Five Gaming Franchises That Should Live Again

The folks over at Continue Play have rounded up a list of five video game franchises that they’d like to see further installments to, and as it turns out three of them are familiar to role-playing game enthusiasts. I certainly wouldn’t argue for about another System Shock, Jade Empire, or properly-done Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic:

Forget Bioshock; System Shock 2 was the highpoint of Ken Levine’s career. An epic sci-fi horror RPG, players explored the derelict spaceship Von Braun. While it looks dated now, it remains extremely atmospheric and playable. Filled to the brim with scares, tension and an incredible script, System Shock 2 is quite possibly one of the best games ever made. It also has an iconic gaming villain in Shodan. While she doesn’t reveal herself until late into the game’s story, she does so with pure malice, ensuring that you’ll never forget her.

(Look at you, hacker: a pathetic creature of meat and bone, panting and sweating as you run through my corridors. How can you challenge a perfect, immortal machine?)

Ken Levine went on to create Bioshock. As good as that series is, it gutted much of the depth that System Shock was known for. How can he rectify that? Simple: He can give us System Shock 3. Go on, Ken you know you want to.