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Five Most Influential Games This Generation

Posted on Tuesday, August 7 @ 07:36:31 Eastern by Alex_Osborn

Every new wave of consoles ushers in fresh and exciting innovations for the gaming industry. This past generation has stretched on a bit longer than usual (a bit too long if you ask me) and as such, is loaded with so many groundbreaking experiences that have changed the industry forever. To celebrate these achievements, we're going to take a look at five of the most influential game experiences since 2005.


Mass Effect

Just last week, GR superstar Daniel Bischoff and I were reminiscing about the Mass Effect franchise. There's no doubt that BioWare's sci-fi role-playing trilogy will go down as one of the most memorable series of the last ten years (for better or worse) with the second installment serving as the fan favorite. However, the two of us agreed thatcontrary to popular opinionthe original was by and large the best of the three.

Not only did the original feature the best story, but it introduced a level of player choice never seen before in the medium. Sure, branching dialogue had been done in games prior, but not with the same cinematic approach. In many ways, Mass Effect felt more like a space drama than just another RPG with dialogue trees. As games have evolved over the past few years, we've begun to take it for granted, but let's not forget how groundbreaking ME1's presentation and cinematic approach to storytelling was back in 2007.



Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Nathan Drake's initial outing was a fun ride, but it didn't serve up the mind-blowing experience that everyone was expecting from Naughty Dog. However, the sequel not only rectified the issues with Drake's Fortune, it went above and beyond the expectations of gamers everywhere, delivering the most cinematic action adventure experience at the time. From jaw-dropping vistas to interactive set-piece moments, Uncharted 2 served up the first experience that truly gave players the sense that they were in a Hollywood blockbuster.  

Debates regarding whether or not the PS3 was more powerful than the 360 halted when Naughty Dog blew the lid off of Among Thieves, but there is so much more to this game than just a pretty face. The witty banter between characters made the cast relatable and the overall writing served to create an experience that had you emotionally involved despite the game's somewhat zany conclusion. With the third-person action genre growing to new levels of popularity, we've seen so many recently released games borrow from the Uncharted 2 approach. And honestly, can you blame them?


BioShock

Ken Levine and his team at Irrational Games made one heck of impact on the industry when they introduced gamers to the underwater world of Rapture. The sheer level of detail pack into every inch of BioShock brought its dystopian cityand all of its horrifying elementsto life. The game mechanics were also unique, giving players a firearm in one hand and a plethora of genetically-induced powers in the other. With so much variety, categorizing this game as a first-person shooter simply doesn't do it justice.

Then there's the story, which is truly the most influential aspect of BioShock. The organic way in which the plot was unravelled aided in making the experience feel completely cohesive and engrossing from beginning to end. Cutscenes have been (and still very much are) a means to convey plot points, but BioShock's expertly crafted scenarios and top-notch writing make such storytelling devices look dated and archaic. There's a reason why BioShock Infinite sits atop most gamers' 2013 wish list.


Gears of War

Epic's brotastic third-person shooter brought some major revolutions to the genre and no, I'm not just referring to chainsaw lancers. Gears of War essentially trademarked the "stop and pop" style of gunplay and serves as one of the first truly impressive visual showcases for the Xbox 360. So many shooters today feature the snap-to-cover mechanic, and if it weren't for Cliff and the rest of the guys at Epic, the third-person shooter genre wouldn't be nearly as popular as it is today. Heck, the aforementioned Uncharted 2 borrows a lot of the mechanics first seen in Gears.

While Halo has served as the undisputed hallmark franchise for the Xbox platform, Marcus Fenix has certainly given Master Chief a run for his money. With a robust online experience, gorgeous visuals, and some of the most intense firefights we've seen this generation, the first Gears of War was a landmark achievement and a worthy addition to Microsoft's lineup of exclusives.


Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

I doubt you need me to remind you that Call of Duty is insanely popular. No one ever thought Halo could be topped in the online space, but when Modern Warfare launched in 2007, the world of online gaming was changed forever. This military shooter caught on like wildfire, resulting in annualized sequels that sell ridiculous numbers year after year. Like it or not, Call of Duty 4 will go down in history as one of the most influential first-person shooters of all time, and for good reason.

Up until the launch of Modern Warfare, the military FPS genre was cluttered with World War II shooters that relived the same signature moments over and over again. infinity Ward changed that by bringing their series to the modern era, a time period everyone could relate to and get excited about. That, coupled with the fact that the game boasted a number of innovative single-player missions that had every player on the edge of their seat, made this game one heck of a compelling product. Oh yeah, and then there's the multiplayer, but you don't need me to elaborate on that.

Agree with our picks? Let us know which games you think are worthy of a mention in the comments below.


