the most recent mainline entry with Skyrim which improved lighting, shadows and weather effects
12:23greatly and it also added a greater degree of verticality to Tamriel making for some pretty
12:28impressive views. If Elder Scrolls 6 arrived in 2025 and that's probably being generous that would be
12:34almost 15 years since Skyrim and thus would continue the trend and considering that Skyrim's original
12:40launch in 2011 wasn't even natively in HD it's fair to say we've come a long way since. So goodness only
12:47knows what Elder Scrolls 6 will look like.
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