Prequels can be a bit of a touchy subject in any medium of entertainment, whether it be movies or games. Some are certainly better than others, but this year we’re getting two of the biggest prequels in games: Fallout 76 and Red Dead Redemption 2. In observing that, I thought that it might be interesting to go back and take a look at the games that really nailed the admittedly difficult feat of making a great prequel.
6 Prequel Games That Didn’t Disappoint
Halo: Reach
Halo: Reach, while not the most popular in the series, had a campaign that stuck with me. I grew up playing Halo: Combat Evolved on the original Xbox. Everything about the opening levels of the game was so poignant and made with a high attention to detail. The world Bungie built was just astounding; from the sci-fi environment and the explosion of plasma weapons to the unique designs of the alien antagonists.
Imagine my delight when there were books that expanded upon the universe of this game. That’s where the lore surrounding the fall of Reach and the importance of Master Chief as the last of the Spartan IIs had really become a mainstay of the series. The story of inevitable defeat, and the climate of the situation that led to the desperate environment of Halo: CE were things to behold. Years later, when Bungie announced that they were developing Halo: Reach and that the story wouldn’t be based around Master Chief, it sounded like a breath of fresh air for the series, much like ODST.
From the offset of the campaign, if you know anything about Halo lore, you know that this isn’t going to end well. The game provided a fun and diverse cast of characters among your Spartan unit, and that made watching them drop one by one throughout the game even more difficult to deal with. The fact that they let you customize your own Spartan, and let you commit yourself to the character in your own way, would make the eventual ending more bittersweet than it otherwise would be.
The final battle is among my favorite moments in the Halo franchise; facing waves of the covenant on a planet that’s nearly completely destroyed, in a hopeless bid for survival, as your helmet cracks more and more before you ultimately succumb to them. It is a story of a relentless will to succeed in the face of utter doom, and I adored every second of it.
6 Prequel Games That Didn’t Disappoint
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Everything in the Metal Gear franchise comes back to the actions of Big Boss. The original games, Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2, focused on him primarily as the main antagonist, but the reverberations of his actions and his ideology would be felt throughout the rest of the series. When it was announced that they were going to be doing a prequel with Big Boss as the protagonist, I was immediately worried; my mind jumped to the Star Wars prequel series, and Kojima potentially ruining the intrigue behind the character by overexplaining, like George Lucas did with Darth Vader.
What we got from the game, however, was not that at all. It turned out to be Bond-esque spy thriller with a story that could stand on its own two feet, without any indication of what went on in the previous Metal Gear games. It told a personal story of betrayal between a mentor and her pupil, while having a larger story of a nuclear threat set during the cold war period. Kojima managed to put together a compelling story that made you care and identify with the primary antagonist of the franchise. Ultimately, it made you understand what made Big Boss the character he is in the later games of the series.
It’s not all story though, MGS 3 also has some of the most interesting boss battles and gameplay design, where you be your own field medic and sustain yourself off of the fruits and animals available in the wilderness. The boss battles and a cast of bosses are very similar to those of Metal Gear Solid, with small changes that make them more intriguing in my opinion.
The End might be one of my favorite boss battles of any game or series, yet he’s one you can bypass completely by just setting your PlayStation’s clock ahead a few weeks. MGS 3 is just a perfect example of what good you can do for a series by going back and exploring characters that you may not have thought much of, or just felt general disdain for.
6 Prequel Games That Didn’t Disappoint
Batman: Arkham Origins
Arkham Origins is the best game in the Arkham series. There. I said it.
It undoubtedly has one of the most engaging boss battles in the series, ranging from just being absolutely iconic (Deathstroke), to downright hilarious (The Electrocutioner). Sure, the gameplay isn’t as free and loose as the Rocksteady Arkham games, but it made sense that Batman felt weightier in this game, given the bulkier suit he donned. Furthermore, the detective vision’s use expanded to being able to reconstruct crime scenes, which provided for some of the great moments of plot progression as well.
Then there’s the setting and story; I’m an absolute sucker for Batman stories set during Christmas time. Something just feels special about gliding and zipping around Gotham City while snow falls all around you. It feels even more special when you know that there are eight assassin’s scattered across it looking to take you down. That alone would’ve made it a great game, but they took it further. The reveal that the Joker was posing as Black Mask and that he put the bounty on Batman’s head to get his attention, made their first encounter with each other, seem all that more special.
6 Prequel Games That Didn’t Disappoint
Uncharted: Golden Abyss
Here’s one I bet you haven’t thought of in a long time (RIP PS Vita). If Uncharted: Golden Abyss was a PlayStation 3 game, everybody would’ve played it and look upon it fondly. Now I’m not going to go and say this game is vital for everyone that liked the Uncharted series, or that it’s the best in the series (like I have for the other games on this list). Nonetheless, through and through it is a fantastic and fun Uncharted story.
It took advantage of all the tech on the PS Vita, making it a prime example of what could be possible on the platform, and showed that people were invested in having a deep single-player experience on a hand-held platform. The developers made it fun to use the Vita’s touch controls! Touch controls! I hate touch controls. The gun-play and traversal felt like a console Uncharted game and it gave us a fun throwaway adventure set in the world of Nathan Drake and expanded upon his personal story and characterization.
Nobody had any expectations for this game as it was trapped on a handheld console that didn’t quite know what generation of PlayStation it wanted to be. Yet it still managed to be a more than a serviceable Uncharted game.
6 Prequel Games That Didn’t Disappoint
Assassin’s Creed: Origins
After the failures of Unity and Syndicate, Assassin’s Creed seemed like it might have been done for. Then the developer announced the series would take a year off to reinvent the wheel, so to speak. And it proved to pay off in dividends. Beyond just the revamped combat and shift toward RPG-like mechanics, the game’s narrative received high praise for its writing and characters. Quality storytelling just wasn’t something we’d associated with an Assassin’s Creed game for years.
Although skeptical at first, to my surprise, Ubisoft totally nailed game’s story. To give context, the last Assassin’s Creed game that got me as much as this one was Black Flag. Edward Kenway was the last really good protagonist in the series, and being a pirate was just fun. However, Bayek and the cast of characters surrounding him stole the show.
Bayek was a bit of a generic stoic protagonist at first, but as the game goes on you begin to understand the depth of the character and his dry sense of humor. In the end, it was a pleasure to spend 50+ hours in the world journeying across the desert with Bayek.
6 Prequel Games That Didn’t Disappoint
Red Dead Redemption 2
Between its stellar gunplay, dynamic world, and one of the most compelling stories in video games, Red Dead Redemption 2 has proven itself to be one of the defining experiences of this generation.
The narrative really is a triumph. After the dramatic events of the previous game, the background and context that we’re given into not only Dutch’s gang but John Marston’s own history in Red Dead Redemption 2 is what makes this prequel story so brilliant. We get a look at what made John such a sorrowful character that was in need of seeking redemption in the previous title; he comes off as foolhardy and quick to anger in this game.
The story also details what made the gang such a tight-knit crew. The leader of the gang in Red Dead Redemption 2, Dutch, was a primary antagonist in the previous game. He comes off as a very different character in this game, acting as a father figure to the gang. Having a better understanding of the events that lead to his fall from grace and the dissolution of the gang from the perspective of a new character is a special experience, even if we do know how it ends.
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