Comment: 2011 – A year of threequels?

Looking back, 2011 was a great year for video games, but one let down by a feeling of familiarity. This was due to the large number of high profile sequels that provided great experiences, but experiences we’ve had before.

Take Uncharted 3 for example, an awesome game, but a familiar one. As far as action games went, there was nothing quite like Uncharted 2. It was an excellent game due to how well made (and entertaining) it was but, more importantly, it was an exceptional game because it was so fresh and exciting. Uncharted 3 just didn’t have the same impact, and is a sign of a trend of technically excellent sequels that stick too closely to the previous game’s formulas to become exceptional.

This trend was very apparent in many of 2011’s sequels, especially those that were the third instalments in popular franchises (what I call ‘threequels’). Many of these were great games, but their adherence to established formulas meant they had little new to offer. Prime ‘threequel’ examples were Killzone 3, Assassin’s Creed Revelations and Modern Warfare 3. I’m not going to make many friends when I admit that I don’t like Call of Duty. I’m primarily a single-player gamer and ever since CoD4 (which I liked) the series has just bored me. I did play through MW3 though (somewhat masochistically), and was struck by an overbearing sense of familiarity. I am clearly not the target market for this game, but surely even CoD fans must be fed up of getting basically the same experience every year? In 2011 though, those same modern military shooter fans were treated to the big budget ‘threequel’ Battlefield 3. A game which, on a single player level, just boringly tried to do the exact same thing as CoD (making it feel very familiar), but amazingly managed to have a worse campaign than any CoD (put that quote on the back of the box EA!).

Familiarity was not an issue in all 2011 sequels, Gears of War 3 was more Gears of War, but it avoided disappointment by being better than Gears of War 2 (great game, but the weak point of the series), thus making Gears 3 a step up rather than a step down. Mortal Kombat (technically MK9) was another great sequel, which escaped familiarity by having the best story mode to ever grace a fighting game. Another great example is Batman: Arkham City, a game that could be criticised for being Arkham Asylum again (with a bigger map). However, slight improvements on the Arkham formula helped City to still impress.  In reality, 2011’s best games were all sequels; Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Saints Row the Third (which was so much better than I expected it to be), Portal 2 and Skyrim. These were my four favourite games from 2011, a sign that (for me at least) sequel doesn’t necessitate disappointment.

2011 may have been dominated by sequels, but there were still some fantastic original titles worthy of note. Highlights included Bastion, To the Moon (play it), Terraria, Shadows of the Damned, the Binding of Isaac, Outland, Renegade Ops and LA Noire. These great original titles, and some impressive sequels (and most importantly Skyrim) made 2011 a good year to be a gamer. Now it’s 2012, and there are already a lot of high profile sequels on the horizon (Mass Effect 3, GTA 5, Borderlands 2, Diablo 3, Halo 4, Guild Wars 2 and more). Let’s hope they’re not too familiar…

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