This generation is quickly coming to a close and so the debate of which games were the best will begin in earnest. While there are a variety of classes to determine best in show, the one the category that stands head and shoulders above everything else, is what games were the most important. Here are the three that come to mind for me.
3. Minecraft
I struggled to make myself put Minecraft on this list but, like the other two games, its existence has impacted the industry in such a way that it is hard to ignore how important it has been. In a generation where selling multiple million copies of a title is deemed a failure, Minecraft proves that great ideas and stellar support are still the hallmarks of the best games out there and that if executed properly anyone can become a success. Its near universal availability, combined with its easy-to-play style makes it an offering few people can ignore. You might not play Minecraft but you know someone that does. When you consider the small size team that made it versus the game’s resounding success, its obvious that Minecraft is something utterly special.
2. Gears of War
There are people that love Gears of War, I happen to be one of them, and there are people that hate it, but like Call of Duty 4, it has helped shape this generation, for better or worse. Epic Games didn’t create the concept of cover-based shooters with Gears of War. They simply perfected it. Everybody making a third person shooter with a cover mechanic has borrowed from it, from Naughty Dog’s current hit, The Last of Us, to Capcom’s last two core Resident Evil titles and a ton of other titles in between. That fact alone would be enough to land it in the conversation, but what puts it over the top is the fact that Gears of War was built on the Unreal Engine 3, one of the most utilized engines in all of gaming this gen. Gears was the first game Epic shipped using it signaling to all other developers that, it was ready for prime time.
1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Say what you will about what the Call of Duty franchise has become, there is no denying the impact that Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare had on the game industry. The campaign was a roller-coaster ride that brought players adrenaline-filled highs and brutal emotional lows. Many developers are still chasing its success, including arguably the makers of Call of Duty themselves. However it wasn’t the campaign that put Call of Duty 4 on this list and made the franchise a cultural phenomenon that every developer continues to pursue. No, that honor belongs to its multiplayer, which re-defined what was expected of games in the online age. Even distinct titles like Halo weren’t immune to the CoD effect.
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