Image via Complex Original
Penning an obituary for a well-liked friend, who also happens to be attending the funeral, makes for an awkward line to the salad bar during the wake.
While the world looks forward to Sony's PlayStation 4 to replace the console shaped hole in the collective chests of gamers, now may be the time to remind the world that the PlayStation 3 isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Sony has stated on multiple occasions that they will continue to support the PS3 as long as there is support for the console. Sony supported the PlayStation 2 for nearly a decade after that console launched. Those final shipments were released in December of 2012.
With Sony's acquisition of the Gaikai cloud gaming service for a breezy $380 Million, past titles of the PS3 and PS2 libraries will (presumably) be available to play on the PS4. The cloud service will further extend the (virtual) life of some of the greatest titles ever released of the past two generations of video games. Hopefully we won't be forced to buy Shadow of the Colossus a third time.
While we may have to wade through the release title detritus of the PS4, savvy consumers know that an entire generation's worth of titles will eventually be reduced to bargain bin prices. It's been a generation filled with stunning highs and some memorable lows.
While list that contains cross-platform titles, the writers of this list experienced these games on the PS3 exclusively as opposed to PC or the Xbox 360.
Here are our picks for The Best PlayStation 3 Video Games of This Generation.
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Everyday Shooter
Year of release: 2007
Some people may not even remember the dinky little PSN indie game Everyday Shooter, but those who do know that it was a surprisingly addictive and fascinating experience. Made by indie developer Jonathan Mak, it combined a dynamic soundtrack with easy-to-love twin stick shooter controls for an experience that was good for five minutes or five hours of play. Everything from the graphics to the music itself feels handmade, but not cheap. Every projectile, enemy and explosion adds to the ever-changing soundtrack. It's hypnotizing in a way. If you've never experienced it, do yourself a favor and download Everyday Shooter.
Remember Me
Year of release: 2013
Remember Me will perhaps be remembered for the game it could have been, but that’s not to say it isn’t incredibly fun to play.
The gameplay is fresh; it doesn’t feel like anything you’re done before. Remember Me’s story revolves around the content of memories. Whoever controls memories can control what people think, what they buy, and whom they fight. The main character, Nilin, has the ability to change those memories. Combat is hand-to-hand and uses a simple system of custom combos and executions that – while uncomplicated – are incredibly rewarding.
As players complete combos the sound track of the fight will unfold; get hit and the song skips, the screen glitches for a second and you must restart the song. When executed correctly combat flows effortlessly and becomes a music video of kicks, flips, and holographic memory explosions. Sometimes Nilin must hack directly into enemies’ brains, rewriting their memories in a movie-like system of rewinding and changing small details in the environment until the memory is completely different and often a foe will turn friend instantly.
Play Remember Me because it’s a truly unique game, that’s incredibly fun and addictive. Above all the story is gripping and where most action-fighting games will feed you a ham-fisted afterthought story, Remember Me makes an effort to make players really care.
Bionic Commando: Rearmed
Year of release: 2008
Like Capcom's original, Bionic Commando: Rearmed is a great, old-school style action platformer with one big twist – you can't jump. Taking away the most basic of tenet of the platforming genre may sound like sacrilege, but trust us, once you train yourself to use your grappling mechanical arm to swing around a stage, it'll make you think about game design in ways you never have before. A new classic.
Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds/World Invitational
Year of release: 2008/2013
EA may rule the roost when it comes to most sports titles, but where arcade-style golf is concerned, we'll take Hot Shots Golf any day. The great thing about Hot Shots – aside from the relaxing feel and lushly rendered courses and club, ball and character options – is that it's just too much damn fun to put down.
Even if you don't know the difference between a birdie and a bogey, you can pick up this one up in less than five minutes. That said, Hot Shots inherent charm belies an insanely challenging game for anyone who wants to really become a master. We're sticking both the PS3 exclusive Out of Bounds and the Vita-PS3 cross World Invitational on here because, frankly, we can't get enough. Neither will you.
Guitar Hero: Metallica
Year of release: 2009
Rhythm music games were the biggest trend of the seventh generation consoles – Guitar Hero and its less charismatic, uglier brother, Rock Band, dominated the gaming industry in sales.
Then, the developers got a bit greedy. They flooded the market with hastily packaged, shitty titles, and within two years, the craze was dead. In the midst of this, however, was Guitar Hero: Metallica, and it represented the pinnacle of what a rhythm music game could be.
There was something about Metallica's music that just lent itself to Guitar Hero – the combination of speed riffs, wailing solos, and alpha male machismo made tracks like "One" and "Enter Sandman" so damn fun to play. Along with the unimpeachable soundtrack, the whole game had a dark carnival feel – the music was synched with some sick lighting effects, and the developers decked out each stage like a classic Metallica album. The Master of Puppets stage was covered in tombstones, and the ...And Justice For All stage came with a statue of Lady Justice, tipping scales and all.
