threevue

From the outside, this may seem like just an innocent list of our top 25 Xbox 360 and PS3 games so far, but behind the scenes at the Threevue HQ, putting this list together almost tore our family apart. Screaming and yelling, alliances bound and broken, dozens of passive-aggressive emails, and more hair pulling than a Ricky Martin concert. But, after all that, we present you with this: the final, definitive, last stop, nothing else matters, get-on-your-bikes-and-ride list of our top games of this console generation (what’s a Wii?).

Here’s how we got here. Each of us submitted our individual top 25’s, added them up according the reverse numerical order in which we ranked them (#1 = 25 points, #2 = 24 points, and so on), and crowned the highest scorer as champion. So here you are. Read them. Digest them. Enjoy them. But above all, agree with them.

25. Assassin’s Creed 2 (Xbox 360/PS3, 2009)
Assassin’s Creed 2 proves what the original promised, as well as fixes its shortcomings. Actually, I would say it is the biggest improver of this generation. Every facet of gameplay has been retooled to make it easier for you to become that deadly assassin, serving dish after dish of cold revenge. (Giang)

24. Left 4 Dead (Xbox 360, 2008)
4 survivors – thousands of zombies. With the Left 4 Dead series Valve has made the best zombie games to date. The common misconception about L4D is that you can just blast your way through the game without regard for ammo or allies, but on the harder difficulties players see that it takes just as much strategy as any military FPS to successfully make it to the safe-houses. All of this along with the revolutionary A.I. Director make for a game that will no doubt be emulated far into the future. (Tyler)

23. Call of Duty 3 (Xbox 360/PS3, 2006)
I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: Call of Duty 3 got an undeserved bad rap. This came out when people were starting to figure out the differences between Treyarch and Infinity Ward, and because it came from the former, it didn’t get its full respects. I loved it simply for the fact that it had split-screen online multiplayer, which is something we haven’t seen in a COD since. (Mark)

22. Mirror’s Edge (Xbox 360/PS3, 2008)
Coming in on the heels of a game like Portal, Mirror’s Edge was the right game at the right time for all of us out there who knew there could be more to the FPS genre than headshots and sticky grenades. Not that there is anything wrong with those games, Mirror’s Edge just broke out of the rut by being a game where you needed to outrun instead of outgun. The gorgeous visual style and the fresh, addictive, time-sensitive puzzler nature of the title earn it a place on our list. (Tyler)

21. LittleBigPlanet (PS3, 2008)
This is most probably the cutest game ever made. You play as this adorable Sackboy in these beautifully and meticulously created levels. You can also create your own beautiful and meticulous levels with the fully-abled level editor. You then have the ability to share those beautiful levels and play with your adorable Sackboy friends. It’s a small, small patchwork world, where everything is miraculously held together by string and glue and Stephen Fry is the voice of God. (Giang)

20. Halo 3 (Xbox 360, 2007)
Rounding out our top 20 is Halo 3, the game that fans love to love and everyone else loves to hate the fans. All bickering aside, this is a polished FPS with a butt-ton of features, even if we couldn’t figure out the storyline. To this day, it’s one of the most fully featured games available and easily worth its admission price. (Russ)

19. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3, 2008)
Metal Gear Solid 4 closes out the story of Solid Snake in true this-gen fashion: more graphics, more gadgets, and more awkward localization. This is a game only fans of the previous games can truly appreciate, and being that we’re all fans of the previous games, it worked out just fine for us. In the end, it never addressed some of the fundamental issues with the series, which we both respected and were annoyed by, and we can’t wait to see what Hideo Kojima works on next. (Russ)

18. Battlefield: Bad Company (Xbox 360/PS3, 2008)
Another modern-day war FPS which provides an alternative to Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.  Whilst this game has a solid – and humorous – solo campaign, the real draw is the multiplayer, which despite only having  two different game modes, is deceptively deep and extremely replayable. (Steve)

17. Battlefield 1943 (XBLA/PSN, 2009)
The arrival of BF:1943 was like someone had gone into my brain, learned exactly what kind of game I wanted, took out a few features I was hoping for, and sold it to me at a reasonable price: a download-only, multiplayer FPS for only $15. I feel a few more maps, weapons, and features would have put it a little higher on our list, but I still love it for what it is. (Mark)

