In a perfect world, great games would always get great sequels. Continuing the story, expanding on the world, or just delivering more world-class gameplay are all perfect reasons to turn a wonderful standalone experience into a franchise. We don’t live in a perfect world, though; studio closures, IP disputes, and personal troubles can all prevent a one-off game from getting the sequel it deserves.
Sci-fi titles seem particularly susceptible to this; for everyStarcraft 2there are plenty of high-tech, spacefaring adventures just waiting to continue into the unknown. Some of these games still have a chance of spawning a successor, but others will remain lone points of light.
9Stellaris
It’s likely a given that Stellaris will get a sequel at some point - for all we know, it could already be in development. As it stands right now, though, the space 4X extravaganza is continually being supported and expanded, making a sequel in the reasonably near future unlikely.
If and when it finally happens, Stellaris 2 will see a lot of strategy gamers clearing their weekend schedule.
8Alien: Isolation
It took 35 years, butAlien: Isolationfinally managed to distill the lurking, claustrophobic terror of the original 1979 film into a video game. As Ellen Ripley’s daughter Amanda, you have to evade hostile androids anda single, everpresent xenomorphin a struggle for survival.
Isolation earned praise and awards for its pulse-pounding tension and fidelity to the films. It turns ten years old this fall, and it’s understandable if developer Creative Assembly is hesitant to try and improve on perfection, but a sequel to Isolation could be thePortal 2of sci-fi horror.
Alien: Isolation
WHERE TO PLAY
Alien: Isolation is a critically acclaimed survival horror title from Creative Assembly. As Amanda Ripley, daughter of Ellen, you must investigate the space station Sevastopol — which hosts a deadly threat.
7EVE Online
How would a sequel to EVE Online even work? Players have poured thousands of hours into the game over the last two decades, building mighty space corporations and creating some of themost thrilling emergent narrativesthat video games have ever seen. Playerswouldn’t want to start from scratchmigrating to a sequel, but jumping into a new game where other players have a twenty-year head start doesn’t feel great either.
EVE has beendoing quite well for itself without a sequel, but all things must end. When the time comes, will EVE Online 2 create a new generation of ruthless space capitalists, or will the book simply close on one of themost fascinating studies in online cooperation and competitionthe world has ever seen?
6Bulletstorm
The mega-success ofCall Of Dutymeans that most FPS titles are gritty, semi-realistic military shooters.Bulletstormsaid, “to hell with that,” and gave us a dynamic, over-the-top action rampage that’s as fun as it is irreverent. Using incredible sci-fi weapons and an energy lash to toss enemies around, Bulletstorm rewardedcreative combos and quick thinking.
While it receiveda remaster and a VR remake, we still haven’t had the pleasure of a second campaign to “kill with skill.” The ending of the original sets up a sequel, and developer People Can Flysaid in 2019that they’d like to do a sequel, so maybe there’s hope that General Sarrano will finally get his comeuppance yet.
5FTL: Faster Than Light
A good run inFTL: Faster Than Lightmakes you feel like you’re on thebridge of the Enterpriseat red alert; in a great run, you actually survive the encounter. The pixelated gem that put Subset Games on the map is one of the finest roguelikes ever made thanks to its tough-but-fair gameplay and plethora of secrets to unlock.
FTL has been fine-tuned to perfection and translated into at least nine languages. A sequel to this modern classic (or, for that matter, its equally-excellent successor,Into The Breach) would be welcomed by fans the world over.
4Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri
Since 1991, countless games ofCivilizationhave ended with an empire sending a colony to the nearest star system,Alpha Centauri, to begin the next chapter for humanity. In the spinoff game, named after the neighboring star, you got to take command of the interstellar settlers and create that next chapter yourself.
Alpha Centauri got a spiritual successor inCivilization: Beyond Earth, but never a proper sequel. A new game in either series would be a gift for strategy gamers.
3Ghostwire: Tokyo
Ghostwire: Tokyois a recent hit from Tango Gameworks, praised for its beautiully-presented occult cyberpunk world. Under normal circumstances, it would be much to early to say that a sequel isn’t in the cards, but in spite of Tango’s success, parent company XBox Gamesrecently shuttered the developer, laying off an entire studio of extremely talented people just to pad the bottom line.
When the only decision that ultimately matters is one of money, it’s clear that even if a sequel were to be made under a different label it would lack the special qualities that made the original stand out.
2Hi-Fi Rush
Hi-Fi Rushis a fun, flashy sci-fi romp with rhythm combat. We loved it here at TheGamer, withmany of our editors including it in theri Top Tenfor 2023.That makes is sting all the more that its success wasn’t enough to save it from thesame crushing layoffsthat robbed any hope of a second Ghostwire.
As our Editor-In-Chief Stacey Henleypoints out, firing people after they bring in widespread praise doesn’t actually make much sense. Then again, what hope does a bright, colorful game about rebellion have when even the studio behind a generational title can get the axe? After all, being one of the best games of the decade didn’t save our top entry on this list…
1Prey
Arkane Austin’s masterpiece has everything you could want in a sci-fi horror game. It’s immersive, mysterious, perfectly-paced, and terrifying. The shocker of an ending just makes you want to restart the game immediately, and its frightful mutant powers give you an edge in combat at the cost of your humanity.
Arkane Austin wasshut down the same dayas Tango Gameworks. We won’t get to see how thefate of Talos Stationaffects the world, or what apossible Typhoon infestationof Earth could look like. This is why we can’t have nice things.
