It’s hard to imagine a popular video game franchise going dormant and rebooting. However, when something like this happens, it’s usually due to bad sequels or expansion packs that have destroyed the appeal of the original title.
In such a scenario, imagining a reboot is sometimes seen as the last resort to spark new interest from gamers. Video game reboots often have an alternate storyline set in the same world but with different characters.
Some reboots extend the original title and give the series a new look. However, others for one reason or another fail to connect with the public.
Here’s a quick rundown of five such video game franchise reboots that failed to appeal to gamers and ultimately forced the developers to go back to the original series.
Note: This article reflects the opinion of the author.
5 video game franchises with unimpressive reboots
1) Devil May Cry (2013)
The Devil May Cry series is the ultimate standard for the action-adventure genre even today. Devil May Cry spawned a subgenre of video games called extreme combat and paved the way for video games like God of War and Elden Ring.
After the successful launches of Devil May Cry, Devil May Cry 3 and Devil May Cry 4, the video game franchise decided to go for a bold reboot of the original series and released a new version of Devil May Cry in 2013.
While Devil May Cry 2013 had more fluid gameplay mechanics than the previous editions, fans of the series couldn’t handle the new version of the series’ main character and the ending of the story.
Fortunately, the video game developers took note of the criticism and returned with another re-release of Devil May Cry in 2020. This time, the original character of Dante was retained, much to the delight of the franchise’s loyal supporters.
In the 2020 reboot of Devil May Cry, Dante’s twin brother, Virgil, also the antagonist of the story, is a playable character.
2) Sonic Unleashed (2008)
The publishers of the famous Sonic Adventure series, Sega and Gameloft, have rebooted the original Sonic Adventure video game series with significant changes to the gameplay mechanics. The 2008 edition of the Sonic Adventure series was called Sonic Unleashed.
The title became a commercial success, selling over 2.5 million copies. However, it did not escape the flood of criticism from gamers. The title was heavily criticized for its poor gameplay mechanics and design concepts.
As a result, the Sonic franchise immediately went back to the original gameplay elements in the next title in 2099, titled Sonic and the Black Knight.
3) Earthquake 4 (2005)
After the spectacular success of the first Quake game, the first-person shooter franchise decided to change the video game’s setting and background in subsequent releases. The storyline of Quake II and Quake III pitted the players against a Cyborg race called Shrog.
Although Quake III eventually became the franchise’s best-selling video game with over three million copies sold, gamers couldn’t quite digest the changes in the second and third editions. This ultimately led to the demise of the franchise.
After being inactive for over a decade, the franchise finally woke up from its slumber and delivered yet another first-person multiplayer shooter game in 2020, titled Quake Remastered. In doing so, it brought back the original dark arena themed graphics and gameplay.
4) Prince of Persia (2008)
The 2008 edition of the Prince of Persia series, developed by Ubisoft, was a radical shift from the original storyline. Players had the freedom to roam anywhere in the open world. However, the wall crawling and acrobatic gameplay mechanics were well maintained from the previous Prince of Persia editions.
Prince of Persia 2008 saw a dramatic shift from an Islamic Persian kingdom to a Zoroastrian kingdom of the distant past, which didn’t quite appeal to gamers. The game reboot also had a lot of design flaws and lacked rewarding exploration.
5) Doom 3 (2004)
Developed by id Software, Doom is a popular first-person shooter video game series that allows players to control Doomguy, a space marine. The main character has to fight his way through hordes of evil monsters from another realm.
After the overwhelming success of the first two Doom titles, the developers decided to turn the action-adventure first-person shooter game into a survival horror first-person shooter in Doom 3.
Although Doom 3 became a commercial success with more than 3.5 million copies sold, the response from the gaming community regarding the change in genre was immediate.
For a game made in 2004, Doom 3 did quite well with excellent graphics, sounds and atmosphere. Despite being such a well-made game, the reboot didn’t quite work out well.
Doom 4 was released after a 12-year hiatus in 2016. The developers returned to the original genre, making it a fast-paced action-adventure first-person shooter and once again winning the affection of fans.
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