4 Sequels That Outshined the Original Games (And 1 Was Just Too Good)

Making a really good video game is really hard, but making a sequel to a really great game is even harder. How do you top something that is already incredible, especially when it comes to gameplay? If you change too much, you risk ruining everything that made the original so special. If you don’t change enough, people will claim that the game is glorified DLC and not worth it. It’s an extremely tricky tight rope act and some sequels totally crash and burn. However, there are a handful of games that have managed to not only equal their predecessor, but totally exceed them.

I’ve rounded up a list of just four sequels that managed to top their predecessors. Some of these aren’t specifically the second game in the series, but they do such a good job of building upon the previous game that they were worth including. These aren’t necessarily the four best sequels out there, but they are what I would consider to be some of the best examples of truly great sequels.

4) Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

Uncharted 4 blows just about every other game in the series out of the water. While the first three games are charming adventure games, Uncharted 4 added a level of depth and nuance to the writing that we’d never really seen before. Nathan Drake isn’t just a plain ol’ thief anymore, he’s a husband who has to hang up the gun holsters in favor of a more stable life. The game peels back so many layers on Drake and his companions through intimate drama that is mixed in with bombastic and thrilling set pieces.

Very few games can manage those smaller, quieter moments in addition to over the top action scenes, but Uncharted 4 does. Not only that, but Naughty Dog took the gameplay well beyond a simple cover shooter. The gunplay was overhauled to be far more dynamic, allowing for a literal run and gun shooting style that made every firefight cinematic. Not only that, but you could smoothly transition into melee combat at any time, allowing for well-animated brawls in the heat of combat.

Of course, the biggest addition was the grappling hook which not only made traversal more fun after years of exclusively climbing rock walls, but spiced up the combat. You could swing around while shooting, allowing skilled players more opportunities to create epic and unique moments in gameplay.

3) Max Payne 3

While there is a lot of debate among fans over how Rockstar handled the story in the absence of Remedy’s Sam Lake, Max Payne 3 is a remarkable leap forward for the series. The game rounds out a trilogy of gaming’s most washed up action hero by taking him into uncharted territory. Max heads to Brazil as a private security guard to a rich family after feeling like America holds nothing but misfortune for him. As fate would have it, he ends up finding himself in the biggest conspiracy of his life and is forced to battle a corrupt police force and demonic gangs in order to blow the lid off the whole thing.

Where Max Payne 3 really shines, however, is in its gameplay. It has some of the most satisfying gunplay of any third-person shooter out there, taking the foundation laid by Remedy a decade prior and expanding it to become one of the most fluid shooters. Max’s body can be twisted in various ways to allow him to shoot in any direction without breaking his stride, potentially maybe even setting the stage for Uncharted 4‘s gameplay.

Even when Max dives and hits the ground, he can roll around on his back to stay in the fight without it feeling awkward or janky. Shooters like Call of Duty, Rainbow Six, and Battlefield have even adopted this 360 degrees of movement when lying on the ground as well, which really highlights Max Payne 3‘s influence.

Max Payne 3 gave players the most amount of control over how a digital character moves and fights in gameplay and although other games have pulled inspiration from it, few have come close to achieving what it did overall. One can only hope this gameplay will be built upon in the upcoming Max Payne remakes.

2) Batman: Arkham City

Batman: Arkham City helped solidify the Arkham franchise as more than just a one-off great superhero game. Rocksteady took everything that worked about Batman: Arkham Asylum and blew it up into something bigger and better. The story was much richer and compelling thanks to the relationship between Batman and a dying Joker (which ends in the clown’s ultimate demise), the world was more vast and open, and the gameplay was far more refined.

Rocksteady already created a perfect formula with the last game, so it chose to tighten up the combat by making it far more fluid and responsive while also allowing for new moves and abilities thanks to an expansive skill tree. The boss fights were also a major highlight with the Mr. Freeze battle being one of the best in any superhero game. It forces you to think strategically and utilizes Batman’s intellect rather than his brute force. It’s really the perfect sequel in many ways because Rocksteady didn’t have to reinvent the wheel, it just made it better, allowing for only a two-year gap between releases that didn’t feel like it was cutting corners.

1) Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption 2 hardly resembles its predecessor. Of course there are characters and key mechanics like Dead Eye that return in the sequel, but overall, it’s a completely different experience. It’s far more role-play driven with a focus on really immersing you in a version of America that is at a major turning point. Outlaws are going extinct as the government cracks down on the remaining gangs, resulting in pressure and chaos within the Van der Linde gang.

Rockstar also somehow manages to deepen John Marston’s character and make him even more layered while also successfully mixing in a brand new protagonist. When I heard Arthur Morgan was the main character instead of John, I was a bit annoyed, but Arthur ended up becoming one of my favorite characters in all of fiction. It’s a true testament to the storytelling at Rockstar that they found a way to tell an impressively moving story that stands alone, but also enriches its predecessor.

Red Dead Redemption 2 also has one of the most captivating open worlds out with no shortage of detail and things to do. Nothing feels hollow and everything feels painstakingly hand crafted. The excellent first game really doesn’t hold a candle to the high quality craftsmanship on display in the sequel. With rumors of a Red Dead Redemption 2 remaster on the way, it’s hard to imagine how much better this game can really be.

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