Tag: Games of the Generation

Don’t Try To Dig What We All Say: Trey’s Games Of The Generation Pt. 2

Check out Part 1 of the list here.

Metro 2033 (Xbox 360)

While working for GameStop, one upshot was that we sometimes came across titles that might have gone unnoticed. A few examples include Demon’s Souls, The Saboteur, and Metro 2033. Erich gets full credit for checking it out initially, but he quickly brought me into the fold. Metro takes the Eastern post-apoc sensibilities of games like STALKER and streamlines the experience into something more akin to Resistance. The atmosphere is unbelievable, and the story managed a unique twist: There’s a “moral choice” system, but the game literally never offers an explanation on what choices affect the outcome, or even lets on that there are alternate endings.

Mirror’s Edge (Xbox 360)

I’m not going to defend this game against its detractors anymore; it had flaws, and certain gameplay mechanics that made is completely impossible for some gamers to enjoy. For my money, though, few games have ever brought the same rush that comes with getting all the moves on a big run exactly right or reacting on pure instinct during the chase sequences. I’m very excited for the sequel, though my fingers are crossed that the developers will keep firearms far, far away from Faith.

Portal 2 (Xbox 360)

“Oh hi, how are you holding up? …because I’m a potato.”

“*Clap, clap, clap*… oh good, my slow-clap processor made it into this thing. At least we have that.”

“Ha! I like your style; you make up your own rules just like me. Bean-counter said I couldn’t fire a man just for being in a wheelchair – did it anyway. Ramps are expensive!”

“Those of you who volunteered to be injected with praying mantis DNA, I’ve got some good news and some bad news: bad news is we’re postponing those tests indefinitely. Good news is we’ve got a much better test for you: fighting an army of mantis men. Pick up a rifle and follow the yellow line. You’ll know when the test starts.”

Red Dead Redemption (Xbox 360)

If Grand Theft Auto is Rockstar’s bread-and-butter, then Red Dead is the five-course meal they were preparing that bread as an appetizer for: It is graphically beautiful, exceptionally well-written, with nearly flawless gameplay, and set in an unbelievably detailed world nearly overflowing with features. On top of all that, there’s a free-roam multiplayer mode that to this day is more entertaining than GTA Online. Plus, Red Dead actually had co-op missions at launch!

Rock Band (Xbox 360)

When my friend Adam got his 360 two months ago, one of the first things I did was bust out my Rock Band instruments and haul them over to his place, immediately installed all of the songs from Rock Band onto the drive to play in Rock Band 2, and finally bought a half-dozen of our favorite songs from the marketplace. That game is seven years old at this point, Adam actually plays bass, we’re both South Park fans (you know which episode, don’t even pretend), and yet to this day kicking on the star-power hitting a perfect solo in “Everlong” still feels bad-ass.

Shadow Complex (Xbox 360)

Beth gets all the credit for this one; she downloaded it while I was at work one day, and had it mostly beaten by the time I got back. It’s a Metroid-style 2D explorer, so there were still countless items and upgrades to collect, and secrets to find, and multiple playthroughs to be had. Owing to some fantastic mechanics and genuine graphical prowess, Shadow Complex helped establish that the Xbox Live Arcade was something to be taken seriously.

‘Splosion Man (Xbox 360)

Apparently, my going to work enticed Beth to find all sorts of awesome things on the Live Arcade that summer, as ‘Splosion Man followed right after Shadow Complex. The single-player was challenging and fresh, but it was the seizure-inducing mayhem of co-op that really made this a stand-out title. It’s rare that a game where you and your friends fail so frequently – and often because of each other – only gets more fun as the body count stacks up. Plus, everybody loves doughnuts!

Thomas Was Alone (PC)

I doubt anyone is surprised to see my 2013 Game of the Year on this list, considering how much I raved about the title in two separate articles already. The fact remains that in a generation where annual releases became the norm, “resolution” and “frame-rate” were discussed ad nauseam, and publishers slapped “HD remake” on everything within arm’s reach, Thomas and his friends captured my heart with impeccable gameplay, an incredible soundtrack, and the best narration this side of Bastion.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PlayStation 3)

Uncharted 2 is the single best game I have ever played on my PlayStation 3, and that includes Metal Gear Solid 4. It is inarguably the single best action-adventure title I have ever encountered, and is one of my top ten games ever, period. From the breathtaking opening – dangling off a cliff, clinging to a crashed train car – to the touching ending as Nate comes to grips with his love for Elena and his fear of clowns, Among Thieves delivers the greatest Naughty Dog title to date. Yeah, it’s way better than The Last of Us. Deal with it.

