But first, a brief overview. Twisted Metal is a franchise built on the idea of destruction derby – a variety of crazily-designed vehicles duking it out against each other with a variety of weapons. These vehicles engage each other in arenas, and the last vehicle standing without their lives run out is the winner, and each life lasts as long as a health bar isn’t depleted, with health bars decreasing in length according to contact with weapons and hazards. Twisted Metal, within the Twisted Metal game universe itself, is the name of a destruction derby competition – wherein participants battle it out with the goal of having any wish granted to them.

The Twisted Metal franchise began with the first game – Twisted Metal, releasing for PlayStation in 1995 in North America and Europe, and for Japan in 1996. It features a single-player scenario campaign, wherein players progress through six arenas and a final boss, or a multiplayer mode for two players. The idea for Twisted Metal actually arose from the would-be developers being stuck in a traffic jam, imagining using weapons against other cars. When the developers first pitched the idea of a destruction derby game, it was almost transformed into a pizza delivery simulator – a stark deviation from the original concept. SingleTrac, the developers of the first and second games, would form in 1994, and would be tasked by Sony with finishing two games – the first Twisted Metal, and WarHawk – in less than a year. The work was hard, the hours long, and the pressure intense, but the developers stuck to their tasks. The first Twisted Metal game didn’t actually review that well – while the gameplay was acknowledged to be fun, the graphics were notably underwhelming. Additionally, the story mode can be completed very quickly, which might raise concerns about replay value…unless you play the game with a friend. The game was a commercial success, selling more than one million copies just in North America.

Such was the success of the game that a sequel would follow – Twisted Metal II. The plot is essentially the same – a new Twisted Metal tournament is held, and a cast of colorful characters compete for the fulfillment of a wish. The gameplay – the defining feature of the series, and what makes it stand out so many – maintains the character established from the first title The content on offer within the game was widely agreed to be an improvement, with more and bigger maps with diversified locations based on different parts of the world (rather than only in Los Angeles, as with the first game,) more characters, and more weapons, but the graphics were again a negative point for this game. And when viewing media of the title, it’s ultimately hard not to think that the graphics are very dated or generally underwhelming – flat textures, limited attention to detail, lots of obvious pixels – but nonetheless, when the game is fun to play, that can’t be changed. And the simple game concept was once again able to win people over.

After Twisted Metal II, development duties shifted from SingleTrac to 989 Studios, one of Sony’s own development teams. SingleTrac made their own game engine for the first two Twisted Metal games, and so a new one had to be made for Twisted Metal III. The new physics has its pluses and minuses – while making sharper turns is easier in this game, it is now possible for your vehicle to flip over, and for those that are driving quickly often, you can expect that this is more likely to happen to you. Multiplayer now has an option for four-player play through the Deathmatch mode. Nevertheless, this game was another strong seller for the franchise, despite the markedly lower critical average in comparison to the second game.

Following Twisted Metal III is Twisted Metal 4, releasing in 1999 but only for North America, with Europe receiving no release as was the case with Twisted Metal III. Notably, this is the first and only game in which players can create their own vehicles. While the Twisted Metal franchise is known for the car carnage, the more you watch of it, the more that particular characters will become familiar to you, and this is what will make 4 stand out, because the majority of the playable cast are new characters, and these same newly-introduced characters aren’t seen in another Twisted Metal game. Critical reception to the game was mixed at best, with controls and physics, along with an underwhelming soundtrack, being negative points. While the game automatically rights your vehicle if you flip over, there are still other issues with control, such as with landing on platforms.

Next in the Twisted Metal franchise is Twisted Metal: Black, releasing in 2001 for the PlayStation 2. While this title would also see release in Europe, most all of the cutscenes were removed. This is notable because it means the erasure of the characters’s stories,  but the European version would also see changes in the form of edited text and the erasure of drivers running away from flaming vehicles upon their vehicle’s destruction, among other changs. Most of the characters here are returning characters, though their appearances have changed. The scenario campaign is also such that while most levels are set, the second, third, and sixth levels are such that you choose between two different stages. In general, the tone of Black is darker compared to the previous games, with the story being that Calypso has released many of the drivers from a mental institution. Compared to the previous two installments, Black was both a critical and a commercial success. Sony would also release Twisted Metal: Black Online, which contained only the online multiplayer for the game, later, by having players mail in a card that came bundled with PS2 network adapters.

Directly following Twisted Metal: Black is Twisted Metal: Small Brawl, releasing for the PlayStation in 2001, and only for North America. At one point titled Twisted Metal: Kids, the game is oriented towards children, and features remote-controlled toy cars instead of the usual larger vehicles. Most of the characters in this game are franchise veterans, though much younger-looking, and the story reflects the cast being children who are participating in a neighborhood RC car tournament. Small Brawl originally started out as a PS2 title, but such plans were later dropped by Incognito. Reviews for the game were mostly negative, with no real positive standout features.

Next, Incognito would work on Twisted Metal Head On, a PSP title releasing in 2005. It ignores the events of the third and fourth game in the franchise, and within the franchise mythology follows the second title directly. Stages are placed all around the world, and the roster is comprised of all of the characters from the second game, with the exception of a boss character. The critical average for the game fared much better than Small Brawl – the game hit a aesthetic sweetspot by maintaining the spirit of the classic Twisted Metal games while also employing a good attention to detail, and the action is as involving as it has always been.but the controls and physics may leave some wanting. Eat Sleep Play, a development studio formed by David Jaffe (who has worked on the Twisted Metal series since the first title,) would later develop a PS2 variant in 2008, named the Extra Twisted Edition, but releasing only in North America, and without online play. Aside from including the content from the PSP release, Extra Twisted features a new map, and a Sweet Tour mode that allows players to browse through concept art and developer notes.

Eat Sleep Play would also be responsible for working on what is currently the last title in the Twisted Metal franchise – Twisted Metal 2012. Plans for Twisted Metal 2012 were set by the time of Extra Twisted, in which a hidden message revealed that a PS3 Twisted Metal game would be would be worked on. 2012 is meant to be a reboot for the series, and features a story mode of an entirely different type than what we’re used to – it follows three different characters only, rather than a larger cast, with vehicles split amongst four factions.  When this newest Twisted Metal title finally released, it would enjoy moderately favorable critical reception on the whole – while the online play modes were lauded, the stark drop off in playable character count felt like a sore spot after the franchise had featured more than a dozen playable characters for most of its life, and this is particularly noticeable in the scenario campaign.

And that concludes this feature on the Twisted Metal series. The franchise has been host to a handful of cancelled games since. In addition, there was at one point a Twisted Metal movie planned, with Sony enlisting director Brian Taylor for the movie and publicly announcing the project back in 2012, but it was ultimately canned. Reasons for the cancellation largely stem from the underwhelming performance of Twisted Metal 2012 – after that game, Sony was convinced that there wasn’t a large enough fanbase for a Twisted Metal movie, and that in order to do the concept of Twisted Metal justice (namely, for all the explosions and various instances of destruction, among other things) more money would be required than they could reasonably assign to.

Additionally, at a 2010 San Diego Comic Con panel, David Jaffe revealed artwork for two new Twisted Metal games that never saw the light of day – the first being Twisted Metal: Apocalypse, with stages that feature all sorts of dilapidated settings, such as a ruined Mount Rushmore. The other game was Twisted Metal: Revolution, a much more realistic and grounded Twisted Metal, featuring characters such as gang members and FBI operatives, and compared to the Midnight Club games from Rockstar by Jaffe. Sweet Tooth makes an appearance in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale as a playable character, representing Twisted Metal. That aside, while things have been quite for the franchise for several years, Sony confirmed earlier this year that they are working on a Twisted Metal TV series, though divulging few details at the time.