Grimy, driven, and loud – this was rock music gaming done right.
MLB: The Show Series
Year of release: 2008-Present
Like it or not it's what you get as a fan of America's virtual pastime (No, we don't consider the MLB 2K series an "option").
Still, if you're stuck with one product it could be a hell of a lot worse. This isn't a token pick, it's more than worthy of our list. Though it has its faults it still simulates the game as well as any sports title on any system ever made. Road to the Show has also been the go to career simulation for diehards who lack the arm, the glove, the stick, the...you get the point.
To anybody who had to suffer through the pixilated mess that was High Heat or the home-run fest that was Ken Griffey Jr. Baseball, and still enjoyed them you now have an option that combines both sim and beauty.
Flower
Year of release: 2009
Before ThatGameCompany made Journey there was Flower, one of the earlier arguments for games delving into subject matter that dealt with actions aside from holding guns. Here you controlled the wind, gusting a series of flower petals through (mostly) tranquil natural landscapes that bloomed as you interacted with them. Still one of the most relaxing games ever – and since it's coming to the PS4 we'll soon get to enjoy it all over again, with upped performance.
Crysis 2
Year of release: 2011
Is this a dark horse choice? Almost certainly. Like a lot of shooters, Crysis 2 was saddled with a bananatown plot that barely hung together, yet somehow the gameplay variety and the deeply immersive world of an overgrown New York City kept you going through every stealth takedown of a CELL soldier and every over-the-top Ceph showdown. Yes: the game had (and has) wow factor because of graphics that remain impressive two years later, but it's about more than that. The options presented to the player by the nanosuit's Power, Stealth and Armor modes meant that each encounter could play out differently, with particular affection reserved for quickly uncloaking and ending a soldier before slipping back into invisibility while his comrades searched in vain.
In addition to variation in approach, the game's other hallmark is balance. Where Call of Duty or Battlefield are resolutely serious and modern and Halo is dedicated to sci-fi fantasy, Crysis 2blends these feels to produce something that engages both the horror and majesty of alien invasion and the more down-to-earth concerns of fighting human opponents. In the process, it presents surprisingly resonant set-pieces, like fighting a chopper dropping enemies down into a penthouse room with tall windows before you eventually take the helicopter down, sending it slashing through the walls.
What it all adds up to is one of the best-looking, best-playing, most memorable shooters of this console generation.
Fight Night Champion
Year of release: 2011
A poor boxing game can easily become a button-mashing fiasco, with both players trying to connect, by sheer luck, with the most shots.
Fight Night Champion combined strategy with arcade-like fun-there was a fantastic counterpunch system that required twitch-like reflexes, and for the first time in the series, there was complete punch control. Each punch type was mapped to a button rather than a joystick gesture, and this allowed for the player to reliably throw an uppercut or a haymaker in the heat of battle.
Champion captured the brutality of the sport – the realistic blood spatters and spurts, particularly in Bare Knuckles Mode, were almost too gross to look at – almost. Yes, Money May's greedy ass wasn't in the game - again. Screw him – with an online community that could build any fighter from the ground up, who needed his permission?
DmC: Devil May Cry
Year of release: 2013
Until recently, Devil May Cry had fallen on arguably hard times in the past several years, with no real attempts at bringing Capcom's famous stylized action series back from the limbo it occupied since 2008's Devil May Cry 4. Then out of nowhere Capcom handed the series' reins over to Ninja Theory, who revived Dante with a much-needed aesthetic makeover somewhere between early-20s Trent Reznor and Eurotrash '80s punk.
While sales didn't necessarily resonate with Dante's fresh new look – who knows where the series is going now that Capcom has basically re-committed to exclusively internal development – the highly polished gameplay, goth rave soundtrack and smart satire of consumer culture makes it stand out as the best thing that's ever happened to series. More of this, Capcom.
Super Street Fighter IV
Year of release: 2010
There are too many games under the Street Fighter name – there are puzzle games, endless prequels, and photo-realistic renderings, but for Street Fighter IV, the developers took a traditionalist approach.
Capcom stuck with the original World Warriors, and they embellished what we loved about 2-D fighting rather than reinventing our beloved franchise from scratch (or, even worse, going 3-D). Everything new in IV was a welcome addition to the franchise – there were Focus Attacks, which allowed players to perform timed counterattacks, and there were Ultra Combos, which allowed losing opponents to rebound in spectacular fashion.
