An unprecedented run of video game excellence that began in June 2015 and only now is wrapping up an astonishing 42 months later(!!!) has forced me to reconsider my list of top ten video games. It was May of 2014 when I last ranked my favorites and just look at this list of monster games that have come out since then.
Summer 2015: Batman Arkham Knight
Fall 2015: Metal Gear Solid The Phantom Pain
Winter 2015: Star Wars Battlefront
Spring 2016: Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Summer 2017: Uncharted Lost Legacy
Fall 2017: Middle Earth Shadow of War
Winter 2017: Call of Duty WWII
Spring 2018: God of War
Summer 2018: Spider-man
Fall 2018: Red Dead Redemption 2
My guess is there has never been a string of so many awesome games debuting within 2 to 3 months of each other in the history of gaming. That list is insane! That's a three-and-half year run where an all-star game was released within three to four months of the prior all-star game (technically there's a long gap between Uncharted 4 and the next great game that came out after it, but Uncharted 4 was so good it basically counts as 5 games so the string still works). I played to completion all ten of these titles and among them were some goods, some greats, and critically to our top ten list, some legends. We'll get to the revised list, but first a summary of who's in, who's out, and a reminder of one key rule regarding series.
Three new games are entering the list: Red Dead Redemption II, Star Wars Battlefront, and God of War
Three games are leaving the list: Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy VII, and Red Dead Redemption
Note: to avoid repetition I've hidden the commentary from the 7 games that remained on this list from the first version. If you'd like to see any of those comments, click here.
(One rule to be aware of when reading this list. For games with sequels I've allowed myself to include only one of the series in this list. Otherwise known as the Uncharted rule, this provision prevents Uncharteds 1, 2, 3, and 4 from gobbling up 40% of this list. Now let's get to it.)
10. Star Wars Battlefront
It seems like this game shouldn’t be here. It doesn’t have a campaign. It doesn’t have much depth. The game’s primary act (aiming and shooting) isn’t as refined as what others in the genre like Halo or my recent favorite Call of Duty WW2 possess. But while the game mechanics aren't perfect, the atmosphere is. Every time I played it was like playing a movie. Star Wars Battlefront may be a one-trick pony, but my word did I love that trick.
9. Madden 2005
8. Goldeneye 007
10. Star Wars Battlefront
It seems like this game shouldn’t be here. It doesn’t have a campaign. It doesn’t have much depth. The game’s primary act (aiming and shooting) isn’t as refined as what others in the genre like Halo or my recent favorite Call of Duty WW2 possess. But while the game mechanics aren't perfect, the atmosphere is. Every time I played it was like playing a movie. Star Wars Battlefront may be a one-trick pony, but my word did I love that trick.
Perhaps I'm underselling the game a bit. The shooting is certainly fun (just not as fun as Halo), the sound is amazing (just not as amazing as Medal of Honor), and the maps are authentic to the source material while creative enough to support 40 players in the largest modes (just not as creative as Uncharted). But you know the cliche about the sum of the parts being greater than the whole? That is what's happening here. When you cobble everything together this is a fantastic game, one of only two or three multiplayer games that I'm content to play with or without buddies. Add in the movie atmosphere and this game climbs to the next level.
The last time I wrote about this game I mentioned all the memorable scenes I recreated ... taking down an AT-AT with a snowspeeder and harpoon ... massacring dozens as Darth Vader ... roasting tie-fighters in the Millennium Falcon. Since then I bought an expansion that allowed for the greatest vicarious experience yet: flying the trench run to blow up the Death Star. The closest I had previously come to recreating this most famous of movie experiences was by building a wannabe X-wing out of legos and flying it through the branches of our Christmas tree as a kid. This time was a little different.
In graphics and colors that were crisper than the actual movie, I navigated the narrow piping of the trench, avoided surface cannons, and dodged enemy fighters. My fellow X-wingers provided escort and cover fire. R2-D2 rode in the back. And then I fired the shots to blow the whole beast up. It was a short thing, a small part of a small expansion. But it was a moment! An unforgettable moment made possible by this unmatched atmospheric recreation, and while this game can't claim the title of deepest or most technically sound shooter of all time, it is one of the most fun, and certainly the only that has ever allowed me to fulfill childhood imaginations in 21st century glory.
