Around this time last year quite a few people (and publications) were creating lists of their top games of last generation. It was something I wanted to get in on but as I started hashing out a list, I realized that there were just too many games I hadn't played to give the previous generation a fair shake. So I decided that instead of spending money I didn't have on a new console with barely any games (and none really worth playing) I would spend the next 12 months playing through the last gen games I missed. Well, it turned out that was easier said than done considering my list of missed games consisted almost exclusively of open world sandboxes and JRPG's. Still I managed to play Saint's Row 3 and 4, Batman Arkham City and Origins, Sleeping Dogs, Infamous 2 and Festival of Blood, and Kingdoms of Amalur through to completion by this point. I also gave JRPG's Final Fantasy 13, Demon's Souls, Ni No Kuni, and Dragon's Dogma each at least 30 hours of my time. And currently I am trying to play through Far Cry 3 and Assassin's Creed Revelations, with Blood Dragon and AC3 still on the way. The only games I really wanted to play by now but didn't have a chance to at all were the Dark Souls games. And I also will openly admit to having not played any of the Xbox 360 Forza games. Lastly, I never purchased a Wii and I have no intention of ever doing so, so sorry Mario Galaxy but you aren't on the list. Other than that I think I have given the last generation a fair shake. I'm sure I've missed a handful of worthwhile titles but I'm only one man so sorry if I missed your personal favorite.
A couple ground rules before I start. This is a list of console games. So no handheld or mobile games, and no PC exclusives. Current gen games with last gen versions I'm also choosing to ignore. Also HD remakes don't count although if you really want some bang for your buck that complete God of War collection has a ton of quality content for not a lot of money. I'm going to do this list in two parts just to keep the length down so check back in a couple of days for part two.
For the top 10 I plan on listing them in order. For these entries, though, I'm just going to give them to you in alphabetical order because really who cares which game is 17 vs 18? It will just waste my time and cause arguments that no one will be able to win. So without further ado, here are numbers 11-20 (in alphabetical order!) in my top 20 games of last generation.
Bastion
Console: PS3/360/PC
Developer: Supergiant Games
Publisher: Warner Bros Interactive
Bastion is one of those games that has it all. The excellent combat system rewards risk and experimentation. The gorgeous visuals and stunning music create a haunting post-apocalyptic atmosphere. The story itself is a great tale expertly told with dynamic narration that takes into account moment to moment player action. And the great progression and weapon upgrade system, including Halo Skull like items that increase the difficulty while also increasing the possible reward allow players to tailor adjust the game to suit their own play style. It may not be the greatest game of the last generation, but it has no real flaws either. This is a polished title where every system works as promised and lives up to its potential. And it is absolutely worth playing.
The Batman Arkham Trilogy
Console: PS3/360/PC
Developer: Rocksteady
Publisher: Warner Bros Interactive
Yea, I put a whole series as a single game. Sue me. It's my list. Deal with it. Anyways, the Batman games are great for a number of reasons. The combat system is fun and fluid, featuring a surprising amount of depth and complexity for what initially seems like a series of quick time events. But the real brilliance of the series are the stealth sequences. Before Batman, stealth in gaming was about avoiding conflict. You were meant to be a ghost, getting in and out of a facility without being noticed. Batman rewrote the book on game stealth by having you hide so that you could take out opponents more easily, not sneak past them undetected. Never before had a Batman game made you feel so empowered. Watching your opponents lose themselves to terror as you picked off their comrades one by one was one of the great pleasures of last generation. The great stories in all three games only added to the fun, and Arkham City and Origins remain the only real example of an open world game done successfully on the Unreal 3 Engine, making them a very impressive technical showpiece as well. And lastly, Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill. Enough said.