Like all great, competitive fighting games, Street Fighter IV rewarded those who invested hours of gameplay, but remained accessible to those who just wanted to play casually. Super Street Fighter IV was the 'ultimate edition' of the 2008 Arcade – it tacked on fan favorites such as Cody and Dudley, it nerfed Sagat, and it had twice the number of Ultra Combos, which is never, ever a bad thing.
Siren: Blood Curse
Year of release: 2008
As horror titles have become less about fear than the breathless intensity of shooting your way through untold disgusting hordes, traditional scares have become harder to find, at least console-side. Before that trend was bucked, though, there was Sony's own Siren: Blood Curse which was interesting both an (ill-fated) foray into episodic gaming as well as a very traditional Japanese-style horror title. What's really scary about Siren even today is that the emphasis is on powerlessness, as you control multiple members of a TV crew desperately trying to survive while stranded deep in the Japanese countryside. Even now it's one of the best, most unique genre experimentations out there, and one you probably haven't played, either.
Burnout Paradise
Year of release: 2008
Lamenting EA's phasing out of the Burnout series is time well spent grieving. While Criterion and Ghost Games have effectively revitalized the Need For Speed franchise, many arcade racing fans still need their crashes-for-crashing-sake fix that only the Burnout games could provide. Burnout Paradise is one of the best in that sub-genre and its online mode is still active even today.
One sign of a great game franchise like Burnout is when fans can't agree on which installment is the best one. Burnout Paradise might lack key features from Burnout Revenge and Burnout 3: Takedown, but it easily makes up for those omissions with its a multitude of online options and open world design, a map still considered large by today's standards.
When Activision touts the 60 frames-per-second performance of its Call of Duty games, it's surprising that such expectations aren't similarly laid on the arcade racing genre these days. To replay Burnout Paradise is to reexperience how such a high framerate can go a long way.
Madden NFL 10
Year of release: 2009
Why Madden NFL 10 above all others? In a franchise that is often accused of rehashing minor details from year to year in order to justify its own existence, Madden NFL 10 stands apart. Thanks in large part to a creative shift at EA. With the introduction of Gang Tackling, Pro-Tak, and a nuanced, fluid running game, this felt like a return to form for the series. Much of the animation may look dated by today's standards, but the core mechanics and gameplay hold up surprisingly well.
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
Year of release: 2007
Usually video game developers habitually lie to you at every opportunity. But the back of the Tools of Destruction case says that it delivers on the long sought after experience of "playing a Pixar movie." And that's probably the best description of Ratchet and Clank on the PS3.
A Pixar movie. Where a lot of things die. The consoles only fully fledged Ratchet title was a platformer/shooter with RPG-elements and even some Starfox-esque space combat. The thing is, many games that try to be jacks of all trades flop at them all (see: Resident Evil 6), but Tools of Destruction masters them.
Any one of these concepts totally fleshed out could be their own games. Really, the only thing that sucked was the Sixaxis controls that early PS3 titles tried their best to push. Oh, and of course running out of levels.
Okami HD
Year of release: 2012
Forget Wind Waker – Okami is basically the Zelda you never knew you wanted. Based on Japanese mythology and crafted in a sumptuous art style that mimics sumi-e (traditional ink wash) paiting, this is a stunning 60 hour homage to Nintendo's great series, only starring a wolf. The HD re-release cleaned up this seven year old game's visuals until they were flawless, plus added Move support so you could cast calligraphy spells – yeah, that's a mechanic – in a natural way.
Puppeteer
Year of release: 2013
Don't forget that many of a system's best games are released right at the end of its lifespan, just before the next generation comes out.
Hence Puppeteer, a deceptively cute game that should by no means be written off. For such an adorable game, it sure does get dark. Example: you play a boy who's been turned into a puppet and had his head torn off. It's a side-scrolling platformer, but the whole thing is very surreal. Everything is made of paper or cardboard, and it looks like a puppet show. You're even armed with a mystical pair of scissors. Puppeteer is a refreshing and inventive title that's worth checking out before the PS4 starts taking up all your attention.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Year of release: 2012
The stakes were oddly high for Firaxis' reboot of the cultishly beloved PC strategy game. News of a first-person shooter re-imagining from 2K months before any word of XCOM: Enemy Unknown seemed to signal confusion and muddiness when it came to handling the original's legacy, but diehard fans of XCOM: UFO Defense never lost hope.
That hope was largely rewarded when the game was released. Although perhaps not as fiendishly unforgiving as the original -- at least on default difficulty -- XCOM: EU captured both the careful, lockstep strategy and the pathos of human loss that made the original so compelling. You thrilled over near misses from aliens and ground your teeth over errant shots from your own troops. Crack sniper shots could turn the tide of battle, while moving just one soldier too far could trigger a doomsday scenario for your hardy squad.