In graphics and colors that were crisper than the actual movie, I navigated the narrow piping of the trench, avoided surface cannons, and dodged enemy fighters. My fellow X-wingers provided escort and cover fire. R2-D2 rode in the back. And then I fired the shots to blow the whole beast up. It was a short thing, a small part of a small expansion. But it was a moment! An unforgettable moment made possible by this unmatched atmospheric recreation, and while this game can't claim the title of deepest or most technically sound shooter of all time, it is one of the most fun, and certainly the only that has ever allowed me to fulfill childhood imaginations in 21st century glory.
9. Madden 2005
8. Goldeneye 007
7. Red Dead Redemption II
I’ve spent so much time thinking about what to think about Red Dead Redemption II that at times I’ve been as confused as you are reading this sentence. So let’s start with the obvious and simple: RDR2 is a masterpiece, an absolute all-timer of a game. But can we overlook the fact that this is a game about shooting guns with a control scheme that makes it really hard to shoot those guns? What in the world is up with that? How do you make a game about being a wild west gunslinger and have it be so hard that the user has to rely on auto-aim?
On the other hand, this is the greatest video game world ever created by an ENORMOUS margin. I haven’t played a game that comes close to this one whether we are talking about size, graphical detail, colors, lighting effects, weather impacts, desire to explore, or perhaps my favorite aspect of all, diversity of areas. Allow me to explain on that last point. There was a field I encountered near the very beginning of the game. Keep in mind there’s probably about 200 fields in this world and while I didn’t return to this particular area until about 45 hours later in the game, I recognized it instantly. In a game of this size it would be so easy to recycle looks and areas, and yet Rockstar made every area identifiable in it’s own way, and because of that I could avoid using the map every 10 seconds (which is the case with every other open world game). This immediately made the experience more immersive and realistic and enjoyable than any open world I've ever played.
On yet another hand, that desire to create an immersive world gave us way too many actions that felt unbearably slow. Opening cupboards, traversing snow, looting badguys, being forced to walk at elderly speeds when in camp or cities …it was brutal. As one reviewer described, the response times can be so slow that you feel like a movie director feeding inputs to an actor, then watching that actor play out that action on the screen. I eventually got used to the plodding nature of these actions, but I eventually got used to going to work for 8-hours a day too. That didn't mean it was fun.
But controls aren’t the only element of a game. In fact controls are only one part of gameplay which in and of itself is only one of the four pillars that make a game a game (the other three being story, visuals, and music). And even with wonky controls the gameplay is fun! It's still fun to rob stagecoaches even if you use autoaim. It's still fun to hogtie a Lemoyne Raider and feed him to an alligator even if it's hard to pull off. The core gameplay pillar still merits top marks regardless the controls issues.
As for the other three pillars? The story in RDR2 is top of class - it's trumped only by the Naughty Dog offerings. Arthur Morgan is probably the closest any character has come to reaching Nathan Drake levels of adoration. The visuals are flabbergasting. I took about 30 screenshots of this game and was showing them to my wife yesterday. At the end of the photo parade she said it felt like she had just endured one of my parents post-vacation, marathon photo sessions, but without the redeeming quality of seeing, you know, actual real life people and locations. Mocked though I was, I had to show her. They were that good! As for the music, well I've been playing the soundtrack every time I've had to shovel the driveway so there you go.
Yes the shooting was a disappointment, but when I was riding down that tree-lined lane at midnight with my entire posse in search of a kidnapped Jack Marston I sure didn’t care. When I tearfully bid farewell to Bronnie, that hill-climbing, gun-carrying, O’Driscoll-dragging, river-drinking, tree-crashing, carcass-toting, beauty of a steed I sure didn’t care. When I was in Blackwater staring off into the horizon, looking at a snow-capped mountain that seemed a hundred miles away yet was also somehow an accessible area of the map, I sure didn’t care. This game is wonderful, a 60-hour joy ride in an era of 20-hour campaign length games.
I’ve spent so much time thinking about what to think about Red Dead Redemption II that at times I’ve been as confused as you are reading this sentence. So let’s start with the obvious and simple: RDR2 is a masterpiece, an absolute all-timer of a game. But can we overlook the fact that this is a game about shooting guns with a control scheme that makes it really hard to shoot those guns? What in the world is up with that? How do you make a game about being a wild west gunslinger and have it be so hard that the user has to rely on auto-aim?
