5 Video Game Franchises That Died This Decade (& 5 That Came Back To Life)

Though Wolfenstein 3D may not have been the first FPS , it certainly revolutionized the genre and made it a force to be reckoned with. Hype for the series waned over time, but MachineGames brought it back in full force with 2014’s Wolfenstein: The New Order . The alternate history game brought a surprising depth to the narrative. Players came in thinking Inglorious Basterds , but got something more along the lines of Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Cast

However, perhaps the most interesting portrayal of morality – one that Fable should take notes from – is that found in The Witcher 3. Choices in The Witcher 3 have real weight, in part thanks to how well the game portrays its world as being “lived-in.” That manifests itself in many different ways, and on a surface level may not even look like a morality system. Geralt is, after all, a hero, but with his decisions determining who lives, who dies, and, in some cases, the well-being of entire cities, it’s hard to deny the state of the world at the end of the game as a sort of morality system for Ger

Of all of the games rumored for the Xbox Series X, a reboot of Fable is one of the most anticipated. While the Adventure Game reviews is in no way confirmed, there are rumors that Fable will appear at Xbox’s exclusive presentation in July , resurrecting a franchise that hasn’t received a true new entry in almost a dec

Alongside games like Knights of the Old Republic , which featured its own morality system with a light side and dark side meter, black-and-white moral systems were fairly common in a game, adding an additional layer of depth to individual characters. It was an early blueprint for what was to come, providing ways for players to impact a game’s narrative, at least to a degree, with decision making, but not quite having the effect on entire worlds like fans see in more modern ga

Isabella is very popular, but K.K. Slider was around since the beginning and enchanted players with his mellow speech and passion for song. He is not a one-trick pony either, as he has over 90 songs since New Leaf came

One of the most demonstrable shifts in the way morality systems work now is in the Mass Effect series. While Andromeda’s facial animations and other aspects faced major criticisms when it released, most of which were deserved, it ditched the paragon and renegade system found in the first three entries of the series. The newer system, which gave players the option to respond in four different manners rather than just two, was still flawed, but it marked a departure from the standard good versus evil archtypes, attempting to give players more characterization, even if it didn’t necessarily succ

Just like Until Dawn featured some Hollywood star power, so too does The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan , with Shawn Ashmore playing one of the lead roles, alongside Pip Torrens. The first game in a new horror anthology series , The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan looks to deliver very similar gameplay to Until Dawn , but with a new ghost ship setting and a new cast of characters, it should still feel like a fresh experience when it launches on August

Sandbox titles focused on causing as much chaos as possible are seldom these days. The only games that fulfill that fantasy are Just Cause and Grand Theft Auto , although the latter is more focused on satire.

Supermassive Games debuted on the horror scene in a big way with the hit PS4 exclusive Until Dawn . Despite frequent delays and originating as a PlayStation Move-only game, Until Dawn defied expectations in 2016 and remains one of the most highly-regarded horror games of recent years. Supermassive has continued to release horror titles since its success with Until Dawn , but none have quite had the scope as The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Med

Video games go through the same processes as their popularity grows and wanes. Unlike people, however, they also have a chance for revival. As an acknowledgment of all the franchises that either came or went this decade, the following list will detail five franchises that left the industry and five that came back in full force. The latter entries’ revivals give hope to the former series that they too can one day come back from the d

Reboots have become more common recently, bringing older titles to modern audiences with some tweaks and innovations to hold its own. This is usually done for more big-budget titles like Call of Duty , but underrated franchises that never got a large following would benefit greatly from this. Ranging from cult classics to more modern titles, here are 10 underrated franchises that need a reboot.

On the other end of that are games that dropped the morality system entirely, one example being Fallout 4. Ditching the Karma system wasn’t a popular decision, but it did make players consider why they did what they did, rather than just making binary choices to fit the mold of a hero or villain. That’s not an easy thing to accomplish, and unrooting players from a mechanic they’ve used for the better part of a decade is commendable, even if there’s a notable shift in how well that change works. Morality in the game is by no means perfect, there were pointless decisions in Fallout 4 , and players were forced to play the hero in most situations, but it did make the smaller-scale decisions worthy of reflect