It's rare for a game built around shooting aliens to evoke such strong feelings of comradeship, but when a favorite soldier went down taking the underground alien base, you found yourself actually clicking over to your base's monument to fallen heroes and observing a moment of silence before getting back into the fray. Sure, the story kind of disintegrated towards the end, but by then you were likely too invested in your team of operatives to quit. XCOM: EU brought both turn-based strategy and a beloved franchise back from the dead.
A lot of what made it great was that you couldn't do the same for your soldiers.
Rayman: Origins
Year of release: 2011
Many of you may not remember Rayman's original adventures from back in the '90s, but for a long time the mascot character was simply forgotten. That all changed in 2011 with the out-of-left-field Rayman Origins a ridiculously fun and totally unexpected 2D platformer with jaw-dropping hand-drawn art that looked like the lovechild of a European Disney-style cartoon and, say, Ralph Steadman (Hunter S. Thompson's longtime art collaborator).
Origins is everything you love about platformers: great, engaging level design, a good challenge and the contemporary bonus of being able to beat the tar out of any of your co-op buddies sitting next to you on the couch – just for the sheer hell of it.
Crysis 3
Year of release: 2013
Lets face some facts here: the Crysis series isn’t really known for its storyline or its engaging gameplay. It has often taken second seat to other first-person shooters of the open-ish world variety. What Crysis is known for is its amazing graphics. You know what? Sometimes that’s enough. Perhaps Crysis 3 could fall into the “guilty pleasure” category but forgetting about the title wholly wouldn’t do it justice. The crazy high-level graphics of Crysis 3 may not make up for the string of shootout, run through corridor, another shootout game play but you’ll find yourself stopped dead in your tracks just looking at the game world. I think they call it art.
Dead Space 2
Year of release: 2011
As one of a number of gutsy new IPs EA introduced between 2007 and 2008, the first Dead Space was a rare thing: a Western developed survival horror game that matched the suspense and thrill of the best Resident Evil games, and to some degree, surpassed them.
Dead Space 2 is everything that one could ask for in a sequel: bigger, refined level design, better pacing, not to mention a darn disturbing opening chapter. That it exceeds the first game is an achievement in itself, given that the player has a better idea of the horrors he is getting into. Dead Space 2 offered more insight into the disturbing Unitology religion, and in the context of an expansive space station no less.
Seeing a Necromorph outbreak occur as it happened on the Sprawl was a notable contrast over the post-outbreak exploration of the UGG Ishimura from the first game. Lastly, the game addressed the segmented feel of the original game by doing away with the chapter-splitting train car rides by appropriately
COD: MW
Year of release: 2007
Regardless of where you fall on the spectrum of love/hate for the Call of Duty franchise, the first title that brought the series into the modern era is still a moment that needs to be recognized. The innovation, in terms of online community building, became the template for other first person shooters for years to come.
Resistance 3
Year of release: 2011
Resistance 3 is a grim fucking outing. Aliens have invaded (naturally) and basically wiped the human race off the planet. The war brief and decidedly not in our favor. When the first Resistance launched in 2006 alongside the PS3, it was a fairly enjoyable shooter that was dropped as a launch title. By the time Resistance 3 was released, the series had carved out an identity all its own and successfully married story, setting, and action.
Ico/ Shadow of the Colossus HD
Year of release: 2011
The game that put the "Ico" in Team Ico, Fumito Ueda's directorial debut was an amazing adventure game when it originally hit the PS2 in 2001, an otherworldly wonder of spare, atmospherics that also happens to be a touching love story. It still is. And in HD, this indie-feeling classic runs smoother and looks incredible, making it one of PS3's best. Bundled with Shadow of the Colossus, the double feature disc showed off everything Team Ico had worked so hard to accomplish.
The Final Fantasy Gap
Year Of Release: 2006-Present
Sony has long been defined by its association with Square Enix's biggest moneymaker, Final Fantasy. Yes, the series started out on Nintendo consoles, but once the original PlayStation came into existence, the FF franchise quickly came into their ranks. For the PS1, Final Fantasy VII acted as the flagship of the genre and, arguably, the console as a whole. On the PS2, Final Fantasy X wasted no time in establishing itself as the star child of the series for the newest generation.
But with the PS3, we've yet to see any Final Fantasy title make a noteworthy play at winning our hearts. Who is there to choose from? Lightning and FFXIII? How about...er, well, that's it. Awkward.
Look, maybe the series just needed to go on the backburner for a minute. After ripping off three titles each for the PS1 and the PS2, we understand if Square Enix felt like they were. But let's not forget: this is Final Fantasy we're talking about. This is the universe where Auron, Cloud Strife, Tidus, and just about any other notable RPG hero of the past 20 years made their names. This is the space where Nobuo Uematsu and Yoshitaka Amano and Hironobu Sakaguchi put together some of the best adventure stories the gaming world has ever seen.
