Good gaming franchises know how to innovate with every subsequent release.
Sometimes, it’s by adding new gameplay mechanics or fixing the issues of its predecessors, as is the case withMass Effect. Other times, it’s a commitment to new ideas that push the genre forward, like the Super Mario franchise.
Not every game franchise knows how to do this, though. In fact,some find a way to do the opposite: get worse with every release. It’s frustrating, especially when the games we’re fans of continue to get worse and worse.
So with that in mind, it’s time to get serious and tell these IPs to take a long, hard look in the mirror. We’re talking about game franchises that got worse and worse with every new game.
10F.E.A.R.
An Atmospheric FPS Gone Wrong
2005’sF.E.A.R.helped usher in a new era of AI-driven combat that completely lapped the field.
Developer Monolith Productions delivered an atmospheric, immersive FPS experience that was backed by solid controls. Oh, and it wasn’t pitch black 24/7 likeDOOM 3was, so that’s a huge win in its favor.
Following that momentum and breakout success, you’d expect good things for the F.E.A.R. franchise moving forward. That wasn’t the case, though, and it’s hard to pinpoint why exactly.
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After several spin-offs that failed to live up to the original,Monolith returned for a sequel in 2009. It was solid but failed to innovate beyond the original.Two years later, F.E.A.R. 3 was released, this time from Day 1 Studios, which constantly clashed with publisher Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. The result was a game that was ultimately disappointing despite some positive moments.
9Dragon Age
Straying From From Its Roots
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Fextralife Wiki
Here’s the deal withDragon Age. Unless something drastically changes, the series will never match the quality of the original game.
Dragon Age: Origins is the right balance of strong storytelling, incredible characters, tactical gameplay, and a fantastic RPG experience. The sequel, however, fails to build on anything that made Origins good. Sequels are supposed to increase a franchise’s scope and make things bigger and better. Dragon Age 2 ended up doing the opposite.
Don’t worry, though, because Inquisition was here to make things bigger. However, I wouldn’t necessarily call things better. Inquisition begins the shift of moving the franchise further away from its roots, culminating in the recently releasedVeilguard.Inquisition felt less like a well-designed narrative-driven RPG and more like a game that was forced to be somewhat open-world and suffers for it.
Then there’sVeilguard, which is the very definition of a mixed bag. Its disappointing performance leaves the future of the franchise and BioWare as a studio very much up in the air.
8Banjo-Kazooie
From Perfection To Whatever Nuts & Bolts Is
Banjo-Kazooie
One day, we’ll talk about the glorious return ofBanjo-Kazooie, following in the footsteps of modernSuper Mario games. Sadly, that day is not today.
As a result,the Banjo-Kazooie franchise is still living in the shadow of its debut. 1998’s Banjo-Kazooie is a perfect platformer, case closed. Its sequel tries to go bigger, but suffers from bloat and a lack of focus. There are too many cooks in the kitchen, and the game suffers for it.
Then, of course, there’s Nuts & Bolts, representing a massive departure for the series. I know the game has a very devoted following, but I believe that the less said about that game, the better.
Banjo-Kazooie is the perfect example of sequels trying to do too much. Franchises continue to grow when new games build upon what makes their predecessors great while staying focused on streamlined gameplay. Banjo-Tooie didn’t need to be such a big, expansive game. It just needed to be more Banjo-Kazooie.
In Your Head
Dead Rising
I was hyped forDead Risingto come out. It’s such a simple, stupid idea that should have worked so well: you’re trapped in a mall with thousands of zombies. It’s just you, whatever you find, and all the wars you’ve covered.
The problem was that once the initial hook wore off, Dead Rising’s gameplay loop felt shallow. There was just one thing that kept me coming back: the organic, hilarious moments that were only possible within the game.
Whatever Happened To Dead Rising?
Sure seems to be dead, not too sure on the rising.
You see, the original Dead Rising knew not to take itself too seriously. It’s fully aware that it’s a video game. All of the follow-ups, however, seem to forget that fact. As a result,once the game becomes less video game fun and more super serious and mature, the novelty continues to wear off.
While Dead Rising 2 has fans, 3 and 4 miss the mark entirely. They have more in common with generic zombie action games than the original. Let this serve as a reminder that not every game needs to be a franchise.
6Perfect Dark
Going Dark
Perfect Dark (2000)
Officially, there are only three games in thePerfect Darkfranchise. Once the upcoming reboot comes out, that will make four. Yes, it’s true that Perfect Dark for the Game Boy Color and Perfect Dark Zero are nowhere near as good as the N64’s Perfect Dark.
Because of how revered the original 2000 game is,both subsequent titles and the troubled development of the upcoming reboot have been nothing short of a massive disappointment.