The Walking Dead: Season One (Xbox 360)

My review should tell you all you need to know if you still haven’t experienced Telltale’s masterwork adventure game for yourself; luckily for everyone, it’s also now available on next-Gen consoles! Similar to Thomas Was Alone, The Walking Dead made player-driven storytelling a priority over everything else, and delivered that story through genuinely emotional voice work and a visually arresting art style. Never has there been a character I’d rather look in the eye and shake hands with than Lee, or one I’d rather give a hug to than Clementine.

Wii Sports (Wii)

Who knew that a single disc, packaged in a simple cardboard sleeve, could lead to the sale of more than One Hundred Million Wii consoles worldwide over the last decade? I realized that Nintendo has the best first-party lineup of any existing console manufacturer, but the fact of the matter remains that Zelda isn’t the reason my grandmother briefly knew how to use a Wii remote. From weekly living-room bowling leagues to some of the most intense doubles tennis matches ever experienced, Wii Sports inserted itself into the social consciousness in a way most AAA titles can only dream of.

Damn, the past eight years have been pretty fantastic for games, and I genuinely hope things only get better from here. If you’re interested in what this new generation has to offer, I highly suggest checking out each contributor’s Game of the Year 2014 picks here on the site. Of course, you could also use this as a checklist and see if there’s anything big you’ve missed; most of these titles should be available for bargain prices. You could also just play Thomas Was Alone.

January 21, 2015
Don’t Try To Dig What We All Say: Trey’s Games Of The Generation Pt. 1

A little over a year ago, the powers-that-be in gaming decided that the time had come, and released the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One, bringing to a close the longest console “generation” in gaming history: Seven years for the PlayStation 3, eight for the Xbox 360. This nearly decade-long era saw major shifts in the video game industry and its consumer base: Microsoft rose to new heights thanks to great first-party titles and Xbox Live; Sony handily won the new optical media fight as Blu-ray rose to prominence over HD-DVD; and Nintendo opted to fight on their own terms by releasing the Wii on unsuspecting consumers worldwide.

The “console wars” raged on… sort of. As people who grew up playing games got older, started families, and began earning “grown-up” amounts of money, it became commonplace to have more than just one console in the house. Hell, I can’t think of a single friend with even a passing interest in games who didn’t own at least two systems, and most households had all three present. Exclusives still exist, but the majority of titles (including many of those on this list) are now cross-platform at launch, or “timed exclusives” that eventually ended up on every platform.

Thanks to that, this list is not limited to just one system from the past generation, though I did tend to play more things on the 360. This list is in no way meant to be “comprehensive;” there will be things missing that you might have included, or things I included that you might have hated. I’m not claiming these are the best games from the past generation, or even that these are my absolute favorites. When I think about the last eight years, though, these are the titles that stand out most sharply.

Assassin’s Creed (Xbox 360)

No, I don’t mean the entire franchise, though the Ezio trilogy is certainly one for the ages; I mean Assassin’s Creed, the much-maligned, admittedly imperfect first entry in the series. Many people may have forgotten that this blockbuster gaming giant started off as a PS3 exclusive, and after the reveal trailer, I was ready and willing to spend $500 at launch. The mission structure got a little repetitive, but watching Altair go from a real asshole to a real assassin was genuinely moving, and the open-ended free-running inspired greatness in later titles such as Infamous and Sleeping Dogs.

Battlefield: Cad Company 2 (Xbox 360)

Of all the games on that list, I don’t know that any approach the return-on-investment provided by “Bad Co 2.” We played the single-map beta for this game all night, every night while it was active; the full game consumed weeks’ worth of our lives over the next year; and the Vietnam expansion pulled us back in well after the fun should have run out. For me, this game is the standard by which all other multiplayer shooters are judged, and found wanting. Find me another game where “ram the objective building with a tank until it collapses” is a legitimate strategy, and then we’ll talk.

BioShock Infinite (PC)

I struggled at every turn with which BioShock game to put on this list, and it wasn’t until I was writing these blurbs that Infinite cinched the win. I still think the original has better atmosphere, the supporting characters are stronger, and Rapture still kicks Columbia’s ass in terms of environment. As a representation of this past generation, though, I think Infinite stands above its predecessor, because when you get right down to it, it is a better game. The relationship between Booker and Elizabeth maintains perfection from start to finish, and in my opinion is far more worthy of accolades than the title’s admittedly muddled metaphysical elements.