The series needs new life. There's no doubt about it. But will the PS4 provide that boost? Can it? With Final Fantasy XV expect to find out whether the PS3's rocky relationship with the franchise was just an anamoly, or the beginning of the end.
Killzone 2
Year of release: 2009
In terms of console exclusives, the Killzone series has been one of the consistently visually fluid and dynamic shooters available on the PS3. Killzone 2 specifically was a gorgeous, if sometimes clichéd, FPS that was still immensely enjoyable in terms of its visual and graphical acumen.
Demon's Souls
Year of release: 2009
There was a point when being a hardcore gamer had lost its meaning. Modern gamers were spoiled by tutorials, checkpoints and auto-aim. Then Demon's Souls came out, and we began to remember. We remembered a time when games challenged us to get better before we could access their secrets; when games weren't trying to be interact movies-games are games, and they have strengths all their own. Demon's Souls' strengths are its crushing difficulty, its deep combat mechanics, its fascinating and dark fantasy lore, and its unique multiplayer. Its dedicated player base threw a well-earned hissy fit when its servers were almost shut down a few years ago, and they're still running strong to this day.
Grand Theft Auto IV
Year of release: 2008
What amazes us most about GTA IV is that so many people dislike it. Sure, on its initial launch, people went crazy for it. But as the years have passed, it doesn't seem to have the same impact as all of the other 3D GTA's before it. This boggles our minds, as Nico Bellic's story is probably the very best in the series...after GTA V's, of course. Before V, though, Nico's epic immigrant tale took a new, more depressing turn for the series and made us wade through a lot of misery to get to that ending. But wait, there's more! Not only did we get an amazing story with Nico, but with the brilliant The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony DLC, we got a much broader, more enriching GTA story than we ever had before. After V, it's our favorite GTA by far. Don't hate. Play it again.
Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection
Year of release: 2013
This one's a little bit of a cheat but we're letting it slide – Metal Gear's Legacy Collection collects Hideo Kojima's entire groundbreaking, wacky, labyrinthine (and yes, highly emotional) stealth series in one shebang, from the 1987 MSX original to 2008's MGS4. Aside from this being the quintessential Metal Gear collection – by which we mean required gaming for anyone who cares at all about the medium – the Legacy Collection also includes a couple of digital comics and a really cool art book.
Though the hundred hours of smart, highly engaging gameplay are more than enough to a secure a spot here for this PS3-exclusive.
Batman: Arkham City
Year of release: 2011
Rocksteady managed to accomplish a feat few thought was possible. First they made a Batman game worth playing with Arkham Asylum and then two years later, knocked down the walls and mad one of the most enjoyable sandbox titles ever. Stuffing Arkham City with more fan serice than any comic property turned video game before, Rocksteady left behind an enduring high-water mark of what could be accomplished with an officially licensed piece of property.
Guacamelee!
Year of release: 2013
With the advent of indie gaming in the current generation of consoles, we've been treated to some of the quirkiest, strangest, and most creative titles of the past five years as more and more publishers have been able to find their voice in the new market. Games like Super Meat Boy, Minecraft, and Digital: A Love Story have represented a new type of freedom for developers everywhere, and as more and more titles like these have cropped up, the results have only gotten better.
With Guacamelee!, Drinkbox Studios created an indie game that has already earned its place alongside the top titles of this recent movement. Whether you were taken by its Samurai Jack-meets-Day of the Dead aesthetic, the same-screen co-op mode, or its seamless style of combat, Guacamelee! grabbed you with the force of a luchadore's headlock, and kept you entranced the entire time.
If you haven't played this game yet, then don't delay any longer. We could all use a little more lucha in our lives.
Little Big Planet 2
Year of release: 2011
It's an unspoken rule that once you get big enough to get a go-kart/racing game themed after you, you've sort of made it. After Media Molecule released the first Little Big Planet, there was no way to know what sort of hermetically sealed terrarium of creativity they'd created. By allowing users to create, design, and share levels, the platformer truly found its voice with the second installment in the series.
The depth of user generated content available is astonishing and the series has been encouraging the dissemination of fan made levels for years now.
Mass Effect 2
Year of release: 2010
Cleaning up much of the first Mass Effects rough edges, Mass Effect 2 was an expansion and furthering of the already brilliant universe BioWare had built with the first title. Mass Effect 2 was another title that both 360 and PC owners were enjoying for a year before heading to the PS3. A huge cast of characters, fiercely tight scripting, and player choice all combined to create the best entry into the series.
