What's the best pure action game of all time?

Max Payne

Power Stone

For me it’s a toss up between Ninja Gaiden Black and Bayonetta 2. Tough to pick either one above the other but for the sake of picking one I’ll go with Ninja Gaiden Black.

My friends, the answer is obvious. It's Doom, the best FPS this gen.

Discuss.

Streets of Rage. :P

Eh, NGB I guess.

None of these...

"TRIBES TWO!!!" is the only genuine answer!!! ^^

Devil May Cry.

DMC 4 SE owns Bayonetta , Ninja Gaiden Black and DmC in this video:

Really should hook up my Wii u and finish bayonetta 2. Pretty ashamed I still haven't.

Devil May Cry.

Probably Ninja Gaiden Black. Would love to see them bring the series back.

Resident Evil 4 has a story so....

You'd have to go back to the 16 bit days. Probably Streets of Rage or Ninja Turtles. More action with less emphasis on story.

Other: DOOM II (1994)

DOOM.

for third person its Max payne.

Out of your list my two favorite games are Resident Evil 4 and Dark Souls, but both games definitely have breaks in the action to allow story, leveling up, upgrading, exploration, etc.

Bayonetta 2.

Streets of Rage 2, 3, and Remake.

If only counting 3D, Ninja Gaiden Black.

banned for being Ghost alt

Ninja Gaiden or DMC 3. A personal favorite of mine is also Bujingai The Forsaken City on PS2.

You put Devil May Cry and DmC in the poll but left DMC3 and 4 out? wtf man...

DMC3 is my answer

word

God of War 1-3.

Dmc 3.

@SecretPolice: Or Double Dragon! (Arcade version)

Vanquish!

God of War

Nioh has the best combat.

Prince Of Persia: Warior Within is my favorite though.

https://youtu.be/CJe_22XxvMI

It's hard to compete with Resident Evil 4.

Runner ups would be Lollipop Chainsaw and Bayonetta 2.

Devil may cry.

Runner up is NGB imo (or Bayo2).

NGB's formula limits what is viable at harder difficulties. DMC's formula has been used more often successfully. Pretty much every action game takes its hints from DMC now.

One of the Castlevanias

Out of the criteria in the OP and the games listed, I'd say Doom, had the most minimal story and pretty much nonstop action.

Gunstar Heroes

Super Castlevania IV. It's not my favourite one, but on balance, its the best action. Either that or Rondo of Blood.

-Bayonetta 2

-Doom 2016

-Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II - Rogue Leader

Back in the day my favorite action game was Super Contra 3 Alien Wars on the SNES. Still to this day I don't know of an equivalent, action packed from the first second to the last, tons of over the top moments, quite difficult too.

More recently I would say DOOM, the only thing that slows down the action is the hidden power ups, when you are looking for them, but they are mostly optional. I thought Vanquish was a great action title too, very little downtime.

Contra III: The Alien Wars

Oh yeah, Contra III: The Alien Wars is a real kickass game. I also got to give a shoutout to Final Fight which is another favourite of mine.

F.E.A.R.

Don't play much pure action anymore this day, and some of your options are not pure action either (dark souls for instance, which is an action rpg)

When it comes to pure action I have to say call of duty black ops, or unreal tournament 1999.

Dark souls >>>>>>> all

Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition

Streets of Rage 2

Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Metal Slug X

Resident Evil 4

Vanquish

Streets of Rage 2

Castlevania Portrait of Ruin

Super Contra

Golden Axe 2

Knights of the Round

Gauntlet

Broforce

Nioh and Dark Souls do not belong to the list, as they require careful, thoughtful approach to the game.

If you try just rushing thru in those games, you die. A lot.

Best pure, relentless action game must be.. Sonic.

DOOM (2016) is the best I've played in a long, long time. Just pure, unadulterated fun. No superficial cutscenes, no character building, skill trees, and so forth (though there is a bit of equipment modding).

It's fun, all the time. Not many games give that sort of experience to you. It doesn't rely on combos or pushing buttons in a certain order, it is just you, your playable characters, and your reflexes

Half-Life

The same could be said for hack & slash games like Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden, and Bayonetta. They require careful, thoughtful approach to combat, and involve a lot of dying. The difference is just that they're just faster-paced.

Glad I'm not the only one to mention Sonic. That, and Streets of Rage, are pure action gaming at their finest. Sega was the king of action games.

Wait, I'm lost. Sonic is a pure action game and not an action platfromer?

I was thinking golden axe on the mega drive if streets of rage was mentioned. I think they are in a different category all together though.

To me, pure action = non-stop, relentless, no/very little exploration, story or slow paced sequences.

Stuff like Resi, Sonic and Dark Souls doesn't really feel like that to me.

It's hard to see past Platinum Games. Bayo games + Vanquish are just injections of pure adrenaline. I'm exhausted after playing them!