Game of the Gen

Mario Galaxy 2. A fricking testament to good game design.Shinobishyguy

[QUOTE="Shinobishyguy"]Mario Galaxy 2. A fricking testament to good game design.Bigboi500

As great as this franchise is, I would have a difficult time placing either game at the top of the list given how safe they were from a design standpoint.

We've seen some amazing innovation this generation and it wasn't from the Mario games.

[QUOTE="Bigboi500"]

[QUOTE="Shinobishyguy"]Mario Galaxy 2. A fricking testament to good game design.Grammaton-Cleric

As great as this franchise is, I would have a difficult time placing either game at the top of the list given how safe they were from a design standpoint.

We've seen some amazing innovation this generation and it wasn't from the Mario games.

[QUOTE="Grammaton-Cleric"]

[QUOTE="Bigboi500"]Easily.

Bigboi500

As great as this franchise is, I would have a difficult time placing either game at the top of the list given how safe they were from a design standpoint.

We've seen some amazing innovation this generation and it wasn't from the Mario games.

Evolutionary refinement is certainly important as it often facilitates some of the best software.

I'll also concede that both Galaxy titles are practically peerless in their genre.

However, from a more objective and academic perspective, I would be remiss to place such software, however polished and exceptional, at the very top of this generation's software rankings because doing so marginalizes and negates the massive innovative strides made by so many other studios that didn't play it safe and rather opted to push this medium forward by expanding beyond established matrices and paradigms.

Then again, I would actually argue it is impossible to distill this generation into a single game, regardless of the quality of said game.

Skyward Sword and Arkam City

I'd go with Portal 2. Short but oh so fun. Unfortunately I'm a huge RPG fan and I wouldn't consider any RPGs from this console cycle great.NeverMore0

nostalgia.

Metal Gear Solid 4.

Portal 2, Red Dead Redemption, and Arkham City. Arkham City's only letdown was how poorly designed many of the non-Batman predator challenges were.

I've spent more hours on Skyrim than any other game, but it doesn't stand out like the above 3.

God of War 3

Best is too damn hard to decide, but my favorite was certainly Fallout New Vegas.

Metal Gear Solid 4 is under appreciated by this board. Heirren

Still GTAIV for me.

[QUOTE="Heirren"]Metal Gear Solid 4 is under appreciated by this board. RageQuitter69

[QUOTE="RageQuitter69"]

[QUOTE="Heirren"]Metal Gear Solid 4 is under appreciated by this board. Heirren

[QUOTE="Heirren"][QUOTE="RageQuitter69"] I know bullsh!t when I hear it, i'm the only one who see's Metal Gear Solid 4 for what it is.RageQuitter69

Also, from my time on this board I've noticed a lot of negativity around the game.Heirren

Strange, because we've got quite the chorus of die-hard Metal gear fans who would talk at length about why they think Metal Gear Solid 4 is amazing.

[QUOTE="Heirren"]Also, from my time on this board I've noticed a lot of negativity around the game.c_rake

Strange, because we've got quite the chorus of die-hard Metal gear fans who would talk at length about why they think Metal Gear Solid 4 is amazing.

Uncharted 2 is definitely one of the most memorable games I've played this gen and I doubt ND will ever top it. With so many categories of games, there can never be just one 'game of the gen'. Plus with games like Watch Dogs, GTAV and Beyond Two Souls on the way, you never know. For me, it's a toss up between Uncharted 2 and MGS 4.

HipHopBeats

Definitely Mass Effect.

The editing was just phenomenal--put modern film editing to absolute shame. It's no wonder this has been a sought after property for so long.Heirren

[QUOTE="HipHopBeats"]

Uncharted 2 is definitely one of the most memorable games I've played this gen and I doubt ND will ever top it. With so many categories of games, there can never be just one 'game of the gen'. Plus with games like Watch Dogs, GTAV and Beyond Two Souls on the way, you never know. For me, it's a toss up between Uncharted 2 and MGS 4.

