Assassin's Creed 2 elevated everything.
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00:00Sequels in gaming are more often a cause for celebration than anywhere else. We don't need
00:04to worry about a complete story being stretched out or that lightning in a bottle magic being
00:08overextended. In gaming, a sequel means more of what you love. Base mechanics expanded on,
00:13a more confident developer, gameplay tightened up, more worldbuilding and maybe even a new playable
00:18character with a whole new set of moves. Yes, there are clunkers and pointless returns,
00:22but play to the medium's strengths and a sequel has the power to revamp the foundations in a
00:27fundamental way, something that can lead to some of the best games you'll ever play.
00:31Also note we're dealing with immediate sequels, which second instalments really took things to
00:36the next level. I'm Scott from WhatCulture.com and these are the 10 best video game sequels of all
00:41time. Number 10, Halo 2. The very end of its campaign might be divisive, but there's no
00:47denying the seismic jaw-dropping impact of Halo 2 at every stage of its development. The reveal
00:53trailers, the revamped theme now infused with Steve Vai's guitar work elevating Marty O'Donnell's
00:58original composition, the introduction of the Arbiter fleshing out of the Halo world,
01:02and of course that exquisite multiplayer. Halo 2 took everything the original nailed
01:07and improved it. Dual wielding may have led to some overpowered combos that a lot of Xbox Live
01:12patches took to rebalance, but as a package of iconic maps, GOAT gameplay and top-tier
01:17production value, Halo 2 is pure gaming royalty. Number 9, Batman Arkham City.
01:23Rocksteady's Batman debut could have gone down a different route. It could have bombed,
01:27much like most superhero games have over the years, but thankfully Rocksteady paid tribute
01:31to the source material and did it justice. However, in terms of scale, it was small.
01:36Arkham Island is a tight, isolated area that you'll burn through in around 6-8 hours,
01:41unless you're hunting down every last Riddler trophy. For a sequel, Rocksteady needed to go
01:45bigger, and if you found Warden Sharp's hidden office planning a certain city expansion,
01:49then you already knew how. 2011's Arkham City is a violent playground for Batman to explore.
01:55Distinct districts add variety and life, rather than copy-pasted areas. Exploration
02:00and going off the beaten track was rewarded, and Batman's wider rogues gallery now needed
02:04to be taken down. Traversal was improved upon, new skills and gadgets became available,
02:08as well as fleshing out that Batman combat to factor in gadget combos, gun disarms and knife
02:13counters. Bosses too were far better, ditching the gimmicky likes of Killer Croc for a methodical
02:18showdown against Mr. Freeze. As for the story, it's a brilliantly rewarding setup with a twist
02:23you can spot from the beginning if you know where to look in Detective Vision,
02:26then ending on one of the most seismic plot twists and joker scenes of all time.
02:33Mass Effect's trajectory is fascinating. The original had a far more Star Trekian vibe with
02:38you planet-hopping around, getting lost in a universe of alien diplomacy while trying to stake
02:43humanity's claim for existence. Mass Effect 2 then opened on a supremely shocking sequence of
02:48everyone you knew seemingly dying as Shepard themselves burnt to a crisp in space. This was
02:53a completely different tone and setup, framing Shepard as a literal spectre to all around him,
02:58resurrected and aligned with the mysterious Cerberus to win the fight against the Collectors.
03:03Mass Effect 2 works because it feels like you're this intergalactic suicide squad of ragtags and
03:08misfits inside the world of the original. Its writing is award-winning, its characters iconic,
03:13and its many endings only blew out the possibilities for what could come next in
03:16ways none of us saw coming. The first Silent Hill was terrifying,
03:23focusing on Harry Mason's desperate struggle. It was great but gave birth to an easily overlooked
03:28aspect, the town itself. Silent Hill 2, the first entry on PlayStation 2, took that concept and ran
03:34with it. The town itself now really felt like an oppressive force, compounding that sense of
03:38loneliness and desperation protagonist James Sunderland was suffering as they explored every
03:43street and storefront. A mechanic born of the first game's limitations was now turned into a
03:47main feature, and this constant sense of dread is why Silent Hill 2 remains an essential horror gem.
03:53Pair all of this with a memorable ensemble cast, an interpretational plot and villain for the ages,
03:58and there's a reason we'll never shut up about having access to this game on modern hardware.
04:04Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 The first Tony Hawk's is the definition of
04:08a sleeper hit. Skateboarding wasn't mainstream in 1999, but it was getting there. Across movies and
04:14music, grunge was being replaced by pop punk, and every other person seemed to be holding a
04:18skateboard regardless. Come 2000, Neversoft tried again, and this extreme sports boom now had its
04:24mascots. Insane tricks, crazy locations, and a banging soundtrack, Tony Hawk's 2 was life-defining
04:29for the time. Not to take away from Tony Hawk's 3, as that was a whole other age bracket's favourite
04:34instalment, but if we're talking immediate sequels, this was a huge improvement. Like any good
04:39sequel to something with already stellar core mechanics, it was the quality of life improvements
04:43that made it so satisfying to play. Skaters could now level off when leaving a ramp, manuals stitched
04:49everything together, and that overall feel across the board was so much more fluid. Tony Hawk's 2
04:54was when we really started seeing the fanbase nail those multi-million point combos and insanely
04:59complex trick runs, only for you to attempt something similar because it all played so well.