Jaffe himself has said, in a statement that dates prior to the announcement of the TV series, that he would be surprised if Sony returned to the franchise to make new media, as he believes that it would take a lot of money to reposition the franchise into something for today’s gaming audience. With the announcement of the TV series, maybe this is an indication that there could be more ahead for Twisted Metal, if at least in the form of Sony signalling belief in potential for the franchise. Do you see yourself watching the Twisted Metal TV series? Do you think that a new game would not sell easily in today’s gaming landscape? If so, what more needs to be done to help the franchise “evolve” – is it a question of gameplay, a problem of aesthetics, or something else entirely?

So, it’s always unfortunate to see racing franchises go away, such as the once-popular Twisted Metal series. Another such series whose activity has dropped off is the MotorStorm series. While each racing franchise is distinguished by the particular “flavor” of racing that they offer, the MotorStorm games are unique because they are offroad racers. The franchise is exclusive to PlayStation consoles, but sadly, the main development studio behind the MotorStorm games – Evolution Studios, based in England, shuttered by Sony, who took ownership of the company in 2007. Prior to Sony acquiring them, Evolution Studios worked on the World Rally Championship series. Sony acquired Evolution Studios and Bigbig Studios, a satellite company to Evolution Studios, in 2007, after the release of the first MotorStorm game.

That first MotorStorm game (alternatively known as MotorStorm: Monument Valley) was released for the PlayStation 3 in December 2006 in Japan and March 2007 in North America and Europe. The game was first announced in E3 2005 – the same conference which saw the reveal of the PlayStation 3, and the promotional trailer of which was one of several that drew skepticism regarding whether or not trailer footage was in-game footage from a PS3. As it would turn out, the video wasn’t made by Evolution Studios. Nevertheless, MotorStorm would release to great acclaim, and its debut would enjoy significant commercial success – by October 2011, the first MotorStorm game has more than 3.5 million sales to its name.

Notable about this game is how it introduced offroad racing with a variety of vehicles: bikes, all terrain vehicles, trucks, big rigs, rally cars, buggies, Mud Pluggers, and buggies, with even more vehicle classes being introduced in later games. What’s great about the MotorStorm experience are all of the real-time effects displayed by vehicles and on the racing environment. Tracks and indentations left on the race course remain for the rest of the race – the same thing for stray vehicle pieces. Each vehicle class responds differently to course obstacles or indentations – some classes handle mud well, while others struggle.

Additionally, tracks feature different routes – designed for different classes and meant to maximize vehicle classes such that despite different abilities, all racers are still on an even playing field. Additionally, MotorStorm games incorporate a boost gauge that must be managed so as to prevent overheating. After the greatly successful debut of the first MotorStorm game and the acquisition of Evolution Studios by Sony, it’s not hard to imagine that a sequel to MotorStorm would be in demand, or would be expected. And in the autumn of 2008, Evolution Studios would deliver the second MotorStorm title for the PS3 – MotorStorm: Pacific Rift. While the first MotorStorm’s tracks were heavily focused around rugged deserts, and rocky terrain, Pacific Rift has an entirely different theme – that of tropical islands, with greenery and trees, bluer skies, and blue water from rivers, beaches, waterfalls, more dynamic and vibrant than the monotony of the previous game.

All of this, in addition to an interesting sugar cane-themed track. And that water can be driven through to help manage your boost gaugeWhile the first MotorStorm game had 21 licensed songs, this one ratchets that total up more than twice over, with 46 songs. All vehicles from the previous game return, while introducing the new monster truck class along with other new vehicles. As a testament to the power of the brand, before the year 2008 ended, the game had already sold more than one million copies. Additionally, Pacific Rift would see a separate version called MotorStorm: 3D Rift released on PSN in August 2010, strange considering that this would follow the release of the third game. And this third game is MotorStorm: Arctic Edge.

Each MotorStorm game so far has been designed around specific environmental themes, and the subtitle Arctic Edge certainly tells you what to expect from this new MotorStorm game. Alaskan white and coldness all over – with snow and ice defining the world you drive on. Avalanches can be triggered by horns or vehicle explosions, and can be used to hinder your opponents. There are ice bridges that will crumble under the weight of too-heavy vehicles. Releasing in 2009, Arctic Edge is interesting in that it released first for the PSP and then for the PS2 shortly afterwards. While the previous two games were developed by Evolution Studios, this game was handled by Bigbig Studios. The game features 20 licensed songs, and brings back six vehicle classes while introducing the Snow Cat and the Snow Machine – statistical and design variations on the Big Rig and the ATV, respectively.

Notably, this game introduces Vehicle Customization, which allows you to personally design your vehicle’s appearance with paint jobs and stickers, and while choosing the parts used for the vehicle. Most everything is unlocked in the story mode, with the exception of some stickers that are unlocked via online racing. The next MotorStorm game, MotorStorm: Apocalypse, would see the franchise returning to the PS3, and would release in 2011. While each of the previous games had different environmental themes, this game has a different concept altogether – a fictional urban landscape called the City, based off of the Bay Area in California. Destructible environments have always been important to MotorStorm, and that gets ramped up significantly in this game, where the environments are besieged by natural disasters such as earthquakes and tornadoes, though unlike previous games, the land you drive on isn’t deformed after passing on it.

And uniquely, the game’s vehicles don’t have horns, and customization parts are all unlocked online. But when you’re not dealing with the dangers of road environment, you may be having to suffer hindrances by the Crazies and DuskLite. The Crazies are a flock of antiestablishment citizens who see themselves as trying to protect The City, while DuskLite want to enforce order, employed by corporations to bring stability in the absence of a police force. But both of them in pursuing their goals will use weapons against you.

The story mode is unique in that it features three different named protagonists, each with a different difficulty level assigned to them, and with the plot evolving differently based on which character you play. While this game introduced more new vehicle classes, its commercial performance was notably troubled. 2011 was the year of the Tohoku Earthquake in Japan, and this game’s release was cancelled in Japan altogether. The timing of the release also affected retail orders for the game across the world – the commercial performance was so troubling that it prompted Matt Southern of Evolution Studios to fear for the future of the company. However, Evolution would make one more MotorStorm title – MotorStorm RC, considered a spinoff for the franchise, centered around radio-controlled cars. It released early in 2012 for the Vita and PS3, and via digital distribution. Some the vehicle classes from previous games have been replaced with different class choices – and some vehicles have their class vehicle class changed altogether.

Uniquely, RC features four tracks from each of the four MotorStorm games that release prior, in addition to the ten that comprise the game and were added via DLC for a total of 26 tracks. RC forgoes the longstanding boost feature, and also uniquely introduces cross-platform play – a feature frequently in demand for online competitive gaming. However, this game would mark the last title in the MotorStorm series, following the DLC releases and a Complete Edition that was put online in December 2012 Speaking of DLC, with the exception of 3D Rift, all games were supported by DLC, which included new modes, new tracks, and new vehicles depending on the game.

The online racing servers are now shut down for the games. Evolution Studios is now defunct – following the last MotorStorm game, they would work on DriveClub, a game that released in 2014 to tepid reception despite some initial hype. About half of the studio’s employees would be let go in 2015, and in 2016, the name Evolution Studios would cease to exist completely, with the independent British studio Codemasters taking on many of the company’s employees.

Suffice it to say, were a new MotorStorm game to be released, it’s not clear who would be working on it. Sony still holds the IP, but since MotorStorm RC, they seem content to simply sit on it. It’s not as if the franchise doesn’t have something to offer, as a unique style of racer that easily stands out compared to racing games. Why do you think MotorStorm as a franchise is now dormant? Reportedly, it’s not just the poor timing of Apocalypse that hurt its sales, but the gameplay and game content provided issues for fans. What would it take for a new MotorStorm game to sell well – would a new MotorStorm just need to be more of the same that fans are used to? Should the next MotorStorm take place underwater, or in outer space? Let us know in the comments section below.