Comments
  • omnimodis78
    omnimodis78

    Joined: Jul 2012
    Posted: Aug 7th, 2012 at 8:06 am
    I agree about ME1 being the best, but no matter how much I loved it the first time around, and then after replaying it once following the completion of the Trilogy, I still think that 1 had a lot of trial-and-error scenarios that BioWare definitely learned from and managed to fix in 2 and 3. The most notable (and yes I know it's subjective) were the multitude of weapon customizations and upgrading scheme. I hated it from day one and definitely it become a major pain after experiencing 2 and 3, at how you constantly had to feel that you must focus on upgrading weapons that, over-all, you didn't quite know what 'real' benefits you'd get. If one head-shot kills as is, then how does a 3% improvement to head-shot matter? It doesn't and it didn't. Fortunately they fixed that. As for the story, I thought 2 had the best story over-all, enough balance to make it comprehensive.
  • Chunibrow
    Chunibrow

    Joined: Mar 2010
    Posted: Aug 7th, 2012 at 10:28 am
    I actually much preferred the upgrade system from the first game, it was much more in depth and RPG like. The upgrading in the third game was so lackluster by comparison.
  • Bras
    Bras

    Joined: Jul 2008
    Posted: Aug 7th, 2012 at 8:38 am
    I don't think Influential is the word here, every gamer is influenced by different games, and playing the same game in a different console can result in a different experience. I would put Heavy Rain in that list, one of the Bethesda games, Portal, and Assassin's Creed.
  • Chunibrow
    Chunibrow

    Joined: Mar 2010
    Posted: Aug 7th, 2012 at 10:29 am
    I think by influential he means to the industry, not to individual gamers. The games he chose all have had a visible impact on future games.
  • Bras
    Bras

    Joined: Jul 2008
    Posted: Aug 7th, 2012 at 5:49 pm
    If I put it in the industry perspective it remains true.
    And without facts, statistics, or any way to measure the influence, this list is as subjective as my list.
  • moretokes
    moretokes

    Joined: Apr 2011
    Posted: Aug 7th, 2012 at 8:54 am
    This gen I loved crackdown ( never played 2 nd one unfortunately) and gta 4 and soon to be 5
  • Chunibrow
    Chunibrow

    Joined: Mar 2010
    Posted: Aug 7th, 2012 at 10:30 am
    Whet 5 would you have chosen?
  • Kanklez
    Kanklez

    Joined: Jun 2011
    Posted: Aug 7th, 2012 at 11:39 am
    I'd totally agree with Gears and CoD4, this gen has seen a glut of cover based shooters and modern military shooters as well as level systems and I'd say these two are to blame for that.
    Bioshock I don't know I'd agree with, its story telling is just System Shock 2's with a lot of info coming from diaries that you can read of not, and through talking to people that you can't get closer to then the other side of a screen. I'd say the change in story telling in FPS that there has been probably owes more to Half-Life then Bioshock.
    Mass-effect I'd also disagree with, I don't see many new games that are trying to emulate what it's doing. I agree that it's an awesome game and I wish more would try and do what it does but it really didn't seem to influence development much.
    With Uncharted I think we are going to have to wait to see how much games like the new tomb raider actually borrows before making this judgement. I think it will be quite a bit but then again I've learnt to not care about trailers so only time with tell.
    Two games I'd add instead of bioshock and mass effect are Oblivion and probably braid. Oblivion kicked off a huge glut of open world fantasy RPGs like Kingdoms of Amalur, and has really made this the generation of the western RPG. Braid on the other hand was one of the first games that I can think of that really showed devs what you could do in the downloadable space and started a huge resurgence of indie games. While this may have more to do with the fact that there are now better retail channels for these small games, (Steam XBLA etc) I have a feeling that these early successes certainly helped convince publishers that they should back these games and helped make the press see that they should give them good coverage.
  • inferno003
    inferno003

    Joined: Jul 2012
    Posted: Aug 7th, 2012 at 3:08 pm
    5. assassins creed
    4. portal
    3. bioshock
    2. gears of war
    1. mass effect
  • TurinAlexander
    TurinAlexander

    Joined: Sep 2006
    Posted: Aug 7th, 2012 at 3:15 pm
    Must be that you don't know the definition of "influential".
  • Sourdeez
    Sourdeez

    Joined: Feb 2012
    Posted: Aug 7th, 2012 at 4:41 pm
    Man no mention of the Half Life 2 series?
  • warmaster670
    warmaster670

    Joined: Jun 2007
    Posted: Aug 7th, 2012 at 9:28 pm
    "Heck, the aforementioned Uncharted 2 borrows a lot of the mechanics first seen in Gears."
    Like what? the only thing I remember being similar was the cover system, which GoW had nothing to do with, seeing as 2 games at least did the exact same thing on systems a gen before.
  • warmaster670
    warmaster670

    Joined: Jun 2007
    Posted: Aug 7th, 2012 at 9:29 pm
    Guess I forgot this is the internet where whatever is most popular gets credit for something even if it was around beforehand, much like people try to act like GoW created wave/survival modes.
  • Chunibrow
    Chunibrow

    Joined: Mar 2010
    Posted: Aug 7th, 2012 at 9:50 pm
    Doom didn't invent the FPS, but guess what? It's considered one of the the most influential and important games in the genre. Why don't people revere Maze War in the same way? Because being first doesn't mean **** when the next guy does it better than you ever came close to.
  • warmaster670
    warmaster670

    Joined: Jun 2007
    Posted: Aug 7th, 2012 at 10:56 pm
    How did gears do it better? its the EXACT same ocver system, oh wait I dont think you could sprint to cover in kill switch and rogue trooper, big whoop.

    Gears not only didnt do cover better than previos games, it didnt do survival better either, it just did them, and people act like they were the first.
  • friggest
    friggest

    Joined: Mar 2008
    Posted: Aug 8th, 2012 at 3:44 am
    CoD-MW
    World of Warcraft (close enough to 05)
    Fallout3/Elder Scrolls Games (counts as 1)
    Red Dead Dedemp.
    Angry Birds as it brough casual gaming on phones mainstream.

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