FEATURED The Best Games of the Current Generation [Community Poll]

[Janus67]

My List:

Mass Effect 2- Incredible game, nice mechanics, great upgrade system and missions. The character development was incredible. In the last mission I lost 3 men, and 1 was my favorite crew member (the assassin), and I actually felt slightly sad.

Mario Galaxy 2- Amazing game, tons of fun, an insane amount of maps, great game

Super Smash brawl- Was a great game with a tone of characters, and I remember playing this with 3 other friends at a friends house.

Assassin´s Creed 2- It was quite innovative at the time. Graphics were stunning. The story was incredible and long. I loved the feel of the city and the characters. Just awesome. Plus u got to fly Da Vinci´s machine.

WoTLK/Zelda Skyward Sword/Bioshock Infinite/Last of Us- All amaing games and I can not really decide. WoTLK was the first WOW instlment that I played, and I barely played the following ones. Zelda games are great and this was no exception (not nearly as good as Mahora´s Mask, but that game is impossible to beat). The later two are recent. Bioshock has a great story with an epic ending and good characters and gameplay. Last of Us has all that, but the character development does not compare to anything I have seen. I felt attached to the protagonists.

Nice picks, SSBB was a great game between me and my friends.


Also, side note for anyone else that played WOW:TBC, this brought back some super nostalgia.

I can't believe the soundtrack is 9 hours long, and how many different songs they made for each zone and subzone.

 

[dfonda]

PC....#1 Mass Effect 2....Jack I miss you....Not since Diablo 2 did I do 3 consecutive play through's...The 2nd to save everyone...The third just for love of the characters! In ME3 I played through it perfectly and wouldn't have changed a thing.
Far Cry 3, Batman Arkham city, Honorable mention SR3 and FO3.

PS3...#2 Red Dead Redemption(Great Story) Possibly one of the best hunting games of all time as well! and I'll go with AC Brotherhood...though AC2 just as good. I should have stopped at Brotherhood. I made the mistake of getting AC3...and it ruined the franchise for me....

 

[MunkyTOS]

i greatly enjoyed super smash brothers and melee but i feel like their changes in brawl really ruined it for me. not to say it wasnt a good game but if it had been anything other, the mechanics would've felt fine. realizing quickly how many good games i've forgotten over the years seeing these posts, mass effect series is a very worthwhile series to go through.

 

[fornoob]

#1 Castlevania Lords of Shadows - Xbox 360: completely different gameplay from the "traditionnal" Castlevania but very good work!
#2 Torchlight 2 -PC: even better than Diablo 2 IMHO, Hardcore Elite mode is SO much fun
#3 Dark Souls -Xbox 360: slightly better than Demon Souls which was great too.
#4 God of War 3 -PS3: still haven't finish my speedrun on it, exploits are so numerous and fun to see I can't get bored
#5 Mario Kart double dash - gamecube: I know it's 2003 but you can play it on Wii which came after 2005 so it counts I never saw a racing game with such deep gameplay except my #5 ex-aequo
#5 ex-aequo F-zero-GX - gamecube: the best game when I want to finish with a tendonitis due to too much snaking, spamming, etc

Btw, nice thread!

 

[Ronbert]

My top 5

• Call of Duty 4(Xbox 360/PC-2007) - Spent many hours on this game. Enjoyed it's over all balance. Nothing futuristic about it, just guns and explosions.
• Battlefield Bad Co. 2(X360/PC-2010) - Enjoyed the map sizes and vehicle gameplay.
• The Last of Us(PS3-2013) - Loved this games story and gameplay. Solid game.
• Rainbow 6 Vegas 2(X360/PC-2008) - I didn't sink as many hours into playing this game as I did into customizing my characters. Many days I think to my self "This is a good fps, if only you could customize like Vegas 2".
• World of Warcraft - TBC(PC) - Sunk hundreds of hours into all the WoW games combined. Loved these classic MMORPG's.

 

[Xeon_KI]

Wow:BC/lich king, played since launch in 2004 like it was my second job. these 2 expansions didn't slow me down a bit.

Borderlands 2, Borderlands 1 was amazing and 2 was just that much better. The look and feel are near perfect and matched well with the over the top story and humor.

Age of Empires III, one of my favorite RTS' of all time. Played countless amount of matches both against and with friends.
I enjoy base building and sitting back when I play RTS' which is why the Age of empires series was always one of my favorites.

