Video Games

Top Games of the PS3 / Xbox 360 Generation

As the dawn of the PS4 / Xbox One era approaches, I’d like to take a look back at the games that made an impression on me during the last generation of video game consoles. They aren’t necessarily the best games, or the most impressive, but these are the games that I have the most fond memories of, and will likely stick with me over the years. In alphabetical order…

  • Assassin’s Creed II – PS3, Xbox 360
    It took a while to get going, but was a huge improvement over the first game, which didn’t quite live up to its expectations.
  • Batman: Arkham Asylum – PS3, Xbox 360
    The first truly great Batman game.
  • Batman: Arkham City – PS3, Xbox 360
    Huge improvement over an already solid game.
  • BioShock – Xbox 360, later PS3
    The “Would you kindly…” reveal totally blew my mind!
  • Call of Duty 2 – Xbox 360
    Never grew tired of WWII games, and COD 2 is to this day, one of the best.
  • Crackdown – Xbox 360
    Agility orbs, get! Seriously, I don’t think I’ve every been so addicted to a game.
  • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – PS3, Xbox 360
    Not a huge RPG fan, but I fell prey to Skyrim, and loved every second of it.
  • Far Cry 3 – PS3, Xbox 360
    So. Much. Fun. Decent story with lots of twists, too.
  • Forza Motorsport 2 – Xbox 360
    Had such a hard time putting this game down.
  • Gears of War – Xbox 360
    Chainsaw bayonet.
  • Gears of War 2 – Xbox 360
    Shockingly emotional story, that was also insanely fun and satisfying from beginning to end.
  • God of War III – PS3
    Destroying the gods who wronged Kratos was just so great.
  • Grand Theft Auto V – PS3, Xbox 360
    So big, so much polish, and an absolute blast.
  • Half-Life 2: Episode 2 – PS3, Xbox 360
    So many great moments, on top of the usual level of awesomeness.
  • Halo 3 – Xbox 360
    One of the first big bundle games, including a single player campaign, online co-op, online multiplayer, and a sandbox mode.
  • Halo 4 – Xbox 360
    First Halo title not developed by Bungie, and it might actually be my favourite in the series.
  • Heavy Rain – PS3
    Fantastic story and unique gesture based gameplay.
  • inFamous – PS3
    Very cool comic inspired cut-scenes and narrative. Crazy fun gameplay.
  • inFamous 2 – PS3
    Quite possibly the best first 5 minutes to a game in this generation. Awesome ending, as well.
  • Killzone 2 – PS3
    Seriously impressive visuals, even now at the day of next-gen.
  • L.A. Noire – PS3, Xbox 360
    Loved everything about this game. Incredibly motion capture, excellent story, super suspenseful, great setting and atmosphere.
  • The Last of Us – PS3
    Incredible experience from beginning to end. Some truly heart wrenching scenes.
  • LEGO The Lord of the Rings – PS3, Xbox 360
    I’ve been a big fan of the LEGO games, and LoTR was just so much fun. First game I hunted all the achievements for in years.
  • Limbo – Xbox 360, later PS3
    Very unique side-scroller that left a huge impression on me.
  • LittleBigPlanet – PS3
    It’s literally impossible to play this game, or even watch someone else play, without smiling.
  • Mass Effect – Xbox 360, later PS3
    I’ve never felt so invested in a game. I spoke to every single person to find out every bit of backstory I possibly could.
  • Mass Effect 2 – PS3, Xbox 360
    Played this 20 hour campaign 3 times, and never grew tired of it. Plenty of awesome DLC was released as well.
  • Portal – PS3, Xbox 360
    It might have only lasted a few hours, but I’ll remember it for years.
  • Rayman Origins – PS3, Xbox 360
    Perfect throwback to the golden age of side-scrolling platformers.
  • Red Dead Redemption – PS3, Xbox 360
    One of the best endings in any video game, ever.
  • Rock Band 2 – PS3, Xbox 360
    The first Rock Band game changed rhythm games forever. The second pretty much perfected the genre.
  • Skate 3 – PS3, Xbox 360
    The series that buried Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater was never quite perfected, but this is the closest it came.
  • Tomb Raider – PS3, Xbox 360
    Undoubtably the best in the series. Only complaint is that I would have enjoyed more tomb raiding.
  • Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune – PS3
    I was blown away by the sheer scope of the single player campaign, and how good the voice acting and motion capture were.
  • Uncharted 2 – PS3
    Perfection. An incredible action-packed adventure.
  • The Walking Dead – PS3, Xbox 360
    Superb storytelling and incredibly suspenseful.

What’s on your list? Let me know in the comments, or via Twitter.