After the closure of the 360 marketplace at the end of July, we take a look at my favourite titles from the generation that cemented my love of video games. From Late night multiplayer sessions with the troops to single player epics that linger long in the memory, here is my top 10.
Honourable mentions: Fallout 3, Bioshock, GTA IV, Far Cry 3, Deus Ex, Dead Space and DJ Hero
10. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
This could have easily been further up the list and if you told 13 year old me how low this is ranked, he would have slapped me. Countless hours of fun with friends who have long since left gaming behind, custom private matches for bragging rights, the journey to 10th prestige, nearly a month in total playtime. This was truly a genre defining game for FPS multiplayers. The story was fantastic too, with all Ghillied up still remaining one of the greatest COD missions of all time. An easy call for the list but some titles have just aged a little more gracefully.
9. Gears of War 2
Words can't express just how staggering Gears was back in the day. A truly epic story, Jaw dropping graphics for the time, massive set pieces and a MACHINE GUN WITH A CHAINSAW. The sequel made everything bigger and better, raising the stakes, improving the multiplayer experience and letting us revisit the characters that won our hearts in the original. The 3rd person perspective along with revolutionary cover mechanics made everything feel snappy and gave combat a truly gritty feel, even when it made big upcoming fights predictable as you wander into an area with cinderblocks handily dotted about the place.
8. Left 4 Dead
Younger me would never have had this higher than COD but absence truly makes the heart grow fonder. Over a decade later and attempts to recapture the magic with a sequel and another spiritual successor in Back 4 Blood, nothing topped the original. A chaotic zombie shooter where the end goal is as simple as reach the other side, sounds simple but it was anything but. Every run was like a roll of the dice, with bosses appearing in different places every time, teamwork was always essential which made it a blast with mates or randoms then there was the vs. mode. Players could control any of the Zombie bosses and attempt to stop other players from reaching their end goal, making for some truly hilarious scenes that always kept you coming back for more. I miss it.
7. Fable 2
I am an unapologetic Fable enjoyer, I even liked 3 but 2 was the pinnacle of the series for me. Following a similar story to the first with two siblings being separated, the second game takes all the great ideas from the first and flushes them out. Your appearance changes drastically based on your morale decisions, there is more equipment options including guns, more varied quests, a much more interactable world, the story feels like it has much higher stakes and YOU GET A PET DOG. The choice at the end is still one of the toughest in the history of games, yet you simply have to save the dog, every single time.
6. Mass Effect 2
Sequels don't always top the first but if this list is anything to go by, the 360 era launched that trend out of the window. Mass Effect was truly ahead of its time, a massively interactive RPG from the masters of the craft in BioWare, this time set in space. The first game was a resounding success, letting you explore the galaxy as you want while trying to stop the reapers from wiping out the universe as we know it. Much like Fable and Gears, the sequel just made everything that much better and more refined. This came complete with a new threat in The Collectors. A personal highlight was how characters from the crew in the first game have now moved on yet are still placed throughout the game in their new roles, making questlines involving them that much more immersive as you had previously formed memories of them. The pinnacle of this space saga.
5. Halo 3
Another sequel and the peak of Bungie's Halos for me. The best multiplayer experience of the series with an obscene amount of customisation (I miss you every day Hayabusa armour) and some of the greatest maps ever, fitting each game mode like a glove. The story was epic, seeing Arbiter and Chief bury the hatchet in order to stop/save the rogue Cortana from spreading the flood throughout the universe. And I'm sure we all remember the needle drop at the end as you race a Warthog to the finish line in order to save the universe as Chief makes the ultimate sacrifice. A timeless classic.
4. Batman: Arkham City
There is no escaping the sequels on this list. Arkham City is the best superhero game there has ever been. Following the great Arkham Asylum was never going to be easy but Rocksteady opened the gates to Gotham and gave us an even bigger world to play in with all the same attention to detail still prominent throughout. There are even more villains with Bane, Penguin, Catwoman, Clayface, Ras and Talia Al Ghul and Mr Freeze, Strange, Two Face, Grundy, The Calendar man, The Mad Hatter, Killer Croc, Hush and Azrael all making their debuts. A host of characters also return from the first with Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill reprising their roles as The Caped Crusader and the Clown Prince of Crime. A true love letter to Batman fans with an ending fitting of such an iconic rivalry. I Still return to this game almost yearly to dip my toe back in.
3. GTA V
Hard to believe this game originally released in the 360 era considering we have all likely bought it at least twice but, IT DID. The absolute peak of Sandbox games, with a new approach for GTA games that seen the player able to control three protagonists at any given time: Franklin, Michael or the psychotic Trevor. The story is great, with heists galore as well as satire all over the place that seems somehow even more relevant today. Customisation is crazy with each character being fully customisable from their haircuts to their trainers, cars can be fully decked out to your preference and you can become a property tycoon if you so wish. Multiplayer was decidedly basic back at release with an online open world where you could race mates or participate in heists but what it has evolved into today in GTARP is truly astounding and it all started with this original release way back in the 360 generation.
2. Red Dead Redemption
May be my favourite Rockstar title, which is some praise given their track record. The Story of John Marston is an epic tale that takes you from America to Mexico during the Wild Wild West as everyone's favourite outlaw tries to win his freedom from a shady group of Marshals. The freedom to do what you want here is staggering: you can spend your days hunting animals, rounding up cattle, playing poker, hunting bounties, escorting convoys, playing five finger fillet or even take in a play if you feel so inclined. Interactions with Strangers on the road are almost constant, making the world feel truly lived in as a result. The story ends in true outlaw fashion but the decision to let you control John's son in the post game and exact his bloody revenge on the Marshals who killed his father truly stays with you long after you are done with the game. Thrown in a fun multiplayer mode and the great Undead Nightmare DLC and this truly stands as one of the greatest games of all time.
1. Oblivion
As controversial as this may seem, Oblivion clears Skyrim for me. The moment you step out of the Imperial sewers for the first time all those years ago and you are greeted with what at the time felt like this mind meltingly huge world that you could just wander into and do what you wanted was simple staggering. That feeling of awe only increased as you explored the game world. Three guilds (four if we throw in the Brotherhood) that you could not only join but work your way up to become the leader of was sensational and something I felt Skyrim sorely missed as it gave you a real sense of progression and feeling of mastery over each style the guilds taught. The Threat of the Daedra also felt much more pressing, not that Dragons aren't scary but walking around a corner to see a massive portal to hell as the skies above you turned red just felt terrifying. Then there is some of the greatest DLC ever created in Knights of the Nine and The Shimmering Isles which truly elevated the experience, giving us a whole new world to explore in the process. An astounding title to this day and still Bethesda's crowing achievement.
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