NHL 11(ps3), While NHL 10 introduced the Be a GM mode, which is my favorite part of the game, 11 introduced many key features to the mode.

COD: WaW(ps3), more specifically, Der Riese map in Zombie mode. Soooo many hours and zombies wasted.

 

[fcomstoc]

My first vote has to be for World of Warcraft, I have never played a game that contains so much content or can consume so much of my time. It has been over 3 years since I started playing it, and I still see no end in sight. I am now on about 15 or so hours a week but at one point I was on there at least 60 h/w. The single and multiplayer elements are great and there is always something to do). Best expansion - ICC (Lich King)

My second vote has to be for Halo 3 (Xbox 360) - this game introduced me to the multiplayer world. I still to this day have never played the single player (campaign) sections of this game.

Goldeneye (N64) - Love this game, multiplayer/singleplayer/and cheat options are awesome. I spent many hours as a kid playing this game.

Command and Conquer series (PC) - greatest 3rd person games ever made - played Red Alert all the way to Zero Hour - which I still occasionally play with my co-workers at the office.

Last vote has to be for Need for Speed series - personally I find these fun.

Honoralble Mention - Decent (PC)

 

[Janus67]

My first vote has to be for World of Warcraft, I have never played a game that contains so much content or can consume so much of my time. It has been over 3 years since I started playing it, and I still see no end in sight. I am now on about 15 or so hours a week but at one point I was on there at least 60 h/w. The single and multiplayer elements are great and there is always something to do). Best expansion - ICC (Lich King)

My second vote has to be for Halo 3 (Xbox 360) - this game introduced me to the multiplayer world. I still to this day have never played the single player (campaign) sections of this game.

Goldeneye (N64) - Love this game, multiplayer/singleplayer/and cheat options are awesome. I spent many hours as a kid playing this game.

Command and Conquer series (PC) - greatest 3rd person games ever made - played Red Alert all the way to Zero Hour - which I still occasionally play with my co-workers at the office.

Last vote has to be for Need for Speed series - personally I find these fun.

Honoralble Mention - Decent (PC)

Thanks for adding to the thread, I'd like to point you to the 'rules' for the thread:

• PC Games don't directly have a 'generation', so we will need to use a cut-off year. For the purpose of this poll I figure we should begin in 2005 - the year the first of the current generation of consoles (Xbox 360) launched.
• There were many series/sequels to come out during this cycle. For that reason I would request only a single game of a series/trilogy be picked per person, as I'm willing to bet one stands out above the others in your minds.
• Opinions of what makes a game great can be very subjective. The game does not need to create a new genre or do something entirely new, but instead may perfect a formula or may simply provide a very short but memorable experience. The games also may not have sold millions of copies but can still be a critics/fan choice.

Since Goldeneye, Command and Conquer (included as a series), and Need for Speed is just listed as a series.

If you can pick out games that fit into this generation (2005+) and specific games of those series (that fit into the time frame), that would be great!

 

[EarthDog]

Donde esta el poll?

 

[Janus67]

Donde esta el poll?

Good question!

I need to get the submissions into a spreadsheet to start counting up and get those totals at least posted in the OP.

 

[fcomstoc]

Thanks for adding to the thread, I'd like to point you to the 'rules' for the thread:



Since Goldeneye, Command and Conquer (included as a series), and Need for Speed is just listed as a series.

If you can pick out games that fit into this generation (2005+) and specific games of those series (that fit into the time frame), that would be great!

Janus, sorry for the mistake,

I guess it is necessary to remove my vote for command and conquer (2003) and goldeneye(1997) and need for speed, although I did like most wanted - but not enough to add it to this list.

In their place I will add Diablo III, Portal, and Battlefield III - making my list -

WoW - specifically ICC (Lich King)
Halo 3 - XBOX 360
Diablo III - PC
Portal - XBOX 360
Battlefield III - PC

Thanks again.

 

[Janus67]

Thanks for the updated list!

I have completed the collection so far in the OP!

Will try to find a better way to display it than in the form it is currently in, but for right now that'll do.

 

[Pvt.Dancer]

You have battlefield 3 listed twice in the op list

 

[Janus67]

 

[MongGrel]

Yeah I'm getting old too.

I'd personally say Star Wars Galaxies was on of my favorites for a long time, till SOE killed it with the CURB thing and crushed everyone that had made Jedi at that point and the game become a complete wasteland in like one night with the buff houses gone and people leaving in mass.

