List items
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To this point, Rockstar's masterpiece.
Pitch perfect atmosphere. Rockstar created a western world informed by the movie classics, but in its own way: humorous, bizarre, dark, mysterious. No open world has dripped with style the way this game does.
The stranger quests were so compelling (the cannibals, "I Know You", the man who needs flowers for his wife) and usually ended in a fashion that really left you stunned by what had just occurred.
My favorite ending to any game I have played. Really excelled in the build up, its first and second endings, how it left things, how it wrapped up while still letting you play on.
The shooting was a huge step up for Rockstar and really had that movie cowboy feel thanks to Euphoria physics. I love the weight of the RAGE engine controls, and they did a better job with horseback controls than any game has, making it feel like you are really interacting with a real animal.
The dialogue is so sharp and well written. John and Bonnie are really excellent characters.
My favorite DLC in Undead Nightmare. The "Halloween special" idea was perfectly executed, and a great value when most DLC has not been.
It's not perfect. It drags a bit in Mexico and the gameplay in some of the story missions is a little bland. But it really doesn't matter. This is the best game this generation had to offer.
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A game that achieved Deus Ex tier of level design, as far as feeling rewarded, needing to explore, having a wide variety of options, and pretty much always feeling like you have the appropriate tools, or could at least find them. This series is really a puzzle game dressed up as a stealth game.
The series had outstanding levels before this game, but here it was most consistent. The results are grizzly and super entertaining (dressing up as the grimmest clown ever, ethering a panty sniffing creep FBI agent, swapping a theatre prop pistol with a real one to kill a target in a play, helping a man escape an institution by faking his death with a drug so he is taken to an external morgue).
The music and unique atmosphere of the Hitman games at a pinnacle in this game as well. Kyd's second best soundtrack.
Also a surprising, entirely missable, well foreshadowed ending that was pretty simple yet executed oh so well.
Yes this was cross-gen, but the next gen version was certainly the best and really blew me away right out of the gate of these consoles. Shame the series kind of died, and then got away from the blueprint this one laid down.
Regardless, if this was the last real Hitman game, it was a very special achievement.
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I couldn't make it through the first game. Did enjoy it, wanted to love it. The story didn't quite grab me and neither did the gameplay.
When this game came out, it blew me away. The choices are huge here and the characters are all very well done with interesting motivations. The setting is a breath of fresh air even while using some high fantasy stuff. I found the gameplay quite good after a few initial upgrades to your abilities (not perfect, but pretty quality for an RPG). Amazing step up art wise from the first game. I just really like the plot of this game and the moments that occur in this one. Classic RPG.
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It felt so epic and so open. Yes it was a little rough but it has the squad shooting, the decent driving (it's not bad!). Had a strong villain and drive to its plot while still having the scope of "this is just the beginning". Great characters. Awesome, large environments (got too cramped in the sequels). An introduction to a great sci-fi universe.
Really bold moments with Kaiden and Ashley and then the standoff with Wrex.
An impressive blending of aspects for one classic game.
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Some of the best moments in the series in this game (the fight with Revolver/Liquid on the Rex, back to Shadow Moses, and the X-Ray hallway in particular). If only hadn't botched the ending this would maybe be the best game of the gen, or even higher at least, that's for sure. Even still, another great MGS game. (lets just pretend Otacon crying and the ending didn't really happen)
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As a history fan, the AC series really gets me excited with its possibilities and this was the game to really put it together after the first entry.
Also had the best sci-fi aspects for the series. The historical puzzles were full of cool bits and references and the ending was the 2nd best this gen (HOLY SHIT SHES TALKING TO ME!).
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I was glad Rockstar didn't just try to copy Remedy's truly unique style and they did their own thing. It wasn't quite as compelling and unique but it was still very strong. And the gamplay is simply the best TPS ever made, by a wide margin. The weight of the RAGE engine controls makes every movement important but the controls are good enough to allow you to do all the cool dives and moves you want. In the end it feels more rewarding than ever to do that stuff. Graphics and the detail in the environments and a bold and striking soundtrack by HEALTH are the finishing touches that really put it over the top.
