As such, I thought it fitting to offer a small tribute of sorts to a console that I've owned in some form for eight years, a little under a third of my entire life to this point. After some (like five minutes) deliberation, I decided to write a little thing on the five best games I played during each year of the console's existence. 2005 doesn't count since I didn't own one then and there's like 5 weeks worth of games anyway.
2006
5- Saints Row. Volition, Inc.In plot, it is infantile. In tone, it is sophomoric. Also, it had one of the great demos in the history of gaming.
4- Prey. Human Head Studios.
Inventive isn't a good word for this game, but it tried to do something different, even if that something different was buried under a pile of same.
3- Hitman: Blood Money. IO Interactive.
Blood Money is every bit one of those early generation console games that seems rather unsure of how to live up to the next-gen moniker outside of having better graphics. Still very fun and strange.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKbptWt_Qs4
2- Gears of War, Epic Games.
Is Gears of War a great series? I don't know, but in 2006 I could have been convinced so. One of the first great cooperative games of the generation.
1- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Bethesda Softworks.
Looking at it now, you'd never believe that Oblivion was once considered the best looking game that had ever existed. In early 2006, though? It was mind-blowing. It was the first next-gen game I ever saw, and it almost single-handedly sold me on the concept.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYuW77erTMw
2007
5- Guitar Hero III. Harmonix.Let's be honest: Guitar Hero is one of the stupidest things that was ever a gaming phenomenon. Have you ever watched someone play it? Damned fun, though.
4- Mass Effect. BioWare.
Compared to most games of its time, Mass Effect was ambitious in scope, depth and tone. It looks small and meaningless next to its successors, but it still has a cavalier sort of charm to it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIX49xC9rXo
3- Halo 3. Bungie.
Halo 3 might be a bad game. I played it far too much to tell.
2- BioShock. Irrational Games.
Most any other year, BioShock would hold the top spot. This is a game that worms its way into your subconscious. At this point, it's hard to envision what things would be like without it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3RHenh8vJ8
1- The Orange Box. Valve Corporation.
Throw out the fact that Half-Life 2 and its first expansion are in this. Just take the new games. You have the far superior second expansion, the sequel to one of the great online shooters in history, and perhaps the perfect distillation of the art form (those being HL2 Episode Two, Team Fortress 2 and Portal respectively).
2008
5- Dead Space. EA Redwood Shores.
Dead Space is a throwback to the halcyon days of survival horror, with one of the most immersive interfaces in the history of the medium.
4- Lost Odyssey. Mistwalker Studios.
Speaking of throwbacks, Lost Odyssey might as well be called Final Fantasy XI for how strictly it adheres to the turn-based formula. The last spark of a dying age.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6jfz9rhZpY
3- Gears of War 2. Epic Games.
Is Gears 2 any better than Gears 1? Probably not. But it wasn't any worse.
2. Grand Theft Auto IV. Rockstar Games.
GTA IV was spellbinding when it was released. It's still the best representation of New York in the medium, and one of the best in all of entertainment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M80K51DosFo
1. Fallout 3. Bethesda Softworks.
Staggering in its scope, execution, detail, impact and solitude.
2009
5- Left 4 Dead 2. Valve Corporation.
Essentially the same pretty enjoyable game as the year before, just in a weaker year.
4- Assassin's Creed II. Ubisoft.
I found it strange that ACII ranked up here given my dislike of the series, but this is its pinnacle.
3- Dragon Age: Origins. BioWare.
By all accounts a better game on PC still ends up pretty good here.
2- Halo 3: ODST. Bungie.
The shortest, smallest, and loneliest of the Halo games. Perhaps, in some ways, my favorite.
1- Batman: Arkham Asylum. Rocksteady.
The best superhero game ever created and probably the best Batman adaptation not to air on FOX in the early 90s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGk2z7KDCzI
2010
5. BioShock 2. 2k Marin
What seems like the least necessary sequel of all time proves itself more than just commentary on a superior product.
4. Halo: Reach. Bungie
Bungie says goodbye to its flagship with a game half maudlin, half memorial.
3. Fallout: New Vegas. Obsidian Entertainment
I know several people who prefer New Vegas to Fallout 3. I disagree, but I can understand their reasoning.
2. Red Dead Redemption. Rockstar
When people talk about Rockstar becoming a more emotionally mature studio, RDR is what they mean.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUXGW6sWYDY
1. Mass Effect 2. BioWare.
If ever a game series has improved more from one game to the next, I haven't seen it. ME2 is a monolith of gaming, and a wonderful tribute to visceral late 80s-early 90s sci-fi.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H__tnAFL3d8
2011
5. L.A. Noire. Team Bondi.
It's weird looking and barely a game, but a more thorough tribute to film noir I have never seen in gaming.