Dishonored
Console: PS3/360/PC
Developer: Arkane Studios
Publisher: Bethesda
It is fair to say that if Dishonored's story had been as good as the rest of the game it would currently be sitting in the top five not the bottom 10 but don't let the mediocre narrative dissuade you from playing this incredible game. While the story itself may not be anything to write home about, the world it takes place in most definitely is. A unique mix of sci-fi and and medieval influences were used in creating one of the most compelling worlds in gaming history. Beset by plague and suffering from political turmoil, the kingdom is in shambles. And it is up to you, the ex-bodyguard of the now dead queen, to set things right by slitting the throats of a bunch of bad dudes. Or not. In fact the element of choice is what makes Dishonored so compelling. Many games claim they will adapt to your preferred play style. Dishonored actually delivers on that claim. You can enter any mission guns blazing, shooting and slashing through the corrupt city guard and aristocracy on your way to a target you can blast to pieces just as easily. Or you could climb to the rooftops of these massive, open, and fully explorable levels, and sneak your way to your target with a mix of parkour and supernatural abilities without alerting a single soul. And once you reach that target you could still stab him or her in the back. Or you could find a non-lethal way to get rid of them, ways that ironically are often far worse than death. Or you could play somewhere in between.
Regardless, the game will react to your behavior. If you are butchering guards and civilians then later levels will feature more and better armed opponents to protect against your massacres. The people will fear you. The plague will worsen. Your allies will question whether or not your success is worth the cost. If you spare the lives of your enemies, on the other hand, security will loosen. The plague will improve. Allies will supply you with better equipment and praise your actions. Few games give you the freedom of Dishonored. All the way from the moment to moment gameplay which lets you defeat opponents with a wide variety of weapons and gadgets, to the expertly designed levels that give you numerous paths to reach your target, to your play style as a whole. It helps that the actual combat, stealth, and platforming feel incredible. The next Mirror's Edge should really look to Dishonored as it is the only first person game I can think of where I always felt entirely in control while jumping around. Great art, sound effect and voice over combine to create a great atmosphere. Really the only downside to this otherwise incredible game is how dull the story and its heroes are. From a gameplay standpoint, though, there are very few better games out there.
Flower
Console: PS3 (And PS4 eventually)
Developer: thatgamecompany
Publisher: Sony
One of the most overused and hyperbolic terms critics use to describe great games is transcendent. There are a lot of great games out there. Few make you feel like you've transcended your physical and emotional limitations and become self-actualized. But for the hour or two you'll spend playing Flower you will really feel like you've had life altering experience. It's combination of gorgeous visuals, enchanting dynamic music and audio, and consequencless gameplay take you to magical place that I can only imagine would be further enhanced with the use of some mind altering drugs(which I am not in any way suggesting you should take). It's a one of a kind piece of interactive art with a story told through the expert use of narrative space (also known as environmental storytelling) over dialogue or even character interaction. That a story so broad and vague can at the same time be so incredibly moving is a testament to the talent of the team at thatgamecompany. Flower is not an example of masterful gameplay or mechanic design, at least not in the traditional sense. Instead, Jenova Chen and team utilize gameplay in combination with audio and visuals to create a singular experience which is really only rivaled by the team's even better followup.
The Gears of War Trilogy
Console: Xbox 360
Developer: Epic Games
Publisher: Microsoft
Yea, I did it again. My list, my rules. Choosing the best Gears of War game is pointless because each entry has its own highs and lows and you really should play all three. You can safely ignore Judgement. The first Gears holds up the worst but its influence can be felt across the industry to this day. The stop and pop third person shooting it popularized has been endlessly copied, but honestly the Gears series remains better at it than any of the imitators. The Lancer (aka the chainsaw gun) is one of the most satisfying weapons to use in a shooter ever and the visuals turned Epic's Unreal Engine from one of several third party engine players into the dominant industry force used by nearly every publisher on the planet. Meanwhile the sequel added the excellent co-op horde mode while featuring the most diverse campaign of the series. You had everything from giant boss battles, to a survival horror level, to an essentially combat free level inside the body of a giant worm. For my money it is the most enjoyable campaign of the series. And the third entry takes everything to the next level. There is more polish and content in Gears 3 than there has any right to be. After being delayed for over half a year due solely to financial reasons, Epic had plenty of time to polish every aspect of the game to an absolute sheen and pack in an absurd amount of content. You have a vastly expanded horde mode, the new Beast mode, a four person co-op campaign, and an expanded multiplayer suite. And every one of these modes was packed with a breadth of content rarely seen in modern AAA games. On the campaign side, Gears 3 became one of the few games last generations to truly end a story. And despite their status as meat heads, the characters actually manage to display some real emotion by the end of the series. Great combat. Great world. Great visuals. A ton of solid modes and content within them. And numerous innovative mechanics and modes that would become industry standards. That is the Gears legacy, and whether or not you enjoy the series, there is no denying not only its quality, but its importance in defining the last generation of gaming.
