Dream developers for flagging franchises

Modern Warfare

Reason for the change: Check the headlines. Infinity Ward is currently losing talent like a haemophiliac blood donor loses the red stuff. And even before that started, Modern Warfare 2's campaign had turned out to a bit of a bombastic mess in comparison to its predecessor's. CoD 4 was all about breathlessly told first-person narrative, gameplay-driven storytelling, razor-sharp pacing and amazing set-pieces. Valve pioneered that shit with the Half-Life series and still does it better than anyone else today.

Tomb Raider

Reason for the change:Tomb Raider: Underworld was not a bad game at all. In fact it was pretty great. But it sold precisely bugger all. What's the best chance for an acrobatic platformer full of clever spatial puzzling andpixel-perfect stunts to grab the world's attention again? Easy. Be made by the team behind more successful and much-loved acrobatic platformer full of clever spatial puzzling andpixel-perfect stunts. Ubisoft Montreal, your Prince of Persia games are amazing (we'll ignore the last one). Make Lara popular again. You know you can.

Long-time GR+ writer Dave has been gaming with immense dedication ever since he failed dismally at some '80s arcade racer on a childhood day at the seaside (due to being too small to reach the controls without help). These days he's an enigmatic blend of beard-stroking narrative discussion and hard-hitting Psycho Crushers.