00:00Well, well, it has come to this. I can take the pressure. Question is, can you?
00:07We've all, unfortunately, been there, seen an abysmal new entry tarnish the reputation of an otherwise beloved series.
00:14Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we're looking at video game franchises that were ruined by a single release and have
00:21yet to recover.
00:23If you're lucky, the cops will get to you before my people.
00:28Nice left.
00:30Been practicing.
00:31I can tell.
00:32But before we dive in, we publish new content all week long, so be sure to subscribe and ring the
00:38bell to get notified about our latest videos.
00:41Dead Rising Series.
00:43I'm not sure this is a good idea.
00:50What should have been a glorious return for original hero Frank West was not only a disappointment to his legacy,
00:56but the so far final entry in a once promising series.
00:59Plenty of die-hard fans everywhere were disappointed in the drastically different tone and characterization of Frank in Dead Rising
01:074.
01:07As far as gameplay, it felt the same, but simplified and shallow.
01:21Key features from older games were missing, like the timer and the psychopath bosses, which were replaced with the far
01:28less enjoyable maniacs.
01:30With an unhappy fan base and disappointing sales, Capcom decided to cancel a planned sequel and shut down its Vancouver
01:37studio.
01:38And unlike the hordes we used to love mowing down, the franchise has yet to return from the dead.
01:54Red Faction Series.
01:58Eliminate any resistance you find.
02:00It will make your exit easier.
02:02There was a time in the 2000s you could get full, awesome, environmental destruction action with the Red Faction Series.
02:09Too many descriptors?
02:10Well, it was true.
02:11While there was still some of that in the fourth game, 2011's Armageddon, the developers threw out the sandbox structure
02:18and made things far more linear.
02:24Target down, let's go!
02:27This took away from the player freedom that went hand-in-hand with the destructible environments to begin with.
02:33It wasn't really what fans wanted, which led to low sales and to publisher THQ halting the series.
02:39The franchise rights transferred to Deep Silver in 2020, but nothing has come of it.
02:45Armageddon served as an all-too-appropriate title, since it completely destroyed the series.
02:51This mission could be classified as a suicide.
02:54Why did you accept it?
02:56Why?
02:57Because I'm a mason.
02:59That's what we do.
03:00Command and Conquer Series.
03:02All right, let me see those eyes.
03:08Damn, I do good work.
03:10EA has contributed more than a few bodies to the graveyard of dead franchises.
03:15But the strategy genre truly lost a giant when the publisher released Tiberian Twilight in 2010.
03:22Although it was far from the first game to be released after EA took over, it did too much damage
03:28to the IP.
03:36The removal of certain features, forced internet connection through DRM, a lackluster campaign with repetitive mission hooks, it was all
03:45a mess.
03:46And it managed to annoy players both old and new on a variety of levels, a widespread that was almost
03:53impressive.
03:54Beyond a mobile game in 2018 and a remaster of the first two games in 2020, Command and Conquer died
04:00with Tiberian Twilight.
04:02Go ahead. I'll be in the mess.
04:05I'm watching with the other families.
04:08Marvel vs. Capcom Series.
04:18Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite is a completely serviceable fighter, but therein lies a huge part of the problem.
04:26The series it belongs to has a legacy of massive rosters that blend the iconic with the utterly bizarre.
04:33More importantly, the franchise's vibrant personality was missing.
04:36Reactor output at 73%.
04:38Well, there's always room for improvement.
04:40Everything about Infinite, from its look to its lineup, felt so stale and corporate compared to everything that came before.
04:47And fans could feel it.
04:49One of the most stylish fighters ever had lost all of its sauce.
04:53It sold much worse than Capcom was anticipating, and beyond a collection in 2024, the franchise has stayed gone.
05:00But hey, you guys excited for Marvel Tocon?
05:11Dino Crisis Series.
05:21Often looked back on fondly in the annals of Capcom's long history, Dino Crisis is a series a lot of
05:28players actively, vocally, request to see return.
05:31It went out on an infamously sour note with Dino Crisis 3 in 2003.
05:37Set on a space station, it lacked personality going more generic sci-fi than survival horror.
05:43What really hurt it, and what it is sadly most remembered for, is its god-awful camera, of which you
05:49had no control over.
06:00The series stayed dormant until the Dino Crisis bundle with the first two games, Wise Choice, in 2025.
