Games which, unfortunately, took a step backwards

GTA4. Was a great game, but compared to others, it didn't have nearly as much variety and wasn't as fun. It just focused too much on the city, and other small details, wich were great, but also probably made it so that they didn't focus on the actual gameplay.

soul calibur 3

Chrono Cross didn't so much take a step backward as it did a step in the wrong direction. No simple charming story, a huge undeveloped cast...wait, the battle system was a bit of a step backwards.

every single game that focuses on MP so much they sacrifice a deep involved story for a 6 hour meh-fest that people can play and then go play MP for the next wee until the next big game comes out . repeat as necessary

so....halo2-3 come to mind

as do CoD4 and CodWaW, oh heres one, Gears of war 1&2

Fable 2, except that didnt even have a MP!

Halo 2 and 3

AOE3

Elder Scrolls 4

Prince of Persia

Madden. The series is inconsistent. For every step forward, they take one backwards.

GTA IV. Added some new things but removed too much from the previous games.

Gran Turismo 3. Took away sooooo many cars that were in GT 2.

Gran Turismo Prologue: $39 demo

Oblivion. I LOVE this game. It added a lot of good things but it felt like a step backwards from Morrowind.

The entire NEED 4 SPEED series. I use to look forward to these games. Now I just feel sick.

Civilization. Made it easy for noobs.

Mortal Kombat Armageddon. I enjoyed Deadly Alliance and Deception but felt this game was very weak.

Dino Crisis 3, A forgotten Xbox game for good reason.

Madden

Pokemon Games after Gold/Silver

GTA IV

Perfect Dark Zero- I hated how they removed the awesome modes and features from the original on N64

Why am I not surprised that people are already saying Halo 3? It improved everything that Halo 2 did, in every, single way. How can it be a step backwards? What did it do worse then Halo 2 and 1?

The entire NEED 4 SPEED series. I use to look forward to these games. Now I just feel sick.

Civilization. Made it easy for noobs.

JetLagz28

I'd have to agree with those two, I haven't bothered with a Need 4 Speed game since the PS1 titles and yeah I really liked Civ Rev at first but now it bores me to death wheres as I can go back to CivIII and still enjoy it(haven't got a good enough comp for CivIV).

2 come to mind immediately; Rainbow Six Vegas 2 and Gears of War 2. Vegas 2 you could only play with 2 people on co-op(4 on the original), and the options were a lot better in original. Gears 2 is unbalanced and has a bad matchmaking system.
white_sox

Gears 2 actually makes a lot of improvements, in balance and other areas;

* gunfire having stopping power - no more enemies rushing towards you with their shotgun while you're firing at them
* more multiplayer vs modes, now with 5 vs 5
* playing multiplayer elimination in party mode with friends
* 5 player co-op horde mode
* meat shield
* new weapons including the heavy support weapons (turret, mortar cannon)
* more execution finishers
* better balance in gaining achievements that can be earned in a mix of modes (ranked, social, campaign, co-op) instead of only the ranked matches in Gears 1

The match making problems are just the time they need to iron out the kinks of the new system, which will get sorted in due course, this isn't permanent.

2 come to mind immediately; Rainbow Six Vegas 2 and Gears of War 2. Vegas 2 you could only play with 2 people on co-op(4 on the original), and the options were a lot better in original. Gears 2 is unbalanced and has a bad matchmaking system.
white_sox

every single game that focuses on MP so much they sacrifice a deep involved story for a 6 hour meh-fest that people can play and then go play MP for the next wee until the next big game comes out . repeat as necessary

so....halo2-3 come to mind

as do CoD4 and CodWaW, oh heres one, Gears of war 1&2

Fable 2, except that didnt even have a MP!

shadow_hosi

This Generation ONLY:

GTA IV - so many game design mistakes, that miss the point of what made the series enjoyable, at the expense of a very realistic game world and story...

Oblivion - its pretty clear how simplified / 'dumbed down' it is. Role Playing it is not, shallow it is.

Fallout 3 - an improvement on Oblivion, but a massive step back for the Fallout franchise in terms of design.

SPORE - What could have been revolutionary was simply shallow, repitition.

Rainbow Six Vegas - How to ruin a once hardcore, tactical shooter franchise, that had been around for many years? Thats how.

Call of Duty 2 / Call of Duty 3 - Everything learnt in COD1 and UO was essentially ignorned, and again design was mish mashed into somthing unspectacular.

Mercenaries 2 - As another user said; changes from Mercs 1 to 2 were just stupid.

Halo 3 - While it sported better sp than the second, it lacked the qualities of a spectacular finale, or evidence of an evolution in game design since 2001. It was just flat.

HL2 Episodes - Fact is high production value games dont work as Epsodic games. The third needs to be done and dusted fast.

Far Cry 2 - so much potential, so many stupid design flaws.

STALKER Clear Sky - HOW can a developer make the same stupid mistakes that weighed down the first, AGAIN, after such a vocal reaction? Yikes.....

edit*

As jg4xchamp also said:

Unreal Tournament 3 (how the hell did i forget this) - I could write an essay on how recessive this game was, and how much of a sellout Epic is in screwing over the people who would have bought the game in the first place.

edit*

As AdrianWerner said:

Bioshock - It was knowhere as good as it was hyped, and ultimately a simplified System Shock 2...

