Looking back at all the games I’ve played, there are some great memories of wading through classic forms of entertainment. Unfortunately, like anything, things grow old and forgotten. So in the world of gaming, there are plenty of games (and series) that were great but will ultimately be forgotten because they’ll never get another sequel. So here is where I chronicle and bemoan about a few games that I think should get (another) one. Try to hold back the tears and instead reminisce about their former glory. This will be broken up into a few parts, or else it’ll be quite long in one go.
Giants: Citizen Kabuto (2000) – Developer: Planet Moon Studios
Back when Interplay was dominating the gaming market with RPG hit after hit, a rather small but magnificent studio named Planet Moon Studios developed a game that blended a series of rather uncharacteristic genres together — strategy and third-person shooter. Instead of a colossal failure, the game generated quite the buzz with seemingly universal acclaim for its wit, charm and awesome action.
The game featured quite a few campaigns and you got to control three unique races: the Meccs, the Delphi and the Kabuto. Each had their own backstory, lore and hilarity; all of these contributed to what made the game great. Unfortunately, the game was released with quite a few bugs, but after some fan love the game is fully playable and enjoyable today — if you can actually find it nowadays, that is. All bugs aside, what’s buried is a true-gem. We probably won’t see any form of a sequel since Planet Moon has moved from PC development to handheld development after a string of good yet commercially unsuccessful PC games.
MDK (1997), MDK2 (2000) – Developer: Shiny Entertainment (MDK), Bioware (MDK2)
MDK was released during my golden age of PC gaming, the mid to late 1990s. MDK basically had it all: fast-paced action, some rather fine visuals (for its time) and the classic MDK humor that persisted into the sequel. Kirk Hectic, the game’s main character, didn’t seem like the man for the job but who else is going to save Canada, from the Minecrawlers? Kirk’s Coil Suit was also rather uncharacteristic, especially for its design, its inappropriately pointed helmet and its ribbon chute (allowed for gliding). MDK was also the first game to only run on Pentium or better processors.
MDK2 went on to even more success, due in part to its developer Bioware. Bioware, as we all know, is a heck of a game developer and is still creating some fine games. But back in 2000, they developed MDK2, which featured the three characters from MDK, but in 100% playable form. Trust me, there wasn’t a day that went by while playing the game that I didn’t cheer for being able to wield 4 Uzis and mow down armies of goons (Max), and use radioactive toast and a toaster as a weapon (Doctor Hawkins). Each character had a different gameplay style associated and the story picked up within seconds of MDK’s ending.
Will we see another MDK game? Considering Interplay has hit plenty of financial troubles, they might have sold off the rights to another company or are still sitting on the game rights till they get some money. I’m betting on the former, but who picked them up? Only time will tell.
No One Lives Forever 1 (2000), No One Lives Forever 2 (2002), forgettable expansion pack (2003) – Developer: Monolith Productions
The NOLF series of FPS are, in my opinion, the pinnacle of Monolith Productions. They had it all: wit, awesome action, hilarious characters, enticing gadgets and over-the-top storylines. Levels ranged from the moon to an underground volcano base (which was awesome) to an underwater research center to inside a tornado. In-between boiling over laughter is some standard yet tweaked FPS gameplay. You got your handy bunch of gadgets, including body remover, hair-pin lock pick, kitty bombs and even lipstick grenades.
Initially when F.E.A.R. (2005) was teased via a poster, NOLF fans thought the tease was actually for NOLF 3 since it had a tongue and cheek tagline, but unfortunately we were had. So will we don the long-legged boots of Cate Archer again? Out of this list, this idea is probably the least far-fetched since Monolith is still around (albeit working on a F.E.A.R. sequel and Condemned 2), and the franchise was somewhat profitable (hey, we got NOLF 2 and an expansion).
