Reboots are very important in bringing past series into the future so that they could match today’s standards. As developing a game is getting more and more expensive, companies are coming back to old stories, as remaking them would give a degree of assurance, as the title should already have an established fanbase and the element of nostalgia playing in their favor. In this list, we would bring out some of the best remakes in this decade.
10 – Mortal Kombat 9
The ninth entry in the Mortal Kombat series was a reboot for the series so that it could transition better to the next-gen consoles, along with fixing everything that was caused by the Armageddon timeline. The game was made by NetherRealm Studio, which contains the original Midway members who made the previous games.
Mk9 was released just a few months after Mortal Kombat vs DC and used the same engine, however, it was way more brutal. All the actions that you make in the game have way more impact, with various brutal finishers that were never seen before in the series. The full roster of the game contains 32 characters, only half of its prequel’s 64. The remake’s timeline continues to this day, with Mortal Kombat 11 being the most recent entry.
9 – Wolfenstein: The New Order
The remake of the infamous Wolfenstein Franchise, which was all the craze back in the 80s and 90s. This game is more or less a first-person shooter with action and adventure elements, with inspiration from previous entries. The game is focused on Blazkowicz’s story – the campaign is divided into chapters that you have to beat to progress. Various hidden details would affect the routes that the story would branch as well.
Gameplay-wise, there are a lot of weapon types in The New Order, and most of them can be dual-wielded. The levels are very well designed, with stealth, shooting and storytelling elements weaved into each other. The game was definitely the heir of the originals – it is amongst the most polished FPS in this generation.
8 – Hitman 2016
The previous entry in the series, Hitman: Absolution, received quite a beating back in 2012, as it is the first game that abandoned the sandbox level designs for something that’s more story and action-oriented. After a few years on the drawing board, IO Interactive revealed a reboot to the franchise with 2016 Hitman.
The series ditched the previous format for an episodic Map-centric one that’s focused entirely on level designs. Each episode would be a massive map that contains various routes, objects, challenge and tasks which results in an endless amount of replayability.
7 – Tomb Raider 2013
The whole Tomb Raider series get a remake in 2013 for all systems. This is somewhat a prequel, as the remake version of Lara is younger and just starting out on her first adventure comparing to the previous version, who’s already a badass even before the first Tomb Raider game.
Gameplay-wise, it is an excellent reboot that combines elements of various similar series like Tomb Raider and Uncharted, along with a dash of survival horror. Quick Time Events are pretty overused in this game, however. 2013 is widely regarded as the best game amongst the reboot entries.
6 – Assassin’s Creed: Origins
After years upon years of releasing Assassin’s Creed games, fans were getting rather fed up to the usual Assassin’s Creed formula. Because of that, Ubisoft decided to take a two-year break from any new AC games, ditching the yearly release model. And Origins was the fruit after those two years.
Besides a completely new story arc and protagonist, Origins also take the series back even before the original game, to the world of Ancient Egypt. The open-world designs and combat were also revised, with elements taken from more successful series such as Witcher and Dark Souls.
5 – Divinity: Original Sin
Released on PC back in 2014, Divinity: Original Sin was a reboot to the CRPG series Divinity, aiming to bring the classic style of RPGs into the modern era of gaming. The game was funded partially by a Kickstarter, with a promise for the Classic RPG mechanics right from the start.
The title is completely different from the previous entries, with far more freedom enabled to the players. Story-wise, it is a prequel that was set several hundreds of years before Divine Divinity, the first game in the series. This is a creative decision, as they can just go wild with the story without any care – and players who are new to Divinity can just join in without having to play the previous games. The sequel, Original Sin 2 expanded on the first game's mechanics and is widely considered to be one of the best games in this decade.
4 – Doom 2016
The remake of the infamous Doom series was released in 2016 for all systems. The game partially rebooted the franchise and took it back to the original fast-paced action instead of the survival jump scares horror of Doom 3.
The amazing pace of the game is probably the one that was praised the most, as it is a refreshing break to the current slow formula in modern shooters like Call of Duty or Battlefield. While the game is filled with combat from the beginning to end, due to the amazing level designs, there is still a lot of exploration and experimentation.
3 – Resident Evil 2 Remake
Resident Evil 2 was the first real remake, comparing to the other version of Resident Evil 1 which is only a remaster. RE 2 is more or less GOTY of 2019, with the original Resident Evil 2 experience completely replicated and brought up to 2019 standards.
The biggest improvement is probably the camera, as you can actually move around and aim now, instead of the original is bad angles on everything. The gameplay is more challenging, with various twists to both the opponents and the puzzles that you have to solve – even the people who have solved the game originally would have to do it all over again.
2 – XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Developed by Firaxis and released back in 2012, XCOM: EU was the reimagining of the original Xcom: UFO Defense. A perfect blend of turn-based combat and base management, Enemy Unknown is pretty much a breath of fresh air in an era where every developer was trying to make their games more action-oriented.
The sequel, XCOM 2, is even more popular than this, as it took every positive thing from Enemy Unknown and expanded them. The best part is that both XCOM games work perfectly on consoles.
1 – Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Released back in 2011, Deus Ex Human Revolution is a reboot of the legendary Deus Ex franchise, with a new main character and a prequel based storyline. Thematically, the game was more cyberpunk than the original Deus Ex, as it is set in the near future, with mechanic augments instead of nanobots.
Gameplay-wise, Human Revolution gives players a massive number of approaches that they could use in every mission and conversation. You can either go gun blazing or stealthy or even talk your way through. Human Revolution was continued with a sequel called Mankind Divided.
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