GTA IV, Oblivion, Fallout 3, SPORE, Rainbow Six Vegas, Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty 3, Mercs 2.skrat_01

all RainbowSix games after RavenShield- they turned into arcade shooters

all CoDs after CoD:UO- they got more and more linear, reduced tactical freedom and reduced the variety of action

Dreamfall- this was supposed to be a sequel to LongestJourney? uggghh..

Sam and Max episodes - I love them to death, but they're nothing when compared to original

Escape from Monkey Island

Fallout3

DeusEX:IW

Thief 3

Splinter Cell: Double Agent- CT was so great, DA was a huge step backwards

Eurofighter Typhoon- how could they think this could pass as a sequel to amazing Eurofighter2000 is beyond my comprehension

Lands of Lore 2 and 3- LoL2 was good, dumbed down but at least it was playable and fun, LoL3 wasn't even fun at all

follow-ups to Sea Dogs- first they turned SeaDogs2 into Pirates of Carribean, which was horribly dumbed down, then Age of Pirates turned out to be even worse In both cases mods saved the games, so I hope the new follow-up, designed by the mod makers (Akella hired them) will restore the glory to this old franchise

the console Larry game- uhh...that was just horrible

Mechwarrior4- good, but nowhere near as good as MW3

Bioshock- SS2 spiritual successor it was not

Heroes of Might and Magic IV- the worst part of the franchise

Warlords4- same as above

Oblivion- Morrowind already was dissapointing compared to Daggerfall, but Oblivion was more of a boring action-adventure than a real ElderScrolls 

Twilight Princess. I wouldnt say a step back as much as I would say that it stopped moving indeffinately.freek666

[QUOTE="freek666"]Twilight Princess. I wouldnt say a step back as much as I would say that it stopped moving indeffinately.II_Seraphim_II

[QUOTE="II_Seraphim_II"][QUOTE="freek666"]Twilight Princess. I wouldnt say a step back as much as I would say that it stopped moving indeffinately.jg4xchamp

GTA IV. Added some new things but removed too much from the previous games.

Gran Turismo 3. Took away sooooo many cars that were in GT 2.JetLagz28

Agree with these two. GT2 had an absolute **** ton of content, GT3 felt kind of a let down. Plus GT2 had a scratch 'n' sniff disc, and it doesn't get much more awesome than that :P

The Tomb Raider games have gone leaps and bounds backwards. That was one of my favorite series in the 90's. Now that series has turned into nothing but garbage. jfcundiff

The real problem with the TR series after the 3rd game was straying away from what made the first games so great. When Crystal Dynamics took the IP over, they brought the game back to its roots with Legend and even more so with Underworld. I wouldn't call this "taking a step backwards" in this case as it's the going back to what actually worked that is saving the franchise.

[QUOTE="jfcundiff"]The Tomb Raider games have gone leaps and bounds backwards. That was one of my favorite series in the 90's. Now that series has turned into nothing but garbage. AdobeArtist

The real problem with the TR series after the 3rd game was straying away from what made the first games so great. When Crystal Dynamics took the IP over, they brought the game back to its roots with Legend and even more so with Underworld. I wouldn't call this "taking a step backwards" in this case as it's the going back to what actually worked that is saving the franchise.

[QUOTE="AdobeArtist"]

[QUOTE="jfcundiff"]The Tomb Raider games have gone leaps and bounds backwards. That was one of my favorite series in the 90's. Now that series has turned into nothing but garbage. jfcundiff

The real problem with the TR series after the 3rd game was straying away from what made the first games so great. When Crystal Dynamics took the IP over, they brought the game back to its roots with Legend and even more so with Underworld. I wouldn't call this "taking a step backwards" in this case as it's the going back to what actually worked that is saving the franchise.

You should definitely pick up Legend. It really does have that magic you felt when you played TR for the 1st time. The environments and puzzles are classic platforming and brain teasing goodness. The gameplay of her acrobatic skills is quite tight, when the camera doesn't get in the way that is. Plus there's an intruiging plot exploring the mythology of Excalibur as well as revelations of Lara's own past and the fate of her family.

Underworld in fact picks up where Legend left off, with even grander environments and puzzles, spending much less time in modern scenarios than Legend, and more in the ruins and temples of ancient civilazations. This chapter delves into the mythlogies of Thor's hammer, Helheim (their underworld, which is connected to both the hammer and Excalibur) and a very unique take the World Serpent myth. This is what TR would be like (in game play, not story) if it had the benefit of today's technology).

Is "95% of Wii games" an acceptable answer??POJO_MOFO

[QUOTE="white_sox"]2 come to mind immediately; Rainbow Six Vegas 2 and Gears of War 2. Vegas 2 you could only play with 2 people on co-op(4 on the original), and the options were a lot better in original. Gears 2 is unbalanced and has a bad matchmaking system.
AdobeArtist

Gears 2 actually makes a lot of improvements, in balance and other areas;

* gunfire having stopping power - no more enemies rushing towards you with their shotgun while you're firing at them
* more multiplayer vs modes, now with 5 vs 5
* playing multiplayer elimination in party mode with friends
* 5 player co-op horde mode
* meat shield
* new weapons including the heavy support weapons (turret, mortar cannon)
* more execution finishers
* better balance in gaining achievements that can be earned in a mix of modes (ranked, social, campaign, co-op) instead of only the ranked matches in Gears 1

The match making problems are just the time they need to iron out the kinks of the new system, which will get sorted in due course, this isn't permanent.

The only real example I can come up with is UT 2003.

That game is the definition of a bad sequel, it is nearly exactly the same as UT original except that it lacks assault.