Remastering anything is controversial. From the original Star Wars trilogy to Led Zeppelin albums, some people love remastering the classics while others hate it.
Gamers, however, seem to be in agreement about remastered video games: they’re awesome. Video games, unlike other media, can particularly benefit from revamped graphics without sacrificing the gameplay elements that made them classics in the first place.
A legendary game called Halo 2 is getting remastered this year. So which other games should be added to this list? Here are top 10 video games we want to see remastered in the near future:
8) Battlefield 1942
In the early 2000s, there was a smorgasbord of World War II-era games. Call of Duty, Battlefield 1942, Medal of Honor, and Day of Defeat were just a few of the awesome WW2 games during this time. BF1942 is still played today and many of the game’s original servers have remained in continuous operation over the years. I would pay $60 for a remastered Battlefield 1942 in the Frostbite 3 engine. Oh man, I would line up at midnight for that game.

7) Quake
Quake was one of the world’s original FPS titles. It spawned a generation of sequels, the last of which was Quake 4 – released all the way back in 2005. The original Quake would look awesome remastered and let gamers step back into the shoes of Ranger while collecting the four magic runes all over again.

6) System Shock 2
System Shock 2 is one of those classic PC games that everybody loves and nobody really hates. The game’s original developers, Irrational Games, have closed down shop. However, the game’s original lead designer, Ken Levine, is still making games (most recently, the BioShock series). Could a System Shock 2 remake be on the way?

5) Black & White
Black & White was the first game that let you truly play as a god. In Black & White, you ruled over little people and created a Creature. The people worshipped you and, despite being released way back in 2001, the game had some amazing features for its time. The game’s tagline, “Find out who you really are” forced many of us to rethink how awful we were when given control of genetics and human populations. A new Black & White game would be amazing.

4) Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Outcast
Jedi Knight II: Outcast is one of those classic PC games that became legendary for its multiplayer experience. Hey, people still play Jedi Knight II to this day. It was the first and, unfortunately, only game to properly combine lightsaber combat with laser rifles and all the other weapons in the Star Wars world. Basically, this was the only game to actually make you feel like a Jedi Knight. Please give us a remastered version. Nothing was more satisfying that finishing your enemies with devastating lightsaber moves.

3) Call of Duty
Call of Duty revolutionized the industry when it first emerged on the scene. Today, Call of Duty is known for the opposite: rehashing old gameplay mechanics over and over again until gamers are sick of it. I bought every Call of Duty game until Modern Warfare 2 before I stopped. If Infinity Ward ever goes back to the original World War II environments like the first Call of Duty, I’m buying it right away. I can’t imagine how the grittiness of the first game would look with revamped HD graphics. “Wake and shake it – the Germans are bringing your coffee!”

2) Sid Meier’s Pirate!
You might think pirate games would be as common as military-type shooter games. But pirate games are tough to get right. Aside from Sid Meier’s Pirates! and the new Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag, there haven’t been a whole lot of good pirate-based games. Sid Meier’s Pirates! was the exception, and people still enjoy going back to play that game. Give it to us in HD and we’d love to rule the Caribbean once more.

1) Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
It’s difficult to believe that Morrowind was released way back in 2002. The game was incredibly advanced for its time and was the first truly great open-world RPG. It paved the way for Oblivion, Skyrim, and a slew of other open-world RPG titles. Oblivion and Skyrim were both good games, but neither came close to the awesomeness of Morrowind. In Morrowind, creatures weren’t scaled to your level. Nothing stopped you from sneaking into the guard’s tower in Balmora and stealing a high-level sword from under a patrolling guard’s nose five minutes into the game. Skywind is the closest we’ll likely get to a Morrowind HD remake – but a true remastered edition would blow peoples’ minds.

Over the past few years, a number of games have been remastered in HD. Age of Empires II and Age of Mythology were both recently remastered, and the Half Life mod Black Mesa brought the original Half Life into the 21st century with revamped graphics.
I can’t wait until the games listed above get featured in HD.