06:07Capcom is actually well aware of the fervent desire for a Dino Crisis revival.
06:13But, as for now, the third entry ruined its potential.
06:30SimCity is the godfather of all simulation titles, and used to be one of the most respected franchises in its
06:37genre.
06:38And the ruin that befell it is also linked to one of the most disastrous launches in gaming history.
06:43The 2013 reboot was plagued by widespread technical issues.
06:48Players worldwide had issues connecting to servers, or were booted mid-session, and would lose hours of progress.
07:02Of course, all these issues stemmed from EA's mandatory internet connection, even when it wasn't necessary.
07:08It was a disaster, not helped by poor Sim AI, and the removal of some features of older games.
07:15It stopped SimCity in its tracks, with only an already planned mobile game releasing the following year.
07:21And the year after that, developer Maxis Emeryville closed down.
07:32Duke Nukem Series
07:41Admittedly, it's hard to argue there was anything left for Duke Nukem Forever to ruin, since it spent 14 years
07:48in development.
07:49But, rather than a comeback that brought it back from the brink, it was a big enough bomb to make
07:54sure we wouldn't hear from the franchise ever again.
07:57The most common and accurate word to describe forever was dated.
08:01From its jokes, to its controls, to its gameplay, it all felt like much too little, far too late.
08:14It didn't meet sales expectations, and these days, Zitz Legacy consists of one of the most troubled development periods in
08:22gaming history,
08:23and its inability to meet even the lowest expectations.
08:43With Warfare of the Modern Era becoming a popular trend, EA followed suit with a reboot for Medal of Honor
08:50in 2010,
08:51which led to a sequel and the series' death blow in 2012.
08:55Warfighter looked nice, but there wasn't much else positive to say about it.
09:00There were a ton of glitches, the campaign's plotline was bafflingly inconsistent,
09:05and the gameplay itself never rose above adequate.
09:08Hustle up!
09:10Aim for the cockpit!
09:13Don't shoot, creature!
09:15Go to work!
09:16What followed was the unfortunate, yet expected.
09:19Low review scores, disappointing sales,
09:21titles, and the closing of developer Danger Close Games.
09:25The series was also shelved indefinitely.
09:27It did receive a VR entry in 2020, but other than that, EA hasn't seen a reason to try and
09:33bring it back.
09:44Crackdown series.
09:46I love the smell of toxic fumes in the morning.
09:55Crackdown was far from the highest-rated series by the release of the third game.
09:59Then again, it didn't get that far without being at least kind of fun.
10:04The problem was Microsoft built Crackdown 3 up like something none of us had ever seen,
10:09with incredible use of the Xbox One's cloud software and the ability to destroy literally everything in your environment.
10:16Then, it went through a few delays, and when people finally got their hands on it,
10:21they found it was a generic shooter that offered nothing more than base-level enjoyment.
10:33As an Xbox exclusive, the game didn't have much room for growth, either.
10:37Crackdown 3 came and went, and the series has stayed quiet ever since.
10:42That blast killed the flow of energy feeding the industry tower.
10:46Depriving Vargas of more devastating Chimera, and making her tower a little less toxic when you attack.
10:52Saints Row series.
11:00For a while there, Saints Row filled a nice role of being an even more absurd Grand Theft Auto,
11:06which is saying something.
11:08And then came the 2022 reboot.
11:11A lot of fans could tell it wasn't for them from the announcement,
11:14as neither the characters nor tone felt like the series they loved.
11:18Hands-on, things weren't better.
11:20Are we gonna make rent?
11:21We'll make rent.
11:22We just gotta be a little more creative.
11:24Last time we got creative, I got stabbed three times.
11:27Most had their suspicions confirmed, and that the writing was a huge step down,
11:32with cringey dialogue delivered by unlikable characters.
11:35Worse, especially at launch, was the overabundance of technical issues, halting any small amount
11:41of enjoyment you could be having.
11:43Even when those were fixed with patches, you were still left with mediocre gameplay
11:47that hadn't evolved past previous entries.
11:50Needless to say, it fell below sales expectations.
11:53And the following year, developer Volition was closed by its parent company, Embracer Group.
11:58So, can Antonio and I count on you or not?
12:02Yes, sir.
12:03Sadly, these are far from the only games to ruin their franchises.
12:07Let us know which ones hurt you the most in the comments, and we will see you next time.
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