Roundtable: Game Remakes We’d Rather Not See

When working on the Roundtable for Game Remakes We Want which you can find here. Graydon pitched a reverse topic in the form of games that do not need the remake treatment. For every Resident Evil 2 or Wind Waker HD you have a game like Goldeneye or MediEvil. So, let’s get this started with the games we do NOT want to see get remade.

Allan Muir – Site Admin/Co-EiC/Seeker of SD Cards

Resident Evil 4

Resident Evil 4 is as close as we will ever get to gaming perfection. While the previous games in the series have been about fighting zombies or horror scenarios, Resident Evil 4 gave the series a fresh start with mainline evil force Umbrella having little to no involvement in the story. From Leon Kennedy’s reintroduction after the end of Resident Evil 2 in 1998 to the introduction of villains such as Saddler and Krauser, you got a sense that there were a lot of events that occurred in between the events of Resident Evil 2 and 4.

When I first played the game I knew virtually nothing about Resident Evil other than the Paul W.S. Anderson films that were released (I know, they are very bad). It wasn’t until the Two Best Friends LP of RE4 in 2014 that I REALLY started to learn about the game. From little things such as the effective strategy for the first fight in the Ganado village and taking down the chainsaw-wielding enemies, to the hand hurting moments that were the button-mashing sections when outrunning boulders and fighting the Lord of the Rings-esque “El Gigantes”.

While the new Resident Evil remakes look impressive and I will admit they are fun to play, they are easier for new players to experience, and they will have their Resident Evil memories with those games. I already have many playthroughs, experiences, and memories with Resident Evil 4. Leon Kennedy to me isn’t Nick Apostolides but rather Paul Mercier. Resident Evil 4 is an iconic game that does not need the remake treatment.

Josh Miller – The Family Man

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

So I love the Metal Gear Solid series, even though I barely understand any of it. I also know good and well that if Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty were to be remade, I would buy it on day one. However, for many reasons, I see it unnecessary outside of a graphical leap. Many of the surprises that helped make Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty as great as it was won’t be something to surprise me a second time around. Granted, they could go the Final Fantasy VII Remake route in changes, but I have my doubts that would actually happen.

For starters, I’m not sure if Hideo Kojima would be involved whether voluntary or involuntary. With him out of the picture, I don’t see another studio wanting to shake up too much of the game in an “out of left field” sort of way. Then you have the surprises such as playing as Raiden, the weird Codec issue with the Colonel, Liquid Snake taking over Revolver Ocelot, and Solidus being president of the United States. Part of what makes the Metal Gear Solid series so great is all this weird lunatic stuff, and knowing that going in, really lessens the impact even in a prettier package.

A Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty remake wouldn’t be bad. It would still be fun and look better than ever. However, imagining it right now, I don’t think it would have the same impact as Final Fantasy VII Remake. If anything, it would be on par of Shadow of the Colossus. Much prettier, but mostly the same. Considering the series we are talking about, I don’t want “mostly the same” with it. I want something new, interesting, and surprising. I want different kinds of crazy and bombastic stories to come out of it. Reliving it would still be great, but it’s not what I want. I would rather something new. So Konami, sell the property or give it back to Kojima, because I want some new Metal Gear Solid.

Graydon Webb – The Contrarian American

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

As mentioned above, this roundtable seemed like a no-brainer to me as we were working on the previous one. Coincidentally, my mind went to another Call of Duty title when thinking about remakes I don’t want to re-live. Unfortunately, when it comes to Modern Warfare 3, my reasoning isn’t because I don’t want the treasured memories to be rewritten. On the contrary, I just don’t want to revisit this game, period.

I don’t think I’ll be grinding many gears by saying Modern Warfare 3 is the weakest of the beloved Infinity Ward series. Personally, I remember it being forgettable as a whole, with no outstanding moments of hardcore action and a rather frustrating difficulty curve. Not to say it’s hard, but playing it as a young teenager with minimal FPS skills, it wasn’t exactly easy. Difficulty aside, Modern Warfare 3 just had a bland story with only one sincere, stand-out memory in my mind: a certain character’s death that left us all stunned.

Now, I know this remaster is bound to happen, seeing as we got Modern Warfare Remastered in 2016, and a new version of Modern Warfare 2 last month. While I would love to jump back into the Spec Ops mode of MW3 that kept me and my buddy entertained for many months, it’s just not worth it to me to give this game the next-gen treatment. But after just finishing MW and MW2 this week, I figured I’d pull out my copy of Modern Warfare 3 on Xbox 360 and take advantage of its backwards compatibility. I just might come out and ultimately enjoy this one – seeing as I fell in love with MW2 after years of looking down on it, but that’s another story – though my expectations are low.

I’ll update y’all with my feelings in a Call of Duty piece I’m planning on writing soon. But until then, we have a good three years before Modern Warfare 3 is almost certainly remastered, so I’m going back to bed.