Limbo
Console: PS3/360/PC/(and more over time)
Developer: Playdead
Publisher: Playdead
Since the release of Limbo many developers have aped its style. That pervasive sense of dread and despair built through expert use of art, animation, and sound design. But none of the imitators have come close to equaling the work of the original. Limbo is a draining experience. It is truly a disturbing game featuring horrific displays of violence and cruelty. It builds and maintains a tone and an atmosphere better than almost any game out there. But it isn't just the presentation that shines. Limbo also features a variety of clever puzzles that manage to consistently kill you without frustrating. Crafting puzzles that are just the right difficulty is one of the great challenges of game design, and Playdead nails it. Maybe it isn't for everyone, but for any who can stomach its brutality Limbo is the type of game you won't soon forget, with its gripping world and solid puzzles combing to form a truly memorable experience.
Metro 2033
Console: 360/PC
Developer: 4A Games
Publisher(s): THQ/Deep Silver
Here is where I have to sadly admit I haven't played Metro Last Light despite loving the original. I know, shame on me. The first game, though, is brilliant. A lot of shooter fans bash the gunplay in Metro 2033 but I found it surprisingly refreshing. Every bullet counts in Metro, and weapons are taped together remnants of a lost age. They don't work well for obvious reasons. Their poor quality, along with the fact that bullets serve as currency as well as ammunition, subtly drive you to play more conservatively than you would with most shooters. The game builds amazing amounts of tension set in a stunningly realized world. A post-nuclear apocalypse is a common setting for games, but Metro takes it in an interesting direction, setting the game in the Moscow subway where the remnants of the city's population fight over the remaining scraps and form a variety of micro-nations following various political dogmas. It's a fascinating world and a fun one to explore. If you go in to Metro expecting a standard first person shooter you are going to be disappointed. In Metro guns are a last resort and even then firing more than a couple of shots might as well mean failure due to how badly it will tax your very limited resources. Another game that is not for everyone. If you enjoy games that focus on survival and resource management, though, Metro will be right up your alley, and its interesting and well realized world is just icing on the cake.
12. Portal/Orange Box
Console: PS3/360/PC
Developer: Valve
Publisher(s): Valve/EA
I was a bit torn about including The Orange Box as Half Life 2 could be considered something of an HD port, but with 4 of the 5 games having their console debuts, I decided to include it but focus on Portal. Half Life 2 is the best game ever made. If you haven't played it then you should do so. But Half Life 2 came out a year before the Xbox 360 and 2 years before the PS3 so that's all I'm going to say about it. Portal, on the other hand, was first released with The Orange Box and it is an amazing game in its own right. The brilliant portal based puzzles of Portal would put this game among the cleverest puzzle games of all time even without the story around it, but with the story, Portal is elevated from clever puzzler to masterful game. Imagine how hard it must have been to come up with any sort of justification for why a character would be jumping through portals. But the master writers at Valve not only came up with that justification, they somehow turned it into one of the best game stories of all time. The hilarious Glados with the sinister undertones hiding underneath that pleasent exterior is one of the single greatest characters in gaming history. She is your sole companion. Your ally, and eventually, your enemy. For a being without a face who speaks in A Siri like monotone, she somehow has a ton of character. Portal was and still is a fresh departure from both AAA first person shooters and indie-puzzle games. There is nothing else like Portal and that is kind of a shame considering it is one of the best games you will ever play. And that end credits song? So freaking good.