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Not even a big boxing guy, but this gameplay was really a science. Simple to learn yet very complex. Even with the crappy career (that I've played through probably 20 times) and the bare bones package (and the ugliest character creator ever), just on gameplay alone this stands out.
There probably was nothing this generation as satisfying as dodging a big punch and launching a counter combo on a vulnerable opponent (and watching them awkwardly hit the mat).
Yes they made other FN games, but they messed with the controls after this one and it really ruined it for me. If there was one thing to keep the same, it was the controls.
I got the Burger King in my corner.
THE CANNON!
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A traditional RPG but just a very large one executed very well. The impact of your choices in this game is stronger than most Bioware games. It's nice seeing how differently it can play out. Not many games will go to that length and effectively waste content for a single play through.
The setting is boring generic high fantasy to me but still they do some really good work in it.
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The idea of combining first and third person shooting sounds terrible. Do one or the other and do it right! But here, even feeling kind of disjointed, it all worked so well. A great package for singleplayer, co-op, and multiplayer. Progression across all. Terrorist Hunt should have been copied all gen long. (This spot also acknowledges the sequel, which was kind of an expansion pack almost, but still great too.)
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The most influential game of the generation. A campaign full of crazy moments (a change from the setpieces of CoD 1 and 2) and a multiplayer that was insanely addictive. All on top of the tightest controlling shooter to date. Look through the annualized fog CoD is today and remember how truly fantastic this game was.
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Rockstar really pulling together all the things they learned this gen for one final huge game to send it out. Three great main characters. Absolutely stunning graphics that push current gen seemingly past its limits. That fantastic open world that only Rockstar can bring.
Also, the ways they use the characters swapping is brilliant and should go on to revolutionize open world gameplay.
This one deserves all its success.
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This game made me cry at the end and I can't say any game has come close to that before. A story about how to raise a child (try to protect them and hope they rise above or be brutally honest and hope they are tough enough to survive a harsh world). Really incredible stuff.
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The biggest straight up spectacle of the generation. The train sequence and convoy sequence were extremely memorable and the plot was fun. They pulled off the modern day Indiana Jones tale nearly perfectly (some stumbles near the end).
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This game was kind of my Zelda for this gen. The combat was simple but I actually really enjoyed how dynamic and timing based it was. The world is charming, funny, and dark and the combination feels very fresh. Some interesting choices to be made through the adventure.
And say what you will about the dog hype... but I really liked the dog! It worked well.
The ending wasn't too hot, but still a really great action-adventure game.
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I ended up playing this on PC a lot later... so a little tough to rate on this list for me. Mods certainly improved it. But played like 90 hours on the PS3 (yes I know, somehow no massive issues) version and had a great time before playing about that many more on PC with mods. Like all Bethesda, has some issues but the scale is entirely unmatched in RPGs.
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I always enjoy the games about a single mission and having that combined with Batman, done with such a level of polish, was very special.
I prefer the hub layout here over the full open world (it felt big but focused and so well paced). The melee combat and stealth gameplay were unique and executed at a very high level.
Pretty much only poor boss fights drag this one down. Which is kind of a big part to mess up in a Batman game, but still a stand out game of the generation for sure.
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A decently budgeted turn based tactical game!? For consoles too? Shocking. While I had issues with parts of the game, on that front alone this game won me over big time. Great streamlining of TBS concepts while keeping things tactical.
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I was a huge BF fan before this game and I'm not sure quite even what magic this game captured but it was just BF chaos at its peak, even with smaller player counts on consoles. The destruction was great fun. The balance was frankly shit (I remember equipping a shotgun with the right rounds to become an effective weapon at seriously any range) and exploitable but it was fun!
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Normally kind of ignore annual sports games for lists... 2K basketball was too fantastic all gen long to not get a spot. Hundreds of hours over the gen spent on 2K. While Madden floundered all gen, 2K excelled even without legit competition.
Lets end the list before I put 2K at the top because I play like 300 hours a year. Someone help. But this is where the addiction started. Must have been all that sweat tech.
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