And we’ll start the feature by taking a look at the promotional trailer for Eight Days released as part of E3 2006. It’s tense, but dynamic, full of action and noise, punctuated by real stakes of danger. While this trailer, amongst other footage shown to promote the potential of the PlayStation 3, was cited as media that seemed not to directly reflect the system’s capabilities, what was shown displayed potential as a concept – particularly for a mainstream Western consuming audience.

Commentary from a developer from who worked on the game – Richard Bunn’s whose comments are sourced from a Eurogamer interview in 2011 – reveal some interesting background about the game’s development background. While commentary from 2008 from Shuhei Yoshida, the president of Sony Worldwide Studio, talked about how Sony was wanting to emphasize online gaming and that Eight Days as a game was outside of that, it turns out that this wasn’t the reason for the game’s cancellation. Bunn has stated that the game was going to have online co-operative play, and that the whole concept behind the game was a sort of what he called “buddy gameplay”.

“Imagine Uncharted, where you have two Nathan Drakes, and you can cover swap between each other and chuck ammo between each other. That was pretty much the game.”

Online co-op was part of the plan from the beginning, though not multiplayer play. Once work on Eight Days was completed, a large part of the amassed team of a few dozen staff was to be directed towards the other major project in Sony’s wheelhouse – the third entry in the Getaway series. Bunn, in the same interview, would corroborate the suggestion that Eight Days was further in development than the third Getaway game. The tech demo shown at E3 2005 was representative of much of the work done on for game. But unfortunately, as we all know, neither title was to be completed.

The cancellation of both of these major projects from Sony London both came at around the time that Phil Harrison, the previous holder of Shuhei Yoshida’s position, left Sony – with him resigning in February 2008, and Shuhei Yoshida, formerly senior vice president at Sony Worldwide Studios USA, taking on Harrison’s position officially in May of the same year. The third The Getaway game and Eight Days were officially cancelled in June 2008. Bunn said that Yoshida evaluated the divisions within Sony and concluded that the Sony London studio should move towards making games for a social or casual audience. Besides The Getaway games, a sizeable portion of Sony London’s portfolio is made up of sports games – and the portfolio of Sony London during the time of the PlayStation 3 and the PSP is significantly comprised of SingStar and EyeToy.

That said, word from the company to the developers working on Eight Days was that it was just “on hold” – sentiments produced in 2009 after the word initially spread in 2008 that the The Getaway 3 and Eight Days were completely cancelled. It was reportedly a sore experience for the developers within Sony who worked on the game, with Bunn stating that the suggestion of even using assets from the game felt difficult. Eight Days itself was still in pre-production though it was further along in development than The Getaway 3, per comments from Yoshida in 2008. Bunn mentions that there were those in development who spent years working on the title (with Bunn only spending six months).

Yoshida mentioned in a separate interview that The Getaway 3 and Eight Days were at a point where they would be evaluated and it would be determined how much resources would be assigned to the titles – a regular process. Bunn says that when the games were placed on hold, Sony determined that resources within the company should be allocated more to enhancing other major first party titles that were near completion or releasing in the following year of 2009. The first Uncharted game had just released in late 2007, and that game would lead into a major Sony franchise. However, the first Uncharted’s existence was such that Sony “already had a third-person action game in the stable.”

Much like the first The Getaway game, Eight Days was a title that Sony had been assigning development resources to for years, so it had already cost Sony a lot of money. At the time of the Eight Days’ being placed on hold, Sony had already calculated a figure for how much it would take to finish making the game – about one more year’s worth, per Bunn. And in their calculations, Sony had factored in their expectations for how large the PlayStation 3’s userbase would be a year after release – likely affected by the high initial cost of the system.

“At the time tie-in for a very good game was about ten per cent of the user base. They said we needed to be two or three times above that to be able to make a profit.”

It is clearly an exceedingly tall order for the game to land that well, even if the developers had the ambition to match the demand. Bunn, who designed the game’s opening level, said that his goal was to make it “as good as something you would see”, and he was incredibly happy and proud of both his work and the efforts of his co-workers.

As for other elements of planned game design, it would take place in eight US states – with the promo trailer taking place in Arizona, and the player’s experience would reflect the time in the real world – midnight in-game when the player is playing at midnight, for example. A key part of the narrative design of the game is that there are two storylines – one belonging to a “good” character and the other belonging to a “bad” character. The good character is pursuing a mob group after they kidnap his son, while the bad character seeks revenge on that same mob group. The two characters’ targeting of that group eventually leads to them working together later on. Bunn, in his interview, stated that the game was supposed to have “big cinematic scenes”, “driviing sections,” “duck and cover style gameplay” – an involved action game, and says that there would be much to impress game players if they had ever seen what was worked on.

And that concludes this look back on Eight Days. Shuhei Yoshida said in his aforementioned interview that there are many projects that are started and not finished – a clear reality of the gaming world. Nevertheless, Eight Days was, and is, a title with a lot of potential. Tell us what you think of Eight Days’ promotional trailer, and what we’ve shown about its development circumstances. With the newest God of War game releasing to great reception, and the Uncharted series still continuing, though with Nathan Drake’s story concluded – where does something like Eight Days fit in today’s gaming landscape? With Sony London’s portfolio during the PlayStation 4 generation much quieter than it had been in the past, it would be great to see them return to more active development.

Such was the franchise’s popularity that it led to the appearance of major franchise lead Cole McGrath in Street Fighter X Tekken – one of the most high-profile fighting game crossovers ever when it launched. Speaking of fighting games, as you would expect, Cole McGrath also made an appearance as a playable character in Sony’s own fighting game PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. inFamous is a franchise that even has comics to its name, and at one point a movie was planned for inFamous – even if word of that now goes back to about ten years ago. And yet the circumstances of the inFamous series are not as they were back then – the most recent title – inFamous: First Light, was released back in 2014. We are inclined to ask – what the hell happened to the inFamous series?

inFamous games are made by Sucker Punch. Formerly an independent studio, they have worked exclusively Sony since 2000 and were formally acquired by the company in 2011. To their name, Sucker Punch has two major franchises – the first three games in the Sly Cooper series when they originally released on the PS2, and the inFamous series, with their newest title, Ghost of Tsushima, which was announced at 2017’s Paris Games Week.

The inFamous series’s genre type is that of open world action gaming, with the three major titles (inFamous, inFamous, 2, and inFamous: Second Son) incorporating a morality system called Karma that affects the proceedings of the game on both major and minor scales. Karma is a system measured along the continuum of Good and Evil, with Good representing actions that promote the welfare of others, and Evil representing selfish actions. Karma also changes the appearance of protagonists Cole and Delsin, along with their attacks.

We’ll start with the first inFamous game – releasing on the PS3 in 2009. It stars series lead Cole McGrath, who is a courier in the fictional Empire City when we first meet him, as he suddenly finds himself with electricity-based superpowers following his opening of a package. He struggles with his newfound powers, dealing with society around him, and making choices as to what he should do with his powers.

Developed across three years with a team of 60 people, Sucker Punch sought a new direction in their games after the polished slickness and cartoony fun of the Sly Cooper series. inFamous was notably influenced by the concept of superheroes and the origin story, with the developers wanting to create a game that followed the progress of an everyday citizen such as Cole as his powers allow him to grow into something more. The open-world design of the game enhances the feeling of the environment being directly influenced by Cole’s actions, with the Karma system adding definition, structure, consequences and results, to one’s actions. The game released to great critical reception on average – praise particularly singled out for mission progression and the Karma system and the many ways it impacts gameplay and the environment.

