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00:00 (explosion)
00:01 - We're back!
00:03 - Welcome to Mojo Plays,
00:04 and today we're looking at video game franchises
00:06 whose output only lasted a few years
00:09 before disappearing forever.
00:11 - The whole damn cartel knows we're here now.
00:13 Push ahead.
00:14 I'll stay back and protect the girl.
00:16 We'll get out of this.
00:17 - Before we begin, we publish new content all week long.
00:20 So be sure to subscribe and ring the bell
00:22 to get notified about our latest videos.
00:24 (bell dings)
00:25 Kane and Lynch series.
00:28 - Now come out here with your hands up.
00:30 - Over here, this way.
00:32 - Into the alley.
00:34 - Beginning with 2007's Dead Men,
00:36 the story of Kane and Lynch followed
00:38 the titular escaped convicts
00:39 as they dealt with gangs and police alike.
00:42 It was a decent, albeit flawed, third-person shooter
00:45 that sold well enough to convince Square Enix
00:47 it was a franchise worth investing in.
00:49 Indeed, a film adaptation from Lionsgate
00:52 was announced the very same year,
00:53 and a sequel to Dead Men was released three years later.
00:56 However, the movie never got off the ground.
00:59 Dog Days received the same middling reviews,
01:01 and it didn't seem there was much interest in a third.
01:03 Developer IO Interactive also lost the rights
01:06 to the franchise in 2017
01:08 after separating from Square Enix,
01:10 who is seemingly happy to do absolutely nothing with it.
01:13 - They were supposed to be picked up by--
01:15 - Yeah, Glazer.
01:16 We're seeing him tomorrow.
01:17 - That's good.
01:19 Few things I'd like to go through with him.
01:20 - Onimusha series.
01:22 (swords clashing)
01:25 Some may fondly remember Onimusha
01:30 as a huge series in Capcom's library,
01:33 yet it surprisingly only lasted five years.
01:36 2001's Onimusha Warlords took inspiration
01:39 from the studio's own Resident Evil,
01:41 just with demons instead of zombies
01:43 and hack-and-slash mechanics
01:44 instead of resource scrounging and gunplay.
01:47 Sequels followed soon after,
01:48 many of which were just as well-received.
01:50 Onimusha got six games in its five-year lifespan,
01:54 though diminishing sales of it
01:55 and increasing sales of Capcom's other IPs
01:58 caused it to get left behind.
02:00 A browser game in 2010 and a remaster of the first in 2018
02:04 did little to drum up excitement.
02:05 We haven't heard from Onimusha since,
02:07 which is a shame considering it seems to have such promise.
02:11 (swords clashing)
02:13 Prototype series.
02:18 (swords clashing)
02:20 Released just two weeks after the first infamous game,
02:26 Prototype made it seem like players might be in
02:28 for an original super-powered rivalry,
02:30 but it sadly didn't have the longevity of its competition.
02:34 It followed Alex Mercer, an amnesiac anti-hero
02:36 with the ability to devour and take on the form
02:39 of his enemies, as well as access their memories.
02:42 After the success of the first game,
02:43 Activision greenlit a sequel,
02:45 which was released in 2012 and focused on a new character.
02:48 While reviews for Prototype were fairly good,
02:51 sales apparently weren't.
02:53 Activision chose not to continue the series
02:55 and laid off many employees
02:57 at developer Radical Entertainment
02:59 before turning it into a support studio
03:01 for its other subsidiaries.
03:02 (engines roaring)
03:05 Bushido Blade series.
03:09 (upbeat music)
03:13 (swords clashing)
03:15 There are lots of ways a fighting game
03:17 can stand out from the pack.
03:19 Bushido Blade for the original PlayStation did so
03:21 by taking away the time limit and health bar.
03:24 Instead, players could defeat their opponents in one hit
03:27 with a traditionally fatal move,
03:29 or hinder their performance and skill
03:31 by attacking other body parts.
03:33 Adding a tactical edge was completely unique at the time,
03:36 which is why a sequel was released just a year later.
03:39 While mechanics were a bit different,
03:41 it was still a must play for any fighting fans
03:44 who had the system.
03:45 Sadly, developer Lightweight chose to move on
03:47 after two games.
03:48 While the studio has produced several spiritual successors,
03:51 none of them ever quite reached these heights.
03:54 - Let's do this!
03:58 - Army of Two series.
04:00 (guns firing)
04:02 If you liked Kane and Lynch,
04:07 chances are you also enjoyed EA's bombastic foray
04:10 into two-player action around the same time.
04:13 The first Army of Two placed you
04:14 in the shoes of mercenaries,
04:16 following their roles in different points
04:18 in political history.
04:19 Strangely, it was also considered for a movie
04:21 that would never come, this time at Universal.
04:24 More importantly, it was a strong seller,
04:27 earning two sequels, 2010's The 40th Day
04:30 and 2013's The Devil's Cartel.
04:33 Unfortunately, the third left a lot to be desired.
04:36 It replaced the two leads with more generic characters,
04:39 Alpha and Bravo, who had absolutely no camaraderie
04:42 or chemistry between them.