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
Year of release: 2007
Anyone who was on the fence about the PS3 was easily swayed at the first site of Naughty Dog's Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. The action-adventure game looked like Indiana Jones and Crash Bandicoot had a baby (because that's essentially what it was), and that somehow translated into an incredibly compelling and cinematic game. Now Nathan Drake is etched forever into the halls of yore as one of gaming's most popular heroes. Just don't forget: there are many Uncharted titles, but the original is still very much the best. At least to some people!
Assassin's Creed II
Year of release: 2009
Assassin’s Creed 2 introduced a new slick free running system and ease of movement that would define the later series entries.
It corrected the problems of the first game while adding a new level of style to the series. The greatest part of Assassin’s Creed 2 was there was just so much to do. Players could embark on tons of side missions or invest in a failing town to act as a safe house. Why not spend some time hanging out with your pal Leonardo da Vinci in his workshop or maybe seeking out ancient Assassin tombs?
Above all Assassin’s Creed 2 takes place in an epically detailed historical world. Fantastically rendered yet assessable – you can easily scale most of those lovely buildings – while finding your perch for a flying hidden blade assassination. The game gives us lots of ways to play and pays off with making the player think they pulled off something all-together unique every time.
God of War III
Year of release: 2010
If killing one god was great then taking out a half dozen is, uh, six times as great. God of War III allowed you to ruin ancient Greece by piloting the biggest asswipe protagonist in gaming history, who continues to be mad at the world for something that's essentially his fault.
We know that in this console generation graphics were expected to be tight, period. But GOW III took it to the next level with a game that will (probably) look as good as some titles on PS4. The controls are great (a given) and the action is brutal (as in "pounding Hercules' head until it's a stump" brutal). It did its best to make you feel like the most powerful entity in the history of the universe. You chase down Hermes, you decapitate Helios and you throw around Poseidon like he's a little kid. It's the perfect release after a long arduous day of work in a cubicle, or after bombing a test.
We can't wait to see what they whip up for the PS4 and we're expecting the sequel God of War: Christianity, to cause a major uproar.
Heavy Rain
Year of release: 2010
David Cage’s Paris-based studio, Quantic Dream, has become renowned for creating intensely personal, cinematic experiences. With this year's Beyond Two Souls, Cage continued to push how decisions have lasting and permanent consequence.
Heavy Rain follows Ethan Mars after the death of his child and the emotional wreckage that follows. The game utilizes even the most mundane experiences and hangs a very real and tangible weight on those moments.
Far Cry 3
Year of release: 2012
Far Cry 3 will blow you away. It’ll leave you on the edge of your seat with the possibilities of a huge, open world while making you terrified to venture past the green wall into the jungles of death that await you.
Most impressively Far Cry 3 is able to meld the playing styles of open-world games with the first person shooter in a grippingly gritty way. Intense action and a great story overshadow the micromanagement players are sometimes faced with. Far Cry 3 has a ton of things to do: side missions, crafting, hunting, hours of exploring.
However the story missions are really where it pays off. Players can choose their own play style; heavy weapons or stealth, the option is yours. Above everything else the game is –simply put – beautiful; often disarmingly so. You’ll find yourself climbing the same tower over and over just to zip line down a hilltop you have easily walked to just because it’s so damn pretty. Far Cry 3 is also the kind of game where danger is always coming at you from all sides. If your enemies don’t kill you, the jungle will.
Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Year of release: 2013
Ni No Kuni was not Studio Ghibli's first foray into gaming but it certainly felt like their first official one. It delivered Ghibli's distinct art style and to experience such visuals in playable form was a rare treat. As a JRPG collaboration with Level-5, the studios could not have picked a more appropriate genre to showcase this art. It does follow the classic JRPG world map exploration of forest-desert-ice setting progressions, but Studio Ghibli's imagination adds a ton of freshness to the environments.
Of course, Ni No Kuni would not be half the game it ended up being, had it not been for the engrossing battle system. The combat has a bit of a Kingdom Hearts influence, but one where you can pause the action to plan your party's next moves. Players who aren't fans of captured monsters as party members should reconsider and try out Ni No Kuni. Many of the creatures hold their own in battle and discovering their skills through evolution was part of Ni No Kuni's appeal.
Fallout 3
Year of release: 2008
From the moment this sprawling RPG epic begins with your birth as a newborn, Fallout 3 was going to be remembered as something special. Set in the Capital Wasteland, the story is literally open to be experienced however the player chooses. The massive arsenal of choices, quests, and NPCs all made the time spent in the nuclear graveyard of the future one of the highest points of the PS3's long life.
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Year of release: 2011
The two biggest things Elder Scrolls V has going for it are scope and immersion.
