The thing about sequels is that they usually are created when the original project was really good and they start working on the sequel which, most times, can be pretty bad. In some other cases, the sequel truly lives up to its potential and becomes a better work than its predecessor.
Today we are going to talk about those video games which received a sequel that is better than the original and why they were so good. This is the 12 best video game sequels ever.
12. The Sims 2 – 2004
The Sims is widely regarded as one of the most iconic and well-known video games of all time due to its addictive gameplay and simple but fun formula. The Sims 2 was released in 2004, six years after the original game and it was a massive improvement from the first game.
The game was way more polished than the original and allowed players to get a 360-degree look at their home. By 2012, The Sims 2 has sold more than 13 million copies and has become a classic of the medium.
11. Team Fortress 2 – 2007
Team Fortress 2 is one of the reasons why games like Valorant, Apex Legends, and Overwatch exists. This game is far more popular than the original and despite there are more free-to-play first-person shooters, Team Fortress is still one of the most played games on Steam.
This game was developed by Valve and it set the tone for the role-based shooter gameplay which is currently one of the most popular video game genres. Do you want to know something interesting? The first Team Fortress is a mod of Quake.
10. Assassin’s Creed 2 – 2009
The original Assassin’s Creed was good, but when Ubisoft released Assassin’s Creed 2 in 2009, we knew it was something different.
While I personally prefer Altair as a protagonist, it was Ezio Auditore the assassin who made us love the Assassin’s Creed series. Praised for its characters, narrative, world design, and the improvements, Assassin’s Creed 2 is widely considered one of the best video games ever made, the one that brought the series to mainstream popularity, and the peak of the Assassin’s Creed series.
9. Mass Effect 2 – 2010
Mass Effect 2 is a game where you can clearly see how much the producers wanted to surpass its predecessor from the moment you start playing it.
Acclaimed by both critics and players for its improvements, Mass Effect 2 is a game that set standards for the role-playing shooters where your decision can affect the course of the story of the game and also, it was the game who brought Mass Effect to the masses. This game is one of those cases where the second part is better than both the first and the third part.
8. Batman: Arkham City – 2011
Batman: Arkham Asylum was already a masterpiece; from the moment it was released we already thought that it would be the best superhero video game ever, until Rocksteady blown us away in 2011 with the critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham City.
The game perfectly executed the open-world gameplay and made Gotham a haunting funhouse where you can find everything. Considered by many die-hard Batman fans as the best game in the series, Batman: Arkham City is a love letter to the Batman universe.
7. Resident Evil 2 – 1998
The original Resident Evil was good and scary, but Resident Evil 2 is the game that defined what the zombie survival horror genre should look like.
1998’s Resident Evil 2 was one of the first games to give us storylines and branching paths in a zombie genre making it extremely replayable and made us think twice before making a decision because we knew there was no going back. It was also the game that gave us both Leon S. Kenny and Claire Redfield.
6. Silent Hill 2 – 2001
Back in 2001 there weren’t so many horror games around and we thought that the genre will slowly die, until this masterpiece was released.
The first Silent Hill was scary, everybody knows that, but 2001’s Silent Hill was something else; it wasn’t just scarier than the predecessor but it was also more artistic, more challenging, and was, for lack of a better word, more beautiful.
Silent Hill 2 also encouraged replayability, something rare for horror games, and also gave us one of the best plot-twists ever.
5. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of the Liberty – 2001
I firmly believe that the best MGS ever is 2007’s Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, but there is something that Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of the Liberty gave us that cannot be repeated.
MGS 2 was controversial, we cannot deny that, but it was also so ahead of its time that is scary; fake news, synthetic media, and alternative facts are some of the topics that the game dealt that are currently relevant in real life.
It is as if the game had been made by a time traveler.
4. Portal 2 – 2011
Portal 2 is the best game ever for the puzzle lovers, period. While both Portal 1 and Portal 2 are critically acclaimed, the sequel presented us more puzzles, more story, and more features than the first game. Portal 2 is so good that made the first game like a prototype, like a beta of the true game and it is not an exaggeration. When they were producing the game, they took everything from Portal 1 and made it better.
A true game for the art lovers.
3. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves – 2009
The Uncharted saga gave us the perfect combination between Indiana Jones and National Treasure… with more weapons, obviously.
The first game was an instant hit so it was a matter of time until a sequel for the adventure classic was made. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves was bigger than what we imagined and is usually considered the best game of the saga and also the 2009’s Game of the Year.
The gameplay, the atmospheres, the acting, everything was extremely well done and executed.
2. Red Dead Redemption 2 – 2018
It was hard for me to pick between this game and the next one, and you will understand it soon.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is the perfect example of a video game considered as artistic, and it is my pick for Rockstar Games’ best creation until now. RDR 1 was amazing, was beautiful but Red Dead Redemption 2 is everything you would ask for a sequel to a masterpiece.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is the closest thing we have to a perfect game.
1. Half-Life 2 – 2004
“Rise and shine Mr. Freeman… Rise and Shine.”
Now you understand why it was hard for me to pick between this game and Red Dead Redemption 2? Half-Life 2 received widespread critical acclaim and is widely considered the best game of the decade, and by some critics and gamersm the best video game ever made.
The game combined shooting, puzzles, horror, and storytelling at its finest and it is the game that redefined the first-person shooter genre. Truly a contender for the best video game ever made.
