18 Worst Video Game Sequels Ever, Ranked

As someone who often favors sequels more than the original, I wanted to look at what I believe to be the worst video game sequels ever made.

Our list directly compares sequels to their predecessor. So, you may see games on the list you enjoyed, but the title fell short in multiple ways when compared to the franchise it belongs to. Not all are terrible games, but they did weaken the franchise because of their strange choices. It makes me wonder, why “fix” something that isn’t broken?

18) New Tales from the Borderlands

While New Tales from the Borderlands isn’t strictly a direct sequel to Rhys’ story, it takes place in the same world. Therefore, I’m including it on the list but at the lower end (even though it’s significantly worse than other entries). I loved Tales from the Borderlands. It was one of the most entertaining and genuinely funny games I’ve ever played. Aside from the art direction, there’s nothing that screams Borderlands in this game. The pacing feels endless, the writing is shoddy, and the characters are one-dimensional. It’s an absolute shame that New Tales from the Borderlands is so far from Telltale’s game that it leans more towards inspiration for the awful film adaptation.

17) Just Cause 4

In a world full of destruction and chaos, Just Cause 4 was severely lacking in both departments. Where it went wrong was the removal of liberating bases, which was a core gameplay feature in the series. Missions are repetitive and the story is as cheesy as ever. Yes, it looks great and you’ll probably enjoy it if you didn’t play the previous titles, but Just Cause 4 takes itself far too seriously for a game where you can grapple and glide around terrains like a flying squirrel. This entry has surprisingly simpler gameplay with Rico’s gadgets, gunplay, and enemy AI when compared to Just Cause 3.

16) The Walking Dead: A New Frontier

Listen, I’m a huge fan of Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead series. Having played them all, I felt that A New Frontier was a skippable entry because it provided very little in the story, and offered the most boring and forgettable cast of characters. Even with an emphasis placed on your team’s survival (don’t get me started on the scripted deaths in the series), I couldn’t care less about anyone in this entry aside from Clementine. They royally messed up with A New Frontier because my heart was set on following Clem’s story and no one else’s. This meant that switching protagonists so late would either be a hit or a miss, based solely on how likable Javier was. Plot twist: he wasn’t.

15) Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II

Hellblade II is a clear demonstration of all style, no substance. While this is one of the most stunning games ever made, the sequel was missing that crucial component: a compelling story with gameplay to match it. Having a predecessor that beautifully showcased mental illness now lost its spark, as it overused generic combat and puzzles to the point of becoming filler. Senua’s challenges seem to be more catered towards the player now—when it’s supposed to be about her—as we’re unnecessarily handheld throughout the story’s minuscule runtime.

14) Resident Evil 6

While Resident Evil 6 may be entertaining to those who haven’t played other games in the iconic survival horror franchise, the sixth game is the Michael Bay of Resident Evil. It’s not scary at all and is so unbelievably repetitive that it’s hard to enjoy unless you’re providing the entertainment yourself by playing co-op. I believe RE6 is easily the worst game in the franchise, but it’s a strong contender for action fans who just want to shoot and drop-kick zombies every few seconds. Thankfully, Resident Evil VII: Biohazard returned the franchise to its horror roots, providing the scariest entry with a first-person perspective, which is the complete opposite of what RE6 was.

13) Driver 2

As important as Driver was when it released in 1999 for its open-world, free-roam gameplay, its sequel completely destroyed what polish and innovation the original had built. The sequel was a drop in quality, both in graphics and gameplay. Deemed too powerful for the PS1, Driver 2 was incredibly impressive for its time, but its clunkiness and inconsistent handling in the thing you’re supposed to want to do—drive—made it painful to play through. It gets worse when the cops are chasing you down, being the most hellbent, careless, and reckless drivers I’ve ever seen.

12) Dying Light 2

Dying Light 2 introduces many pathways you can take, much like playing Baldur’s Gate or Mass Effect. But it’s very different from its predecessor and not in a good way. What I loved about the first game was the flawless parkour, rich environment, and fun combat. The best was the thrill of returning to base at night while being chased. The sheer range in its narrative isn’t so much a plus as (much like The Crew) quantity isn’t better than quality. The story is plain, sure, but the writing is the worst part. They just packed too much in, meaning it’s not streamlined. This is one of those games best enjoyed exclusively for its parkour.

11) Dead Space 3

Dead Space has one of the best survival horror atmospheres, but the third game decided to favor microtransactions over having an immersive story. Focused more on the action side of things, there is nothing really to fear in Dead Space 3 as the sound and enemy design were sadly lacking. As it’s more of an action shooter now as we’re given very generic combat that’s just boring to play through. Dead Space 3 is surprisingly barebones for being the third game in a series and the characters felt underdeveloped even though there was a great conclusion in the second game.

10) The Crew 2

I genuinely enjoyed sinking a ton of hours into The Crew, so I was eager to play its sequel, but I despised the move to make online play a permanent feature. Yes, you have a wide range of vehicles, terrains, and tracks to drive on, but what I enjoyed most about The Crew was its story and exploration, which I felt was completely missing in the sequel. I was left feeling bored, almost as if I had extreme decision fatigue from the choices. Although it had so much on offer, it meant you weren’t getting the high quality you’d expect from a racing game. This made The Crew 2 significantly more basic than other games and one I gave up on incredibly quickly.

