Life and death are inevitable parts of existence. All things born will eventually leave this place, and while no one quite knows where they go, traces of their time on Earth linger after they leave. This doesn’t solely apply to living beings, either.
Video games go through the same processes as their popularity grows and wanes. Unlike people, however, they also have a chance for revival. As an acknowledgment of all the franchises that either came or went this decade, the following list will detail five franchises that left the industry and five that came back in full force. The latter entries’ revivals give hope to the former series that they too can one day come back from the dead.
10 Died: Bond Games
Fiction’s most famous secret agent has made undeniable contributions to the medium. GoldenEye 007 on the N64 revolutionized the first-person shooter and local multiplayer games. After the 1997 masterpiece, a steady stream of releases came through until 2012 when 007 Legends stopped it all in its tracks. The compilation of famous playable set pieces throughout the franchise was panned as one of the worst first-person shooters in recent memory. Since then, not even murmurs of a new game have popped up. Given the character’s relationship to the medium, he deserves a glorious return.
9 Came Back: Mortal Kombat
Technically, Mortal Kombat never really died, it held on by a thread during the PS2 generation. Titles like Deadly Alliance, Deception, and Armageddon made several changes to the formula, making the series unrecognizable from its roots except for the trademark aesthetic. After Midway closed its doors and the studio was picked up by Warner Bros., Ed Boon and his team became NetherRealm Studios and got to work on a return to form. 2011’s Mortal Kombat brought the battles back to a two-dimensional plane and added a story mode where bouts were divided up by detailed cutscenes showing the game’s soap opera-esque narrative.
8 Died: Fable
Lionhead Studio’s Fable was the Xbox’s flagship RPG franchise. While infamous for Peter Molyneux’s grand unfulfilled technological promises, it still managed to please legions of Microsoft fans for years throughout the company’s first two consoles. Sadly, the company closed in 2016, leaving an upcoming title in the series canceled. The franchise’s future is currently up in the air, though Phil Spencer has hinted at a possible comeback several times in recent years. Whatever happens, it probably won’t involve Molyneux.
7 Came Back: Crash Bandicoot
On Sony’s original PlayStation, there were no better platformers than the Crash Bandicoot trilogy. All three games gave everything one desires from the genre: challenge, beautiful art, and rewarding secrets. The next generation wasn’t as kind to the mascot, and he was nearly silent on the PS3 and Xbox 360.
His grand comeback came in 2017 in the form of Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, complete remakes of the original three masterpieces. Except for the radical facelift, everything else remained nearly identical to the originals. The Crash train shows no signs of slowing down now, with Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled coming out to rave reviews.
6 Died: Silent Hill
Silent Hill 2 from 2001 stands as one of the greatest horror games ever made and pushed the medium forward with its nuanced story about guilt, trauma, and lust. The next entry was a worthy successor, though the series never again reached the second game’s artistic heights. Things looked up in 2014 when Silent Hills was announced through the enigmatic demo P.T. The title, a collaboration between Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro, was tragically canceled by Konami due to their drastic business restructuring. It doesn’t look like a proper Silent Hill follow up will come anytime soon. At least Kojima moved on to release Death Stranding, one of the year’s most unique AAA titles.
5 Came Back: X-COM
This unforgiving turn-based strategy series was adored by its niche audience back in the ’90s. After 2001, the franchise dropped off the map for more than ten years until 2012’s X-COM: Enemy Unknown. The title received more attention than usual for the genre and managed to break into the mainstream audience. A sequel came out in 2016, ratcheting up the difficulty and arsenal of weaponry. Rarely do such difficult games garner such a player base, but this decade has seen intense challenges gain a new appreciation with this series and games like Dark Souls.
4 Died: Mass Effect
The Mass Effect trilogy is a crowning achievement in gaming. These three titles came together to tell one epic story, and players’ decisions in one game influenced events in the sequel. After wrapping up the trilogy, BioWare got to work on a successor, Mass Effect: Andromeda. This new story came out to a lackluster reception due to its buggy nature and unexciting gameplay.
Not even the most avid fans could defend it. Not only did it signal an end to the franchise for the foreseeable future, but it was also the beginning of the studio’s descent into mediocrity. We’re hoping with all out hearts for BioWare to get back on their feet.
3 Came Back: Rayman
The Rabbids kind of kicked Rayman out of his own franchise for a while, and the last true Rayman game before the Wii party game, Rayman 3, didn’t live up to its predecessors. 2011 saw a return to form, however, with Rayman: Origins. The 2D side-scrolling platformer brought back all the charm, difficulty, and engaging gameplay from the character’s debut. Origins and its sequel are often seen as two of the best in the genre from the past ten years.
2 Died: Metal Gear
Due to the highly-publicized fallout between Hideo Kojima and Konami, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain came out in a brutally unfinished state. One can see where work stopped on the title’s story and it was rushed out to market.
Despite this flaw, it still manages to be one of the finest action games of the generation. It wasn’t until Metal Gear Survive when the final nail was hammered into the coffin. A comeback is always possible, but Konami shows no signs of pursuing the franchise any further.
1 Came Back: Wolfenstein
Though Wolfenstein 3D may not have been the first FPS, it certainly revolutionized the genre and made it a force to be reckoned with. Hype for the series waned over time, but MachineGames brought it back in full force with 2014’s Wolfenstein: The New Order. The alternate history game brought a surprising depth to the narrative. Players came in thinking Inglorious Basterds, but got something more along the lines of Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle.
NEXT: 10 Games From The Past Decade That Need A Sequel In 2020
