Same game, different paintjob.

[Capt. Crankypants]

Recently, my brother has spent a fair bit on games, and the one I want to concentrate on is 'Dawn of War II'. I genuinely had high(ish) hopes for Dawn of War II, and it wasn't until my brother started playing it that I began to notice things. Infantry Squad oriented combat? different coloured dots representing levels of cover? Squad suppression coming from heavy fire and explosions? This game is IDENTICAL to Company of Heroes. It's just flat out suspicious.

Now, I realise they're both done by the same people, but the original Dawn of War was its own game, and a welcome addition to the RTS genre. But I'm certain you could get the same experience from playing CoH as you could from DoWII, and frankly, for alot cheaper and with alot less hassle. (No 'Steam' for one thing, although their Relic Downloader isn't any better.)

So yes, a few games come to mind (With EA being the main culprit).
Battlefield 2142 = Battlefield 2
Napolean Total War = Empire Total War
EA Loooooooves using It's Command and Conquer Generals setup. (think C&C3, BFME2)
Sins of a solar empire comes frighteningly close to homeworld 2, but the enormous scope and planet/resource management even convinced me that it is more than worth playing. (Also, I'm not sure how many 'good' ways there are of doing RTS space combat)

SO... do we think that rebadging a game-style is fine to provide fan-based groups with a "tried and true" strategy experience, or do we want more variety and innovation in our genre? I personally am for the latter. Seeing as most of the games I have covered here are RTSs, I'm going to use the unique style of 'Supreme Commander' and 'World in Conflict' to demonstrate the fine things a little 'outside the box' thinking can create.

Post scriptum, I'd also like to hear of any other games you know that are simply repainted titles.

(This is the very first thread I've ever made, don't go me too harshly eh? Cheers)

 

[Iwata]

Well, Company of Heroes uses the game engine of Dawn of War, so is it a surprise that Dawn of War II is itself an improved version of CoH?

Also, regarding Battlefield and Total War, it seems only natural to me that games in the same series will be quite similar to each other.

 

[Go Fighting In The War Room]

Battlefield 2142 = Battlefield 2

No.
Nononononononononono.

Maybe because BF2142 is my favourite game is why I'm saying this, but you can not say that. They added Titan mode, changed all BF2 unlocks to be more futuristic, and created one of the few FPS's that will never cause me rage.

It's as if what your saying is that Red Alert 2 is considered the exact same as Red Alert.

They're sequels! What do you expect! Of course they're going to borrow from their past games in the series! They just add something new/ or more to make it diffrent from the last game!

 

[Capt. Crankypants]

Well, Company of Heroes uses the game engine of Dawn of War, so is it a surprise that Dawn of War II is itself an improved version of CoH?

Also, regarding Battlefield and Total War, it seems only natural to me that games in the same series will be quite similar to each other.

I'll say that there were mechanics in CoH that existed in DoW (Resource acquisition, squads), but it FELT like a different game.

What IS suprising to me though, is that their anticipated smash release DoW2 is not very innovative, it doesn't try anything that hasn't been used, and it was a bit of a downer. (for me *shrug*)

As for games in the same series being similar, yes and no really. A number of series' will, a number will switch their game mechanics and vibe through the sequels.

Thanks for an intelligent reply.

 

[Commissar Sae]

Yeah CoH and DoWII are really fairly close, likewise BF2 and 2142 are similar. However both have enough unique features to be fun independently of the other in my opinion. I prefer DoWII to CoH, but mostly due to the setting. Likewise I prefer BF2, but I still recognise the merits of 2142.
If the games were exactly the same except for a reskin, I would gladly join you in critisizing them, but each title is unique enough in their own right that I can enjoy them all.
Also if every single game offered a completely new playstyle things would get confusing and irritating fairly quickly.

 

[Nomanslander]

Bioshock = System Shock.

Although I did like the setting more than the original.

Modern Warfare 2 online seems to be just as much concentrated douchebaggery as the first one.

Have to ask.

Where have I seen that gif of yours?

 

[Capt. Crankypants]

Battlefield 2142 = Battlefield 2

No.
Nononononononononono.

Maybe because BF2142 is my favourite game is why I'm saying this, but you can not say that. They added Titan mode, changed all BF2 unlocks to be more futuristic, and created one of the few FPS's that will never cause me rage.

It's as if what your saying is that Red Alert 2 is considered the exact same as Red Alert.

They're sequels! What do you expect! Of course they're going to borrow from their past games in the series! They just add something new/ or more to make it diffrent from the last game!