The first inFamous game was followed up by inFamous 2 in 2011, also releasing for the PS3. Once again featuring Cole McGrath as protagonist, he sets out to stop another superpowered human known as the Beast in the fictional location of New Marais. The game is notable for featuring a replacement voice actor for Cole – Eric Ladin, who voiced Cole in every subsequent apperance. inFamous 2 is also significant for introducing a major new feature – UGC missions, with UGC standing for User-Generated Content, allowing for people to make their own missions and share them with others. Especially helpful to keep the gaming experience fresh once the game is finished. The developers felt the pressure to include multiplayer and had considered the idea of adding in co-operative play, but it didn’t make sense to them and their goal of keeping the experience fresh.

As for development, it began right after the first game’s development had concluded, and once again featured a modest main development team of 65 to 75 people. When the game released, it earned a strong critical average, with particular attention given to improvements in graphics from the first game.

The ending of inFamous 2, however, sees concludes the story of Cole McGrath with finality, and when inFamous Second Son, the next proper inFamous game, would release in 2014, it would feature a new protagonist in Delsin Rowe. The game itself takes place seven years after the ending of inFamous 2, which saw the elimination of many superpowered humans, and the establishment of a US government police force meant to wipe out the superhumans, designating them as terrorists. The location this time is a real-world one – Seattle, unlike the previous fictional locations, however inspired by the real world they may be.

As a major title, Second Son would bring back the Karma system. It was in the planning stages as far back as 2010 – before the first inFamous game would have much time to breathe after release, Sucker Punch was already planning for an inFamous on the PS4. They routinely were in contact with Sony system architect  Mark Cerny, one of several development teams that kept contact with Sony during the design and creation of the PS4.

While the dev team count reached to more than one hundred staff this time, it’s still small enough to allow for a sense of streamlining and direction. Second Son achieved million-seller status within nine days of launch – the best commercial record of any inFamous title, and noteworthy even on its own. While its critical average was lower than past games, it still maintains a solidly good standing.

Shortly after the development of Second Son, Sucker Punch would begin work on inFamous: First Light, a prequel to Second Son, and releasing in 2014 a few months after Second Son. It stars one of the major characters of Second Son – “Fetch”, a human with superpowers who has been captured by the US government force that is hunting people like her. A great deal of the game is Fetch recounting her story to the lead antagonist of Second Son, leading up to the introduction scene of Second Son. The game released to modestly positive reception on average – for the most part, the character of Fetch is well-liked, but the title is also seen as a “more of the same” inFamous title, with issue being taken also with the game’s perceived lack of difficulty.

This is how far the franchise has gone and how far it seems it will go. There’s no hint of another inFamous title being planned, and with Sucker Punch hard at work on Ghost of Tsushima for the PS4, with word of this title being development (though publicly unnamed at the time) first breaking in December 2015. Sucker Punch has a history of working on games with comparatively small development teams with the ambition of delivering action experiences of a great scale, and with Ghost of Tsushima’s release date still unknown, it’s hard to think Sucker Punch is planning to juggle two major projects at once.

To celebrate the ten-year anniversary of the first inFamous game’s launch, Sucker Punch tweeted out an informative thread providing ample background on the first game, through video clips and text. That being said, it’s entirely possible that another new inFamous game could happen once Ghost of Tsushima is completed, though Sucker Punch may be watching to see how Ghost of Tsushima is received both critically and commercially, seeing as it’s their most recent title in a few years.

One might be inclined to think that with Sucker Punch’s relative dormance, Sony may be watching the studio as well. Do you think that all necessary stories in inFamous have been told, or do you want to see more? Do you have a favorite character in the franchise? Do you see inFamous as a franchise that, with a properly maintained story, could continue nearly indefinitely? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

The franchise first got its start with the eponymous Duke Nukem in 1991. The franchise is most known for 3D level progression much in the same way that Doom or Quake games play, but it actually got its start as a 2D scrolling platformer. wherein the player navigates Duke to the end of the level, all the while managing his health bar and collecting enhancements for health or weapons, It was a game whose story is told in three episodes, with Duke Nukem pursuing the evil Dr. Proton through Los Angeles, a base on the moon, and in the future in the first, second, and third episodes, respectively.

This game was followed up by Duke Nukem II in 1993, and would be another 2D scrolling platformer, following Duke Nukem as he fights against an evil alien race who seek to take over the Earth across four episodes, each with eight levels. The game features four different kinds of usable weapons. Visually it shares great resemblance to the first game, but mission progression differs noticeably, and features interactable environments such as climbing across pipes as part of playing through stages. Interestingly, besides releasing on computers, it also released for the GameBoy Color, and offered a different gameplay experience altogether – a different enemy alien race, fewer stages, but different weapons, and in this game, Duke Nukem can hang onto ledges.

It would be with Duke Nukem 3D that the franchise and its reputation would really take off. It’s the franchise’s first first-person-shooter, and sits amongst a pantheon of pivotal computer FPS’s such as Quake, Doom, and Wolfenstein 3D for their popularizing of 3D shooter action games. Compared to games such as Quake or Doom, Duke Nukem 3D is noticeably less linear, with destructible stage elements and the ability to interact with environmental elements such as climbing through air ducts.

Duke Nukem 3D also incorporates game design ideas that noticeably differ it from its franchise predecessors, such as a portable medkit that allows Duke Nukem to himself at will. Another evolution of note from its predecessors for the series is the introduction of online multiplayer, in line with the other computer-based popular shooters of the day. Players can play on levels used in the main scenario or on levels made by the level editor included with the game – the same one used by the game’s developers, and the option for co-operative progression through the game’s main scenario was also an option. Duke Nukem 3D, and the first two Duke Nukem games, have all been developed by the same company – while 3D Realms is listed as the developer for Duke Nukem 3D, it is also the name that Apogee Software took on after 1996.

And while Duke Nukem 3D would be followed up by a host of other spinoffs following its release, there would not be a proper sequel for quite some time – not until 2011, with Duke Nukem Forever. Not that this was intended to be the case – as it was initially announced back in 1997, but was delayed and even one officially cancelled at one point in 2009 – though development continued in spite of that. 3D Realms, responsible for the development of the influential Duke Nukem 3D, did not end up completing the game themselves, but Triptych Games and Gearbox Software would finish the job, with Triptych containing some personnel from original Duke Nukem developers 3D Realms. Duke Nukem Forever features interesting deviations from past games, including the way health works – first, Duke Nukem’s ego bar must be depleted, and then his health bar can be depleted.

Duke Nukem Forever was also treated to a DLC expansion called The Doctor Who Cloned Me, an additional scenario campaign featuring the villain Dr. Proton from the first Duke Nukem game. While Forever left the door open for a sequel, the reviews for the game were negative across the board, with the game being seen as dated both in its gameplay design and regressive or offensive in its humor. It was also seen as a weak gameplay experience, plagued by poor controls and too long loading times. The game plays slowly despite trying to harken back to the shooters that 3D released alongside (and despite not containing more movement sophistication associated with more modern shooters, such as cover mechanics,).

This all said and done, it would turn out that Duke Nukem Forever holds the longest ever development time for a video game, a time marked by repeated releases of promotional media – 14 years and 44 days. Rather than a strong return to form, the game is mostly known for a comically long development time and for being disappointing upon release.

The Duke Nukem franchise has also been host to a variety of spinoff games. Releasing in 1998 on the Playstation is Duke Nukem: Time To Kill. This game was not developed by 3D Realms, but by n-Space. Following that in 1999 for the Nintendo 64 is Duke Nukem: Zero Hour, developed by Eurocom – known for their work on certain 007 titles. However, while 007 Goldeneye is seen as an N64 classic, this game released to mediocre reviews.The last main spinoff for the Duke Nukem franchise would be Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project, originally releasing for PC in 2002. It is a game that plays in 2.5D, and allows for the player to focus zoom on either the environment or on enemies, and at times allowing the use of jetpack for traversal.