16. Call of Duty 2 (Xbox 360, 2005)
Call of Duty 2 was that first “wow, so THIS is next-gen” moment for a lot of us here at Threevue, and it still holds up well as a solid WWII FPS four years after its release. I think we all most fondly remember the blistering difficulty of playing through the campaign on Veteran and the sweltering sense of satisfaction with every reached checkpoint. Hell, I’ve still got half the game to finish on Veteran, and I’m looking forward to the pain/elation it’ll bring. (Russ)

15. Burnout Paradise (Xbox 360/PS3, 2008)
A racing game for people who hate racing games.  Burnout Paradise is a robust, well-featured, open-world arcade racer with tight, responsive controls that make it as appealing to newcomers as it is to veterans.  This game combines a beefy single-player component, a ridiculous (both in terms of scope and imagination) online experience, a (mostly) friendly, teamwork orientated community, and a ton of DLC - a significant amount of which is free! (Steve)

14. Peggle (XBLA/PSN, 2009)
Peggle was #3 on my personal list, a frankly, I’m disappointed to see it drop all the way down to #14 on this one. Everything about this game was just pure fun, it made me feel good when I played it, and the addition of online multiplayer made it infinitely replayable. I love you, Peggle! (Mark)

13. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (PS3, 2007)
This is a game that has a spirit and exuberance that you don’t find in many games these days. You just can’t help but fall for the dreamy Nathan Drake and get caught up in his escapade for his ancestor’s treasure. Along the way you encounter the roller coaster of any classic adventure movie, but the game escapes any clichés. There may be a thousand pirates standing in your way but that’s not going to stop you from playing this through and through. (Giang)

12. Dead Space (Xbox 360/PS3, 2008)
Personally, I had Dead Space a few spots lower on my list, but that’s not to say it doesn’t deserve to be much higher. This game looked beautiful, was terrifying, and gave us all we ever wanted out of a good third-person survival horror game: the ability to move and shoot. I think if we all went back and played this now, it would be higher on the list. (Mark)

11. Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360/PS3, 2008)
GTA IV came out in the middle of a crazy year of crazy-good games, and was subsequently buried on most GOTY lists. I think there was a lot of backlash after this game came out for being “just another GTA” when we were expecting so much more from all the hype (it got more perfect 10’s than Larry Flynt). When I really think back to playing, though, I remember that it was a huge, very well made game, and probably better than it gets credit for. (Mark)

10. Mass Effect (Xbox 360, 2007)
Whilst Mass Effect may not have been the first FPS/RPG hybrid in existence, it certainly strove to revolutionise the genre when it released.  It may not have been perfect, but Mass Effect’s real strengths lay in its compelling story, its in-depth dialogue system, haunting moral quandries, and its convincing, well-realised universe. (Steve)

9. Rock Band 1&2 (Xbox 360/PS3, 2007/2008)
The Rock Band series is less a video game and more a music experience – its balanced implementation of four different instruments offer everything from a DIY drum training module to the perfect excuse to party with music-minded friends and a little sauce. And with its constant stream of DLC (1,000 songs and counting), it’s the gift that keeps on giving. (Russ)

8. Assassin’s Creed (Xbox 360/PS3, 2007)
When I hear someone say that there is no more originality in today’s games, I point them directly to Assassin’s Creed. This game was so unique on so many levels that most people were able to overlook the negative components, like the flags, repetition of missions, and the goddamned horse riding. (Mark)

7. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360/PS3, 2009)
COD:MW2 took everything that we love about the first Modern Warfare and cranked it up to 11. The multiplayer specifically was beefed up, and even the single player was taken to a higher level of radness that I didn’t know existed. I gave general preference to the first games of a series in my personal list, though, and part one came out a few spots above. (Mark)

