With Ubisoft unveiling their plans for the future with a multitude of Assassin’s Creed games, players are excited, but many are just as quick to point out that Ubisoft seems over-reliant on franchises such as AC and Far Cry.
Outside of these heavy hitters, there are older Ubisoft titles begging to be AAA franchises. Some were singular titles that never got expanded upon with future games while others were part of a franchise but for whatever reason, Ubisoft gave up on them. Now that Ubisoft is one of the biggest gaming companies in the world with seemingly endless development studios all over the world, they could bring back a lot of their own forgotten gems.
Haze (2008)
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This was meant to be Ubisoft’s answer, exclusive to the PS3, to the popular first-person shooter multiplayer games that flooded the market at the time such as Call Of Duty. At one point, Ubisoft even labeled Haze as the Halo killer, but it sadly was buried by its own competition. It was labeled as an average shooter by most players and critics, but far from bad.
Ubisoft has already shown, both before and after Haze, that they can deliver a solid shooter with Far Cry games being the best example. With the right changes and polishes, a reboot of Haze could easily turn it into the company’s next big franchise.
Call Of Juarez (2006 – 2013)
Despite a few off-putting entries, Call Of Juarez was a strong series of action games with Call Of Juarez: Gunslinger often considered to be one of the strongest games set in the Old West. Its linear arcade-like gameplay was stylish, vibrant, and fun but that was released in 2013 and other than a port to the Nintendo Switch, the franchise has remained dormant.
With Rockstar shifting focus to Grand Theft Auto VIafter Red Dead Redemption II, now would be the perfect time for Ubisoft to brush the dust off Call Of Juarez for the current generation of gaming. Action-based Westerns are still proving to be eye-catchers with games such as Desperados III, Evil West, and Hard West 2 on gamers’ radars.
Red Steel (2006 – 2010)
Similar to Call Of Juarez, Red Steel and Red Steel II embraced an arcade game structure and utilized the motion controls of the Nintendo Wii to deliver on that style. Red Steel could easily be brought back with a style more akin to Call Of Juarez: Gunslinger or it could take advantage of the VR systems available today to expand upon the same ideas as before.
While the first game was received with mixed reviews, the sequel was praised for its zany and action-packed style and was considered superior in nearly way. Sadly, Red Steel II did not sell nearly as well as Ubisoft hoped for, but a potential sequel could be a surprise success if unveiled.
Starlink: Battle For Atlas (2018)
In a time when toys-to-life games such as Disney Infinity and LEGO Dimensions were popular, Starlink: Battle For Atlas was one of the last to do it. Unfortunately, the fad was short-lived and Starlink showcased its potential with a unique starfighter game that created its own unique universe, featured dynamic combat, and even had great toys-to-life mechanics.
Sadly, Starlink and its toys did not sell as well as hoped, and it has since become a cult gem. If the toys-to-life aspect was removed and a Starlink sequel or reboot improved on what they already excelled at, the series could easily continue to become the spiritual successor franchise of Star Fox which it even crossed over with.
Peter Jackson’s King Kong (2005)
The unfortunate truth is that the rights to Peter Jackson’s King Kong may not allow it to get a remaster. The rights to the character are now with Warner Bros. Pictures, but that doesn’t stop King Kong from being one of the most well-executed movie-based games. From playing as Adrien Brody’s Jack Driscoll traversing Skull Island to storming through the streets of early 20th century New York City as Kong, Ubisoft nailed it.
Unfortunately, Peter Jackson’s King Kong can only be played on Xbox with the backward compatibility. There isn’t even a port to Steam or UbiSoft Connect, making it difficult to replay without breaking out an old console. It may never get a remaster or remake, but it does at least deserve a way for gamers to experience it over 15 years later.
Cold Fear (2005)
There is simply no denying that Cold Fear was a clone of Resident Evil with its open-ended map with puzzles and even the way the camera is designed. With that said, Ubisoft still crafted a strong survival horror game which is a genre that they don’t dip their toes into that much.
It has a well-executed concept of being stuck at sea on a ship filled with zombies and monsters. Unlike the Resident Evil games, these zombies are fast and wield weapons straight out of Zack Snyder’s Dawn Of The Dead. If Resident Evil and Dead Space games can get remakes, there is no reason why Cold Fear can’t get the same treatment.
Tom Clancy’s EndWar (2009)
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From Ghost Recon to The Division to Rainbow Six, the multitude of Tom Clancy games have been a staple of UbiSoft games for years and still are. That’s why it’s surprising that UbiSoft has not chosen to bring back Tom Clancy’s EndWar in an attempt to make money from the still-strong market for real-time strategy games such as Age Of Empires or StarCraft.
The current Tom Clancy games effectively rebooted themselves for the modern times, so EndWar could probably get away with a new interpretation of World War III. Technology has advanced so much that there could be so many potential vehicles and weapons to use and it’s likely to be a popular revival for fans of the series.
Star Wars: Lethal Alliance (2006)
In the line-up of upcoming Star Wars game titles, Ubisoft is confirmed to be developing a new open-world Star Wars and that means that there’s potential to also bring back Star Wars: Lethal Alliance. The reason for Lethal Alliance being forgotten was that it was exclusively for the overlooked PSP and the Nintendo DS.
As a game, it proved to be a solid mix of Star Wars: Bounty Hunter and Shadows Of The Empire mixing melee and shooter combat. With bounty hunters and scoundrels being more represented in Star Wars, Lethal Alliance being rebooted for the main canon on main consoles and PC would likely get fans excited.
Will Rock (2003)
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With Twisted Sister’s I Wanna Rock as its main theme, Will Rock is a rather underrated first-person shooter that mixed wild and gory shooter combat à la Doom or Wolfenstein with the dark and twisted Greek mythology akin to the God Of War franchise. It’s bizarre, it’s cheesy, and goes in straight-up ridiculous directions, but it is a blast to play through.
Unfortunately, similar to King Kong, there is little to no way of playing it without finding a working copy of the game for PC which is rare to find. Ubisoft has such a hidden gem on their hands that could be remastered, remade, or simply ported to modern systems for more players to experience.
Rayman (1995 – 2013)
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There was a time when Rayman was the next big 3D platformer franchise with sequels on multiple generations of consoles. It was even rebooted with Rayman Origins and Rayman Legends in the 2010s, but sadly, Ubisoft seemed to forget about this franchise. The spin-off known as Rabbids ended up getting its own franchise and crossover with Mario via Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle.
As for Rayman himself, he was left in the dust, other than a couple of average mobile games. Rayman is confirmed to be making an appearance in Mario + Rabbids: Sparks Of Hope, but if revived in his own game, he has the potential to be one of the best modern 3D platformers. Perhaps the partnership with Nintendo will lead to a full-on Mario/Rayman crossover or a reboot of some kind because Rayman games were strong and praised by players and critics alike.
Zombi (2012)
First released as a hidden gem on the Nintendo Wii U, ZombiU gained a following for embracing survival horror during a time when zombie games were mostly action games. The difficult puzzles and gameplay mixed with the unique concept of each death being permanent forcing the player to kill their old body that is now a zombie made it a thrilling horror game.
Despite the praise and getting ports to PC, Xbox, and PlayStation systems, Zombi never got a sequel and with other survival games such as Dead Island and Dying Light getting sequels, it’s surprising that Ubisoft hasn’t capitalized on their own zombie goldmine since it has a lot of potential on current generation systems.
