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Assassin's Creed 2 elevated everything.
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00:00Sequels in gaming are more often a cause for celebration than anywhere else. We don't
00:04need to worry about a complete story being stretched out, or that lightning in a bottle
00:07magic being overextended. In gaming, a sequel means more of what you love. Base mechanics
00:12expanded on, a more confident developer, gameplay tightened up, more world building, and maybe
00:17even a new playable character with a whole new set of moves. Yes, there are clunkers
00:21and pointless returns, but play to the medium's strengths, and a sequel has the power to revamp
00:26the foundations in a fundamental way, something that can lead to some of the best games you'll
00:30ever play. Also note we're dealing with immediate sequels, which second installments really took
00:35things to the next level. I'm Scott from WhatCulture.com and these are the 10 best video
00:40game sequels of all time.
00:42Number 10, Halo 2. The very end of its campaign might be divisive, but there's no denying the
00:48seismic, jaw-dropping impact of Halo 2 at every stage of its development. The reveal trailers,
00:53the revamped theme now infused with Steve Vai's guitar work elevating Marty O'Donnell's original
00:58composition. The introduction of the Arbiter, fleshing out of the Halo world, and of course
01:02that exquisite multiplayer. Halo 2 took everything the original nailed and improved it. Dual wielding
01:08may have led to some overpowered combos that a lot of Xbox Live patches took to rebalance,
01:13but as a package of iconic maps, GOAT gameplay, and top-tier production value, Halo 2 is pure gaming
01:19royalty. Number 9, Batman Arkham City. Rocksteady's Batman debut could have gone down a different
01:26route. It could have bombed, much like most superhero games have over the years, but thankfully
01:30Rocksteady paid tribute to the source material and did it justice. However, in terms of scale,
01:35it was small. Arkham Island is a tight, isolated area that you'll burn through in around six
01:40to eight hours, unless you're hunting down every last Riddler trophy. For a sequel, Rocksteady
01:44needed to go bigger, and if you found Warden Sharp's hidden office planning a certain city
01:49expansion, then you already knew how. 2011's Arkham City is a violent playground for Batman
01:54to explore. Distinct districts add variety and life, rather than copy-pasted areas. Exploration
01:59and going off the beaten track was rewarded, and Batman's wider rogue gallery now needed to be taken
02:04down. Traversal was improved upon, new skills and gadgets became available, as well as fleshing
02:09out that Batman combat to factor in gadget combos, gun disarms and knife counters. Bosses
02:14too were far better, ditching the gimmicky likes of Killer Croc for a methodical showdown
02:19against Mr. Freeze. As for the story, it's a brilliantly rewarding setup with a twist you
02:23can spot from the beginning if you know where to look in Detective Vision, then ending on
02:27one of the most seismic plot twists and Joker scenes of all time.
02:31Number 8, Mass Effect 2. Mass Effect's trajectory is fascinating. The original a far more
02:37Star Trek-ian vibe with you planet-hopping around, getting lost in a universe of alien diplomacy
02:42while trying to stake humanity's claim for existence. Mass Effect 2 then opened on a
02:47supremely shocking sequence of everyone you knew seemingly dying as Shepard themselves burnt to a
02:52crisp in space. This was a completely different tone and setup, framing Shepard as a literal
02:57spectre to all around him, resurrected and aligned with the mysterious Cerberus to win the fight
03:02against the Collectors. Mass Effect 2 works because it feels like you're this intergalactic
03:06suicide squad of ragtags and misfits inside the world of the original. Its writing is award-winning,
03:12its characters iconic, and its many endings only blew out the possibilities for what could
03:16come next in ways none of us saw coming.
03:18Number 7, Silent Hill 2. The first Silent Hill was terrifying, focusing on Harry Mason's
03:25desperate struggle. It was great, but gave birth to an easily overlooked aspect, the town itself.
03:30Silent Hill 2, the first entry on PlayStation 2, took that concept and ran with it. The town
03:35itself now really felt like an oppressive force, compounding that sense of loneliness and desperation
03:40protagonist James Sunderland was suffering as they explored every street and storefront.
03:44A mechanic born of the first game's limitations was now turned into a main feature, and this
03:49constant sense of dread is why Silent Hill 2 remains an essential horror gem. Pair all of this
03:54with a memorable ensemble cast and interpretational plot and villain for the ages, and there's a reason
03:59we'll never shut up about having access to this game on modern hardware.
04:03Number 6, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2. The first Tony Hawk's is the definition of a sleeper hit.
04:09Skateboarding wasn't mainstream in 1999, but it was getting there. Across movies and music,
04:14grunge was being replaced by pop-punk, and every other person seemed to be holding a skateboard
04:18regardless. Come 2000, Neversoft tried again, and this extreme sports boom now had its mascot.
04:24Insane tricks, crazy locations, and a banging soundtrack, Tony Hawk's 2 was life-defining for
04:30the time. Not to take away from Tony Hawk's 3, as that was a whole other Age Brackets favorite
04:34installment, but if we're talking immediate sequels, this was a huge improvement. Like any good sequel
04:39to something with already stellar core mechanics, it was the quality of life improvements that made
04:44it so satisfying to play. Skaters could now level off when leaving a ramp, manuals stitched
04:49everything together, and that overall feel across the board was so much more fluid. Tony Hawk's 2 was
04:54when we really started seeing the fanbase nail those multi-million point combos and insanely
04:59complex trick runs, only for you to attempt something similar because it all played so well.