While Duke Nukem Forever teased a seqyel, the future doesn’t seem good for another new game at all. In a statement dated April 2017, Gearbox made it clear that they have no plans to work on another Duke Nukem game anytime soon, after discussing Duke Nukem’s cameo appearance in Bulletstorm. It’s a rather strange turn of fate for a franchise littered with cancelled projects, signaling the once great interest in continuing the life of the franchise. The voice actor for Duke Nukem, outright stated in a Twitter post at the end of this past January that there is nothing in the works for Duke Nukem.

We can hope that the fates of the character change in the future, but in order to do so, the character very likely has to evolve and find a place in the modern gaming landscape, rather than playing to gameplay experiences or humor sensibilities associated with the past. What do you think is needed for a new Duke Nukem game to succeed? While there are a variety of other shooter franchises that are active, Duke Nukem is notable for being both a shooter and placing heavy emphasis on its protagonist. Let us know in the comments section below. As always – thanks for reading.

One such example of that is The Getaway series, a briefly-lived gaming franchise inspired by gangs in Britain, and developed by SIE London – a Sony studio, now known as Sony Computer Entertainment London. But for what would seem to be a successful formula, The Getaway’s life as a franchise was cut short abruptly, never making it past a decade. What happened to The Getaway? We’ll take a look in this feature.

It starts with The Getaway, releasing in December 2002 in Europe and in 2003 for North America and Australia, with the game also later being released in Japan with Capcom publishing it. Plans for what would become the first The Getaway game began during the time of the PlayStation, with groundwork being laid for a mission-based free-roaming vehicle title. Over the course of development, it would move onto the PlayStation 2, and this game structure would be scrapped, just a prototype for what would lie ahead. The game was made between Sony London and Team Soho, a Sony subsidiary, now formally a part of SCE London.

A strong motivator for the creation of what would become the first The Getaway game is the desire to seamlessly transition between different areas in the game that the player is nearby. There would be no separating segments of the world of London, the setting for The Getaway, and simply dividing them with “loading walls.” This however was not an easy task, and development took Sony years of effort to accomplish. The Getaway would not be widely playable until E3 2002, following a round of screenshots being posted to promote this ambitious project during the time of E3 2000. All of this time and effort was a significant resource drain on Sony London, and it would see to the closing of two Sony studios, and the cancellation of works-in-progress at Sony in Britain.

The Getaway was all about detail. Early promotional media were praised for the level of detail that they showed off, and the game featured an assortment of real cars and guns that the characters would use to carry out mission objectives. When experiencing the game, the game player is not held back by an intrusive HUD or an abundance of brightly-colored objective markers in game – this allows people to be more fully immersed in playing through The Getaway.

With the great amount of time and money invested into the game, Sony had to hope that the game would sell well to make back what was put into it. Reportedly, it was a million-seller in the United States, and sold more than 600,000 in the United Kingdom – not such a bad start for the franchise. The reviews were a different story – they were essentially “alright” on the whole. While the graphical detail was often praised, the gameplay itself was seen as underwhelming, and the plot and voice acting were also targets of some criticism, with the depictions of racism seen in game also perhaps putting some game players on edge.

What could be said about The Getaway was that, after all was said and done and the game was released, the groundwork was there for a sequel that could maintain the momentum of the first title, existing in a time when games like the Grand Theft Auto series were already popular. It would just need some more attention to refining its gameplay.

This would take the form of The Getaway: Black Monday, releasing in 2004 for Europe and in 2005 for North America and Australia, and for the PlayStation 2. After the criticisms levied at the first The Getaway game, this would be important both for Sony’s investment and for the sake of the franchise itself.

However, what resulted was essentially more-of-the-same as a gameplay experience, though the plot featured new characters and there were more vehicles than the previous game. The cutscenes and cinematic nature of the gameplay experience were highly praised, alongside the voice acting, but the enemy AI were repeatedly criticized. Driving and shooting experiences in the game aren’t significantly improved, held back by flawed vehicular physics or weapon targeting. As with the first The Getaway, while a cinematic delivery framework of a game story existed, the plot and characters were not there to really resonate and take advantage of that framework.

Strangely, Black Monday would seem to more or less cement what The Getaway as a franchise would be known about – games that were primarily there to be experienced, as a movie might be. In a time before the surge of heavily cinematic games with great environmental realism and highly involved dramatic stories, such as the The Last of Us, it’s interesting to see what The Getaway franchise became. It’s hard to think that this game was intentionally prototypical of the type of game that The Last of Us was, but on a superficial level, it’s also not hard to think that The Getaway franchise was a sign of things to come, even if it took the form of underdelivering gameplay experiences.

Interestingly, The Getaway: Black Monday wasn’t supposed to be the last The Getaway game. In E3 2005, tech demo footage for a third The Getaway game was promoted, featuring Piccadilly Circus from The West End of London. This third title would transition away from the PlayStation 2 and move the franchise onto the PlayStation 3, taking place in London after Black Monday.

The tech demo footage, amongst other media touted to promote the not-yet-released PS3 by then- (and newly-formed) Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios president Phil Harrison, attracted a modest amount of attention, with The Getaway 3 demo’s environments rendered in great detail, and masses of vehicles and people all going about their way. However, this was also the year that the media was quite skeptical of what exactly was on display that could be directly attributable to the PlayStation 3.

Nevertheless, while a screenplay writer hired for the game stated that The Getaway 3 was still in development in March of 2008, the game would eventually be canned, or rather “put to the side,” as stated by Sony in 2009. Sony London would clarify that they shelved The Getaway 3 in favor of working on EyeToy hardware and the SingStar franchise, or the PlayStation Eye as it came to be known for the PS3. But while there was potential that could be delievered upon as seen in the E3 2005 tech demo, The Getaway’s timing and execution were simply off.

Had the gameplay, and to a lesser extent, the plot of the games been more serviceable, The Getaway would be seen as a franchise that marks the game development potential of Sony London, and could very well have continued to this day. But since the gameplay experiences were too underwhelming, Sony London would take their focus elsewhere. Tell us your experience with The Getaway games, if you have any. Can the franchise, if revived, succeed in today’s gaming climate? Does the type of story and world, the tone of the games, have a place for mainstream game players?

Rocksteady is a British game development company, wholly owned by Warner Bros., though prior to this Square-Enix did own some share of the company, while Warner Bros would still hold majority stake during that time. An appearance from Rocksteady was eagerly anticipated at E3 this year, but the company would skip on the festivities, much to the dismay of waiting fans. This tweet states from game director and Rocksteady co-founder Sefton Hill states that the company would be working on their next big project in the meantime. But it’s quite some time to go without releases, even after the release of Arkham VR.

As you might expect, this wouldn’t even be the first time that a new Rocksteady game has been anticipated or teased – and not even just a new Batman game. Rumors of a new Superman game back in 2017 might come to mind – and when was the last great Superman game released? And this year, rumors of a Justice League game, though traced back to a tweet from a new hire for the company, and not in any way indicative of a new project rather than simply being a picture of the Justice League. Those following news about Rocksteady as a studio may have been treated to the whirlwind hype of a new Outlaws game – Outlaws being the name of a vigilante group within DC Comics. The Outlaws are particularly interesting considering that they are led by a character named Red Hood, and that character is an alias most associated with Jason Todd.

Jason Todd is an important name because he has also assumed the role of Robin, Batman’s sidekick, within DC comics lore, although it may be argued the name of Robin is more associated with Dick Grayson. But it’s not just this – major spoiler warnings for Arkham Knight, but THE Arkham Knight in Batman: Arkham Knight is also Jason Todd. Todd harbored anger against Batman as he felt that Batman abandoned him, and retains scars after he was tortured by the Joker, but Todd also saves Batman later in the climax of the game.