The moment you're left at the smoking gates of Helgen with all of Skyrim's world spread out before you is both overwhelming and tantalizing. From the big -- the first time you kill a dragon with a well-placed arrow; your first encounter with an unexpected and terrifyingly vicious dragon priest -- to the small -- discovering a cloud of torchbugs in a lonely wilderness is a deadly spriggan; creeping through a dungeon while the clacking of skeletons' bones draws ever closer -- Skyrim is a game of moments.
Through a realistically convoluted political plotline and scads of fetch quests, the game engages you with the depth of its world and the ability of that world to surprise you. Dwarven ruins are supremely eerie in their hydraulic decrepitude, while the Throat of the World is bleak and howlingly cut off from the world below. Eventually, finishing the main storyline became immaterial. You met fascinating characters, explored wondrous places and defeated (or were defeated by) fearsome creatures.
As the moments stretched into hours and hours, Skyrim consumed your life and gave you back one of the most fully- realized worlds of this console generation.
iNFAMOUS 2
Year of release: 2011
While it didn't have the same sense of wonder and excitement as the first inFAMOUS, inFAMOUS 2 had enough going for it to make it a solid sequel to an already solid title. In fact, if Sucker Punch took any notion from superhero sequels, it was that bigger=better, as inFAMOUS 2 was a much bigger title, which worked both for and against it. What we really liked was the progression of story, as we still retained almost all of the powers from the original game and didn't have to start from scratch. That would have really sucked. We also dug the User Generated Content system, where we got to create our own missions. The "Festival of Blood" DLC was pretty dope, too. Overall, inFAMOUS 2 was a solid successor.
Here's looking forward to inFAMOUS: Second Son.
Journey
Year of release: 2012
After playing Jenova Chen's flOw and Flower, Journey feels like the most natural follow-up, stylistically and conceptually. As if lampooning the off-putting objective markers in first person shooter story modes, Journey bluntly reveals its ultimate destination near the beginning of the game. You're reminded of that mountainous goal throughout this trek as its peak is often within your northward field of view.
Journey has its challenges and hazards, but there's also a wealth of beauty to take in. Much credit goes to the exquisite camera work, which often accentuates dramatic drops, as well as one notable sand surfing scene against the backdrop of a blood orange sun.
The only thing better than to experience this solo to be unexpectedly greeted by another player undergoing the same journey. Everything clicks when one uses the game's limited move set to communicate to the other player, to point out puzzle solutions and give tips on how to surpass obstacles later in the game.
Portal 2
Year of release: 2011
Hiding in the guise of a puzzle game, Portal 2 manages to weave an interesting and compelling story through the use of very limited characters and repeated motifs.
Portal 2 does the job of any good sequel by easing the character into play then offering something brand new. Players get a chance out of the test chambers and view the monolithic and crumbling buildings that previously made up the madman-inspired, black-project funded, facility to reveal a vast underground mechanical empire.
So if someone asked you if you like puzzle games what would you say? Chances are, if you’re like many gamers, most traditional puzzle games don’t offer enough variation - much less story - to keep anyone interested. But Portal 2 at its heart is a puzzle game. What makes it different is the level of detail and variability built into those puzzles. The designers took great pains to make sure players wouldn’t get fatigued or bored with the levels. While the mechanics of, shoot portal, lift block, direct laser, may be simple the various ways they’re used is what really sets it apart. Each puzzle was meant to be solved in one way, players know this going in, they also can't help but feel like geniuses when they figure it out for themselves.
Where the original story of Portal was built around what Chell could see in her surroundings, Portal 2 pulls back to not only on the test facility but also on other characters as a way to tell a broader story. Players are literally dumped into Aperture Science’s depths to discover the darkly comic history of the company and its founder. Eventually forming a shaky alliance with an almost-human AI and again having to survive the deathtraps of the laboratories eventually gaining her freedom into an unknown land. The concept of not showing the player how to play but letting them discover it for themselves is far more fun.
Besides the narrative, it’s a great puzzle game that is so rewarding you might convince yourself you’re a genius too. Oh, and there is cake at end.
GTA V
Year of release: 2013
I'll admit: I'm not head-over-heels for GTA V's single-player campaign. I keep waiting for the series to deliver on the kind of rich storytelling possibilities first glimpsed in Red Dead Redemption, but instead the cultural commentary has grown brassy and stale, the potential of three intertwined leads undermined by mechanics that still mostly reward blowing shit up indiscriminately. I was, in fact, nearly ready to write off the game completely. And then I started playing Grand Theft Auto Online.
Even ripe as it is with bugs and glitches and problems, GTAO holds forth the real promise of the open worlds Rockstar has been crafting for so long. The full spectrum of humanity is on bold display, in all its obnoxiousness and kindness. You will be shot unceremoniously out of your car by assholes. You will be run over by jerks who gain nothing from it except another notch on their kill-death ratio. But people who are playing for that K/D ratio are misunderstanding it.
