Reboots have been a fairly common sight of late. That’s no surprise, especially since we’re in the early years of a new console generation. Whether that’s a good or bad thing depends on on your take. Reboots have always been a hit or miss proposition, with some of them emerging as faithful exemplars of what made a series great, and others falling pretty flat. Today, we’re examining the latter type. These eight reboots just didn’t make the grade.
Think we missed one? Tell us what it is in the comments!
Turok (2008)
The Turok series was one of the best on the Nintendo 64. No big surprise, considering that everyone loves taking on dinosaurs. The PlayStation 2/Xbox/Gamecube version was a letdown, and the series went away for a while. In 2008, Propaganda Games made a reboot for the PC/PS3/360 that tried to resurrect the franchise, and failed miserably. It changed Turok from a Native American warrior to a generic muscle-bound guy, as well as adding poor AI and a terrible story. Instead of resurrecting the series, it pretty much killed it off.
Shadowrun (2007)
The Shadowrun series was praised over the years for great stories and well-designed RPG gameplay, so it was a bit of a surprise that the 2007 reboot turned out to be a competitive multiplayer first-person shooter. Not only was it a departure for the series, it wasn’t a great game. It was the first game let PC and Xbox 360 owners compete head-to-head, but it couldn’t translate that novelty into sales thanks to its lackluster gameplay and lack of content. Said lack of content didn’t help when the dev tried to justify the $60 price tag, which was widely criticized. Luckily, 2013’s Kickstarter-funded Shadowrun Returns successfully took the series back to its roots.
Golden Axe: Beast Rider (2008)
Golden Axe is one of Sega’s all-time great side-scrolling beat-em-ups, mixing medieval fantasy with really good gameplay. In 2008, Sega unexpectedly rebooted the series with Golden Axe: Beast Rider, adding 3D graphics and a Mature rating. While the new graphics were actually pretty decent, the combat system was a mess. Enemies were lacking in variety, the whole game was repetitive, and the main character controlled like a beat-up old Volkswagen. Not surprisingly, the series has been dormant ever since.
Medal of Honor (2010)
Medal of Honor was the series that started the “historical shooter” craze that birthed Call of Duty. After a dozen games focusing on all parts of World War II, the Medal of Honor got a modern war reboot in 2010 that even appropriated the name of the original game. Focusing on a number opf different special operations units, Medal of Honoroffered up a campaign and multiplayer experience that was just a little bit too much like the competition to ever set itself apart. Couple that with the technical issues the game had, and the controversy that was spawned when it was learned that players could take on the role of the Taliban, and it’s no surprise this one came up short. The 2012 sequel was even less successful, and the series has gone dark since then.
Bionic Commando (2009)
After 2008’s Bionic Commando: Rearmed, which served as a prequel to the reboot, gamers were optimistic. Unfortunately, their optimism was misplaced. Bionic Commando featured a boring protagonist and a laughable plot twist (Don’t believe me? Ask Yahtzee). Even worse, the one thing that sets http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/759-Bionic-Commando apart is the ability to use your bionic arm to swing around, and that mechanic is terrible. It largely ignores physics, keeping you swinging at the same speed regardless of how fast you were going. The level design is a mess too, teasing you with the look of an open world but being largely linear. Overall, it was a huge letdown for fans of the original title.
Alone in the Dark (2008)
After lying quietly for seven years or so after Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare, the series returned in 2008 with the creatively titled reboot, Alone in the Dark. It featured a story organized into episode, and the ability to switch from first to third-person at will. It put the focus on combat more than puzzles, a choice that wasn’t helped by the poor controls. Worse, the game took you out of the Derceto mansion and into the surrounding city, where you were forced to experience some terrible driving mechanics. In short, fans of the series found a game that was barely familiar to them.
Duke Nukem Forever (2011)
Most reboots try to bring games into the modern era not just in graphics, but in gameplay, content, and mechanics. Duke Nukem Forever broke that mold by trying to keep everything outside the visuals pretty much exactly the same. Everyone knows about the development hell the game went through, spanning 14 years, multiple engines, and two different developers. Unfortunately, the dated gameplay, poor graphics, glitches, and slow pace hamstrung the game. Worst of all, it just wasn’t fun.
SimCity (2013)
SimCity fans were stoked to learn that the franchise was coming back in 2013. A number of pre-release announcements dulled the excitement a bit, but they did nothing compared to the damage done after release. The smaller city size and required online connection were bad enough, but the technical glitches were worse. Many gamers couldn’t even connect to the required servers to make their game work, and those that could connect found issues with saving and other problems. The issues were so widespread that EA halted marketing and issued several patches attempting to fix them.