6. Braid (XBLA/PSN, 2008/2009)
Just when the deluge of games that were “gritty”,”real” and “X-treme” was reaching the tipping point, gamers everywhere were treated to one of the sweetest, most compound and refreshing games to come along in years. Without much heralding, Braid made its way on to the 360 and instantly earned its place in the hearts of every gamer. From the first tutorial level to the twist ending, Braid provided a perfectly paced, thoroughly enjoyable game vignette about a boy, a girl and temporal manipulation. (Tyler)

5. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Xbox 360/PS3, 2007)
Like I said, generally I gave preference to part 1’s instead of part 2’s in my list, because I believe that even though later games may be technically advanced, they wouldn’t be where they are without their father games. Saying that, COD4:MW changed the way we look at military FPS’s. After this game, there was no excuse for any more crap on store shelves. Single and mulitplayer, this was revolution in game design. (Mark)

4. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3, 2009)
Uncharted 2 is just as good, if not better, than most Hollywood action movies. It has the good-looking leading man; the chase sequences that will leave you exhausted in your couch; the unfolding history/anthropological/archaeological mystery and even the femme fatale. A great deal of it lends to the superb voice-acting and motion capture, injecting so much chemistry with every line (and in-between) and its graphical accomplishments. There are so many nuances about this game, but they all culminate into an engaging, polished and very fun adventure. (Giang)

3. BioShock (Xbox 360/PS3, 2007/2008)
This is a game where everything in the world works in such unison and grace (the Art Deco architecture, the radio sound bites, the demented populace)  that it becomes so credible and convincing. At the time of its release, Bioshock was one of the best looking games around, and will continue to be due to its unique style and gusto. Of course there are the solid gameplay mechanics at its core, but it’s everything else that has been perfectly curated and designed (by a mastermind/madman) that will engage you from start to finish. Its story told will be one for the ages. (Giang)

2. The Orange Box (Xbox 360/PS3, 2007)
I am still, to this day, amazed by the amount of A+ content in the Orange Box. Half-Life 2 alone has a metacritic score of 96, yet coupled with it you get the mind-bending Portal (90), Team Fortress 2 (92) and both the Episodes for Half-Life 2. (E1-87, E2- 90). For only $60 you can get your hands on arguably one of the best FPS experiences in history, a deep puzzler that breaks all convention and one of the premier team-based, multiplayer shooters anywhere. I’ve said before, there are few companies out there that I implicitly trust, but Valve is definitely one of them. (Tyler)

1. Fallout 3 (Xbox 360/PS3, 2008)
Fallout 3 is compelling; so much so, that it should come with a health warning.  In much the same way that World of Warcraft and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion have virtually destroyed peoples’ social lives, Fallout 3 will draw you in with its vast, open world, charm you with its deeply black humour and memorable characters, and snare you with its promises of XP and loot.  And the worst part?  You’ll be too busy exploring, finishing quests, and exploding heads to notice or even care. (Steve)

—

Honorable Mentions: (most-voted to least-voted)
BATTLEFIELD 2: MODERN COMBAT, BEATLES ROCK BAND, PORTAL: STILL ALIVE, WIPEOUT HD, PIXELJUNK EDEN, GEARS OF WAR, GEARS OF WAR 2, GUITAR HERO 2, STREET FIGHTER 4, RATCHET AND CLANK FUTURE: TOOLS OF DESTRUCTION, SHADOW COMPLEX, ‘SPLOSION MAN, ELDER SCROLLS IV: OBLIVION, BRUTAL LEGEND, CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR, FLOWER, BATMAN ARKHAM ASYLUM, FAR CRY 2, INFAMOUS, PUZZLE QUEST: CHALLENGE OF THE WARLORDS, DEAD RISING, TALES OF VESPERIA, GEOMETRY WARS 2, VALKYRA CHRONICLES, BORDERLANDS, CRACKDOWN, FAT PRINCESS, PRINCE OF PERSIA, RED FACTION: GUERILLA, RESIDENT EVIL 5, PACMAN CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION, THE SIMPSONS, HEAVENLY SWORD, MONKEY ISLAND SPECIAL EDITION, STAR WARS: FORCE UNLEASHED, GHOSTBUSTERS, KING KONG,
PIXELJUNK MONSTERS, TRIALS HD

Continue reading ‘Threevue.com’s Top 25 Xbox 360/PS3 Games List’