05:04Number 5, Half-Life 2. Half-Life for many changed perceptions on first-person shooters. No disrespect
05:10to the likes of Quake and Doom, but Half-Life upended how narrative and gameplay could even work
05:15together. What Half-Life 2 brought was more of that same ethos, but bigger and better. Bigger set
05:20pieces and levels better use of Valve's proprietary physics engine. Incorporating puzzles and progress
05:25into gameplay, Half-Life 2 continued Gordon Freeman's adventures, this time against the
05:29Alien Combine. It's been quite some time since a real technical showcase of a game existed where
05:34just watching it in motion, watching the physics of items interact with each other for example,
05:39makes you think of endless gameplay possibilities. But that's part of why Half-Life 2 was such a
05:43monumental deal in gaming. Number 4, Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty. Reportedly furious with
05:50the original game's western translation, injecting military speak and a grounded tone where Hideo
05:55Kojima was always a bit more out there, Kojima demanded full control. Leading to water-walking
06:00vampires, octopus-suited ex-presidents, and a white-haired protagonist hidden from marketing.
06:05All of this though, made Metal Gear Solid as a franchise now feel entirely unique. Metal Gear Solid
06:101 will always be my favourite game, but it was that cinematic presentation, that boundary-pushing
06:15Hollywood-aping ideology that only got enhanced here. Metal Gear Solid 2's opening alone hasn't
06:20aged a day, dripping in confidence and purpose, fully embracing its position as the tip of the
06:25spear for the PlayStation 2. With experimental stealth gameplay, unprecedented world interaction,
06:30clever AI, and a sandbox approach to how you got through each level, this might be the most divisive
06:35Metal Gear Solid in terms of a main character, but its grandiosity as a video game can't be
06:40beat. Number 3, Assassin's Creed 2. The runaway success of the first Assassin's Creed was a
06:46pleasant surprise. Born of a failed Prince of Persia continuation, the adventures of Desmond and
06:50his acrobatic ancestor struck gold in 2007. What we got then was the epitome of when game sequels know
06:56exactly what to focus on, as Assassin's Creed 2 got everything right. New character Ezio Auditore
07:01da Firenze was a charismatic, lovable distinction from the stoic Altair. Switching to Renaissance Italy
07:07over the Holy Lands gave us more intricate cities and kill opportunities, and the game's colour palette
07:12was now more bold and definable than ever. Combat was tightened up and expanded with multiple enemy
07:16classes, and Desmond's story had more depth with an insanely cool payoff, as did Ezio's crusade against
07:22the Borsches. Assassin's Creed is still able to turn heads today because of how incredibly on point
07:27this second instalment was. Number 2, Red Dead Redemption 2. I will maintain that Red Dead
07:33Redemption 2 is the closest thing you can get to virtual reality without wearing a headset. So
07:38ludicrously meticulously realised is its depiction of the Old West, you'll feel pretty naturally compelled
07:43to relax down the local saloon, go camp out in the mountains after a tragic main story event,
07:48or just embrace your inner Jesse James and rob as many trains as possible. The point is, this embodies
07:53the original Red Dead's character-driven soul, fleshing it out in every direction. So expansive
07:57and hyper-detailed is the setting, it reinforces the story Dan Houser wrote about an age of lawlessness
08:02coming to an end. Rules and regulations, the formation of modern America was coming, whether
08:07those who made their living as cowboys liked it or not. Graphically, if we twin art direction and
08:11sheer rendering power, it may be the best-looking game of all time. But Red Dead Redemption 2's real
08:16unique quality is being the apex of the most lucrative game developer on the planet, funneling all their
08:21money and talent into a specific creative vision regardless of marketability. Dan Houser's tenure
08:26at Rockstar is over. The company is a drastically different beast because of it, but he went out
08:31in magnificent style.
08:331. Resident Evil 2
08:36Survival horror as a genre had been around before Resident Evil. Check out the hilarious
08:42Alone in the Dark. It's fair to say though that Resident Evil 1 put it on the map. With a weirdly
08:47compelling, awesomely campy story, gross monsters and jumpscares, how could Capcom possibly top it?
08:52Well, by moving out. Taking gameplay from musty, stuffy mansions to Raccoon City, the hotspot for
08:57Umbrella's dastardly experiments. It wasn't just locales that felt bigger, as the game's design was
09:02based around two-player campaigns. Production values were notably higher, with far better character
09:07models and Resident Evil 2 ramped up the gore. The variety of monsters and its boss battles, as well as the
09:12means to fight them. Customizable shotguns, flamethrowers, giant stun guns, this is the
09:17old-school Resident Evil to pick up that's the sweet spot between the original's exploration and
09:21puzzle-heavy layout, and Resident Evil 3's action focus. As the remake would embody, we also had the
09:26introduction to Mr. X, some terrifying lickers, and only fightable in Scenario B, The Tyrant.
09:33And those are our picks. It has been tough picking a definable top 10 best sequels, and yes, I agree,
09:39Modern Warfare 2 feels like it should be on there, but what the hell do you swap out?
09:43Let me know down in the comments, and also please subscribe to the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast.
09:47For now, I've been Scott from WhatCulture.com, a massive thank you for watching, and I'll catch you soon.
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