Stephen's Top 10 Games of the Past Generation
Posted by Stephen Lambrechts (follow me @Slambrechts)
Ahoy Maniacs! To celebrate the end of the current gaming console generation (and to welcome this new generation) each of the editors at Neon Maniacs.com decided to write about their favourite games released during that time! We'll also throw in some discussion of some fun extra stuff, too.
We've seen Wade's list, and Dan's list, so now it's time to see Editor-in-Chief Stephen's choices. So, without further ado...
TOP TEN GAMES OF THE PAST GENERATION
10.) The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Bethesda Game Studios’ game Oblivion set the standard for fantasy RPGs with its bright and vividly realised world of knights, elves, goblins and other crazy fantasy shit. Its follow-up, Skyrim, infiltrated pop culture in a bigger way, but I will always prefer the bright and sunny world of Oblivion over the Viking-inspired, snowy world of the series’ fifth instalment.
9.) Gears of War
At the time, Epic Games' Gears of War was the game that really kicked off the next generation of gaming visuals. With absolutely stunning Unreal 3 Engine graphics, excellent and refreshing 3rd person cover shooting gameplay, a cast of meaty characters right out of a Cannon film and a motherfucking chainsaw bayonet, Gear of War was absolutely badass.
8.) Street Fighter IV
What can I say? The Street Fighter series is my favourite gaming franchise of all time, and Street Fighter IV was brought into the polygon age without losing any of the things that made it great, but rather improved on them with new special systems. Bringing back the original cast from Street Fighter II was also a stroke of genius on Capcom’s part.
7.) Halo 4
While it was sad to see series creator Bungie hand off the reigns to its holy Halo series, it couldn’t have gone to a better studio. 343 Industries not only nailed Halo’s signature gameplay and world, it also brought the graphical presentation up to the ‘best of the generation’ league, and even gave us a more emotional story, with Master Chief trying desperately to save his one true friend, the A.I. entity Cortana.
6.) Burnout Paradise
A long time fan of the Burnout racing series, Criterion Games stepped up its game by transporting its crazy, drift-heavy, crash-filled arcade racing gameplay into the open world setting of Paradise City and nailing it in the process. Playing online with friends was just the icing on the cake.
5.) Rock Band
Harmonix started the fake instrument gaming trend with its Guitar Hero games, and then perfected the shit out of it with Rock Band. The feeling of hanging out with mates on the weekend, singing and playing all of the instruments in a band in unison, is very special. It also lets you feel like a rock star in the comfort of your living room. We'll just pretend that Green Day: Rock Band never happened.
4.) Red Dead Redemption
While Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto series consistently receives much more hype and many more accolades from critics, it’s very rare that I meet someone that doesn’t consider Red Dead Redemption to be the company’s masterpiece. The Wild West has never been better or as well realised in gaming than it was here (well, except for maybe Custer’s Revenge). The adventures of John Marston felt weighty and dramatic, the open world felt realistic and natural, and the feeling of traveling around on a steed was fantastic. Add to that one of the best video game endings ever, and you have one hell of a game, cowboy. Also, the José González song that kicks in as you ride your horse into Mexico is straight up magical.
3.) Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Naughty Dog’s Uncharted series is a wonderful blend of old-school adventure movie excitement, with modern gameplay sensibilities. Drake and the rest of the game’s characters are delightful, probably the most likeable in all of gaming, and the second game in the series improved on everything that made the original a standout. The story was bigger and more personal, the set pieces were more spectacular, and the balance of combat and platforming was wonderful. While the third game in the series has, in my opinion, more memorable set pieces (young Drake, the cargo plane, the burning house, the sinking ship), the experience was dulled slightly by being too combat-heavy and feeling too guided. The second game, though? Perfection.
2.) Mass Effect 2
The Mass Effect trilogy is one of the best in all of gaming, and the second game in the series, is where developer BioWare perfected its formula. While the first game laid an incredible foundation, BioWare took the hard sci-fi and RPG elements it had already established and fused them with rock solid 3rd person shooter mechanics inspired by the Gears of War series. In short, it was the perfect mix of action, drama and sci-fi fantasy. The reason I rank the middle entry the highest, is because I felt that your actions had more of an impact to the story’s outcome than the polarising trilogy-closer, Mass Effect 3.
1.) Assassin's Creed II
A ridiculously tough call to make, and slightly out of left field, but it is the game this past generation that I’ve never been able to shake off. Whether it’s the way that Ubisoft Montreal managed to take every single complaint about the lacklustre first entry in the series on board, and then address them magnificently, the way that it replaced the soulless husk of Altair with new and charismatic lead character in Ezio, the setting of Italy and all of its various cities, a country very close to my heart, the renaissance era it took place in, the epic storyline that brought even the Pope in on the action, or the Prince of Persia-esque dungeon/tower areas that lent the game an old-school charm, Assassin’s Creed II is the series’ crowning achievement. While Ubisoft would eventually run the character and setting into the ground in follow-up games, the power of this game cannot be diminished, and that is why Assassin’s Creed II is my favourite game of the generation.
Honourable Mentions
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – No Russian. One of the past generation’s defining moments.
InFamous 2 – An overall improvement on Sucker Punch’s original super hero story that is super polished and very fun.
Darksiders – Like Zelda, but for people who moved on.
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings – If Oblivion is the Lord of the Rings of fantasy RPGs, then The Witcher 2 is the Game of Thrones.
Bioshock – The underwater city of Rapture is one of the most original settings in a game ever.
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West – Ninja Theory’s best game had great characters and story.
Condemned: Criminal Origins – The scariest game ever, in my opinion.
Fallout 3 – Bethesda Game Studios’ next game after Oblivion was also awesome.
Portal 2 - Hilarious and brilliant.
Grand Theft Auto IV - GTA all grown up, and better for it. Liberty City is an amazing creation, and Niko Bellic was, too.
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon - Fucking awesome and practically built for this site's interests.
Top 10 Games We Forgot Came Out This Past Generation
The Outfit - I think it was a clothing simulator, or something.
NBA Street Homecourt - What it's REALLY like in the hoods of Baltimore.
Def Jam: Icon - I remember you could give Sean Paul a beating, so that's good.
Hail to the Chimp - I don't even remember what the fuck this was.
Legendary - Errr.... a lil help?
Lair - Like Panzer Dragoon, only shit.
Viva Piñata - That game where you make papier mache animals fuck, or something.
Wheelman - That game where Vin Diesel plays Jason Statham.
Rise of the Argonauts - Yep, it existed. Check Wikipedia.
Tom Clancy’s Mickey Rourke Simulator - An all-out assault against pig farmers.
Best Soundtrack of the Generation
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon - Absolutely perfect representation of the Neon Renaissance in full effect.
In Memoriam
Tony Hawk: Pro Skater
Guitar Hero Fight Night NHL 2K
LucasArts
So there you have it folks! Hopefully we'll have a couple more articles like this to come from a couple of other editors, but for now: What do you think of Stephen's choices? Tell us in the comments below!
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