Really? I thought 2142 was horrible, and yet I still play BF2. As for the discussion, well, think about the massive shift from 1942 to Bf2. Commanders, Squad combat promoting ACTUAL teamwork, missile tracking (heat/wire/tv guided), huge changes to the actual landscape & terrain. When I think of 2142, I see exactly the same game, with future weapons and vehicles that simply replace the Bf2 ones and dont change the balancing at all. Everything happens the exact same way. Titan mode? Yeah, it was a quirky new gamemode, but it didn't deserve it's own game title.

Oh, and Red Alert, yeah, I didn't say ALL titles were copied from their predecessors, I just singled out Bf2 and 2142 in my own opinion.

 

[SnipErlite]

Battlefield 2142 = Battlefield 2
Napolean Total War = Empire Total War

Since I'm a fan of all four games I suppose I have to try and refute that.

2142 did put in Titan mode - and that was very epic, I never found them to be the same game at all......similar, yes, but not the same.

Napoleon improved on Empire in many ways, I can't be bothered to list them all here but they definitely aren't the same either.

Well okay I haven't refuted anything but.....oh well, I'm tired.

Also.......Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow didn't seem to be very different to the first one (in fact I consider if inferior, the original and Chaos Theory rule all).

Or something.

 

[PurpleLeafRave]

Most likely:
Lost Planet 2 = Gears of War 2
Cover based shooter? Giant insect like enemies? Hell, it even has Marcus and Dom in it! If they don't look out of place, they must be ripping off GOW.

 

[Capt. Crankypants]

Battlefield 2142 = Battlefield 2
Napolean Total War = Empire Total War

Since I'm a fan of all four games I suppose I have to try and refute that.

*shrug* defending a game is fair enough, but I enjoyed them too (not really 2142, but the others) which is why I think that we *should* be critical of them, and their evolutions.

 

[Distorted Stu]

Tony Hawks... Wait!

Halo = Unreal Torny

 

[WINDOWCLEAN2]

Duke Nukem Forever.......Oh wait

 

[_Serendipity_]

I'm fairly certain that most of those games you mentioned are examples of the same developers making games of the same genre in the same engine...

So, yeah, I'm in no way surprised that they're similar. Napoleon: Total War, for example, is less of a separate game to Empire, and more of a standalone expansion.

True, a lack of innovation can be annoying, but these examples you've provided are examples of aren't games where people demanded or expected massive innovation.

 

[SnipErlite]

Battlefield 2142 = Battlefield 2
Napolean Total War = Empire Total War

Since I'm a fan of all four games I suppose I have to try and refute that.

*shrug* defending a game is fair enough, but I enjoyed them too (not really 2142, but the others) which is why I think that we *should* be critical of them, and their evolutions.

This is true. And Yeah I suppose it perhaps didn't evolve very much...but why change a popular formula? If it sells why modify it enough to alienate people, perhaps.


Oh, and I had a great many laughs playing 2142 with a couple of mates. Any game appears better if you've pissed around hilariously in it with friends....

 

[Broady Brio]

RE4 and RE5

Except RE4 was better.

 

[Capt. Crankypants]

For the record, I dont mind if you guys disagree with me, thats why I asked it as a question of what you preferred. See, I just think that using the same formula and re-using it for a different target audience is a bit cheap. But I can certainly understand the whole 'Use what works' side of the debate. As for using the same engines, well, yeah, but there are a few different games which use the same engine for a completely different game style. (RAGE, Jade, Scimitar, Source, Unreal)

 

[CheckD3]

Dante's Inferno felt like a re-painted God of War game. I know that's overused but fuck you if you want to complain. The game has you brutally killing mythological creatures based off of a type of religion that people have or used to heavily believe in and has the character do so because of their tragic flawing fucking up their lives and the lives of someone they love and they face not only demons in their past but find themselves fighting those whom they once had connections to. Plus they kill the unkillable and the controls are copy pasted the same. Plus you absorb colored souls to upgrade your weapon for new combos and your magic spells

 

[Darquenaut]

Saint's Row 2 = Red Faction: Guerrilla.

Both were made by Volition Inc. so there shouldn't be that much of a surprise there, but the game plays mostly the same way, the animation models are very much identical as well. Also, where is SR2 you'd go from district to district and reclaim territories for the Saints, in RF:G you'd be taking down enemy strongholds and reclaim sectors or whatnot. Even the world map plays out a lot alike.

And also as a bit of an off-hand question - at what point did it become acceptable if not mandatory for a lot of 1st an 3rd person shooters to give the characters regenerating health like they're freaking Wolverine? It this regard, I can easily list of at least dozen games that are aping off of each other in this regard.

 

[^=ash=^]

Fifa (the latest 1)= Every other Fifa & every other football game

i think that sums it up .. imo the oly point in getting them all is if you like numbers in chronological order