10 Best Video Game Sequels Of All Time

Australian Cinephile

7 minutes ago

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, face 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 instalments really took

00:36things 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

01:03that 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

02:00and 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 out

02:10that Batman combat to factor in gadget combos, gun disarms and knife counters. Bosses too were far

02:15better, ditching the gimmicky likes of Killer Croc for a methodical showdown against Mr. Freeze.

02:20As for the story, it's a brilliantly rewarding setup with a twist you can spot from the beginning if

02:25you know where to look in Detective Vision, then ending on one of the most seismic plot twists and

02:29Joker scenes of all time. Number 8, Mass Effect 2. Mass Effect's trajectory is fascinating.

02:36The original a far more Star Trek-ian vibe with you planet hopping around, getting lost in a

02:41universe of alien diplomacy while trying to stake humanity's claim for existence. Mass Effect 2

02:46then opened on a supremely shocking sequence of everyone you knew seemingly dying as Shepard

02:51themselves burnt to a crisp in space. This was a completely different tone and setup, framing Shepard

02:56as a literal specter to all around him, resurrected and aligned with the mysterious Cerberus to win the

03:01fight against the Collectors. Mass Effect 2 works because it feels like you're this

03:05intergalactic suicide squad of ragtags and misfits inside the world of the original. Its writing is

03:11award-winning, its characters iconic, and its many endings only blew out the possibilities for what

03:16could come next in ways none of us saw coming. Number 7, Silent Hill 2. The first Silent Hill was

03:22terrifying, focusing on Harry Mason's desperate struggle. It was great, but gave birth to an easily

03:28overlooked aspect, the town itself. Silent Hill 2, the first entry on PlayStation 2, took that concept

03:33and ran with it. The town itself now really felt like an oppressive force, compounding that sense

03:38of loneliness and desperation protagonist James Sunderland was suffering as they explored every

03:43street and storefront. A mechanic born of the first game's limitations was now turned into a main feature,

03:48and this constant 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. Number 6, Tony Hawk's Pro

04:05Skater 2. The first Tony Hawk's is the definition of a sleeper hit. Skateboarding wasn't mainstream in

04:111999, but it was getting there. Across movies and music, grunge was being replaced by pop punk,

04:16and every other person seemed to be holding a skateboard regardless. Come 2000, Neversoft tried

04:21again, and this extreme sports boom now had its mascot. Insane tricks, crazy locations, and a banging

04:27soundtrack, Tony Hawk's 2 was life-defining for the time. Not to take away from Tony Hawk's 3,

04:32as that was a whole other Age Brackets favorite installment, but if we're talking immediate sequels,

04:37this was a huge improvement. Like any good sequel to something with already stellar core mechanics,

04:42it was the quality of life improvements that made it so satisfying to play. Skaters could now level

04:47off when leaving a ramp, manuals stitched everything together, and that overall feel across the board was

04:52so much more fluid. Tony Hawk's 2 was when we really started seeing the fanbase nail those

04:57multi-million point combos and insanely complex trick runs, only for you to attempt something

05:01similar because it all played so well. 5. Half-Life 2

05:06Half-Life for many changed perceptions on first-person shooters. No disrespect to the likes of Quake and

05:12Doom, but Half-Life upended how narrative and gameplay could even work together. What Half-Life 2

05:16brought was more of that same ethos, but bigger and better. Bigger set pieces and levels, better use

05:22of Valve's proprietary physics engine. Incorporating puzzles and progress into gameplay, Half-Life 2

05:26continued Gordon Freeman's adventures, this time against the Alien Combine. It's been quite some

05:31time since a real technical showcase of a game existed where just watching it in motion, watching

05:36the physics of items interact with each other for example, makes you think of endless gameplay

05:40possibilities, but that's part of why Half-Life 2 was such a monumental deal in gaming.

