Unlike like with movies, video game sequels are almost universally better than their predecessors. It can be difficult to absolutely nail a new IP the first time out, and it usually takes that second game to build on the foundation of the first and fix the mistakes that critics were likely all too happy to point out about the original. It’s no coincidence that many of the greatest games of all time–Street Fighter II,Mega Man 2,Silent Hill 2, et al– are fantastic follow-ups to ambitious but flawed franchise debuts.
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That being said, once things hit “franchise” status and game series stretch beyond just two installments, another trend begins to reveal itself: trilogies that end on a down note. As easy as it seems to be to make a great part two, followingthatup with an even better part three often eludes game companies. While most of the trilogies below don’t havebadthird games– some are even great– they all represented a step down in quality from incredible second installments.
10Max Payne
Combining the dual-wielding, sideways-diving action of John Woo movies with the “bullet time” ofThe Matrix,Max Paynewas a revolutionary third-person shooter– but one that definitely had some room for improvement. Developer Remedy checked all the sequel boxes with the stellarMax Payne 2, a game that, for years, seemed like the end of the franchise. Nearly a decade later, Rockstar Studios revived the series withMax Payne 3, which was a very good action game but didn’t feel as groundbreaking as the second installment.
9Dino Crisis
The threeDino Crisisgames went good, great, terrible, in that order. The first game was basically justResident Evilwith dinosaurs, for better or worse, followed by a phenomenal action game that doesn’t get enough credit for how much it inspired the modern third-person action game genre.
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Then, for reasons that are still impossible to comprehend,Dino Crisis 3took the series to space– and with that, a promising franchise was stopped cold and still hasn’t recovered, 17 years later.
8Batman: Arkham
Batman games have been very hit or missthroughout gaming history– and unfortunately, when a Batman game is bad, it is really,reallybad. It took no time at all after the release ofBatman: Arkham Asylumfor people to declare it not only the best Batman game ever made, but one of the best games of its time, period. Follow-upArkham Citybuilt on that foundation and went on to be one of the most critically-acclaimed games of the 2010s. It would’ve been almost impossible for third core installmentArkham Knightto beevenbetter thanCity– but that doesn’t make it any less disappointing that it wasn’t.
7God Of War
Sure, there are a lot more than threeGod of Wargames, butGod of WarthroughGod of War IIIdefinitely still felt like a core trilogy, and one that saw an incredible part two give way to a let-down of a part three.
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From a technical standpoint,GoWIIIwas a complete triumph and remains one of the PS3’s best graphical showcases– but beyond that, it was way too over the top, Kratos had completely stopped being a remotely likable character, and the plot had devolved into grindhouse revenge movie gobbledygook.
6Def Jam
It was easy not to expect much from a wrestling game that featured real-life rappers, butDef Jam Vendettaproved a surprisingly polished and well-made game that sold enough to warrant a sequel.Fight for NYwas an even bigger surprise, an excellent fighting game that is still praised (and played) a decade & a half later. Sadly, for the third installment of theDef Jamseries, it was turned into a weird fighting game/rhythm game hybrid calledIconthat squandered all the goodwill that the previous two games had built for the fledgling– and now dead– franchise.
5Fable
For all the justified grief that Peter Molyneux gets for over-promising and under-delivering, he has made some great games, including the originalFable. While not the earth-shattering leap forward that it was hyped up to be,Fable IIwas a definite improvement over the original in almost every aspect. Then cameFable III, a game that had its moments in the opening hours but then inexplicably turns into a boring property management simulator. That would’ve been fine for a niche spin-off, but not as a required aspect of a core entry in the franchise.
Survival horror franchises likeResident EvilandSilent Hillhad slowly shed the survival part and were increasingly becoming action horror, and as the horror genre went in that direction,Dead Spacedecided to fully embrace the action elements. The result was a fantastic action horror game and its awesome sequel that served as a benchmark of that style of game for years– a benchmark that the franchise’s own part three failed to meet.Dead Space 3definitely isn’t a terrible game, but it was disappointing enough for EA to effectively retire the franchise.
3Resistance
Developer Insomniac Games is best known as the people behindRatchet & Clankas well as the incredibleSpider-Mangame for PS4, but the company has done a lot of great stuff over the years. On the PS3, betweenR&Creleases, Insomniac created the well-liked but overall underappreciated FPS trilogyResistance, which saw a decent first entry followed by a much-better sequel, only to end with a rushed, letdown of a third installment. It would be great to see Insomniac– or another capable developer– revive this gone-too-soon series someday.
2Street Fighter Alpha
This is likely to be the most controversial entry on our list. Most people agree that the originalStreet Fighter Alphawas a gorgeous game that needed a sequel to help it realize its full potential. Where the true debate lies is whether that potential hit its peak withAlpha 2orAlpha 3. Both are excellent games, but at the end of the day,Alpha 3feels a little too over the top and “everything for everyone” whileAlpha 2is the purer expression of what theAlphaseries is truly about.
1Mass Effect
Mass Effect 2is still considered one of the best games of its generation, if not of all time. The original was good, but it wasn’t until part two that the series came into its own after abandoning some of the more archaic RPG elements that Bioware was still clinging to from its past.Mass Effect 3definitely had the odds stacked against it, but considering that its ending was so hated that Bioware literally went in and changed it after release just to appease fans, there’s no arguing that the originalMEtrilogy ended on a sour note.
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