What's old is new again, as the video game industry has been making good use of the strong nostalgia for beloved classics from years gone by, with recent updates such as the Final Fantasy 7 Remake receiving huge critical acclaim. Activision, in particular, has been capitalizing on the recent trend, searching through its vast backlog for familiar favorites to breathe new life into in the modern era.
These remakes have been a smash success and even helped completely revive interest in what were once forgotten franchises, with the stunning Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy paving the way for a proper new mainline installment in Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time. Even with this considerable success, the company is not set to rest on its laurels just yet, with Activision confirming that even more remasters are due in 2021.
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What each of these mystery remasters end up being is still yet to be confirmed, but based on what Activision has already remade and taking a moment to look back at the biggest hits under its belt, there are plenty of options for what could be on the horizon. Regardless of what ends up receiving a new coat of paint, gamers that are fans of all genres should have a reason to be excited.
As mentioned earlier, the Crash Bandicoot series is on a roll after great remakes like Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled leading up to the critically acclaimed Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time. Although an exciting time for fans of the PlayStation classics, one notable standout seemed to have been completely skipped over when it came time to receive the remake treatment. The fan favorite multiplayer party game Crash Bash has yet to be brought back into the spotlight with graphical improvements and gameplay tweaks.
Serving as a response to Nintendo's popular Mario Party franchise, Crash Bash followed the same basic formula but naturally with the expected charm and humor found in the Crash Bandicoot games instead. The game's overall design and stage layout is not terribly complicated, and with many of the assets and character models already updated for previous remakes, much of the groundwork is already finished for a potential Crash Bash comeback.
After the disastrous launch of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 back in 2015, the series was forced to take a hiatus from the gaming landscape and return to the drawing board. As with many remasters, the Tony Hawk Pro Skater franchise made the wise decision to renew interest and trust in fans by travelling back in time to re-deliver the experience that started it all with a shiny new remake of not just the first, but second game as well all in one package.
Longtime fans of the skateboarding simulators will know that Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 + 2 was only half the original catalogue, with the following two games in the Pro Skater series being left out from this recent remaster. Perhaps it would have been too ambitious an endeavor to remake all four games at once, so the choice could have been made to split them into two parts to pace out the release schedule. Especially considering that the Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 + 2 remake was a nostalgia fueled success, Activision must know that fans are clamoring for more, with an announcement seeming like a definite possibility as time goes on.
Activision merged with World of Warcraft developer Blizzard Entertainment back in 2008, combining resources to become a colossal powerhouse in the gaming world. In early 2020, an attempt was made to bring back a classic PC game with Warcraft 3: Reforged, but the update was met with a dismal response from fans and critics alike. Even after a negative response to one revisit of an older title, it does not mean that Blizzard and Activision are calling it quits, with rampant rumors that a Diablo 2 is next up for a full blown remake.
To this day, Diablo 2 is often cited as the strongest game in the series and single handedly maintains the love for the franchise, even after past disappointments with Diablo 3's troubled launch and the controversial Diablo Immortal reveal. Desire for a Diablo 2 remaster is so high that, in recent years, one ambitious fan gained a lot of attention upon setting out to remaster Diablo 2 in a crisp 4K resolution. With Diablo 4 already confirmed to be in development, Blizzard may indeed choose to remake Diablo 2 following the same logic as Crash Bandicoot and Tony Hawk Pro Skater above, in order to renew interest in the series and generate further hype for new installments.
With each passing year, it has come to be expected that Activision will launch a new installment in the long running first person shooter series Call of Duty. This juggernaut of the gaming world is not slowing its momentum any time soon, with a new Call of Duty already confirmed for 2021. However the franchise has gone on so long that older installments are bordering on being an entire decade old. In order to bring these golden oldies up to speed, beginning in 2016 alongside the launch of Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, a bundled in remaster of the mega-hit 2007 title Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
With this trend of revamping older games appropriately continuing with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Remastered, it seems logical to assume that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is next in line to receive a glossy new look. Additionally, by the end of this year, the original release will already be ten years old, and combined with persistent rumors that a Modern Warfare 3 remaster is in development and it just seems like it is a matter of time before this hypothetical remake becomes a reality.
Just like a retired rock star that has fled from the spotlight after a long popular stretch, it feels like it is due time for the Guitar Hero franchise to make a triumphant comeback to the gaming scene. During its heyday in the late 2000's, Guitar Hero cemented itself as a go-to game during parties and get togethers, regardless of each individual's interest in actually playing music, simply due to the sense of harmony and unbridled joy it could bring to a group.
The multiplayer gaming scene nowadays is stronger than ever, with Activision's own Call of Duty franchise ranking among the leaders in that space. Furthermore, the rise of lip syncing and dubbing to songs within apps such as Tik Tok have proven to be extremely popular with the youth of today, so Activision must see an opportunity to dive back into the gaming scene with an experience that allows players to become a bonafide rock and roll superstar.