Suffice it to say, Arkham Knight left something of an opening for an Outlaws game, and the hype surrounding Outlaws was believable at the time, including an accompanying piece of box art that circulated with the rumors…but for the fact that it was all for naught, and later proven to be fake. It can be a trying experience to be someone watching for news from Rocksteady Twitter accounts. Perhaps nothing encapsulates that experience as this tweet from 2017 – asking for patience, and promising something that’s going to make everyone lose their minds. It’s fair to say that fans will have lost their patience waiting for whatever the new project is supposed to be that’s supposed to be making everyone excited. “Wait…for news, eventually!” But that can feel increasingly difficult to ask, since it has been some years.

It is however understandable that there are still Arkham fans waiting for more games in the franchise – the media that made the company what it is, and what created such a fervent base and an impatient and watching games media – us included. Eagle-eyed fans may have noticed that in February, Rocksteady put out job postings on their website meant for a global promotional campaign of a major triple-A game. We’ve yet to see what that campaign would be for, but it at least suggests that Rocksteady plans on promoting something.

For those hoping for comment on the Arkham series separately from the company, this tweet from Batman voice actor (from the Arkham series) Kevin Conroy might offer some hope. It may be worth considering that the tweet was made at the end of this past June, and so while it’s not necessarily indicative of an Arkham game in particular being in the pipeline, it’s much more reason for optimism rather than seeing a celebratory tweet that gets left by the wayside, only to be seen as something commemorating a triumph for the company in years past. And considering that Conroy’s tweet asks “but why stop there?”, it’s a rather aggressive suggestion at least asking for more Arkham games or, more optimistically, suggesting that the Caped Crusader’s adventures in the Arkham games will continue soon. That tweet, perhaps, is not as aggressive as this one.

Congratulating the company on its new hires, and then asking for them to get to work on a new Arkham game. And that tweet is dated to late May of this year. Even if there weren’t a new Arkham game in the works, it’s nice to have such an ardent champion in the games in someone so clearly relevant to the franchise as the voice actor himself for Batman in the Arkham franchise. While he can’t promise anything since he doesn’t work in game development, it’s also something of a relief nonetheless to see him speak, because his support is unambiguous.

And that concludes our article talking about where the hell Rocksteady’s new game is supposed to be. The Arkham games clearly sell well, and are very popular. They star one of the most popular American comic book superheroes of all time in Batman, an icon whose status as such has with stood the test of time. Beyond just the status of Batman himself, the Batman franchise is host to a diverse rogues gallery – an absolute boon for comic book heroes – and a great cast of accompanying characters to create conflict with Batman and show more dimensions to the character, or to generally raise the stakes in a story.

These games cemented Rocksteady’s status as a studio capable of delivering popular triple-A games, and outside of such high-profile and high-development games, it doesn’t seem like Rocksteady has anything else planned. It simply remains the case that for reasons that we cannot ascertain, Rocksteady is unwilling to go public with whatever their next new project is. There clearly is something new in the works, and it has repeatedly been outwardly promoted by Rocksteady that there is something being worked on. But, as it has been for the past years, we are left with nothing but to wait.

Tell us what you expect the next Rocksteady game to be. Do you think that we are going to get another Arkham game, or will we be receiving something entirely new – another DC Comics property, or something entirely outside of these safer bounds of speculation – a new IP, or a non-comics license? Why do you think that it has taken so long for the announcement of Rocksteady’s new game? Your guess is as good as ours – the company doesn’t lack the skill or support for whatever they wish to work on. Might it have anything to do with an impending console generation transition for the Playstation and Xbox brands? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below. 

Virtua Fighter is the first 3D fighting game franchise, and belongs to SEGA. The first Virtua Fighter game was developed by the AM2 development team within SEGA, responsible for many SEGA arcade classics, and active up until SEGA’s exit from the console market. Virtua Fighter is unique compared to other franchises in that the evolution or any introduced changes in gameplay mechanics outwardly seems minimally complicated, with no meters to manage as you see in other games. But while Virtua Fighter introduced different types of stages in its third iteration and introduced throws in its second iteration, the core gameplay of Virtua Fighter basically stays the same throughout each entry. Players have access to directional inputs and three buttons – Punch, Kick, and Guard, and combinations of these inputs, executed with specific timing, will yield unique attacks depending on the character.

Unlike Street Fighter, where characters generally have a couple of special attacks in addition to having access to “normal” attacks that come out when a button is pressed separately from a directional input sequence, Virtua Fighter has a list of combos and attacks available to each character. Combos are often high-damage, encouraging players to choose their moments to attack well, and to keep their guard up so as to avoid losing the round. Another danger to losing a round lies in ring-outs – if either opponent falls out of the ring due to their own error or due to advances from the opponent. In summary, this all adds up to gameplay that can be explosive with rounds that don’t last very long. 

Virtua Fighter‘s consistency as a franchise is not only found in its gameplay but also in its artistic choices. It can be seen in the way that the characters are designed – mostly simple and uncomplicated. While fighting game franchises aren’t all known for their stories, Virtua Fighter in general doesn’t place nearly as much of an emphasis on having a sprawling and grandiose story as franchises such as Mortal Kombat or Tekken do. The sound effects and accompanying soundtracks for each Virtua Fighter game aim to capture a specific and consistent feeling of the early arcade heyday of SEGA – the hit effects sound “heavy” and suggest emphasis, with characters floating as they are juggled, while the soundtracks are generally bright and action-oriented on the whole. Guilty Gear favors hard rock and Tekken favors electronic music, but Virtua Fighter is most easily described as upbeat, even in its more subdued tracks.

The first Virtua Fighter game released for arcades in 1993. For some time, during the earlier prominence of arcades, Virtua Fighter was a premiere game and fighting game to play, along with some of the bigger names such as Street Fighter II. It started with a limited roster, as most fighting games – the protagonist Akira Yuki, along with the siblings Jacky and Sarah Bryant, Kage-Maru the ninja, Jeffry McWild, Wolf Hawkfield, and  Lau Chan and his daughter Pai Chan. While a far cry from the rendering of games today, the blocky polygon models were also trailblazing upon release and still to this day have their own charm. Virtua Fighter was a ground-breaking release, and pushed and inspired developers from around the globe – it informed Sony’s decision to orient the first PlayStation around 3D graphics.

The next release in the Virtua Fighter franchise is Virtua Fighter 2 – widely regarded as one of the most popular titles amongst the franchise’s enthusiasts. It only introduced two new characters – the young Lion Rafale from France, and the drunken master fighter Shun Di. The limited introduction of new characters is another Virtua Fighter hallmark – unlike franchises such as Street Fighter and Tekken that have full franchise character lists that are more than twice the size of Virtua Fighter‘s own. All characters now have a throw to use, which adds complexity to the game, threatening players who guard too often.

This game, too, was widely-lauded for its 60 frames per second running speed, new gameplay modes, and great graphical attention to detail. It has been ported to Xbox 360 and PS3, and the SEGA Saturn version (a port that was by accounts labor-intensive,) was considered one of the essential titles for the console. Arguably, this title also has one of the better soundtracks amongst the franchise.

Following is Virtua Fighter 3, first releasing for arcades in 1996, and then for the Dreamcast, SEGA’s final console, in 1998. It introduced new characters Aoi Umenokoji and Taka-Arashi to the franchise. Additionally, Virtua Fighter 3 significantly changed up the series by adding slopes and stairs to stages. While an attempt at adding new dimension to gameplay, it arguably introduces undue unbalance as well, significantly boosting potential damage done to opponents in a series that is already high-damage. Virtua Fighter 3 is also notable for introducing a Dodge button – a feature exclusive only to this third iteration in the franchise.

All Virtua Fighter titles have received updated releases, something of an artifact for the genre due to the introduction of DLC and Internet-based developer updates that allows characters and new features to be introduced to existing game packages rather than manufacturing a new game disc and putting it onto retail shelves. But Virtua Fighter 3 received an updated release called Virtua Fighter 3tb – or Virtua Fighter 3 Team Battle, that introduced team-based fights between opponents rather than the standard one-versus-one fights. Virtua Fighter 3 continued the franchise’s reputation as a leader in 3D fighting games, scoring well amongst critics particularly for its continued graphical evolution and sophistication, and eagerly anticipated by fans prior to release in arcades.

