The Top Video Games of this Generation so Far

The seventh generation of console gaming is now more than five years old and to date, over thousands of combined video games and applications have been released to paying customers around the world. The result is a wide variety of gaming experiences on the part of the players which reflects the many kinds of games released per genre. While it is very clear that game developers for the most part benefited from the advancement of technology of this generation and implemented those gains on their respective game designs, there are those never ending arguments as to which particular video games defined this era. The truth of the matter is that such conclusions can’t be made and finalized until some years from now once the next generation of console gaming finally begins.

By taking into account the impact that games (that were released from 2005 to the present) made so far, here is a list of the top video games that are solidly relevant. For the first-person shooting (FPS) genre, the two most defining titles are Halo: Reach and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. While it did not offer anything new, Halo: Reach proved to be a refinement of the clever designs and concepts game developer Bungie made since 2001. On top of that, the game had an epic sci-fi story that proved to be compelling even to those who read the book Halo: The Fall of Reach. Modern Warfare on the other hand fully immersed gamers into the 21st century complete with intense gun battles, a very believable story of conflict and fantastic game design. For role-playing games (RPGs), the top game is Mass Effect 2 which exceeded its predecessor through clever revamping of the design, and also had very solid writing as well as probably the best voice cast and acting as well. Mass Effect 2 also has the intensity, look and attraction of a big budget sci-fi movie.

For open-world games, the hot titles are Grand Theft Auto IV and Red Dead Redemption (both from Rockstar Games). Made for $100 million, Grand Theft Auto IV is an evolution of the open world experience that Rockstar dared to pull off. With its high level of drama, detail and realism, the game brought not only its franchise but open-world gaming in general into a higher level of interactivity. Red Dead Redemption on the other hand singlehandedly made the Western setting a fully interactive and engaging experience for millions of gamers. Its isolated setting was not just worth exploring and exploiting, but it also served as a nice reminder of how life and people were back in the late stages of the Old West. For the best in the platform genre, it’s a tie between Super Mario Galaxy and its sequel Super Mario Galaxy 2. Both games from Nintendo were made with the simple objective of providing tons of fun to gamers through the many activities and adventures of Mario. Each time either game is played, there is always something new to do or discover and there is never a boring moment. All in all, these are the top video games of this current generation of console gaming and each of them are worth buying (and enjoying). They are classics that no gamer should miss.