04:44 It was pretty mediocre all around,
04:46 and sold poorly in the face of fierce competition
04:49 like Tomb Raider and Bioshock Infinite.
04:51 - Bradley and Pike reporting in.
04:53 All clear from here.
04:54 - Gravity Rush series.
04:56 Who'd have thought the creator of Silent Hill
05:02 could give us something like this?
05:04 Another game about an amnesiac with powers,
05:07 Gravity Rush puts you in the role of Cat,
05:09 who can manipulate how gravity affects her.
05:11 It's much lighter than Keiichi Rotoyama's previous work,
05:14 if you'll forgive the pun,
05:15 and navigating Cat's city was exceptionally fun
05:18 due to her powers.
05:20 Its sequel was equally fantastic,
05:22 but was a pretty poor seller.
05:24 Sony eventually moved developer Japan Studio
05:27 into a more supportive role,
05:28 before folding it into another one of its internal studios,
05:31 Team Asobi, in 2021.
05:33 However, the next year,
05:35 Sony announced plans of a film adaptation
05:37 with its own PlayStation productions,
05:39 but we won't hold out hope
05:41 that it will lead to a Gravity Rush 3.
05:43 Dino Crisis series.
05:53 We're sure there are a lot of diehard Capcom fans out there
06:02 who would kill for a new Dino Crisis.
06:04 Essentially Resident Evil, but with dinosaurs,
06:07 the first entry brought all the thrills and excitement
06:09 of a Jurassic Park visit gone wrong.
06:12 Its sequel was just as good, if not better,
06:15 making for another stellar series
06:16 for OG PlayStation players.
06:18 Sadly, things went south
06:20 when Dino Crisis jumped to the next generation.
06:22 The PS2's light gun spinoff, Dino Stalker,
06:25 was criticized for poor controls, repetitive mechanics,
06:28 and an incoherent plot, but that's a spinoff.
06:31 The Xbox's Dino Crisis 3, on the other hand,
06:34 well, was also pretty bad,
06:36 mostly thanks to its awful camera
06:38 and a lack of variety in enemy types.
06:40 Dino Crisis died then and there, after only four years.
06:44 Mercenaries series.
06:51 - Try meditation, I've heard that helps.
06:54 - Just get me off this bird and I'll be fine.
06:56 - Mercenaries, Playground of Destruction,
06:58 told you exactly what you'd get out of it with the title.
07:02 It dropped you in a fictionalized North Korea
07:04 where you could take on jobs as explosively as you wanted.
07:07 With a completely destructible sandbox to run around in,
07:10 it was very freeing.
07:12 Its sequel, 2008's World in Flames,
07:14 had issues with its AI and co-op mode,
07:17 but was still a strong enough seller
07:18 for EA to keep the series going.
07:20 Sadly, developer Pandemic was working on a third game
07:23 when it closed down in 2009, due to a variety of factors.
07:28 While EA tried to get another installment off the ground
07:30 around the same time with developer Danger Close Games,
07:34 nothing came of it.
07:35 - You know they say the DMZ
07:36 is the most dangerous place on Earth.
07:38 - Just wait till I get there.
07:40 - Viva Pinata series.
07:42 - I was hoping someone would come
07:43 and help me tidy up this mess.
07:46 - You can accomplish an awful lot in two years.
07:48 Case in point, Viva Pinata.
07:50 Developed by Rare for the Xbox 360,
07:53 the first game in the Life Sim series
07:55 had you looking after different pinata animals,
07:58 which is just as delightfully silly as it sounds.
08:01 It was very creative and distinct
08:03 from every other first-party release on the 360,
08:06 prompting Rare to create and release two full sequels
08:09 and a DS spin-off by 2008.
08:11 It was intended to be a big franchise from the get-go,
08:14 with an animated series releasing alongside it
08:17 and ending in 2009.
08:18 Unfortunately, it was never a big seller,
08:21 which is probably why Rare moved on to other projects
08:24 and we haven't heard from it since.
08:29 Beautiful Joe series.
08:31 We know it's the third Capcom franchise on the list,
08:39 but we just can't ignore Beautiful Joe.
08:42 The 2003 original was a highly inventive take on superheroes,
08:46 following a guy who gets powers
08:48 when he's sucked into the world of a movie.
08:50 It made great use of its cel-shaded visuals
08:52 and Joe's film-centric powers never failed to entertain.
08:56 It got a strong sequel the following year,
08:58 an anime and manga adaptation,
09:00 two so-so spin-offs in 2005, and that was that.
09:04 The series never sold that strongly
09:06 and the team that developed it, Clover Studio,
09:08 dissolved in 2007.
09:10 Although Joe has been included
09:11 in some of Capcom's versus fighting games,
09:14 it has shown no interest in reviving a series
09:16 that was never that well-known to begin with.
09:19 What's your favorite short-lived video game franchise?
09:28 Share your thoughts in the comments
09:29 and be sure to subscribe to Mojo Plays
09:31 for more great gaming videos every day.
09:33 (dramatic music)
09:36 (dramatic music)
09:39 (dramatic music)
09:42 (dramatic music)