Borderlands (Xbox 360)

Erich literally had to trick me into playing this; after nearly a week of bugging me about it, he came over under some pretense, installed it on my 360, and shoved a controller in my hands. Six (maybe eight?) hours later, he finally managed to get the disc and leave for home, despite my protestations. For weeks after that, it was almost impossible to get a copy in Tuscaloosa, as anyone with a friend and a console snatched them up. I know the sequel is seen by many as some sort of co-op mecca, but for me Borderlands will always come back to fighting Nine Toes (he also has three balls) in split-screen at 4 am.

Dead Space (Xbox 360)

I have one word: Fear. Few pieces of entertainment have ever instilled in me the fear that the first Dead Space managed. Playing it became a catch-22, trying to balance my desire to keep going with the almost physical dread that came with being in Isaac’s boots. The next two iterations were greeted with mixed feelings and open hostility, respectively, but I don’t think anyone would deny that the original helped break new ground in horror. On some level, games like Amnesia and Outlast owe their success to Dead Space, just as Dead Space built from the foundation established by Resident Evil 4.

Fallout 3 (PC)

I own the collector’s edition of Fallout 3 on the 360, lunchbox, bobble head and all; I even used a friend’s GOTY edition disc to install all of the extra content. It wasn’t until I picked it up this past summer on a Steam sale, though, that I really took the time to appropriately explore the Capitol Wasteland. The game is still captivating: The landscape is simultaneously beautiful and desolate; the characters are appropriately realized; the sheer amount of content is staggering; and finally, the number of nods, homages, and references to all things sci-fi warmed my insides. The moment that still sticks with me the most is when I snuck up behind a feral ghoul sitting near a fire, took him out, and searched him to discover that his only possession was a teddy bear. It was heartbreaking.

Far Cry 3 (Xbox 360)

Beth and I received Far Cry 3 as a very generous gift from her parents, but it came at a cost. After we each unwrapped ours on Christmas morning, her mom sat us down and pointed out that the cover prominently features a man holding a gun, a person buried in the sand, and dead bodies hanging in the trees; she then read the laundry-list of reasons the game is rated Mature by the ESRB. After acknowledging that we were adults, and could make our own choices about what to play, she politely wrapped up with, “I don’t know if there will ever be a ‘Far Cry 4,’ but I can guarantee you it won’t be under this tree.”

Gears of War 2 (Xbox 360)

I knew I would have to buy an Xbox 360 after playing the first Gears of War at a LAN / System Link party in my dorm; I had to be physically restrained from going to Wal-Mart that very instant after my first chainsaw kills. Gears of War 2 only improved upon that formula, with Horde mode being the best inclusion by far. Few cooperative experiences match the thrill getting everyone settled into the right location and rhythm during the early waves, only to have everything fall apart at the claws of a well-placed ticker. It only gets better when one person, alone and out of ammo, manages to finish the wave using nothing but the stock of their shotgun.

Halo 3 (Xbox 360)

There is not a game on this list I am more ambivalent about at times, or one I have said more terrible things about in the heat of the moment. I picked Halo 3 up at midnight, played some multiplayer, and then finished the campaign in one sitting after everyone else had logged off and gone to bed. I hate the story, yet have played the campaign multiple times, and some of the set-pieces still get my heart pumping. The multiplayer options opened up by Forge are staggering, and we still played custom games (Said the Liar!) for hours at a time years after release.

Mass Effect (Xbox 360)

I had no interest in Mass Effect when it came out. Our friend Oz got a copy the first day, then convinced Erich to play it, and several months after the fact I borrowed it and decided to give it a chance at their insistence. I play for six hours, and the next day was overjoyed to discover that a store nearby still had a collector’s edition in stock. To this day, I feel the Mass Effect series is the closest we’ve gotten to games that genuinely capture the spirit of something like Star Trek, and the vast galaxy exploration still impresses with its sheer size.

Metal Gear Solid 4 (PlayStation 3)

I bought a PlayStation 3 to play this game; in fact, I bought the system bundle that included the game. I’ll admit that the cutscenes can get both tedious and extraordinarily silly, but the core gameplay and story remain true to the excellence that is Metal Gear Solid. I could write pages about this game, but all that needs to be said is that the opening moments of your return to Shadow Moses brought tears to my eyes. Those tears evaporated shortly thereafter, of course, when I found myself using *(@^ing Metal Gear Rex to fight Metal Gear Ray as building crumbled around us.

January 14, 2015