05:454. Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty Reportedly furious with the original game's

05:51western translation, injecting military speak and a grounded tone where Hideo Kojima was always

05:56a bit more out there, Kojima demanded full control, leading to water-walking vampires,

06:01octopus-suited ex-presidents and a white-haired protagonist hidden from marketing. All of this,

06:05though, made Metal Gear Solid as a franchise now feel entirely unique. Metal Gear Solid 1 will always

06:11be my favourite game, but it was that cinematic presentation, that boundary-pushing, Hollywood-aping

06:16ideology that only got enhanced here. Metal Gear Solid 2's opening alone hasn't aged a day,

06:21dripping in confidence and purpose, fully embracing its position as the tip of the spear for the

06:25PlayStation 2. With experimental stealth gameplay, unprecedented world interaction, clever AI and a

06:31sandbox approach to how you got through each level, this might be the most divisive Metal Gear Solid

06:36in terms of a main character, but its grandiosity as a video game can't be beat.

06:413. Assassin's Creed 2 The runaway success of the first

06:45Assassin's Creed was a pleasant surprise. Born of a failed Prince of Persia continuation,

06:49the adventures of Desmond and his acrobatic ancestor struck gold in 2007. What we got then

06:54was the epitome of when game sequels know exactly what to focus on, as Assassin's Creed 2 got everything

06:59right. New character Ezio Auditore da Firenze was a charismatic, lovable distinction from the stoic

07:05Altair. Switching to Renaissance Italy over the Holy Lands gave us more intricate cities and kill

07:10opportunities, and the game's colour palette was now more bold and definable than ever.

07:14Combat was tightened up and expanded with multiple enemy classes, and Desmond's story had more depth

07:19with an insanely cool payoff, as did Ezio's crusade against the Borges. Assassin's Creed is still able to

07:24turn heads today because of how incredibly on point this second instalment was.

07:292. Red Dead Redemption 2

07:32I will maintain that Red Dead Redemption 2 is the closest thing you can get to virtual reality

07:36without wearing a headset. So ludicrously meticulously realised is its depiction of

07:41the Old West, you'll feel pretty naturally compelled to relax down the local saloon,

07:45go camp out in the mountains after a tragic main story event, or just embrace your inner Jesse James

07:50and rob as many trains as possible. The point is, this embodies the original Red Dead's character

07:54driven soul, fleshing it out in every direction. So expansive and hyper detailed is the setting,

07:59it reinforces the story Dan Houser wrote about an age of lawlessness coming to an end. Rules and

08:04regulations, the formation of modern America was coming, whether those who made their living as

08:08cowboys liked it or not. Graphically, if we twin art direction and sheer rendering power,

08:13it may be the best looking game of all time. But Red Dead Redemption 2's real unique quality

08:17is being the apex of the most lucrative game developer on the planet, funnelling all their

08:21money and talent into a specific creative vision, regardless of marketability.

08:25Dan Houser's tenure at Rockstar is over. The company is a drastically different beast because

08:30of it, but he went out in magnificent style. 1. Resident Evil 2

08:37Survival 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 jump scares, how could Capcom possibly top it?

08:52Well, by moving out, taking gameplay from musty, stuffy mansions to Raccoon City,

08:56the hotspot for Umbrella's dastardly experiments. It wasn't just locales that felt bigger, as the

09:01game's design was based around two-player campaigns. Production values were notably higher,

09:06with far better character models, and Resident Evil 2 ramped up the gore. The variety of monsters

09:10and its boss battles, as well as the means to fight them. Customisable shotguns, flamethrowers,

09:15giant stun guns, this is the old-school Resident Evil to pick up that's the sweet spot between the

09:20original's exploration and puzzle-heavy layout, and Resident Evil 3's action focus.

09:24As the remake would embody, we also had the introduction to Mr. X, some terrifying lickers,

09:29and 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,

09:39I agree, Modern 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.

10 Best Video Game Sequels Of All Time

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