By the time of the fourth Virtua Fighter‘s release, SEGA had made their exit from the console gaming scene, and so Virtua Fighter 4 would release initially for arcades and then for the PlayStation 2. Virtua Fighter 4 introduced new characters – the Chinese monk Lei-Fei and the mysterious Vanessa Lewis, with updated releases Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution and Virtua Fighter 4: Final Tuned introducing the intense Brad Burns and Goh Hinogami. Interestingly, Taka-Arashi from the third title was omitted in Virtua Fighter 4, due to the developers not being able to incorporate newly-introduced gameplay mechanics with Taka’s generally larger frame and some of his attack animations. Gone are the uneven stages introduced in the third game – we’re back to flattened stages, and the franchise would maintain this philosophy in the future.

Notably, Virtua Fighter 4 introduced a robust Training for newcomers or those looking to level up their gameplay. While it is easy for anyone to simply hop onto a controller and push buttons to make attacks come out, fighting games are often regarded as complex and difficult to get better at as you dive deeper into them, and while more recent fighting games have made great strides in adding helpful tutorial modes, Virtua Fighter 4 stood out amongst its competition in this respect.

This brings us to Virtua Fighter 5 and its updates Virtua Fighter 5 R and Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown, with Final Showdown being the latest release in the Virtua Fighter 5 franchise. It should also be noted that this latest release dates to 2012 and is currently available not on the current generation of consoles, but on PS3, 360 and in some arcades, with the PS3 and 360 versions only available for purchase digitally and not having a packaged release.

Whereas the Virtua Fighter franchise has lived through the heyday of arcades (and even significantly contributed to the success of arcades,) by the time of Virtua Fighter 5, arcades have noticeably decreased in popularity, particularly in the West. That being said, per series tradition, Virtua Fighter 5 introduced new characters Eileen and El Blaze, with the updated release R introducing Jean Kujo and re-introducing Taka-Arashi, with the full roster featured in R and Final Showdown marking a complete list of twenty playable characters in Virtua Fighter history.

So what’s next for Virtua Fighter? Soul Calibur, whose fifth release was followed by dire straits for the franchise, still managed a sixth release that came out last year. Dead or Alive from Koei-Tecmo, another 3D fighting game franchise, also continues to this day, with its sixth release coming out this past March, and with new characters introduced since release.

Meanwhile, franchises that Virtua Fighter used to compete with, such as big names Street Fighter and Tekken, are highly active with major competitive presences amongst the genre. In general, the decline of Virtua Fighter overlaps with the decline of the brand of SEGA since its exit from the console market – which is rather unfortunate, since Virtua Fighter used to be one of SEGA’s premier brands, right up there with Sonic the Hedgehog. But when asked about the Virtua Fighter franchise or a sixth title, SEGA has generally not said much across the years, not until this key tweet from this past November.

And that, unfortunately, was a hard denial of anything being in the works for the franchise. While SEGA did host and promote the SEGA Cup, a competitive event, for two years following the release of Final Showdown, SEGA hasn’t promoted the franchise much since then in the absence of new content to draw attention to, and the franchise hasn’t received any sort of competitive gaming push as have other prominent fighting games.

Virtua Fighter will always be an icon, but for now it languishes in the absence of greater coordinated effort to promote the franchise or without SEGA either re-releasing Final Showdown or working on a sixth Virtua Fighter game. What are your experiences with the Virtua Fighter franchise? What makes it stand out compared to other fighting games that you know about? Can it succeed amongst the great mass of fighting games that are available today? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below. As always, thanks for watching.

While a Fable IV reveal was a no-show at the most recent Game Awards and for E3 2018 and E3 2019, within the past few months the purported leaks have been accumulating, creating a feeling that the Fable IV’s unveiling is just a matter of time. With the original developers Lionhead Studios closed since 2016, eyes are on Forza Horizon developers Playground Games as the suspected developer of Fable IV, and the pressure is on to see what sort of game is revealed for Forza’s big return to gaming. But what happened to the franchise after Fable III, and what has the arc of the franchise been like leading up to this heavily anticipated title? We’ll explore that in our video.

The main Fable games are RPG’s, wherein players construct their own protagonist character to interact with citizens and push forward plot events in the fictional world of Albion. Characters can have their attributes raised according to certain characteristics, such as strength and magic, and depending on your choices, your created character will also take on a moral alignment, and the choices you make will also affect your appearance and associated reputation in-game. The setting is inspired by European medieval fantasy, though the world of Albion evolves throughout the course of the franchise’s numbered titles. Fable is a Microsoft-owned property and appears only on Microsoft platforms.

The franchise got its start with the first Fable game, releasing in 2004 for the Xbox. It was one of the earliest games of Big Blue Box Studios with development of most future titles formally shifted to Lionhead. It was an ambitious game at the outset – rather than simply controlling all aspects of a character’s appearance, as is the case with many create-a-character games, your appearance is dependent on your choices. The connection between the citizens of the world and your environment, and your own choices as the player, was meant to be palpable. It took four years for this mammoth project of player choice to be complete.

Fable was a game whose depth and inviting world were widely celebrated, founded on the idea of the creating a game for which the player’s experience was continually impacted and realized by their choices, but it was also criticized for lacking features that were initially promised prior to release – the game was aggressively promoted the game with promised features, some of which never made it to the final release. Fable reportedly sold three million copies in its lifetime, a strong debut for a new IP. It later received an expanded release in Fable: The Lost Chapters in 2005, containing all content found in the original release while adding significantly more content in terms of weapons, items, story locations, and quests, while also expanding the role of certain existing characters. Fable: The Lost Chapters was also re-released in 2014 for the 360 and for PC’s as Fable Anniversary, sporting graphical improvements in such areas as lighting and draw distance, and Achievements, but it was also heavily derided for not addressing existing bugs.

Off the heels of its successful debut, Fable would eventually make its way to the 360 with Fable II, releasing in 2008, and taking place in an Albion set five hundred years after the original game. Aside from the host of additions made to the franchise, one particular standout is the introduction of the Dog, your companion throughout the adventure, who assists you in combat, finding treasure chests, and completing quest objectives. As with the player, the Dog’s appearance is a function of the player’s choices.

The Alignment system introduced in the first game is significantly expanded upon, thereby introducing new appearance features, which are a combination of your in-game morality and your rating on the scale of Purity and Corruption. Other introduced Alignments reflect the assessment of NPC’s towards your character, including Funny and Scary, Attractive and Ugly, and Love and Hate. Scoring higher on the positive ends of these scales tends to create characters that are more palatable to others in-game. Money is now earned through simple jobs rather than quest fufillment, and in a post-release patch co-operative gameplay was introduced, wherein players can visit others’ games according to certain restrictions set by a host for players to adhere to. Fable II would sell to 3.5 million units, and a Game of the Year Edition, which included the two DLC packs Knothole Island and See the Future, was released in 2009.

Fable II would rather quickly be followed up by Fable III in 2011. The developers didn’t want Fable to become too formulaic, comparing his dilemma to the design of many games where the goal was always to become stronger and kill a main villain, and for the story to conclude with just that. So Fable III expanded the scale of making the ramifications of one’s actions felt by introducing the concept of being a ruler. At the end of the second Fable game, the protagonist character becomes ruler of Albion, with the crown later passing down to his eldest son, and your older brother. The course of the game dictates that the player eventually leads a coup and overthrows their brother, becoming ruler themselves. As a ruler, one has the choice of being active off of the throne or staying relatively safe within walls.

