What constitutes a sequel?

[SovietSecrets]

So me and my friend had a small argument about how the new CoD Black Ops is or is not a sequel. I say it isn't because the game has nothing before it while my friend says because its the same game still, its a sequel. So what makes a sequel, a sequel?

 

[Saxm13]

A game that is the same as the first with major improvements.

Criticizing a sequel for being the same as the original is the stupidest comment a critic can make, I think.

 

[aPod]

the Number after the title.

Or for those craftier publishers a colon with something like retribution after it.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

In the traditional sense, a sequel is a piece of media who's narrative takes place after the events of another entry in the series. This does not actually indicate the precise order of production or release - Angel's and Demons by Dan Brown was released after the DaVinci Code yet took place before.

In games, a sequel is generally seen as a game that progresses the narrative and or the mechanics seen in a previous title. Given how regularly games in particular jump about in timelines and story threads, this is probably the better definition. Really, the problem is the word sequel was coined to express the idea of the first point and it simply does not work when applied to an intellictual property in general.

 

[Hurr Durr Derp]

This does not actually indicate the precise order of production or release - Angels and Demons by Dan Brown was released after the DaVinci Code yet took place before.

That's usually called a prequel these days.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

This does not actually indicate the precise order of production or release - Angels and Demons by Dan Brown was released after the DaVinci Code yet took place before.

That's usually called a prequel these days.

Yes. That was, in fact, what I was attempting to imply. Being a sequel is not based upon the date of release but rather the place of the individual entrie's place in the timeline of the narrative as a whole. I suppose I should have added that little tidbit to avoid confusion.

 

[Thoric485]

A game that develops the gameplay mechanics and art style of the previous one.

 

[Danallighieri]

I generally think a sequel is something that leads on from the previous storyline of the last one, perhaps not straight afterwards but still

 

[REPLAY13]

a sequel is the next part in a sequence of media.

 

[iFail69]

a GOOD extension of the original story

wait, that would make a GOOD sequel, so I guess a sequel just requires an extension fo the original story

 

[Silver Patriot]

I guess that depends. Really were the previous Call of Dutys "sequals." the only retold the same events from a different perspective. If it's all in the same universe then Black Ops would be a sequal from the CoD timeline point of view and a prequal to MW but not as a continuation of WWII. Unless you want to say that every event shapes the future. (which is true) Then you could say it is a continuation of WWII.

So yes it is, kinda.

 

[ItsAPaul]

I have a broad definition since I consider Bioshock to be System Shock 2 Lite, but basically something that directly builds on the mechanics of a previously released title.

 

[ReckzB]

In terms of story-based multimedia, whether it be books, television shows, movies, video games - or if you want to go there, certain music videos... - I'd say there'd have to be a reason within the story for it to be continued.

But that's just one of many interpretations.

Can we consider Vice City and San Andreas to be prequels to Grand Theft Auto III? They feature (mostly) different characters, situations, and locations, after all. The only real connection is a few common characters and references. Same can be said of GTA IV and its Episodes.

I'd consider a game a sequel if it continues an existing plot, with similar mechanics to a predecessor, with improvements (or at least changes) made.

 

[Ganthrinor]

Generally speaking, a game, movie, book or what-have-you with one or more of the same characters, plot elements or world setting of a previous game, movie, book or what-have-you by the same studio/writer/dev team can considered to be a sequel or at the very least a "spiritual successor".

For long-running franchises like Call of Duty or Medal of Honor, it is a legitimate argument to call each new game under the CoD or MoH tag a sequel even if the characters have changed since the over-all plot and game mechanics are all the same: Shoot everyone dead. The developers are still looking for newer and shinier ways to keep you on the same conceptual treadmill.

 

[LooK iTz Jinjo]

The same way COD: WaW is not a sequel to COD4, the same way that the only Final Fantasy sequel is X-2, COD: Black Ops is NOT a sequel to anything. A sequel implies a continuation of story - the story of a character, a land etc - whether it be set 10 minutes, 12 months or 1000 years into the future if it continues the story set in the prequel (same characters or not) it is a sequel. Mass Effect 2 is a sequel, Gears of War 2, Uncharted 2, Half-Life 2 all sequels.
Final Fantasy XIII, Call of Duty: World at War, FarCry 2; all of these are not sequels.

 

[SonicWaffle]

In terms of story-based multimedia, whether it be books, television shows, movies, video games - or if you want to go there, certain music videos... - I'd say there'd have to be a reason within the story for it to be continued.

But that's just one of many interpretations.

Can we consider Vice City and San Andreas to be prequels to Grand Theft Auto III? They feature (mostly) different characters, situations, and locations, after all. The only real connection is a few common characters and references. Same can be said of GTA IV and its Episodes.

I'd consider a game a sequel if it continues an existing plot, with similar mechanics to a predecessor, with improvements (or at least changes) made.

With regards to GTA, I'd say that instead of being sequels, they were simply set in the same fictional universe. In much the same way that Deep Space Nine wasn't a sequel to The Next Generation, despite some character crossovers. A sequel is the continuation of a storyline (to my mind) whereas other media set in the same 'verse need only import the setting while doing a totally different story.

As for the Black Ops game, I'd say it isn't a sequel or a prequel, unless the narrative ties into Modern Warfare somehow. That said, I never bothered to play the CoD franchise after Modern Warfare came out, so I don't even really know what the story is.

 

[V8 Ninja]

I'd think that any kind of sequel has to have something similar to the previous thing that came before it in order to be called a sequel.

 

[YouBecame]

Something that directly furthers the first game in terms of story or character. Also, specifically, set after the events of the original. Anything set before is a Prequel.

 

[Alfador_VII]

In story terms a sequel is technically one that takes place after the original in the same universe, normally with at least some of the same characters, and of course a prequel is one published later, that takes place before the original.

Angels and Demons is a very interesting example. The book came out before the Da Vinci Code, which incidentally was the first sequel Dan Brown wrote, after several unconnected books. The 2nd book was filmed first, and confusingly when they came to film Angels and Demons, they changed it to take place AFTER Code, so the Angels and Demons movie is a sequel to the Da Vinci Code movie, whereas the books were the other way round.

I wish I knew what to call side-stories that take place alongside the events of a previous game, like the GTA IV Episodes, or Half Life Opposing Force, and Blue Shift.

 

[jacobgr43]

a sequal should contine on with elements from its predecesor but not really heavily on them it should be willing to make changes a good example would be silent hill 1 - silent hill 2