5 Best Games That Defined Last Generation

In this new generation of consoles, it’s easy to overlook the amazing games that have graced us in the years passed. Games that have shaped the gaming industry forever could get forgotten in the rush to be acquainted with next generation hardware. These are the 5 best games that cannot be overlooked.

[admiralvic]

I like how 3/5 of these games released in the past year or so...

Anyway, I would say BioShock was more defining / had greater impact than BioShock Infinite. I would also say Uncharted 2, Demon's Souls, Mass Effect, Gears of War and LittleBigPlanet had a bigger impact than Assassin's Creed 2, but I digress.

[MeterBreak]

While I didn't love Assassin's Creed, I can see why it was picked to define the generation. It was a huge title that just kept growing. Like some other people here, I'd also agree with Call of Duty, especially MW.

Mass Effect is a good one. I wouldn't include games from previous generations, personally (such as Halo), as it's hard for a sequel (unless it's really different or a huge leap forward, like Bioshock over System Shock) to separate itself from a game from the previous gen.

Gears/Uncharted were also huge. Choosing only 5 might have been the toughest part of this article!

[alexkoepp]

Mass effect and gear of war should be on there, and original bioshock. I'd have to think long and hard for the other two though

[MeterBreak]

I personally agree with you, Alex. I wouldn't have Call of Duty or Assassin's Creed touching my top games. But when you think about this past gen, it will be hard to do without thinking of those 2 titles.

If I had to pick 5 that defined this generation, they'd be Mass Effect, Uncharted, Mario Galaxy, Gears of War, and Red Dead.

[gamerfan0909]

Defined as in what? I think if you're asking what games defined innovation then that to me is Gears of War- completely created the cover third person shooter genre. Uncharted- Completely invented the cinematic third person shooter. Bioshock- Completely redefined what story based games could do. Mass Effect- innovated the scifi TPS RPG story. And like the games or not Quantic Dream has to be on there cause they pioneered the QTE story based games. I don't like it but they did do it.

[stavrami-mk2]

You are completely wrong as you have given great reasons to as and why. you have totally made a valid opinion and that is just unacceptable on n4g

[Agent2009]

Except that Uncharted didn't invent the video game cinematics - Metal Gear Solid did it back in the 1998. Mass Effect also didn't bring anything new to the table.

The author apparently just listed his top 5 of this generation, completely abandoning the "defining" line.

[HeavenlySnipes]

Halo 3?

Call of Duty Modern Warfare?

Both revolutionized mass online FPS on consoles

[incendy35]

Yeah, I was going to say Modern Warfare 2. I am not a big fan of online shooters, but hard to ignore the impact that game had.

[gamerfan0909]

I'd say Halo 2 revolutionized MP shooters more than Halo 3. COD definitely sent it to the next level on 360.

[stavrami-mk2]

g1 jockey and gallop racer loved it

[lastdual]

While it wasn't my #1 game of last gen, no title "defined" the previous generation more than COD4.

[HonestDragon]

While I do agree with four of the five games, it's really hard to narrow down eight years worth of gaming and choose only five to define the generation. Three in that list were from 2013 alone. If I had the time right now, I would try to put together a list like this. Then I would do a list of the worst games from the last generation to be fair.