4. Batman: Arkham City. Rocksteady.
It loses some of the focus of its more linear predecessor, but Arkham City features perhaps the most detailed open world in gaming, and also allows for things like this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raPM-c-aEdU
3. Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Eidos Montreal.
No better example of the wonders created by perfect synergy between theme, art design and tone has ever existed, I think.
2. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Bethesda Softworks.
Skyrim is the reigning king of free-roam, narrative-through-random-chance gaming until whenever the next Elder Scrolls game comes out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKMiEGnJzhg
1. Portal 2. Valve Corporation.
Portal 2 is one of the funniest games ever created at the same time as being one of the most interesting, well-written and inventive. A masterstroke.
2012
5. XCOM: Enemy Unknown/Within. Firaxis Games.
A triumphant return from a franchise I could barely remember. I bought this game after seeing one gameplay video, and was never disappointed.
4. Halo 4. 343 Studios.
Equal parts radical departure and cloying tribute, Halo 4 does the impossible by not being rent asunder by its seemingly oxymoronical design.
3. The Walking Dead. Telltale Games.
Some would tell you that The Walking Dead isn't a game. That doesn't change the fact that it's great, and far and away the best thing related to this series.
2. Dishonored. Arkane Studios.
It's like an oil painting. With teleportation. And stabbing. And lots of rats. So many rats.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcSc4uBc3nQ
1. Mass Effect 3. BioWare.
Yes, I still think this. No, I don't care about a shitty ending or shorter missions. ME3 gets me, and also gets bonus points for having the most surprisingly great multiplayer mode ever conceived.
2013/2014
5. Dead Space 3. EA Redwood.
It should be evidence of how great 2011 was that the vastly superior Dead Space 2 didn't make it but this occasionally lackluster game did. Still, when it was good, it was better than either of the others. When it was bad, it was different.
4. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes.
Yeah, it's a 3 hour game. Yeah, it's basically a paid demo. I didn't mind (because I rented it). I am officially stoked for the main product.
3. Batman: Arkham Origins. WB
While it does do what everyone feared and play like an inferior expansion to Arkham City, no one ever explained why, exactly, that was a bad thing.
2. BioShock: Infinite. Irrational Games
In what will likely be the last BioShock game from Ken Levine, Infinite was polarizing, mesmerizing, disappointing, enthralling, surprising and ultimately, memorable. That's all I can ask.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLHW78X1XeE
1. Grand Theft Auto V. Rockstar Games.
Look at this game compared to GTA IV. It's almost inconceivable that they were released during the same console generation. What a generation it was.
The 50 Best Xbox 360 Games
50. Alan Wake
49. Left 4 Dead
48. Injustice: Gods Among Us
47. Brutal Legend
46. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
45. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
44. NBA 2k11
43. Max Payne 3
42. Resident Evil 5
41. Dead Space 3
40. NBA 2k12
39. Assassin's Creed II
38. Hitman: Blood Money
37. Dead Space- 2008
36. Dragon Age II- 2011
35. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes- 2014
34. Dead Space 2- 2011
33. Final Fantasy XIII- 2010
32. Gears of War 2- 2008
31. Batman: Arkham Origins- 2013
30. Gears of War 3- 2011
29. L.A. Noire- 2011
28. Dragon Age: Origins- 2009
27. Gears of War- 2006
26. Borderlands 2- 2012
25. Dark Souls- 2011
24. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion- 2006
23. XCOM: Enemy Unknown/Within- 2012
22. BioShock 2- 2010
21. Halo 3: ODST- 2009
20. Fallout: New Vegas- 2010
19. Halo: Reach- 2010
18. Mass Effect- 2007
17. Batman: Arkham City- 2011
16. The Walking Dead- 2012
15. Halo 3- 2007
14. Deus Ex: Human Revolution- 2011
13. Dishonored- 2012
12. BioShock- 2007
11. Batman: Arkham Asylum- 2009
10. BioShock Infinite- 2013
9. Grand Theft Auto IV- 2008
8. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim- 2011
7. Red Dead Redemption- 2010
6. Fallout 3- 2008
5. Mass Effect 3- 2012
4. Grand Theft Auto V- 2013
3. Portal 2- 2011
2. The Orange Box- 2007
1. Mass Effect 2- 2010
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