Feature: The 49 Best Sequel-Less Games Subscribe to this RSS feed

Games 10 to 6!

10- Freelancer (PC)

As a freelance pilot, the player takes on what should be a simple escort mission in return for a second-hand ship and minimal cash, but things quickly escalate out of control. Yet the plot, while intricate and entertaining, isn't what brought people to Freelancer, let alone kept them playing for hours on end. This space simulation offers the massive, free-form universe that so many space simulation enthusiasts craved, while still walking that delicate tightrope between arcade action and simulation specifics.

Finishing the plot of Freelancer leaves players far from having explored the game's universe. The plot missions are some of the game's high points, but only cover a fraction of the universe and still allow plenty of room for everything from mining to privateering, all at your wispiest whim. If that game had critics, it was the hardcore crowd that feared games would favor mouse and keyboard play over the traditional joystick interface.

Will Freelancer receive a sequel? Unknown. Freelancer itself is sort of a sequel to Starlancer, but not quite. Those of you eager for more of Freelancer should explore the mod community. The available mods and conversions could keep you playing for months. Besides, there are plenty of games that offer free-form exploration, trade and combat in a large universe, such as the X franchise and Dark Star One.

9- Ico (PS2)

A youth unfortunate enough to have been born with horns is locked inside a mysterious castle as a sacrifice, to spare the land from a foul curse. Despite the dismal circumstances, his gymnastic talents and quick wit allow him to escape his sacrificial tomb and cast his lot alongside a mysterious girl plagued by shadowy creatures. Through visually stunning platforming puzzles and occasional swordplay, the boy and girl save themselves from a horrible fate at the hands of a wraith queen.

Ico is a case study in minimalist elegance. Aside from the glorious gameplay, so much is communicated by the horned boy and doomed princess from their simple handholding and heartbreaking cooperation. Losing the girl to shadows is tragic, beyond just requiring the player to restart that level.

Another critical success and sales failure, Ico wasn't awarded a formal sequel. But Shadow of the Colossus is set in the same world's past. So look to it as Ico's spiritual successor.

8- Skies of Arcadia (DC, GC)

The pirates and floating continents of Skies of Arcadia didn't get enough attention on the Dreamcast, so a Legends version of the game was released on the GameCube that exchanged the console role-playing game's booze and smokes for a goth chick who hunts air pirates.

In both versions Vyse (a cutlass-wielding teen) and Aika (an easily angered boomerang jockey) are joined by a series of friends as they navigate a typically cryptic console role-playing game plot that has them using crystals to control creatures of colossal power and a complicated battle system to fight their way through the world to save it.

Will we get the chance to save the Valuan Empire again? Even the PlayStation 2 port was cancelled, so it seems unlikely. A shame, since the free-spirited really-high-seas adventure was unique and enjoyable amidst the glut of neo-futuristic, downright depressing RPGs of the era.

7- Rez (PS2, DC)

Rez is a rail shooter set inside a world computer network, uniquely combining elements of rhythm games and action-rich shooters to create the ultimate in visually and musically hypnotic play. All computers on the planet have been networked, but that network is being corrupted by the very program designed to save it. As a hacker with the trippiest interface ever conceived, the player has to clean up the network and reboot the critical program.

Despite the cyberpunk theme, Rez isn't about plot. It's entirely about experiencing the unification of rhythm, tone and visuals, and controlling all of them with a trance-like state and a DualShock controller. Playing Rez is the closest you'll ever get to hearing "orange," short of a neurological breakdown.

Rez received countless awards but was strange enough to have trouble capturing mainstream attention. Rumors abound of a sequel for the newest consoles, but the proof is in the pudding. The hallucinogenic, musical, visually intense pudding.

6- Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)

To save his lost and lifeless love, a young man must scour the world for creatures like moving mountains and plunge his sword into their mystically vulnerable spots. Doing so releases the trapped essence of an entity said to be able to raise the dead.

Flawlessly integrating platforming-like action and puzzle solving, Shadow of the Colossus abandons the often claustrophobic climbing and jumping puzzles of other games into a series of genuinely epic encounters with powerful constructs of magic and stone. Shadow of the Colossus even makes a game out of finding the creatures, as the young man is aided only by a reflective sword and a loyal (and spectacularly animated) horse.

More colossi would detract from the game's magic, but since Shadow of the Colossus is set in Ico's world (before the events of Ico), Ico is as much of a sequel as you could need.