Gaming’s release date calendar has many patterns or seasons if you will throughout the year. There is the obligatory lull after Christmas due in part to no one having any money to spend and also the fact we are still completely entranced by the previous silly season’s triple A titles. New quality offerings begin to appear from around March, they are either so good the release schedule reacts to them (GTA IV) or for various reasons choose not to brave the late year Christmas release frenzy. Following the perennial drought of quality arrivals during winter, momentum slowly builds until it becomes a veritable out of control tsunami come late October into November. Around the same time of the year comes an outbreak not unlike flu season, I call it Sequelitis; its potency varies from one year to the next but just like the flu it is always there. Beginning this week it promises to deliver a particularly virulent strain of epidemic proportions this year which will begin infecting gamers in a few days time and only gain strength in the weeks to follow.

Just look at the release schedule and you’ll know what I’m talking about, Australian Customs, Coastwatch, or Quarantine won’t be able to protect us from this bird flu-like infestation. Coming to our shores in the next two months on the good ship USS Sequel ready to spread its contagions like a bunch of US sailors with gonorrhoea is Fable II, Far Cry 2, Midnight Club: Los Angeles, Fallout 3, Gears of War 2, Call of Duty: World at War, Red Alert 3, Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts and Resistance 2. That’s not even counting the mandatory sports or racing iterations we have come to expect on a yearly basis. While for the most part gamers are rejoicing at this stack of heavyweight franchise instalments, maybe we should really be seeking a prescription for antibiotics.

When is it too much of a good thing in regards to new chapters from the same universe or franchise? There are many movie industry parallels which the gaming industry could learn from. How many movie sequels actually better the original? Aliens, Terminator 2, The Empire Strikes Back, Lethal Weapon 2, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and The Bourne Identity are all examples of follow ups that either went close to equalling or did indeed surpass the original story. Not surprisingly these all spawned further instalments and while some were still excellent films I’m sure most would agree the pinnacle of each series is located during the one of the first two iterations. Ever since the Matrix sequels, ‘trilogy’ has become a dirty word for me; usually the Number 3 in a movie title is synonymous with jumping the shark. The exception here is Lord of the Rings, but it doesn’t count because it really is just one super long-arse movie cut into three. Driven by the need to stay fresh and evolve these so called franchises lose what was so compelling or dare I say it original when they first burst onto the scene.

Recent gaming sequels have fallen to a similar fate; two in particular spring to mind. Metal Gear Solid 4 had so many loose story threads requiring closure that an inordinate amount of cut scenes was required to appease the series’ loyal fans. Halo 3 while universally loved as a multiplayer tour de force was forced to carry some major baggage on the singleplayer front. The much derided Arbiter story path which began in Halo 2 had to be continued in the third instalment for continuity’s sake but never really offered anything new and felt tacked on. Personally playing as just the Chief with some UNSC characters thrown in for co-op or introducing some new human characters to the story would have been much more rewarding.

Games do have advantages over films that give them slightly longer legs however, constantly increasing technology allows for sequels that are really nothing more than enhancements with a new coat of paint but which the masses lap up and ask for more. Many developers seem afraid of alienating their existing fan base by deviating too far from what has already been hugely successful; it is a very fine line to tread between staying loyal to the original and becoming just more of the same. Call of Duty: World at War appears as though it may fall victim to this quandary, let’s face it singleplayer for COD4 was excellent but it was the revolutionary multiplayer that made it an instant classic. After sampling the beta WAW appears to be staying so true to the benchmark set by its predecessor (albeit with clumsier weapons) that while there is no question it is of high quality, it is doubtful there will be the longevity enjoyed by Infinity Ward’s monster hit. Riding on the back of COD4, Treyarch’s follow up will certainly sell a lot of units which I fear decision makers will point to as a reason to continue drinking from that well. The reality is it will owe just as much to Modern Warfare’s innovation as to its own trappings and any more COD instalments set in the 1940’s would be much less popular next time.

Changing the style or presentation of a series and resetting the story like the films Batman Begins and Casino Royale is a tactic games can also employ by changing the perspective or genre. Developer Bethesda despite being new to the long dormant Fallout series hopes to deliver an equally good reimagining. The only things Fallout 3 will have in common with last decade’s turned based top down RPG’s will be Dogmeat, a post apocalyptic setting and bucketloads of gore when their much anticipated real time first person/third person epic arrives shortly.

When is a sequel not a sequel? When it’s Far Cry 2. Ubisoft’s open world FPS follow up is a sequel by name only. The only thing it has in common with its PC predecessor is an FPS set in an out of the way hostile environment; hence the name Far Cry. There is a new development team at the helm who have ditched the story, location and even the main character from the first. The anticipation for this release has probably suffered as potential consumers for this title are probably more familiar with a proliferation of second rate console ports than the critically acclaimed PC original. The reasoning behind sequels is to cash in on the popularity of a franchise yet in this instance it appears to be suffering as a result. You gotta love irony.

Which brings us to the year’s biggest sequel, Gears of War 2. The original smash hit of 2006 wowed all and sundry with gorgeous eye candy and a fresh take on third person shooter mechanics and cover the likes of which were previously unseen on consoles. Epic Games teased 360 and later PC gamers with only a shell of a story but delivered on a rich new universe and memorable over the top characters which left you screaming for more. For the sequel gameplay seems to be purely enhanced and expanded rather than revolutionised with a more robust multiplayer suite which will appeal to the hardcore and casual gamer alike. Where it will really deliver and rightly so is on the story, universe expansion and character development fronts. With the incredibly dramatic ‘Rendezvous’ trailer and now ‘The Last Day’ one gets the feeling there is tragedy in store for some of Delta Squad this time around and it could turn out to be the series’ equivalent of The Empire Strikes Back. With the sequel seemingly ramped up to 11 out of 10 in scale it is hard to see how the inevitable third instalment can do anything besides complete the story arc much like Return of the Jedi.

There is no question gaming needs sequels, they are the pillars of the great temple where gamers worship and give thanks. Sequels deliver cargo ships full of cash that allow developers and publishers to take risks with new IP’s; it seems like a no brainer now but before the release of Gears of War third person shooters were a poor cousin to the FPS crowd, today they stand side by side. I would just like to see the decision makers start saying enough well and truly before that horse they are flogging has begun decomposing. Think about it, how many fresh new IP’s like Gears, Mass Effect and Mirror’s Edge have we been deprived of due to developers having to churn out sequel after sequel? Activision has already confirmed Infinity Ward will release Call of Duty 6 next year, but rather than another Modern Warfare instalment I pray (as a minority I am sure) they are making the rumoured futuristic shooter which was reported earlier this year. If anyone can pull off a gritty intense futuristic take on Call of Duty it’s those guys.

This will never happen but if it were up to me sequels would finish at the second instalment. You make a great game then bring out a follow up that tops the first in every way. What else is there after that? For the sake of compromise and mountains of moolah let’s extend it to three and then move on. Hey, I can dream can’t I?