5 of the most unnecessary video game sequels

Sequels are inevitable, especially in gaming. When an IP hits a certain threshold of success, industry executives immediately get cartoon dollar signs in their eyes. More often than not, a studio will suddenly find themselves in the process of making a sequel for a game they never intended to have one in the first place.

There's nothing inherently wrong with sequels. And, of course, no actual video game is "necessary." Still, there have been plenty of games that have been given sequels that made most people go "eh... OK. I guess?" followed with "And... why?"

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Did we really need these video game sequels?

That's not to say that these five titles are bad - or that the games they're sequels to are good. These are just five games that are sequels to other titles that we really weren't asking for.

What other video game sequels make you think "Well, this was pointless?" Let us know in the comments.

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1) Perfect Dark Zero (sequel to Perfect Dark)

Perfect Dark Zero (Image via Rare)

In 2000, Rare took everything that made their critically acclaimed Goldeneye 007 awesome - the level design, the fast paced action, the addictive multiplayer - and took out the James Bond stuff. What they came up with was Perfect Dark, one of the most iconic titles for the Nintendo 64.

When Microsoft bought the studio two years later, Rare tapped them to make a new Perfect Dark game to launch with the Xbox 360. What they came up with was Perfect Dark Zero, a prequel to the original. The game itself wasn't very good, and it had a story that was both uninteresting and nobody really cared about to begin with.

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2) State of Emergency 2 (sequel to State of Emergency)

State of Emergency 2 (Image via Southpeak Games)

After Grand Theft Auto III basically hijacked every gamer's attention in 2001, all eyes were on whatever Rockstar Games had planned next. That turned out to be 2002's State of Emergency, a game that was almost as controversial, but not nearly as ambitious. It was a chaotic beat-'em-up that impressively featured dozens of moving characters on screen at once, but otherwise, had very little substance.

Whether it was the fact it was a Rockstar title or its violent ironically anti-capitalist themes (the game takes place during riots protesting a major global corporation), State of Emergency sold a boatload of copies. Several boatloads, in fact. This was enough to get it a sequel. Of course, most people who played the original pretty much said, "Nah, we're good."

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3) Prototype 2 (sequel to Prototype)

James Heller in Prototype 2 (Image via Microsoft)

Prototype 2 is probably the one game on this list that is actually better than its original. For the most part. 2009's Prototype was fantastic, with its dark story, tormented main character, and a brilliant main game mechanic. The second game built on that and improved on almost everything. Except the story.

That's not to say the story was bad, but the fact that it had trouble living up to the one that came before was just proof that it wasn't really needed. It's still a fun game, and I reccommend both of them. However, Alex Mercer is way more interesting than Prototype 2's James Heller - and Heller's story wraps up without us learning anything interesting about either men.

That's probably why we never got any further sequels, either.

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4) Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (sequel to Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time)

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (Image via GOG.com)

It's not that nobody wanted video game sequels to the brilliant Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. It not only had a compelling narrative and interesting characters, but it forever changed the way action games are designed. However, if we had to choose between the continuation we got or not getting one at all, well... You can guess which one we'd pick.

Warrior Within doesn't radically change any of the gameplay - it even makes some improvements. However, it's such a tonal shift from the first game that it may as well be a whole different franchise. The Prince had such a great character arc in The Sands of Time - and that all seems to be ignored in the sequel.

We might have been asking for a Sand of Time sequel - but we sure as hell weren't asking for that one.

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5) Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II (sequel to Star Wars: The Force Unleashed)

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II (Image via GOG.com)

Let's not mince words - there would be no Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and its own sequel without The Force Unleashed. While the Jedi Knight games were excellent in their own right, none of them really captured the feeling of being a Force weilding warrior without Starkiller's first adventure.

Force Unleashed was unusual among video game sequels in that it was a game with two distinct endings. The first made the game canon to the Star Wars timeline (pre-Disney, anyway): Starkiller died (spoilers?) but, in his sacrifice, helped form the seeds of the Rebellion against the Empire. That was the "good" ending.

The "bad" ending saw players taking Darth Vader's place at the side of the Emperor, and there was a handful of DLC mission that explored this timeline. Whichever ending you unlocked, though, there was a definite feeling of finality to Starkiller's story.

The Force Unleashed II picks up where the "good" endling left off, and sees Starkiller returned as a clone. Yep. They went there. They may as well have just said the entire first game ending was just a dream Starkiller had. The writers of the sequel do their best to carve a coherent narrative out of this situation, but it doesn't work.

Fortunately, the game is short. Like confusingly short. The first time I finished it, I had to make sure I wasn't being punished for playing it on Easy Mode - that I could only get the "real" ending if I played it on at least "Normal" mode. Nope, it was just that brief.

The Force Unleashed II is the epitome of "Was this really necessary?".

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Once again, let us know what video game sequels you think were unnecessary in the comments.