365 Game To Play Before You Die - #44-51: Sequels
By mracoon 6 Comments
365 Games To Play Before You Die
I'm only over a week late again but don't worry as I've got a selection of eight for you to consider playing before you're demise. Today it's all about the fan's favourite. Yes it's the sequel. The second game in the series which can either be the next step up or seem like a blatant cash cow. Whatever your take on them they're here to stay and they've been staying here for a while.
Note: I would have had this up about three days ago but Firefox kept crashing on me every time I added an image or tried to post the blog. I switched to Opera and Google Chrome and it wouldn't let me log into the site. I wasn't even going to bother with IE by that point.
Previous 5 Games
#44: Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge
Platform(s): PC, Mac and AmigaRelease: 1991
Developer(s): LucasArts
Best Quote: 'That's the second biggest X I've ever seen!'
GB Wiki Page
This is how you do a sequel. A true successor to The Secret of Monkey Island and one that expanded the game's story and improved the gameplay. MI2 continues the adventure of hapless (but lovable) pirate Guybrush Threepwood who is searching for the elusive 'Big Whoop'. The game just continues to have witty dialogue and clever puzzles and it cemented Monkey Island's place in adventure gaming history.
#45: Deus Ex: Ivisible War
Platform(s): PC and XboxRelease: 2003
Developer(s): Ion Storm
Best Quote: 'You're pretty political for a pop-star chatterbot.'
GB Wiki Page
I'll probably get a lot of flak for picking this game but I don't mind. It's no way near the quality of it the original Deus Ex (one of my favourite games of all time) but I still found it to be fun in it's own right. Being the sequel to such a game didn't do it any help but standing on it's own merits it's still a decent FPS/RPG hybrid. I've still got high hopes that Deus Ex 3 can turn things around and bring the series back to its former glory but we'll have to wait and see.
#46: System Shock 2
Platform(s): PCRelease: 1999
Developer(s): Irrational Games
Best Quote 'I am Shodan.'
GB Wiki Page
Never played the original but it's a game where you don't need to get the full experience. Another FPS/RPG hybrid (a genre that I very much enjoy and am glad to see get a resurgence with Borderlands) and another game with great dialogue. Set aboard the Von Braun you play as a soldier who wakes up with amnesia on ship that has been infected by an alien species. It's a story done many time before but SS2 was one of the first and one of the most well executed.
#47: Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes
Platform(s): Dreamcast, Xbox, Arcade, PS2, PSN and XBLARelease: 2000
Developer(s): Capcom
Best Quote: None
GB Wiki Page
I don't understand why I like this game. I'm no good at it and I'm not going to get any better but I still seem to enjoy it. Maybe because it just feels so over the top at time when you've got all the characters on the screen at once. Maybe it's because I like having so much choice in character selection and being able to choose my favourite Marvel characters. I don't know but I still like putting on the game every now and then and giving my brother or cousin a quick match.
#48: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords
Platform(s): PC and XboxRelease: 2004
Developer(s): Obsidian
Best Quote: HK-47: 'Is there something you need killed, Master?
GB Wiki Page
A lot of people seem to dislike KOTOR 2 and I can understand that from a technical standpoint. The game had many bugs (I didn't experience many myself) and partly incomplete (which is no fault of Obsidian who were rushed into releasing the game by LucasArts) but the story it tells is grander and deeper then KOTOR and for that I commend it. The same combat gameplay from the original is intact and a lot of other elements from the original are there too.
The story of The Sith Lords was what really made it stand out to me as it focused more on the grey side of the Force. Kreia is neither a Sith or a Jedi but somewhere in between and that's something you don't see much explored in the games. Regardless of the technical problems I still had a lot of fun playing KOTOR 2 and it makes me excited to see what BioWare are going to do with The Old Republic.
#49: Call of Duty 2
Platform(s): PC, Mac and Xbox 360Release: 2005
Developer(s): Infinity Ward
Best Quote: 'The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of millions is a statistic.'
GB Wiki Page
The game that firmly positioned Infinity Ward as one of the best FPS developers around. People were getting tired with WWII shooters but COD2 reinvigorated their Nazi killing spirit with a fast firefights and great controls.
#50: Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
Platform(s): PC, PS2 and XboxRelease: 2003
Developer(s): Remedy Entertainment and Rockstar Vienna
Best Quote: 'I had a dream of my wife. She was dead. But it was all right.'
GB Wiki Page
While the Max Payne game feel a tad melodramatic at times, it's solved by the cool thrid-person shootouts where you're just ploughing through guys and still keeping that face that only Max can have. The addition of Mona in the game was nice but Max is what everyone plays the game for. I'm eager to see more of Max Payne 3 because I'm a bit wary of the new direction the game is taking.
#51: Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Platform(s): PS2Release: 2001
Developer(s): Kojima Productions
Best Quote: Too much talking
GB Wiki Page
I seem to have a lot of potentially controversial games on my list today and MGS2 is right up there. It's the game that elevated expectations of playing as Snake in a new generation of consoles but crushed them in sweeping blow by introducing Raiden. The plot is a typical Kojima affair with many convoluted twists and turns throughout, and it leaves you quite confused by the end. Forgetting all that MGS2 is still a Metal Gear Solid game and it still has the gameplay that we've all come to love (or hate). That's the game's saving grace in my eyes as, compared to the other entries in the series (excluding MGS4 which I've yet to play) , the game falls a little flat.
51 down 314 to go.