ZANIACK_

Maybe with the multiplayer co-op, but definitely not the single player campaign.

I'll give it to Bad Company 2,for the multiplayer of course.I played this game,by far more than any other and is the most memorable game I played this gen.

I'll give it to Bad Company 2,for the multiplayer of course.I played this game,by far more than any other and is the most memorable game I played this gen.

xgraderx

[QUOTE="xgraderx"]

I'll give it to Bad Company 2,for the multiplayer of course.I played this game,by far more than any other and is the most memorable game I played this gen.

RageQuitter69

[QUOTE="Heirren"] The editing was just phenomenal--put modern film editing to absolute shame. It's no wonder this has been a sought after property for so long.MirkoS77

[QUOTE="ZANIACK_"][QUOTE="HipHopBeats"]

Uncharted 2 is definitely one of the most memorable games I've played this gen and I doubt ND will ever top it. With so many categories of games, there can never be just one 'game of the gen'. Plus with games like Watch Dogs, GTAV and Beyond Two Souls on the way, you never know. For me, it's a toss up between Uncharted 2 and MGS 4.

HipHopBeats

Maybe with the multiplayer co-op, but definitely not the single player campaign.

Not on the co-op either. Stupid that they took away options instead of adding them. Huge disappointment.

[QUOTE="HipHopBeats"]

[QUOTE="ZANIACK_"] Naughty Dog did, it's called Uncharted 3.IndianaPwns39

Maybe with the multiplayer co-op, but definitely not the single player campaign.

Not on the co-op either. Stupid that they took away options instead of adding them. Huge disappointment.

[QUOTE="IndianaPwns39"]

[QUOTE="HipHopBeats"]

Maybe with the multiplayer co-op, but definitely not the single player campaign.

Heirren

Not on the co-op either. Stupid that they took away options instead of adding them. Huge disappointment.

While I do prefer Uncharted 3, I am aware that it has some issues.

The aiming is not instantly responsive to diagonal movement of the analog stick. The plot does have a few holes and feels a bit rushed especially near the end, while not terrible, it just doesn't live up to the almost flawless plot of its predecessor. The game is not nearly as polished, it has its fair share of bugs. The pacing can be off and the game starts out pretty slow. In some areas I'd also say the visuals are a step down, but in some areas Uncharted 3 looks easily superior.

However Uncharted 3 is better at times as well. It has better hand to hand combat. The ability to toss grenades back. More thoughtful puzzles. The ability to leap onto enemies from above. Improved sound design. A more personal plot delving deeper into the characters. Improved animation. Better setpieces. Mostly improved visuals. Extensive multiplayer additions and enhancements.

[QUOTE="IndianaPwns39"]

[QUOTE="HipHopBeats"]

Maybe with the multiplayer co-op, but definitely not the single player campaign.

Heirren

Not on the co-op either. Stupid that they took away options instead of adding them. Huge disappointment.

Uncharted 3 was a very good game, but it failed to live up to it's predecessor in many ways.

The one I mentioned, the co-op, is hard to argue against. You could no longer just play Survival, or Seige, or Gold Rush. You had to play that damn medley. If they had added the medley on and left the other 3 options, fine, but they didn't. A major flaw imo. Kickbacks were also annoying, and it could have benefited from a "sticks and stones" type gameplay mode. UC2 also had superior visuals and animation (for the online portions) and better lighting and still ran perfectly. The entire online functionality of UC3 lacked gameplay and customization options that 2 already had. Taking away what was already there instead of expanding on it irks me as a gamer.

I could argue the singleplayer too, but I brought up my disappointment with the online so that's what I defended.

Upon a second playthough of Uncharted 3, I found the pacing so horrible. There were so many slow parts in between fire fights, and so many cut scenes that couldn't be skipped that were placed in between the slow parts it was rather annoying.

Walk, cutscene, walk, cutscene, "climb" a building, cutscene, cutscene, cutscene, walk, cutscene, 5 minute shooting section (gameplay section).