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you may also argue that, in reality, Perfect Dark is the spiritual successor to 1997’s GoldenEye 007, a game that I feel is superior to Perfect Dark in every way. GoldenEye has better level design, music, pacing, and is far more streamlined.
That’s not to say that Perfect Dark is bad, because it isn’t. But this is a list of franchises that got worse with every release. If you ask me, Perfect Dark is a step down from GoldenEye. Of course, it’s nowhere near the gigantic step down of the two Perfect Dark sequels.
5Battlefield
The Former King of Multiplayer FPS
Battlefield 2
Given its current state, it’s hard to remember how good theBattlefieldfranchise once was. The original games were incredible multiplayer FPS experiences.
The early games (1942, Vietnam, 2) all combine great gameplay, tactical warfare, and strategy.
With the release of Modern Combat, some of the cracks began to show. Ironically, it was around this time thatCall of Dutybegan to step up its game.As enjoyable as games like 2142 and Bad Company are, they didn’t compare to CoD. Truthfully, they didn’t compare to the originals, either.
When Battlefield 3 was released, a new problem began to pop up: technical issues and bugs. These would become increasingly prevalent with every subsequent release, most notably 2021’s Battlefield 2042. Before that, though, every new entry in theBattlefield gamefelt like it had more issues cropping up, continuing its fall from grace.
4Medal of Honor
Life Before Call of Duty
Medal of Honor (1999)
Younger gamers may not remember how influential 1999’sMedal of Honorwas.
It wasn’t Call of Duty that made the World War II shooter popular. It was Medal of Honor, published by acclaimed director Steven Spielberg.
The success of Medal of Honor would lead to the franchise seeing several sequels, such as 2000s Medal of Honor: Underground and 2002’s Medal of Honor Frontline. While they’re both good games in their own right, they failed to exceed the heights of the original game.As time went on, the quality of the Medal of Honor franchise dropped like a rock in the ocean.
As Call of Duty grew in popularity, Medal of Honor quickly left the gaming mainstream, becoming an industry afterthought. EA would reboot the franchise with 2010’s Medal of Honor, featuring multiplayer developed by DICE. It was an okay game, but the 2012 sequel,Warfighter, was a disaster that effectively killed the franchise. We’ve only seen one Medal of Honor game since: 2020’s Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond, a VR game by Respawn Entertainment.
3Brothers in Arms
Tactical FPS Gameplay With Historical Accuracy
Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30
BeforeGearbox Softwareexploded in popularity thanks to Borderlands, they developed 2005’s Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30.
As theWorld War 2genre of shooters began to run stale, thanks to an onslaught of Medal of Honor and Call of Duty games, Brothers in Arms took a different approach. Its combination of tactical, strategic, and realistic gameplay centered around suppression fire was a breath of fresh air, adding some much-needed depth to the genre.
As an added bonus,the game was based on the true story of the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment and the 101st Airborne Division. This impressive dedication tohistorical accuracymade me feel like I was playing more than a video game. It felt like I was living through a piece of history.
Sadly, aside from Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood, which somehow came out the same year as Road to Hill 30, the rest of the franchise could never capture the magic again. Between abysmally bad handheld ports and sequels that didn’t stand out compared to their peers, the Brothers in Arms franchise was eventually put to rest.
2Plants vs. Zombies
One Time Ruler of the Mobile World
Plants vs. Zombies
I want to touch more on that line: “not every game needs to be a franchise.” I’m pretty sure thatPlants vs. Zombiesis the poster child for that philosophy.
The original is a wonderfully brilliant and addictive tower defense game that broke into the mainstream. I couldn’t stop playing it, whether it was on my computer, phone, or in World of Warcraft as an in-game quest.
Sequels and spin-offs were inevitable, but none would ever match the heights of the original.The spin-offs failed to capture anyone’s imagination, although Garden Warfare was fun for a minute or two.
As for the sequels, 2013’s Plants vs. Zombies 2 is just more of the same, which is fine but still represents a drop in quality from the original. Then there was 2024’s Plants vs. Zombies 3, a game I completely forgot existed. Currently, it has been taken offline to be overhauled and retooled following a poor reception from fans.
1Alone in the Dark
Alone in the Dark
1992’sAlone in the Darkis a solid survival horror experience that is a master class of atmospheric gameplay. It’s also the only game in the franchise that’s any good.
Looking at the critical reception of the Alone in the Dark franchise is like watching someone speed down a slide in a playground. It’s like developer Infogrames got lucky with the first game, which ironically was the first game they ever developed.
In reality, that might be the case. Every Alone in the Dark game they made became progressively worse.The wow factor and innovation of the original were gone, and what we’ve been left with isn’t enough to keep heads above water.
The real crimes, though, are the game’s modern releases, which are downright terrible and should never be played. At least they’re better than the 2005 movie, though, right?
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