On the other hand, this is the greatest video game world ever created by an ENORMOUS margin. I haven’t played a game that comes close to this one whether we are talking about size, graphical detail, colors, lighting effects, weather impacts, desire to explore, or perhaps my favorite aspect of all, diversity of areas. Allow me to explain on that last point. There was a field I encountered near the very beginning of the game. Keep in mind there’s probably about 200 fields in this world and while I didn’t return to this particular area until about 45 hours later in the game, I recognized it instantly. In a game of this size it would be so easy to recycle looks and areas, and yet Rockstar made every area identifiable in it’s own way, and because of that I could avoid using the map every 10 seconds (which is the case with every other open world game). This immediately made the experience more immersive and realistic and enjoyable than any open world I've ever played.
On yet another hand, that desire to create an immersive world gave us way too many actions that felt unbearably slow. Opening cupboards, traversing snow, looting badguys, being forced to walk at elderly speeds when in camp or cities …it was brutal. As one reviewer described, the response times can be so slow that you feel like a movie director feeding inputs to an actor, then watching that actor play out that action on the screen. I eventually got used to the plodding nature of these actions, but I eventually got used to going to work for 8-hours a day too. That didn't mean it was fun.
But controls aren’t the only element of a game. In fact controls are only one part of gameplay which in and of itself is only one of the four pillars that make a game a game (the other three being story, visuals, and music). And even with wonky controls the gameplay is fun! It's still fun to rob stagecoaches even if you use autoaim. It's still fun to hogtie a Lemoyne Raider and feed him to an alligator even if it's hard to pull off. The core gameplay pillar still merits top marks regardless the controls issues.
As for the other three pillars? The story in RDR2 is top of class - it's trumped only by the Naughty Dog offerings. Arthur Morgan is probably the closest any character has come to reaching Nathan Drake levels of adoration. The visuals are flabbergasting. I took about 30 screenshots of this game and was showing them to my wife yesterday. At the end of the photo parade she said it felt like she had just endured one of my parents post-vacation, marathon photo sessions, but without the redeeming quality of seeing, you know, actual real life people and locations. Mocked though I was, I had to show her. They were that good! As for the music, well I've been playing the soundtrack every time I've had to shovel the driveway so there you go.
Yes the shooting was a disappointment, but when I was riding down that tree-lined lane at midnight with my entire posse in search of a kidnapped Jack Marston I sure didn’t care. When I tearfully bid farewell to Bronnie, that hill-climbing, gun-carrying, O’Driscoll-dragging, river-drinking, tree-crashing, carcass-toting, beauty of a steed I sure didn’t care. When I was in Blackwater staring off into the horizon, looking at a snow-capped mountain that seemed a hundred miles away yet was also somehow an accessible area of the map, I sure didn’t care. This game is wonderful, a 60-hour joy ride in an era of 20-hour campaign length games.
6. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
5. God of War
If you ignore multiplayer games for a moment my three favorite games of all-time are Uncharted 2, Metal Gear Solid, and The Last of Us. I consider this the Holy Trinity of my gaming lifetime, a group of games that is a tier above the others in this list, an untouchable trio. God of War made a valiant assault on that invincible threesome, and while it did not bypass any of the three, the game was so spectacular from start to finish that I have no choice but to expand from a trio of untouchables to a foursome of untouchables, or from a Holy Trinity to a Mount Rushmore I suppose. God of War belongs alongside these legends. It is in their league.
This was a game that’s opening moments were so bombastic and jaw-dropping and goosebump raising that its only peer is the train-climbing intro from Uncharted 2. I knew instantly, within 2 minutes, that I was about to begin something that few other games had ever managed.
I could talk about many things but let’s just go with the fighting, how the heavy cleave is my favorite move, but wait calling back the axe to slice through approaching enemies at just the perfect time is my favorite move, but then what about kicking dudes off of ledges and ripping guys in half and going into berserk mode and uppercutting guys into a launch position for a juggling barrage and what about when the axe is on the ground and you jump sky high and grab it in midair like an alleyoop and hammer through your enemy? And sheesh what about the blade attacks, and the shield attacks, and the Atreus combos, and the runics, and freezing guys? There are lengthy videos on Youtube showing combos that are like something out of Mortal Kombat.
Delivering a finishing blow with the heavy cleave for the first time is right up there with the first time I crafted a scissor infused two by four in The Last of Us. It's as fun as gaming gets. And that’s just one element of gamplay. I’m skimming over puzzles and explorations and boss fights just like I’m skimming over the story, music, graphics, or the clever idea of a draining lake revealing new map locations and everything else that makes this game a hands down Mount Rushmore inductee.