9) Dino Crisis 3

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Starting out as a classic survival horror then to pure action and finally ending with a travesty; Dino Crisis 3 looked great but made very little sense, both with its gameplay choices and story. Mixing sci-fi with dinosaurs, DC3 had shameful one-dimensional characters that were boring and lacked any development. The shoddy camera work unnecessarily increased the challenge to complete DC3 for combining jetpack gameplay with fixed-camera angles that jumped around resulted in a very jarring and frustrating experience.

8) Dead Rising 4

What made Dead Rising unique as a zombie game is its time limit. Having to complete the game within a set amount of time raised the stakes, adding a layer of seriousness to an overall light-hearted and entertaining action-adventure game. The character of Frank West was butchered in this installment as his sunny, sarcastic personality drastically shifted into arrogance. No longer was the game about exploration and running through zombie hordes in an open-world setting. Instead, Dead Rising 4 is restricted to a more linear path that was without challenge and provides minimal entertainment. You also had to pay extra to see the proper ending to this sequel because the base game’s conclusion was terrible.

7) Penumbra: Requiem

Penumbra was an amazing series until the third game dropped. This was some of Frictional Games’ best work until the team released Requiem. Black Plague has one of the best atmospheres with some terrifying and unforgettable moments, a mysterious story that keeps your attention, great level and puzzle design, alongside fantastic voice acting that truly sells the narrative. Yet Requiem is so far from what made the first two games so fantastic. It was a tedious, repetitive, and forgettable entry that weakened the overall series as it switched to a puzzle-platformer, stripped of any horror elements. I highly recommend playing Overture and Black Plague if you haven’t already, as they’re better than some Amnesia titles, but skip Requiem altogether.

6) Condemned 2: Bloodshot

Condemned: Criminal Origins is one of the scariest, most iconic horror games on the Xbox. It takes a much darker turn with its sequel that ventures too close to absolute insanity. The immersive, dark, and grungy atmosphere from the first game was missing in Bloodshot and was replaced by heavy and slow combat that felt particularly ineffective against a lot of frustrating enemy variants. The plot becomes so nonsensical that Bloodshot doesn’t feel or play like Criminal Origins at all. The investigative side lacked any challenge and the combat was annoying, even though it expanded upon the simplistic design in the first game. Clearly, less is more.

5) Watch Dogs: Legion

Where Legion failed as a Watch Dogs title was the complete removal of interesting characters and a narrative you could fully immerse yourself in. The exploration and rich environment came second to the story in Legion’s predecessors, yet this entry completely destroyed what made Watch Dogs so fun to play. I could see Legion being entertaining to those who haven’t played through any Watch Dogs titles, but it’s a disappointing third entry in the franchise because of the terrible choice to get rid of its protagonist in favor of a recruitment system that just didn’t work. I didn’t care about anyone; thus, I didn’t care about playing.

4) Mafia III

While Mafia III had an engaging story and a stunning environment to immerse yourself in, it came with a ton of issues. Performance was the most glaring problem with crashes left and right, but it’s the repetitive gameplay that made it such a difficult title to enjoy. The franchise was safer sticking to a linear path as its open-world didn’t add much in entertainment value. Missions repeat on a loop, providing very little variety to the gameplay. It’s incredibly basic for what it is, as it featured generic gunplay and stealth gameplay to make up most of the quests.

3) Payday 3

The unpredictability of Payday 2 that made it so unbelievably fun was sadly missing from the third game. There’s zero challenge and the tiny amount of content available on both the base game and DLCs made Payday 3 a disappointing sequel. Much like The Crew, you’re forced to play Payday 3 online. The levelling system is as basic as the AI. This sequel felt like a cash grab that’s since been forgotten about. It was meant to be a live-service game and this change is likely why Payday 3 failed, as not much changed to keep the content fresh and exciting for the player base.

2) Overwatch 2

Multiple broken promises and the enticing offer for Overwatch fans to have a breather away from the endless multiplayer by bringing a campaign mode to the forefront was dead on arrival. One of the biggest gaming cons and barely a sequel, Overwatch servers were overwritten, and what was once a full-priced game was reduced to a free-to-play microtransaction hell of the same exact game. Yes, more people could play Overwatch now that it had “2” next to it, but it came at a cost as the classic 6v6 was swapped in favor of 5v5. Even inserting the first game disc just launches the sequel. Same heroes, maps, with slight adjustments from Blizzard brought about the most underwhelming sequel in video game history.

1) Devil May Cry 2

Having the most basic plot in the history of all media ever, DMC2 is full of one-dimensional characters and endless shooting. Yes, in a game where combos and looking effortlessly cool are the main things to care about, Devil May Cry 2 only wants you to shoot your firearms at every living thing. It’s strange how this game is so much worse than its predecessor in all ways, as it is one of the biggest slogs to play through. The clunky melee and inconsistent lock-on system are infuriating, but both pale in comparison to the enemies you face that just stand and tank hits. I have no idea how DMC continued as a franchise after Devil May Cry 2.