UGO (Underground Online) - Worst Video Game Sequels

Kayla said:

I loved the Heart of Winter expansion, and for a free expansion just because people complained IWD wasn't long enough, I was very, very impressed.

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IWD:HoW was not free; it was $30 at retail and took 10 hours to play. Trials of the Luremaster was free, but only if you bought Heart of Winter. Schlocking this off was one of the most visible signs that there was something wrong at the company.

If there was one thing Black Isle did right as a last hurrah was IWD2. Was it better than the original? I think it did everything right and definitely updated it.

Each of the Ultimas improved on the previous version up until U5, but U5 really wasn't that bad. U5 suffered from what U2 did by simply being bigger. U5 really pushed the limits of the old Apple ][ however, but it wasn't a great story. It had a hard act to follow though.

The Bard's Tales and Might Magics were the same for the first III, each improving on the last. However, Richard Garriot criticized BT3 but that was probably for PR reasons.

U6, U7 and the Underworlds all suffered from performance anxiety. Although great in their time few people had the hardware to be able to run them. I believe for the Amiga U7 required a hard drive which few people had.

Wizardry IV was a great sequel in terms of concept. The role reversal was a good idea and then the puzzles were amazing (go up 3 levels to get a pair of winged boots then go back down to fly across the pits?)

Myst III suffered because it was loaded with Starforce. Otherwise, probably a great game (as soon as I finish Riven I'll play it).

The Uru versions of Myst was a poor spinoff because it was launched as single player games and it was designed as Multiplayer. They are now playable to Gametap subscribers as MP and I assume its a lot better.

Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel was a classic of course.

Day of the Tentacle was a great sequel to Maniac Mansion. I never knew what the fuss was over Maniac Mansion, even though it got it's own TV series in Canada.

Zork: Nemesis was poor as it lack of humour and horror theme just wasn't Zork.

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This is kind of confusing. We should split this thread in two.

Lucky Day said:

If there was one thing Black Isle did right as a last hurrah was IWD2. Was it better than the original? I think it did everything right and definitely updated it.

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Interesting, I played the IWD2 before the IWD, which I'm close-to-finishing now. IWD2 had seriously dated graphics when it came out, but it was very playable, so much that I don't remember anything of the whole game, except that I finished it. I have the feeling that IWD1 is harder and has somewhat more interesting content and plot, although I threw the whole thing in the corner 10 months ago when I started playing NWN2 with no real urge to finish IWD. Started playing it again, and it doesn't seem so bad.

Prime Junta said:

DX:IW sucked simply because it did not come close to living up to the expectations created by DX. If we call it one of the worst games ever, then what do we call the real turds?

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OK, perhaps not nearly 'worst ever' but certainly on the short list of 'biggest disappointments'. Look at when it was released - end of 2003. For that time, the shooter mechanics are mediocre, and while there have been worse console ports it was breakig new ground and really felt like a crappy console port ... but it was *supposed* to be a PC game!

I always thought Kotor II was the superior of the two by far. In fact, I think it would have been a lot better had it deviated a little more from the original: dull combat, inability to attack whoever, forced "dungeon crawls", linear "exploration", combat minigames, dumb character creation/development, etc. It really had some superb dialog (there was a particularly interesting conversation with Atris or somebody), a lot more morally ambiguous (about as much as you can be in a Star Wars setting), interesting ideas (influence), less irritating characters, better quest situations/more choice&consequence, better feats/better ranged weapons balance, gameplay additions (lab/work stations, consequence for bashing containers), I could go on for a while. Not exactly a compelling story, but it's not like the first one was very good either, and quality narrative doesn't necessarily make a game a better rpg. The only thing I can really say that the original wins on is the Star Wars atmosphere, II took it self a bit too seriously.

I agree. I think the "KotOR II was unfinished! Obsidian suck!" call was always overstated. Originally, I never bothered getting the HK unit going, so I completely missed the major source of the hubbub but it still should be balanced against the vastly more interesting characters in the first place.

My take on KotOR II was about 'three games' as I called it, beginning, middle and end. I still love the game, but it does fade fairly significantly in the end game.