Oddly I didn’t even know this game existed until about 10 days before it came out. I had never played any of the predecessors. I had seen no previews. And thank goodness because had I known this hall of fame performance was coming the wait would’ve been unbearable.
Yet another few words on the Uncharted series. Picking a best game out of this foursome is impossible, much like picking a favorite testicle. As soon as I begin to type a sentence like, "Uncharted 4 is amazing because of XYZ" I instantly remember Uncharted 1, 2, and 3 possess similar moments that produce equivalent amounts of amazement. There's really no distinguishing between these. One is Jennifer Anniston, one is Blake Lively, one is Sarah Michelle Gellar, one is Marissa Cooper.
There's no way to go wrong here. So why does Uncharted 2 get the nod? I truly don't know. I can't say that the collapsing building and train ride of Uncharted 2 were any better than the plane explosion of 3 or the motorcycle ride of 4. I can't applaud the story of 2 without doing the same for the others. I guess that's why this is a favorite list and not a 'best of' list. Something undefinable about the 2nd round of this game notched itself into my heart more so than the other three, if only by a millimeter. What a series.
If you ignore multiplayer games for a moment my three favorite games of all-time are Uncharted 2, Metal Gear Solid, and The Last of Us. I consider this the Holy Trinity of my gaming lifetime, a group of games that is a tier above the others in this list, an untouchable trio. God of War made a valiant assault on that invincible threesome, and while it did not bypass any of the three, the game was so spectacular from start to finish that I have no choice but to expand from a trio of untouchables to a foursome of untouchables, or from a Holy Trinity to a Mount Rushmore I suppose. God of War belongs alongside these legends. It is in their league.
This was a game that’s opening moments were so bombastic and jaw-dropping and goosebump raising that its only peer is the train-climbing intro from Uncharted 2. I knew instantly, within 2 minutes, that I was about to begin something that few other games had ever managed.
I could talk about many things but let’s just go with the fighting, how the heavy cleave is my favorite move, but wait calling back the axe to slice through approaching enemies at just the perfect time is my favorite move, but then what about kicking dudes off of ledges and ripping guys in half and going into berserk mode and uppercutting guys into a launch position for a juggling barrage and what about when the axe is on the ground and you jump sky high and grab it in midair like an alleyoop and hammer through your enemy? And sheesh what about the blade attacks, and the shield attacks, and the Atreus combos, and the runics, and freezing guys? There are lengthy videos on Youtube showing combos that are like something out of Mortal Kombat.
Delivering a finishing blow with the heavy cleave for the first time is right up there with the first time I crafted a scissor infused two by four in The Last of Us. It's as fun as gaming gets. And that’s just one element of gamplay. I’m skimming over puzzles and explorations and boss fights just like I’m skimming over the story, music, graphics, or the clever idea of a draining lake revealing new map locations and everything else that makes this game a hands down Mount Rushmore inductee.
Oddly I didn’t even know this game existed until about 10 days before it came out. I had never played any of the predecessors. I had seen no previews. And thank goodness because had I known this hall of fame performance was coming the wait would’ve been unbearable.
4. The Last of Us
3. Super Smash Brothers Melee
2. Metal Gear Solid (PS1)
1. Uncharted 2 Among Thieves
1. Uncharted 2 Among Thieves
Yet another few words on the Uncharted series. Picking a best game out of this foursome is impossible, much like picking a favorite testicle. As soon as I begin to type a sentence like, "Uncharted 4 is amazing because of XYZ" I instantly remember Uncharted 1, 2, and 3 possess similar moments that produce equivalent amounts of amazement. There's really no distinguishing between these. One is Jennifer Anniston, one is Blake Lively, one is Sarah Michelle Gellar, one is Marissa Cooper.
There's no way to go wrong here. So why does Uncharted 2 get the nod? I truly don't know. I can't say that the collapsing building and train ride of Uncharted 2 were any better than the plane explosion of 3 or the motorcycle ride of 4. I can't applaud the story of 2 without doing the same for the others. I guess that's why this is a favorite list and not a 'best of' list. Something undefinable about the 2nd round of this game notched itself into my heart more so than the other three, if only by a millimeter. What a series.
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