Alright so the next gen has been here for a couple of months which makes the Xbox 360/PS3 era officially last gen. With that in mind I thought it would be fun to look back over the last generation and name my favorite games. Sure, it isn’t dead yet and there are still some cool things coming out for it but it is not likely that we are going to see a best of generation title showing up from here on out. It is important to mention that these are my opinions based on the games I played across the entire span of the generation and they are games that were important to me personally and represented my favorite experiences on a great system generations. This is not a list of the objective best games but rather my favorite. If you want to debate, agree or disagree, do so down in the comments and let us see your top ten favorites as well. Obviously, these are not the only games I like so if you are pissed that the Last of Us isn’t on here then you need to calm down and realize that it was an amazing game that is definitely in my top 20 but not my personal favorite top ten. If it is in yours, great, share that with everyone and talk about why. Just remember that there are no right or wrong answers and personal attacks over preferences are stupid.

10. Walking Dead: This adventure game from Tell Tale Games not only offered up a compelling story, game play and characters but it also did the Walking Dead far better than the TV show has come close to managing. The game looks gorgeous with a cell shaded cartoon look that is enormously gritty and provides convincing facial expressions and animation which becomes fairly important as you go through the story interacting with the characters. The game play itself is basic and somewhat sparse but the interactivity in the conversations and the frantic action, when it happens, is gripping and full of surprises. This game is a question of quality over quantity and the game play is a tool to convey an amazing interactive story with characters that the player gets involved with and cares for. There are some glitches and technical issues but the rest of the game is so strong that these issue don’t ruin what is an amazing gaming experience.

9. Assassin’s Creed II:  A diamond in the rough of a series whose quality game to game looks like an EKG, Assassin’s Creed II is a beautiful proof of concept with excellent controls, excellent graphics, a compelling main character, a story that makes less sense than it should and is even more interesting than that. Assassin’s Creed II was a perfect example of listening to gamer criticisms and fixing issues that were problematic to make a game that delivers on a great concept with a perfect balance of game play styles with characters that are worth something. Other games in the series have been worse and almost as good but none have really reached the level of this. Assassin’s Creed IV comes pretty close but I am biased because I love pirates but this is the template they should be using for this series and with the latest in the series being excellent it feels like they are.

8. Uncharted 2: An unlikely improvement over the first game given just how good that one was, Uncharted 2 is pretty much perfect. A game that really shows off the power of the PS3 with absolutely gorgeous graphics, Uncharted 2 improves the controls and ratchets the story up as well with an even better tale than the first expertly told and performed by the voice actors and cut scenes. The action is broken up with amazing set pieces that need to be seen to be believed an it achieves a level of zen with the shooting and climbing an a combination of both that feels amazing while playing. There is some weird unevenness with the difficulty here and there but in general the game is very well balanced an feels amazing. If you haven’t played this, it is worth it to pick up a PS3 and run through it.

7. God of War 3: God of War 3 was the first GOW game on the PS3 and it upped its game accordingly. The game play was largely unchanged but that is because it was pretty much perfect as it was. GOW 3 added some weapons and mechanics that enhanced the basic play the perfect amount and the balance of standard action, quick time events, platforming and set pieces. The boss fights are amazing, the graphics are great and the story is straight forward and compelling. Kratos’s rage drives the game forward and his brutallity hits fever pitch without making him unlikable. Celebrity guest voices round out the experience with high quality acting and makes the whole thing feel polished to a shine. God of War 3 remains the best entry in the series and is yet another reason to get a PS3 if you haven’t had a chance to play it yet.

6. Bioshock: As much as I loved Bioshock: Infinite, the original Bioshock set the stage and knocked players on their ass. Steeped in political philosophy and retro science fiction that isn’t quite Steampunk, Bioshock gave us a meaty story with solid FPS mechanics and strains of survival horror that was maybe a tad on the easy side but the story progression was worth it. It is easy to dismiss the twist now but at the time it happened it really threw players for a loop and changed they way we looked at our protagonist and storytelling in games. Bioshock was an amazing experience with a deeper level of resonance that your normal experience. It also set the stage for a new level of interacting storytelling afterward.

5. Dragon Age: Origins: One of the more controversial additions to this list, Dragon Age: Origins brought the storytelling and character interaction to the forefront with a truly great conversation system. The level of interactivity is taken up another notch with having to balance the favor of your companions to make sure you have the best possible support heading toward the end game. Brimming with content, there are tons of different outcomes depending on how you play and the decisions you make throughout the game and they are all very different and all mean something. DA:O has problems with game play and action that weren’t ideal and plagued with glitches an issues but, for me, the story and character interaction was the real meat of the game. I grew to really care about the characters and felt the experience deeply even if the graphics are not the best either. DA:O is not for everyone but for people who care more about character and story than action an graphics it is an amazing experience that should be more often emulated than lamented.

 

4. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: The latest in the consistently impressive Elder Scrolls series Skyrim upped the ante with hundreds of hours of game play with two high quality expansions as well as Hearthstone, Skyrim offers a ridiculous amount of content with the best combat engine yet and a massive variety of different ways to play. Player choice is key here as your character is molded by how you choose to play. Classes are thrown out the window and skills and abilities are determined by what the player does naturally making customization and choice as intuitive as they are vital. The world is huge and the mission types are varied and will keep you playing long after most games are sitting on the shelf collecting dust.

3. Mass Effect 2: I love the Mass Effect series. I love the first one and I love the third one but while both of those had issues to deal with, Mass Effect 2 got just about everything right. I missed some of the characters from the first game but the new characters introduced were just as compelling and the game play was tweaked an enhanced to be perfect. The things that annoyed me in the first game were fixed and new systems were introduced to make more a more well rounded experience. The action changed from point and shoot RPG style to a one to one aiming system. This caused controversy among RPG purists but the game was still an RPG at heart and offered up expanded character interactions and a story just as compelling as the first with added twists and turns. Mass Effect, as a series, is an amazing experience and the second entry is by far my favorite. It also has Mordin doing Rogers and Hammerstein and that is amazing.

2. Batman Arkham Asylum: The first game to truly nail the Dark Knight, Arkham Asylum put Batman in a contained environment in an impossible situation and the player had to sort it out using a well rounded collection of his skills and abilities. To my estimation, Arkham Asylum is a perfect gaming experience and I prefer it over the expanded sequel. Arkham City was incredible as well but I prefer the claustrophobic atmosphere of Asylum as well as the desperate story that would stray into survival horror if you weren’t playing as Batman. Given the balance of game play and covering all the bases of his skill set, this game makes you feel more like Batman than any other I have ever played. With top notch voice acting including Kevin Conroy as Batman and Mark Hamill as the Joker, this is the definitive Batman game as far as I am concerned and is my hands down favorite of the series so far.

1. Red Dead Redemption: The spiritual sequel to Red Dead Revolver, Red Dead Redemption delivers an open world western story with the most compelling and satisfying story I have ever played in a video game. Always moving and exciting, John Marston’s quest to take out his old gang to secure freedom from prosecution for himself an his family is exciting and heartbreaking from beginning to end. With twists and turns that the player doesn’t see coming and side quests that expand the world, there is nothing better narratively on the last generation. Add to this game play with the perfect level of polish and mechanics that work exactly as they should while satisfying on every level and you have the best game of the generation. And that isn’t even mentioning a fun multi-player. The voice acting is amazing with an excellent lead performance by Rob Wiethoff and the graphics are amazing. The music is top notch and has been in heavy rotation on my ipod ever since I played the game. Without a doubt this is my favorite game of the last generation.

There you have it. Share your list and comments below!