Was one of the stupidest marketing things I'd ever seen.

I've never played a SOE game since.

 

[Squadfer]

Yeah I'm getting old too.

I'd personally say Star Wars Galaxies was on of my favorites for a long time, till SOE killed it with the CURB thing and crushed everyone that had made Jedi at that point and the game become a complete wasteland in like one night with the buff houses gone and people leaving in mass.

Was one of the stupidest marketing things I'd ever seen.

I've never played a SOE game since.

+1

I LOVED SWG, definitely preferred it over WOW.. I ended up trying to stay to the day they shut down the servers but that proved to be a challenge as it sure was a ghosttown...

 

[MongGrel]

+1

I LOVED SWG, definitely preferred it over WOW.. I ended up trying to stay to the day they shut down the servers but that proved to be a challenge as it sure was a ghosttown...

I left way before they shut the servers down I think but yeah I missed that game after they cut it's throat.

I used to like LOTRO too actually the way they've been dragging it out over time. I'm still thinking about trying out Helms Deep out as I still have several high levels there that haven't had out in a long time and looks the PVP might be interesting there as it looks they might put it in for real.

I need to read up on that a bit...

For longevity and making things halfway interesting Turbine has really did a number with that one.

 

[benbaked]

I'll give another vote for Mass Effect 2, that game was outstanding! It had such a great flow to it and excellent story, fantastic characters, and the DLC was pretty good too (particularly Lair of the Shadow Broker). Few games can engross me to the point where I play it with every free moment I have until its finished, ME2 was one of those games. Definitely one of my favorites.

 

[Jart]

So many things to consider.

Last week I played Portal and Portal 2. Wow just fantastic. I preferred P1 over P2, maybe because Portal was first experience and just eye opening. I have not played P2 co-op yet.

My pick for Best Game of the Current Generation is Skyrim. The main reason being other than great game play is that the game, or should I say engine is so malleable. This is a great gift to the PC community by Bethesda.

 

[KurtBlanken]

#1: My pick for #1 game of all time, Game of the Year Every Year is, without a doubt, Team Fortress 2.
When it first came out it was a very good arcade shooter. The class system with unique weapons was great, but the emphasis on team gameplay is what really sold it. It differentiated itself from every other shooter in most of the ways imaginable. The art style makes it look great from min to max, and with a little config editing can be played on pretty much every computer made since 2005. Then updates happened.
Now each class can be played multiple ways, there are several new map types, the Halloween updates make the game festive and fun every year, and Mann vs Machine introduced an entirely different type of game. The Mannconomy update recreated what in-game transaction means, and every single virtual game economy has lineage in TF2. The Steam trading system itself started inside of TF2. The ever fun characters have been expanded upon and feature backstories along with their endearing and psychopathic personalities.

Well, I guess I have a couple other votes.

#2: Super Mario Galaxy
This game did the impossible: it brought something new to 3D platforming at a time when that genre was passe. It brought the best visuals of the year to a console which whose graphical capabilities were mocked. It brought a story to a Mario game. (Dat storybook)
(Looks like I need to get around to finishing the second one since everyone and their mother thinks its better than the first.)

#3: Minecraft I don't think any best of list can ignore the impact this has had.

#4: Saints Row: The Third
I gave up on ever trying to finish playing GTAIV a month before I started this one. There's no comparison, really. (Clearly I have to catch up to the latest installment.) Open world games are fun again.

#5: Batman: Arkham City
While its predecessor was good, this one was fantastic. Christopher Nolan's greatest dream is to make a movie half as good. It has my favorite brawling and stealth mechanics of any similar games. The grapple hook was executed flawlessly. Additionally, this game features perhaps our last ever performance of the Mark Hamill/Kevin Conroy duet.

Honorable mentions:
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
I started playing, and the next thing I knew it was two weeks later. This was by far the most approachable Elder Scrolls game, depth be damned! While it had a level of polish Bethesda has never known, I have a feeling that the best Elder Scrolls game is yet to come.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: The Shivering Isles. If expansions counted as full games, this would be my entry for The Elder Scrolls series. The main quest is interesting for once, and there are cool unique weapons.

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. If you want the touch, if you want the power, this is the game that will give it to you. A veneer of the 1980s over the top of Far Cry 3's polished combat mechanics makes it better than the game in the first part of the title.

Cave Story This doesn't belong on the list because the free PC version was released before 2005, even if retail versions were not.