There are various dimensions to how one rules and how this affects citizen behavior and the royal treasury – in general, the concept of rebellion and the management of power, once assumed, were foundational to Fable III. This aside, the game also makes use of many existing mechanics as defined by Fable II, including the previous game’s Alignment system, as well as bringing back the Dog. While generally reviewing well, its critical average was a noticeable dip compared to the reviewing success enjoyed by its preceding mainline titles. It missed the anticipated sales target of 5 million units set by the developer, who expected an expansion in audience by exploring a change in direction that shifted away from its RPG roots, and the developer was dismayed by the underperformance of the game both critically and commercially.

It was followed by a new direction altogether for Fable, in 2012’s Fable Heroes, a beat-em-up game where players can choose from one of twelve characters from across the Fable games prior to Heroes’s release, and also allowing for multiplayer play. It was a marked tonal shift in aesthetics, while also reflecting this in minigames based on franchise mythology. While meant to be accessible, the final product was generally regarded to be poorly-executed in its core gameplay, seen as repetitive, dull, and bogged down by control issues.

Another new direction explored for the Fable franchise is in the Kinect title Fable: The Journey, also releasing in 2012, wherein players don’t create their own character, using hand gestures to perform magic spells to attack enemies, but even this yielded an average of mixed reviews as even when the game tries to explore something new for the franchise, the experience is seen as being held back by requiring more usage of Kinect motion controls than should be expected for Kinect games. The most recent Fable release is 2018’s free-to-play Fable Fortune for PC and Xbox One, surprising everyone by exploring the collectible card game genre, but earning a mixed critical average as did the just-mentioned non-mainline titles.

Interestingly, Lionhead Studios, which had worked on all games up to this point, closed during this game’s development, and so the development of the game was given to the newly-formed Flaming Fowl Studios, which contained former Lionhead personnel. Flaming Fowl had sought funding through a Kickstarter campaign in 2016, but the campaign fell short of its goals, though the studio did later receive funding elsewhere for development. Lionhead had also been working on Fable: Legends, a team-based action RPG, and while a closed beta was playable starting in October 2014, the beta closed in April of 2016, and official announcement of the game’s cancellation was made public along with news of Lionhead’s closure, with refunds being issued for gold purchases in-game.

And so we sit on the heels of the announcment of Fable IV, whenever that is scheduled to take place. Fable built a name for itself on emphasizing the effects of player choice in gameplay and conveying that through a robust RPG experience, but the perceived need for novelty in Fable III and the following experimentations in new genre and gameplay experiences in Fable titles since then have diluted the brand power of Fable.

It’s certainly not helpful that Lionhead being closed put the future of the franchise in question, but with repeated rumors suggesting that a new challenger in Playground Games will take up the mantle of developing Fable IV, we’ll have a lot to look forward to in seeing their take on a new Fable game. Tell us your thoughts on the Fable franchise’s experiments in departing from the gameplay experiences offered in the mainline titles. Does Fable IV really need to do anything new in comparison to the gameplay offered in the mainline titles in order to win you over, if you are a fan of the previous games? Let us know your thoughts on the path of the Fable franchise in the comments section. 

But one name that may escape others’ mentions might be that of Sly Cooper, whose releases earned a modest amount of popularity, such that Sly Cooper was one of the characters chosen to be playable as part of the Smash-like PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. But why no word on the franchise for so long? We’ll look back on the franchise with this article on What the hell happened to Sly Cooper?

The first Sly Cooper game – Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus – released for the PlayStation 2 in 2002 and 2003. It stars Sly Cooper, a master thief who is descended from a line of skilled vigilante thieves who target criminals, as he takes on the Fiendish Five in search of the Thievius Raccoonus, a family heirloom that contains the accumulated thieving techniques of past generations of Coopers. Sly Cooper has his own gang that helps him in his exploits – the turtle Bentley, who specializes in hacking, and Murray the hippopotamus, who is responsible for helping the gang make getaways, and these three friends all met in Mrs. Puffin’s Orphanage, wherein they pulled off their first together as kids – plotting to steal a jar of cookies from Mrs. Puffin’s office.

The Fiendish Five, all of whom are criminals and are responsible for killing Sly Cooper’s father before he could pass the Thievius Raccoonus to him, have divided the Thievius Raccoonus amongst themselves, and have hideouts around the world from which they scheme to terrorize the local population. Sly Cooper games are platformers, but you aren’t encouraged to run around and attack all enemies in sight with your cane; rather, these are stealth games, in which you should be using your environment or movement to sneak up on or evade enemies and security systems. The games feature cel-shaded rendering, which makes the action cartoony and fun.

While the first game initially didn’t sell well, having to compete with other major platformers such as the first Jak & Daxter and Ratchet & Clank games, it eventually sold enough to be part one of Sony’s Greatest Hits, and the game and its developer, Sucker Punch Productions, were later recognized for their game design achievements, with the game still reviewing well amongst publications.

The first game would be followed up by Sly 2: Band of Thieves, releasing for the PS2 in 2004 and 2005. It is a significant evolution from the first game and introduces several major gameplay changes, including a health bar and a special gadget bar called the Thief Meter and the Gadget Meter respectively, and the ability to play as Bentley and Murray but with more fleshed out combat and gameplay styles in comparison to the first game. Many power-ups can now be purchased, rather than found throughout playing the game or in vaults (though some power-ups are still found in vaults.) In the second game, Sly and his gang are retrieving the scattered parts of the destroyed Clockwerk, so that they can never pose a threat to him or the world once used or reassembled.

The next Sly Cooper game is Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves. The game was also notable for including 3D gameplay sections, and for packages of the game including 3D glasses, though playing through the game in 3D is optional. The game also introduces a number of other new gameplay elements and includes four two-player mini-games.

The last Sly Cooper game is Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, which released in 2013 for the PS3, three years after the The Sly Collection was released for the PS3 – a compilation of remasters of the first three Sly Cooper games. It was developed by Sanzaru Games, which was responsible for The Sly Collection. Thieves in Time features Sly, Bentley, Murray, and Carmelita as playable characters. Bentley, who is holding onto the Thievius Raccoonus, notices that its pages are disappearing (with Penelope also disappearing during this time) and so Sly’s gang is reassembled to travel back in time to investigate and find out who is behind the disappearance of its pages.  A secret ending reveals that Sly later somehow awakens in Ancient Egypt, setting up a sequel.

What of the future of the franchise? It is modestly popular, with Sly and Bentley appearing in PlayStation Move Heroes, Sly’s gang and Carmelita appearing in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, and two comics, which take place between the first and second games, and the second and third games. A Sly Cooper movie has been in the planning stages, but after the failure of the Ratchet and Clank movies, it appears to be in development hell.

And in 2017, Sony announced that a Sly Cooper animated television series consisting of 52 11-minute episodes, with a premier date set for 2019, following the main three members of Sly’s gang, being vigilantes for justice while escaping the grasp of Carmelita Fox. Earlier in May, it was also announced that Sony had opened their own movie and television production studio in California, leading to speculation that the Sly Cooper TV series might be produced there. As for the games themselves, after Thieves in Time was completed, Sanzaru expressed interest in continuing the franchise, but whether or not that would happen depends on Sony’s word. But as of November 2014, Sanzaru Games has stated that “there are no plans for another Sly Cooper title.”

And considering the great time it has been since that remark, it seems unlikely that Sony is trying to push a revival of the colorful stealth platformer series. Generally, Sony’s stance seems to be to quietly ignore the franchise, and not answer questions about it so as to not fuel any fires or draw attention to it.

Understandably this is a move that invited some ire from fans, but with the revival of the Crash Bandicoot series and the release of Spyro: Reignited Trilogy, along with fan demand for new games from the Jak & Daxter and Ratchet & Clank series, the timing is ripe for fans to push for more Sly Cooper! Let us know about your favorite Sly Cooper game in the comments section below, and what you might expect from a Sly Cooper 5. Should Sony re-release The Sly Collection for PS4?