Vanquish
Console: PS3/360
Developer: Platinum Games
Publisher: Sega
I'd tell you about the story of Vanquish but I don't remember it. Considering this is a Platinum game I'm sure it didn't make much sense in the first place. But Platinum games aren't about complex stories or deep characters. They are about brilliant mechanics and Vanquish is no exception. There are two elements of Vanquish that make it so excellent. The first are the rocket boots that let you skate around the environment at incredible speeds. Vanquish is at least in theory a cover based shooter, but unlike any other cover based shooters, sitting behind cover taking pot shots at dumb enemies isn't a viable strategy. Enemies will advance on your position and surround you forcing you to slide across the levels to find new positions constantly. It is an amazingly fun mechanic that turns what by now is a tried genre on its head. The other half of the brilliance that is Vanquish is the weapon upgrade system that creates a risk vs reward strategy of slowly powering up your weapons over time vs the immediate need for more weapons and more ammo. It's an elegant system that creates fun mechanics out of the standard act of picking up the weapons of fallen opponents. Both of these systems take things we rarely think about in shooters and twist them in fun and creative ways. Vanquish may be short. It may have a nonsensical story (or maybe not I don't remember). The voice acting I can confirm is awful, and the visuals are impressive in some ways will underwhelming in others. And if the game has a multiplayer mode I've never seen it. But the mechanics at the core of Vanquish are so enjoyable and so refreshing that it becomes easy to overlook the flaws of this game as numerous or serious as they may be (depending on your perspective). Vanquish may not be the entire package a la Gears of War 3, but it absolutely 100% nails the gameplay, and when it comes down to it, games are all about play and when playing a game is as much fun as in Vanquish, all the rest really doesn't matter.
The Witcher 2
Console: 360/PC
Developer: CD Projekt Red
Publisher(s): CD Projekt Red/Namco Bandai
People are going to tell you that you can skip the first Witcher and just move on to the second. If you really care about the story of this series I wouldn't recommend that. The beauty of The Witcher is that your actions deeply effect the story and playing up to the beginning of The Witcher 2 is key in that. Anyways, The Witcher 2 is one of the best RPG's ever made. It's got an excellent lead character, a dark and complex world, and a level of choice and consequence rarely seen in games. Two aspects of the branching story in The Witcher series makes it so compelling. The first is how choices don't fall into a simple good/bad paradigm. In The Witcher no one is truly good and few are truly evil. At best the actions of a character will be slightly more noble than the actions of an opponent, but both are scumbags. Do you help the terrorist Elves living in exile or the corrupt and oppressive regimes that have forced them to terrorism in the first place? Just like in the real world toppling a corrupt and cruel government doesn't assure that the replacement will be any better. You may think you are doing the right thing any number of times in The Witcher 2, but even your best of intentions are going have unintended and often terrible consequences. Those downtrodden elves will manipulate those gullible individuals into believing the most terrible of stories, only to reveal that in fact they are using you to commit equally horrible crimes. Even Geralt himself is far from a noble hero. He is self serving no matter how you play him. He is a killer, a murderer. And his lovers are sorcerers who are manipulating events from behind the scenes for their own nefarious purposes. Are you better than those you slay or just another player in a massive game of individuals merely trying to survive and improve their own standing in a broken society? In the end that is for you, the player, to decide, but no choice is saintly.
The other aspect of The Witcher 2 that impresses is in how much the game changes depending on your actions. The entire second act (out of 3) of the game is entirely different depending on if you side with the Elves or the Humans. And the game concludes in a variety of drastically different manners depending on your actions leading up to that point. Alongside Dishonored, The Witcher in my mind is the series that most makes good on its promise of changing the game based on our actions as a player. And CD Projekt Red earns a lot of street cred by giving away all the game's DLC for free to everyone, as well as selling the game DRM free. There are a lot of great RPG's on the last generation of consoles, but very few are anywhere near as good or as deep as The Witcher 2.
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