Written By: Tyler Selig
Unless you’ve
been going out and having a life, which I don’t understand, you are aware Sony
and Microsoft are releasing their new systems next month. Sony went with the
tried, tested and true Playstation 4, while Microsoft opted to confuse the fuck
out of people by calling theirs the Xbox One.
So with the Wii U already out,
and these systems on their way to world domination, I reckon now is a good time
to give my favourite 50 games of this generation. I’m only going to include
console games, so only PS3, 360 and Wii are represented here.
And if this blog ever got
readers, I’m sure some of you will be annoyed by my choices. I definitely
follow popular opinion on some games, but I have included games on here that
probably no one else would ever include on a Top 50. But that’s the fun…
different opinions. I know the internet doesn’t take too kindly to that.
There are some things that
bother me about my list. For as many games as I have played, there are games I
know would have made it here, that I just didn’t play. Sorry to those games. I
will play you some day.
I intend to put up an article
each day, with ten games each day, so this is a big five day event. Woo hoo.
Let’s do this.
50: Kane and Lynch: Dead Men (PS3, 360)
Maybe Kane and Lynch is not a
game most people would pick. I understand that. I don’t think it got great
reviews, and even my friend said the controls felt weird. To me, the game plays
like the old Conflict games (not Denied Ops, that game sucks), and those have
always been “guilty pleasures” of mine, if I believed in feeling guilty about
liking things. So I was used to the controls.
While I don’t like the sequel, I
thought the first one is an underrated shooter. It doesn’t bring anything new
to the table but sometimes shooting is just fun, and the relationship between
these two makes it interesting.
I think more people should give
Kane and Lynch a fair shake. I’m aware I probably like it more than most, but I
stand by it. It almost didn’t make the list but I have to show it love.
49: Deathsmiles (360)
Deathsmiles was a game I knew
nothing about but I took a chance. I’m glad I did, because what I found was a
wonderful side-scrolling shooting game that is colourful and intense. Maybe it’s
because you don’t often see retail games tackle this kind of genre – as it’s
mostly indies that do it these days – but it was a breath of fresh air for me.
It’s well made, with a lot of style.
48: Lost in Shadow (Wii)
Lost in Shadow takes a genre as
old as games (platforming), and adds an interesting twist. You play as a
shadow, so instead of jumping on solid objects, you jump on the shadows of said
solid objects. It doesn’t seem like much but I felt that it changed up the
genre enough to make this stand out, and it made me think a little more about
where I was jumping.
Though people criticize the Wii
for not having good graphics, I think Lost in Shadow succeeds in something more
important: visual design/art style. It’s a pretty game because they took care
to create an interesting world.
My only dig is the insane amount
of backtracking later on. If it weren’t for that momentum killer, I would have put
this game higher than I did. This is one of those special games that should be
included in “most overlooked games” years from now.
47: Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
While I don’t think Mario Kart
Wii stands up to some of the older Mario Karts, and I’ve been a little bit
tough on it, I’ve decided that my disappointment was due more to the
outstanding quality of previous games, and not a dig on the game itself.
I have criticisms, but an
average Mario Kart is still a great game. The one thing I do love about the
game is the steering wheel packaged right in. That’s a great touch.
Mario Kart Wii does change
things up a bit, so while it wasn’t the huge jump up that I wanted, it’s still
wonderful.
46: Catherine (PS3, 360)
Catherine is another breath of
fresh air to me. A game that, at its core, is about a relationship… ends up
being much more than that. The story is a little messed up, and it helps that
you can affect how it plays out. I was into the story from the moment I started
a new game, and I wanted to see what would happen next.
But it’s not just a story-driven
game. No, it does everything else really well too. It does a lot of things
well, from the music to the graphics, but above all else, the game is just fun
to play. It’s a puzzle game but the gist of it is that you just have to climb
up blocks. It doesn’t sound like much but it can be pretty intense, especially
at bosses, and it’s something different.
45: Alan Wake (360)
Alan Wake is a great survival
horror game. While it isn’t as good as Silent Hill (when it’s at its best),
this is still great. The most important aspect of it is the story, but it does
get the scares down as well.
I also am a fan of some of the
music choices it picks to end the episodes with, such as Haunted by Poe. I
marked out pretty hard when I heard that song because I love it.
44: Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon (Wii)
What a sad, sad Wii game. I’m so
glad I bought it though.
It’s an RPG, and it’s another
overlooked game, though I feel some of the better Wii games are overlooked because
Nintendo didn’t market some of these very well.
Like Lost in Shadow, sure, the
graphics aren’t great, but the visual design is amazing. Fragile Dreams has
such a rich, lonely world, that it’s easy to get lost in it and feel something
as you play the main character, a person who has to travel this world, mostly
alone. It’s a gripping tale.
The one issue is that while I
think weapons breaking is a good mechanic that should be left in the game,
weapons break too much, to the point it becomes a chore to play at games. So
this is the one thing that keeps it from getting a little higher.
But I stand by Fragile Dreams as
being one of the better RPGs of the last decade.
43: Mirror’s Edge (PS3, 360)
I’m glad Mirror’s Edge is finally
getting a sequel because it deserves it.
You take a look at it and you
think, “Oh, a first-person shooter with a weird colour palette,” but you’d only
be partially right.
I agree that it has a weird
colour palette but it hits the dystopian feel so well because of it. It doesn’t
look like other games. The colours also make it easy to spot where you can
jump, which is important because this is what makes it different.
Mirror’s Edge penalizes you for
shooting, and urges you to run. Because of this, the game is fast-paced and
thrilling. You can disarm guards, but you do it mostly just so they don’t shoot
you so you can run away.
You don’t get many games like
this these days, and it should be embraced for that reason.
42: Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 (PS3, 360)
Admittedly I was never a massive
Ninja Gaiden fan. I definitely enjoyed the crushing difficulty of the NES
games, but I wouldn’t include them in my favourite games of all time.
It took me awhile to play the
modern versions of the series. They aren’t side-scrolling platformers anymore,
they’re really hard action games.
It does what these types of
games need to do to be successful. The combat is difficult but deep, and each
fight seems like a struggle. You can’t just button mash (not that there’s
anything wrong with that gameplay choice), you have to try each time or you
could die.
41: Limbo (360, PS3)
Limbo
creates a dark world full of intrigue. It’s not a long game, but it does what
it sets out to do. It transports you to a mysterious, menacing place, and you
have to platform your way out of the situation. The ending is a nice touch.
Well people, that’s it. What do
you think of these games? Let me know in the comments how stupid you think I
am. Until next time, thanks for reading.
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