GTAO is at best a mediocre shooter but where it excels is as a genuine sandbox. It's a place to meet and team up with strangers and friends, to kill time in the frivolous pursuit of a luxury apartment or a new grille for your Sabre Turbo or a sweet new tattoo. There's a blossoming of online guides to tell you how to do everything with maximum efficiency, from making money to leveling up your strength (hint: you have to kick other players' cars, weirdly) to boosting your rank, but the beauty of the game is in the frittering, not the winning.
Whether or not it ever fully realizes its potential with new DLC that will include heists is almost immaterial. GTAO has kicked in the door to expansive, emergent gameplay, and it's not likely to be shut again.
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
Year of release: 2011
After the masterstroke that was Uncharted 2, even Naughty Dog was hard-pressed to meet, let alone exceed expectations for Nate Drake's last PS3 adventure. Yes, Uncharted 3's script could ran a little roughshod at times compared to the previous game, but thanks to some tweaks to the engine, the sheer technical wizardry Naughty Dog was able to pull off here more than makes up for any narrative shortcomings.No matter – Drake's Deception is one of the most rollicking, fun games of the generation, and its gargantuan set-pieces are among the most staggering interactive feats ever pressed to a disc.
BioShock
Year of release: 2008
The idea that PS3 owners almost never got the chance to play Ken Levine's original BioShock is a crushing 'what if'. In an August 2007 interview, Levine said that there was "no PS3 development going on" for the then momentarily Xbox 360 exclusive.
2008 finally saw the morally complex, politically turbulent world of Rapture brought to Sony's console. The game's a masterpiece and deserves every shred of critical acclaim it has received.
Red Dead Redemption
Year of release: 2010
In terms of making a sequel, Rockstar Games looked at Red Dead Revolver and deduced how to create a follow up that felt cannon, but retained an identity all its own. Red Dead Redemption is to Aliens is to Revolver's Alien.
The sequels share much with the original source material, but ultimately are defined by their much louder, much more explosive unique personas. Red Dead Redemption may have initially been written off as Grand Theft Auto on a horse, but the game offered something much more profound and spase than another GTA title. The Old West sandbox Rocsktar provided was one of the most gorgeously rendered environments a revenge story could have been set against. John Marston was a man that commanded loathing, compassion, and respect in equal measures and a character we hope to see return to consoles sooner than later.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Year of release: 2008
Finally, we got a Metal Gear that got the camera right without a re-release. It's easy to "stealth around" when you can see more than twenty feet in front of Snake (who's aged worse than Bruce Jenner). We also finally got a Metal Gear with a vast array of physical settings.
A virtual range of levels, from: South America (which felt like Snake Eater all over), to a giant battleship, to an amazingly well done return to Shadow Moses. After mulling it over for far too long, I can think of no moment in gaming that invokes a feeling of personal aging and nostalgia like approaching the heliport, hearing "The Best is Yet to Come" and realizing "Holy crap...that was ten years ago!"
Just realize it's not all over when Snake knocks out Liquid--er--Revolver--er--whomever, to a MGS greatest hits soundtrack. No, that's not a reference to the hard-on inducing fifth installment.
What we meant was the hour and two minute ending movie that attempts to wrap things up. Hey, it's still Hideo Kojima.
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Year of release: 2009
Upon closer inspection, one would have to try really hard to fail at the seemingly death-defying, literal cliff hanging opening of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. That still didn't stop the game's intro from being one of the most memorable scenes this generation. The game excelled from having a ton of similarly epic scenes, from the unbelievably extended train sequence that started in a jungle and ended up near the top of the Himalayas to the Nepalese chase where series hero Nathan Drake literally rode a falling building. Sure enough, those sequences heightened gamers' pulses all the more as both sections had tenacious gunships.
When planning The Last of Us, game director Bruce Straley and creative director Neil Drunkmann had an objective related to Uncharted 2, and that was to capture the rush of the Nathan Drake's tank chase through the village and emulate that feeling throughout an entire game. No, The Last of Us didn't feature a persistent tank, but it succeed in delivering a sustained rush, sort of a slow burn with an edge, much thanks to Uncharted 2.
The Last of Us
Year of release: 2013
Unlike some games, The Last of Us deserved every ounce of hype it received when it released earlier this year. Naughty Dog's character-driven epic will be remembered for a long time by a lot of players as one of the best games ever made. And rightfully so: the whole game has a surprisingly literary feel, despite the clichéd post-apocalypse setting. By the end, you'll care more about the characters than many people you know in real life. And that makes their failures even more difficult to accept. Oh, and you'll also get to bash a whole lot of fungus zombie heads. Yes, The Last Of Us is a true masterpiece.