Not all game series last. The PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X are the perfect consoles to offer these forgotten franchises a new game.
Games come and go. That is the harsh reality of the game industry. Some series of games are successful and seem to have been on the market since forever. Just think of Resident Evil, Doom, Wolfenstein, Mortal Kombat or Metal Gear. Many of these titles saw new games even on the new generation of consoles such as PlayStation 5 or Xbox series X/S.
Other games are unfortunately lost in time. And we are not talking about individual games, but complete series. Series that were popular on older generations of game consoles. As far as we are concerned, these series deserve a comeback on the PlayStation 5 or on the Xbox.
These series we would like to see back on the PlayStation 5 or the Xbox
We’re not talking about a remake here. While a revised and polished version of a game is a good way to regain attention, such as the remake of Alone in the Dark, we are talking about completely new games in an existing series. We would prefer to give these series a new game on the PlayStation 5 or the Xbox Series X/S.
Dead Rising
The funny thing about the zombie genre is that every now and then it dies a quiet death only to come back to life. Sure, we recently saw great zombie games like Dying Light 2 and the Resident Evil games. But the real peak of this genre was more than a decade ago. And Dead Rising was among the peak.
In Dead Rising you take on hordes of zombies in an often somewhat comical way. Be it through funny weapons, comical characters or just a strange setting. The games had something lighthearted yet exciting. The last installment, Dead Rising 4, came out in 2016. High time to revive this series.
(image: Capcom)
Burnout
Burnout is to the racing genre what Mortal Kombat is to fighting games. A true pioneer and a true classic. A remaster of Burnout was recently released on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox. The game was well received. Not surprising since it capitalizes on a good dose of nostalgia of the series.
We haven’t seen a new addition to the series of racing games in a long time. And why not? Need For Speed and Forza still seem to be alive and kicking. Burnout has always had something chaotic about it. Chaos that would be perfect for the graphics of the PlayStation 5 or the Xbox.
The remake of Burnout Paradise (image: Electronic Arts)
Sly Cooper snuck away on the PlayStation 5
What happened to this raccoon and his animal friends? Sly Cooper used to be one of the PlayStation’s mascots. Along with Uncharted and Crash Bandicoot, it was one of the showpieces Sony was only too happy to show off. But after 2013 when Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time was released, grim silence has remained around this master thief.
Shame. The Sly Cooper games were always great platformers with very fun stories. Suitable for young gamers, but just as engaging for an older audience. Yet we haven’t heard anything more from the series, not even on the PlayStation 5. Will we finally see Sly and his band of thieves back on the PlayStation 6? We hope so.
(image: Sony Interactive Games)
Condemned: Criminal Origins
This game showed us like no other what the Xbox 360 had to offer. Not only was it a graphically impressive game for its time, it was also a strong piece of horror. The game in which you are a detective investigating crime scenes managed to scare the hell out of us.
The second installment, Condemned 2: Bloodshot, was another entertaining game. However, this one was not as well received and thus it seemed to be the end of the series. Very unfortunate, because we haven’t seen this kind of gameplay in a long time. And just imagine how terrifying a new game could be with the better graphics of the Xbox Series X.
(image: SEGA)
Manhunt
There are many reasons why we will never get another Manhunt game. The stealth genre has never been super popular, Rockstar has pretty much abandoned all but a few series, and Manhunt has always been a particularly controversial franchise that certainly wouldn’t be any less controversial now.
Still, the games deserve some praise. They were creative (if occasionally misguided) attempts to comment on the evolution of violence in video games and how we have (and have not) made peace with that violence. They were also shockingly good stealth-horror titles that generally deserved some more love.
(image: Rockstar Games)
Where is Jak and Daxter on the PlayStation 5?
Jak and Daxter is experiencing a bit of the same downfall as that of Sly Cooper. Once upon a time, it was one of Sony’s showpieces. From the PlayStation 2 to the remakes on the PlayStation 4, the games were well-known Sony titles. On the PlayStation 5, we haven’t heard anything more from the duo. That may be because of the series’ dark demise.
The first game is an adventure platformer with some dark elements here and there. By part two, it already becomes a little clearer that the series is going in a different direction. By part three, the transformation is complete: it is a dark game with guns, monsters and even some GTA-like elements. The games reached an increasingly smaller audience. Still, we see plenty of opportunities for a comeback on the PlayStation 5. Dark or not, they were delightful games.
(image: Sony)
Fortunately, there are plenty of new games coming to the PlayStation 5 this year. We can’t wait for some of them. You can read which ones here:
