Franchise Fanboy Wars

Things are pretty messy out there in the video game realm. Gamers fighting against gamers, flames flying around the tubes left and right. People claiming superiority over one another because of a purchasing decision. What have we become?

I suppose it was only a matter of time before it came to this. Sure, everyone’s got their favorite system of choice, be it PC, XBox 360, PS3 or the Wii… But what about the franchises? To help feed the fanboy flames, I thought I’d throw some of our most beloved characters and stories together, to see who came out on top after a brutal battle to the death. It’s the franchise fanboy wars!

 

Adventure Game Cage Match: Fable vs Link vs Team Ico

These are probably the 3 most notable exclusive adventure series that each console offers. While they are by no means one-to-one comparisons, all of them are known for their art styles, their sweeping tales and their atmospheres.

 

Fable

fableFable is a quirky, imaginative RPG that is all about giving the player choices to direct his own steps and carve out his destiny. It’s got an excellent art style, a defined atmosphere and some cool ideas that ultimately don’t quite match up with the vision behind it.

Perhaps the best thing about Fable is its open-world nature and how the player can interact with it. Fable II in particular had some awesome things such as real estate, families and the like that really made you feel like part of the world of Albion. However, a lack of a strong narrative really holds this one back. If only it could match up to the words of its loud-mouthed creator.

 

The Legend of Zelda

zeldaThese games almost need no introduction, but what the heck, I’ll provide one anyway, since that’s how we roll. As one of Nintendo’s major franchises, the Zelda games have helped carry the giant along for a couple of decades, each game showcasing great art, an epic tale and a familiar title character, and I’m not talking about Tinkle.

A recognizable hero, Link is the real backbone of this series, along with huge dungeons, great music and a killer bad guy. While this series is a classic, some of its staples are growing a little tired, in desperate need of updating. The series is superb, but still hasn’t seen a major upgrade since the days of Ocarina of Time, now over 10 years old. That being said, each new entry is a notable one, and always a landmark release in its year.

 

Team Ico

team-icoWhile a new Team Ico game hasn’t quite hit us in this generation, its presence is remembered nonetheless. Team Ico is renowned for its art and atmosphere more than almost anything else, as well as being able to tie strong emotional responses to characters that say little to nothing at all.

I still maintain that Shadow of the Colossus is probably the closest any video game has come to art in recent years, and I always cite it as one of the most notable sermons on death that I’ve ever seen. The Last Guardian looks to continue their already exquisite track record, providing two new lovable characters, gorgeous visuals and solid-looking platforming.

 

Winner: Team Ico

I know, I know, The Last Guardian hasn’t even come out yet, but let’s get real- it looks like twice the game that Fable II was and the beautiful trailer created more of an emotional response than Link has in the last 10-15 years. If I end up being wrong about this game’s superiority over these other two franchises, I’ll happily eat crow come 2010.

 

Grizzled Bad Ass Rumble: Captain Price vs Old Solid Snake

They’re old. They’re veterans. And they will snap your neck in a heartbeat. Who would cripple who in a vicious scuffle?

 

Captain Price

captain-priceThis guy is the opposite of the unsung hero in the Modern Warfare series. Heck, they pretty much re-focused the entire second game to focus on him after the huge response he got in the first game. Sure, he was made to look dead at the end, but who cares about continuity, right?

In all seriousness, though, Captain Price is completely awesome. His missions in both Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2 always bring some of the more memorable and mind-blowing sections of the game. As soon as you hear his voice, you know that you’re going to be in for the ride of your life.

 

Old Solid Snake

old-solid-snakeHe’s half dead and on his way to dying, but it doesn’t mean he can’t school your ass at some CQC. While you may not want him on your side in a straight up fire fight, you couldn’t ask for a better dude to infiltrate enemy territory. Old Solid Snake has been to hell and back, fought his clone, taken down helicopters and battle tanks (walking and treaded) and seen several generations of hardware. He’s been in it, so to speak.

They always say that a man’s quality is determined by the quality of his enemies. If that’s the case for Snake, then he’s got a checkered past at best. Revolver Ocelot? Awesome. Liquid Snake-handed Ocelot? Not so awesome. Even though he is tough as nails and old as hell, this guy might be past his shelf life. Taken down by some germs? Lame.

 

Winner: Captain Price

Let’s face it. Captain Price is hard to pick against. Now, a younger Solid Snake might have put up a slightly better fight, but as old dudes, Captain Price wins hands down. Besides, Old Snake probably can’t pick up the ladies the way Price can. I mean, there’s got to be some reason as to why Raiden and Big Boss can get laid but he can’t. We’ll leave you to speculate on that one.

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So, there are our first two battles of the fanboy franchise wars. Stay tuned for more to come. Who do you think wins? Go!

Written by

I write about samurai girls and space marines. Writer for Smooth Few Films. Rooster Teeth Freelancer. Author of Red vs. Blue, The Ultimate Fan Guide, out NOW!

15 thoughts on “Franchise Fanboy Wars”

  1. Hmmm, I disagree with you on the first, I believe Zelda wins hands down, but I totally agree on Price. He has made the Modern Warfare games what they are.

  2. Yeah, Zelda wins the first one. Ico and Shadow were great, but two games against a 20 year franchise that sells systems? Not sure about that.

    Good call on Price.

  3. Really? I thought Wind Waker was amazing and Twilight Princess was pretty awesome, even though it was basically Ocarina of Wii,lol.

    I would hold verdict til Last Guardian comes out. Just in case. But I respect your position.

  4. Man, I loved Wind Waker too…I’m on a boat…

    Anyways, I still haven’t played SotC, so I’m gonna stick with Zelda here. Going to have to get around to that eventually.

    I agree with Price too, though one of my friends would fight you to the death about Snake.

  5. I’ll reserve judgement on Price until I play MW2, but I’m sure it’ll be a closely fought battle. Also, I thought SotC was better in almost every way than any Zelda. So I agrre w/ you on Team Ico

  6. Anything even remotely related to MGS automatically wins over something as short and forgettful as the campaigns in the Modern Warfare games… Sure, I remember a few things about MW2.. like the Airport. I remember that overall I thought it was fun, but I don’t really have any memories…

    It’s Franchise wars. COD has given me some tingles over the years, but MGS 1 and 2 alone absolutely destroy the COD games.

  7. Hmm, I disagree with Team Ico. I mean don’t get me wrong, I loved Shadow of the Colossus with its grand yet subtle story, vast landscapes, and interestingly simple gameplay, but I’m going to have to go with Legend of Zelda taking the cake, which just happens to be a lie. I literally grew up on Zelda (as in, I grew ON TOP of the fictional character) and the dungeon-crawling, great stories, and purely awesome gameplay each time around makes Zelda win it for me.

    So I say Zelda for the first thing, but totally agree with Captain Price on number two.

    SOMEWHAT SPOILERS

    The fact that Price spent his whole life in combat, survived war after war and operation after operation, THEN stopped several nukes from detonating THEN survived an explosion and overwhelming troops THEN survived in a gulag for five years THEN continued to kick ass and take names and jobs THEN detonated a nuke of his own THEN managed to survive a fall off a waterfall THEN keep Soap alive enough for him to finish off [CENSORED] THEN still lived and brought Soap onto the Huey with Nikolai, his best bud. So yeah, Cpt. Price has a bit more epic service record than Mr. Cutscene over here.

  8. [quote comment=”9503″]SOMEWHAT SPOILERS

    The fact that Price spent his whole life in combat, survived war after war and operation after operation, THEN stopped several nukes from detonating THEN survived an explosion and overwhelming troops THEN survived in a gulag for five years THEN continued to kick ass and take names and jobs THEN detonated a nuke of his own THEN managed to survive a fall off a waterfall THEN keep Soap alive enough for him to finish off [CENSORED] THEN still lived and brought Soap onto the Huey with Nikolai, his best bud. So yeah, Cpt. Price has a bit more epic service record than Mr. Cutscene over here.[/quote]

    This.

  9. I gladly agree with you eddy on both or your choices! Sure legend of zelda is an epic gaming figure that will last forever, but when I first played the game Ico I was stunned! How could a game so simple and one without dialogue be so great?! TEAM ICO FTW!!!!

    I have also been an avid COD fan since the first game. I do believe Cpt.Price has been in almost every installment of the series since the beginning. He is always fun to have by your side in battle.

  10. I have to go with Legend of Zelda over team Eco. Link is the poster boy of action/adventure games. and Ocarina of time still kicks all kind of ass when you go back and play it.
    I thought that price was more of a believable character in the first one, but then again the first one had a more believable story. He seemed a bit senile in the last one, or maybe i didn’t understand the part were he launches a nuke?

  11. @ Anthony

    Lol, I guess you’re right… But I still think that the MGS storyline was more interesting and made me actually care about the characters – compared to the Modern Warfare (1 and 2) storylines.

    Atleast in the WWII days of COD they couldn’t really do THAT much wrong… I think the MGS stuff was much more creative and more touching… I guess that’s what happens in translation ;).

  12. Yeah how bout that Fable? Who’s with me?

    Haha but really you can’t say Zelda wins because it hasn’t had a great game in a while! I figured as fellow gamers you guys would at least know just because it’s older doesn’t mean it sucks! Zelda has a ton of great titles, is fun every time, and actually has a story with just as interesting boss fights as SotC and quests/dungeons. I don’t get how ICO wins this…

  13. Twilight Princess was a great game. Wind Waker was amazing.

    I am playing Spirit Tracks right now and it’s much better than Phantom Hourglass.

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