Won't consider this finished until after mid 2014, as I haven't even played Last of Us or Beyond yet or that shoe in for best game of all time GT6. And while I own Darksiders, Mark of the Ninja, and others, I've yet to play them.
List is out of order beyond the top few.
:-|
The game "of the generation" even if it wasn't the single most fun, innovative, stunning, or popular (go go Wii Sports). You can't escape it, this game made its own genre/business the way Jaws and Star Wars did for the movie industry in the 70s. Its TiVo to DVR's "FPS". Now almost all AAA games are annualized, with seasonal map packs, action packed interactive cutscenes, perks systems, preorder bonuses and absurd collector's editions, regenerating health, and the sprint/aim/crouch/grenade buttons in the same positions. Sixty god damned beautiful frames per second.
So ME1 didn't quite have the gameplay kinks worked out, or ME3 failed to close the story effectively, this game was similar on paper but in practice nothing like anything ever capable on the PS2 era or even PC games of the past. Crysis supposedly outdid Mass Effect's graphics three years earlier, but it goes to show what GameSpot's old "graphics technical" "graphics artistic" ratings accounted for, as no game before it made you feel like you were in such a living, breathing, gigantic civilization. Way to outdo Star Wars' novel-driven expanded universe with nouns upon nouns of characters, species, planets, weapons, and ships you'd actually want to memorize. Way to outdo Kojima's attempts at a playable movie; this came off as a playable episodic drama in the vein of LOST.
The game that did the most with the least this generation. The best looking and sounding "indie game" thankfully didn't rely on Newgroundsie 8-bit graphics or music. Like a concept album (or fireworks show), it was perfectly paced, hit its grand finale climax, and didn't overstay its welcome. Innovative controls, challenging but not frustrating gameplay, funny jokes, and one song OST that beats most other games' soundtracks by a mile.
Consider this the entry for the whole Rock Band series, which like Modern Warfare, became synonymous with this era of the games business. It didn't last as long at the top of the mountain, but it revolutionized the industry in equal ways. The peak of Rock Band, and the music genre from DDR to Theatrythm, was scoring the Beatles' license in the biggest, most uncompromising way. More so than their remastered FLAC USB catalog ever could, this game introduced the band to a new generation, while HMX continued to perfect its gameplay engine and toys into something remarkable no matter whose music was on the disc.
Perhaps the best racing game ever made, if not for a few kinks in its career mode (looking at you, hidden menu item to retry mission without driving back to starting line ;-) ) Paradise seems like the most fun ever packed into a driving game, with a world properly designed for stunts and shortcuts, a frame rate that makes hyper speeds seem daring, multiple modes that load instantly, and photos of your multiplayer opponents cursing and slamming their controllers. The game I most want a sequel to on this list.
Most of these words, beautiful, innovative, cinematic, could be said of Assassin's Creed 1, but its sequels have the advantage of not also being labelled "boring."
Just when Ubi was about to revolutionize Splinter Cell and stealth gameplay, AC beat it to the punch with more action less stealth, and no game over screens the second you get spotted. So, Brian Ekberg's Sam Fisher was cancelled and replaced by old Sam, and delayed well into 2010, while AC became one of the defining original IPs this generation, and only number 2 to Call of Duty's annualized financial dominance. Like Gears making you never want to hear about Unreal or Quake again, this game would make you feel about Splinter Cell and Metal Gear.
Someone finally did strategy games correctly on console controllers, and it wasn't Civ or Total Anything, rather a game that wasn't even supposed to exist. XCOM's revival was supposed to be used as a way to save money Vs. creating a whole new fiction around a Halo-competitor FPS. Instead, it sparked demand for a real XCOM sequel, and not only beat the FPS game to market by a year, but was better than any console strategy game or XCOM game had any right to be. Like Modern Warfare, it may have set standards for all strategy companies to bring their military or medieval games across that mainstream border to Xbox and PlayStation. Granted, it wasn't an RTS, so hold out for your Steam Controllers, but Enemy Unknown worked elegantly for a strategy game based on 1990's gameplay, with terrific balance, perks, art style, sound effects, and replayablity.
Morrowind to a whole other level, this is the first "next gen" game worthy of that banner. And while most games since have surpassed its graphics technically, it still holds up as artistically beautiful; it makes you stop and stare and soak in the vast cityscapes of this thriving civilization. Only #2 to Mass Effect's realization of a fictional universe that seems to live beyond your actions. Much of its comic relief writing and side quests were far better than Mass Effect (as well as freedom to explore, easter eggs, time spent in the game just living rather than playing or beating), where as Mass Effect did a better job with the serious, main campaign story.
This adventure game came off as Mass Effect lite, stripping away all the expanded universe to just letting you know the bare minimum of whats going on in this world (oh and stripping away the gunplay). But with the polar opposite of "the expanded fiction", somehow, this game makes you feel like a part of a bigger, living, organic picture, a world that doesn't revolve around Hero Protagonist or His actions. And what little reveals they give you, you soak up like a Shamwow. I think this game far outdid Mass Effect's choice-making. The gameplay and graphics were sometimes low rent, but the voice acting and clever workarounds for the old standard of "the good choice, evil choice, neutral choice" in this genre made TWD among the best of this gaming generation.
From here on up, every game is guaranteed to be on the list and rank top 15-20, just without final order. Games that truly defined the era and felt way different than what was attempted on PS2 Xbox & GameCube. I mean, Mario Sunshine and Call of Duty Big Red One wouldn't even be top 1000 games those years.
Personal favorite that might not make list. Forza 4 however really outshined GT5.
Should be ranked lower than SF4.
Holy shit.
The most played, most owned game of the generation belongs somewhere here.
Terrible graphic performance, story that goes nowhere, moral choices that make no difference, tossed in multiplayer, glad GTA5 washed this away. Shouldn't be on list but people are way forgiving of it.
Probably not on list, but a personal fan of it.
Revolutionary, but kind of crappy compared to Mario games. Rank lower.
Probably not ranked high or even on list.
Probably doesn't belong. This games are ambitious but too hit or miss.
Need to play this.
Another cult thing like Mirror's Edge or Dark Souls. Fans would rank higher. Don't play many Devil May Gaiden of War genre games but this stands out.
This'll rank higher than Oblivion likely.
Placeholder until I play Reach.
Placeholder. I have to play Fable 3 first to know.
Placeholder. On list, but have to finish it to know where.
Multiplayer and fake money reliances kind of spoiled this. Waiting a week in real life to play the next mission because you want to cash out your stocks really sucks.
As Last of Us, when I beat it it'll rank higher.
Very flawed, but so unique concept. Many, not me, but many would rank this very high.
This will be way higher on list. Need to finish it.
Just getting started on Demon's, but this is something many will consider this generation of console's standout game.
Same as Heavy Rain, ambitious, but not great enough to be a must play.
Brought fighting games back, and rescued the genre from terrible side stepping 3D, of which only Tekken handled well.
May not include PC games as they're timeless, and technically match PS4 & XBO in performance.
Read Starcraft.