05:05Half-Life 2 Half-Life, for many,
05:07changed perceptions on first-person shooters. No disrespect to the likes of Quake and Doom,
05:12but Half-Life upended how narrative and gameplay could even work together. What Half-Life 2 brought
05:17was more of that same ethos, but bigger and better. Bigger set pieces and levels, better use
05:21of Valve's proprietary physics engine. Incorporating puzzles and progress into gameplay, Half-Life 2
05:26continued Gordon Freeman's adventures, this time against the Alien Combine. It's been quite some
05:31time since a real technical showcase of a game existed where just watching it in motion, watching
05:36the physics of items interact with each other for example, makes you think of endless gameplay
05:40possibilities. But that's part of why Half-Life 2 was such a monumental deal in gaming.
05:46Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty Reportedly furious with the original
05:51game's western translation, injecting military speak and a grounded tone where Hideo Kojima was
05:55always a bit more out there, Kojima demanded full control, leading to water-walking vampires,
06:01octopus-suited ex-presidents and a white-haired protagonist hidden from marketing. All of this
06:05though made Metal Gear Solid as a franchise now feel entirely unique. Metal Gear Solid 1 will
06:10always be my favourite game, but it was that cinematic presentation, that boundary-pushing
06:15Hollywood aping ideology that only got enhanced here. Metal Gear Solid 2's opening alone hasn't
06:20aged a day, dripping in confidence and purpose, fully embracing its position as the tip of the
06:25spear for the PlayStation 2. With experimental stealth gameplay, unprecedented world interaction,
06:30clever AI and a sandbox approach to how you got through each level, this might be the most
06:34divisive Metal Gear Solid in terms of a main character, but its grandiosity as a video game
06:39can't be beat. Assassin's Creed 2
06:43The runaway success of the first Assassin's Creed was a pleasant surprise. Born of a failed Prince
06:48of Persia continuation, the adventures of Desmond and his acrobatic ancestor struck gold in 2007.
06:53What we got then was the epitome of when game sequels know exactly what to focus on,
06:57as Assassin's Creed 2 got everything right. New character Ezio Auditore da Firenze was a
07:02charismatic, lovable distinction from the stoic Altair. Switching to Renaissance Italy over the
07:07Holy Lands gave us more intricate cities and kill opportunities, and the game's colour palette was
07:12now more bold and definable than ever. Combat was tightened up and expanded with multiple enemy
07:16classes, and Desmond's story had more depth with an insanely cool payoff, as did Ezio's crusade
07:22against the Borshas. Assassin's Creed is still able to turn heads today because of how incredibly
07:26on point this second instalment was. Red Dead Redemption 2
07:32I will maintain that Red Dead Redemption 2 is the closest thing you can get to virtual reality
07:36without wearing a headset. So ludicrously meticulously realised as its depiction of the
07:41Old West, you'll feel preternaturally compelled to relax down the local saloon, go camp out in
07:45the mountains after a tragic main story event, or just embrace your inner Jesse James and rob as
07:50many trains as possible. The point is, this embodies the original Red Dead's character-driven
07:55soul, fleshing it out in every direction. So expansive and hyper-detailed is the setting,
07:59it reinforces the story Dan Houser wrote about an age of lawlessness coming to an end. Rules and
08:04regulations, the formation of modern America was coming, whether those who made their living as
08:08cowboys liked it or not. Graphically, if we twin art direction and sheer rendering power, it may be
08:13the best looking game of all time. But Red Dead Redemption 2's real unique quality is being the
08:18apex of the most lucrative game developer on the planet, funneling all their money and talent into
08:22a specific creative vision regardless of marketability. Dan Houser's tenure at Rockstar
08:27is over. The company is a drastically different beast because of it, but he went out in magnificent
08:32style. And number one, Resident Evil 2, 1998.
08:37Survival horror as a genre had been around before Resident Evil, check out the hilarious
08:42Alone in the Dark. It's fair to say though that Resident Evil 1 put it on the map. With a weirdly
08:47compelling, awesomely campy story, gross monsters and jumpscares, how could Capcom possibly top it?
08:52Well, by moving out, taking gameplay from musty, stuffy mansions to Raccoon City,
08:56the hotspot for Umbrella's dastardly experiments. It wasn't just locales that felt bigger,
09:01as the game's design was based around two-player campaigns. Production values were notably higher,
09:06with far better character models, and Resident Evil 2 ramped up the gore. The variety of monsters and
09:11its boss battles, as well as the means to fight them. Customisable shotguns, flamethrowers,
09:15giant stun guns, this is the old school Resident Evil to pick up that's the sweet spot between the
09:20original's exploration and puzzle-heavy layout, and Resident Evil 3's action focus.
09:24As the remake would embody, we also had the introduction to Mr. X,
09:28some terrifying lickers, and only fightable in Scenario B, The Tyrant.
09:33And those are our picks. It has been tough picking a definable top 10 best sequels,
09:38and yes, I agree, Modern Warfare 2 feels like it should be on there, but what the hell do you swap
09:43out? Let me know down in the comments, and also please subscribe to the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast.
09:47For now, I've been Scott from WhatCulture.com, a massive thank you for watching, and I'll catch you soon.