In 2018, Cory Barlog brought God of War fans something unexpected. He gave them a game that was God of War, but with a whole new perspective. It had a very different story and a whole new motivation for Kratos to kill gods. He still killed gods, but to protect his son, not as a God who resorted to violence for just about anything. The Norse mythology games gave us an older, wiser Kratos. And that’s just for starters. Remember the Greek mythology games? Those were the definition of hack and slash. But if one were to approach combat the same way in God of War 2018 or Ragnarok, well, it wouldn’t end well, would it? Cory Barlog changed the game, so to speak.

There are many franchises out there that could use a similar treatment. A bit of a change in their perspective and the addition and subtraction of some gameplay mechanics. If developers and publishers played ball, the following games would be something else altogether!

Gears of War

Yes, it’s a weird thing that these two franchises have such a similar name. But Gears of War games have been like this for a very long time. The first game in the series launched in 2006. And ever since, these games have remained corridor shooters. Shooters with very sticky cover-to-cover mechanics that have somehow remained the same after all these years.

Even the change of developer did not do much for this game. Maybe Microsoft could decide to give this game a spin; make it a fully open world. Or give it a bunch of role-playing mechanics. This game would do wonders in the hands of a developer like Obsidian. Even Obsidian needs some change from the bunch of role-playing games they have been making over the years. Not that those RPGs are bad; it’s just that they seem like the perfect contender to transform Gears of War.

Halo

Another Microsoft IP that has remained the same over the years. Further, so many that better shooters than these games are being made. It’s even older than Gears of War. The first game, Halo: Combat Evolved, launched back in 2001. If made correctly, these games are truly well-done shooters. These shooters are fun to play, with a decent enough story and a lore that has many people invested. But this series has failed to attract newcomers over the years.

It could be made better, though. And now that Microsoft has Bethesda and Zenimax under its leadership, they can task either ID Software or MachineGames to create a new Halo game. Both developers have previously made games much better. ID Software did it for Doom, and everyone knows how brilliant Doom 2016 was. On the other hand, MachineGames did something similar with Wolfenstein: New Order.

Halo games need some added brutality; these games need a punch. Add some gore to them and loosen the narrative edge. Cortana has died and come back.

It seems developer 343 Industries is out of ideas. Halo Infinite only got some engagement very recently. However, before that, for almost two years, no one was playing it.

Call of Duty

Why would a company go ahead and just change its most successful game? They can at least do this for their standalone version. Call of Duty Single player has been declining over the years. These games have reduced from 10–12-hour action-filled engaging stories to 2–3-hour-long snorefests. Activision can do better; they have done it before.

Call of Duty: Black Ops was one of the best stories in gaming at one point. And the shock value of the original Modern Warfare 1 and 2 was such that, to this day, Infinity Ward is unsuccessfully trying to recreate that magic.

The problem is that such magic cannot be recreated by just desire. They need a different perspective. Currently, Infinity Ward has too much on their plate. They are working on Warzone 2.0, and they are working on their Modern Warfare franchise. Activision should simply hand over the single-player games to the likes of Sledgehammer or Raven Software. Both of them have proven that they are capable of creating very engaging first-person experiences. Sledgehammer did that with Advanced Warfare, while Raven did the same with 2009’s Wolfenstein.

Sledgehammer once even had an idea for a third-person Call of Duty game showing the real horrors of war in Vietnam. Let them do that; it would be a nice experiment. And let Infinity Ward churn out the same old multiplayer for fans of online gaming.

This can reignite people’s interest in this franchise like never before. These games are currently bought mainly for multiplayer. However, later, even single player modes could be a driving force in sales.

Far Cry

Ubisoft has a problem. A problem that they themselves explained in one of their games called Far Cry 3. “Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” They have been releasing almost the same Far Cry game with a few minimalistic changes, and they have been expecting things to change somehow. It’s not that these games have not improved at all; it’s just that these titles, at their core, have been the same for around ten years. Ever since Far Cry 3 launched, these games have become less about a dreadful journey through a deadly land and more about charismatic villains and fancy locales.

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Ubisoft needs to take these games back to the Far Cry 2 era. The era of simplicity may have been set during the Vietnam War, when players had to explore those deadly jungles in order to save their pals. Or just turn it post-apocalyptic, but without any weird futuristic technology. Something like Fallout games do—a retro-futuristic world.

Wherever they decide to take this series, it will be much better than where it is today. Stuck in that loop of dictators trying to act all charismatic but never really reaching the excellence of Vaas.

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