Features// SPOnG's Games of the Generation

Adam Cooper

Wii Sports
Wii Sports just represented the new technology of the Wii perfectly, and being bundled with the console everybody was exposed to it. And even if it was simple, shallow and empty, I kept going back to the Boxing.

Mass Effect 2
The Mass Effect series is one of my favourites of this generation, and Mass Effect 2 was a massive step-up from its predecessor. It may be the best example of Bioware's ability to create and develop worlds and characters that can really draw you into their games.

Gears of War 2
The Gears of War series pretty much set the pace for cover-based third-person shooters, which everyone cool knows are way better than first-person shooters. The second instalment really raised the bar from the first game in true Hollywood style, making everything bigger, more grandiose, and explodier.

Street Fighter IV
Street Fighter IV was a fantastic game that brought renewed mainstream interest to the 2D fighting genre and paved the way for a slew of other franchises. I still think Super Street Fighter IV is the king of fighting games this generation, even over everything that’s been released since.

XCOM Enemy Unknown
Because there aren't enough brilliant strategy games that make it to consoles these days. God bless Firaxis. XCOM is really, really good, and there’s very little else like it on consoles.


David Turner

Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Many have now become jaded with the series, but there is no denying that when Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare launched in November 2007 it changed online console gaming forever. Its multiplayer was a huge step forward for first person shooting on consoles and was universally loved.

Sure, it might have spawned what is now an uninspired money hoover but it raised the bar in what we came to expect from online gaming. It was tense, thrilling, and addictive.

It also managed to capture fans who at the time hadn’t considered themselves gamers and for a hardcore shooter, that’s a pretty incredible thing to do. It had suddenly become an acceptable thing to talk about load-outs, perks and levelling up with the person who snapped your Pokemon cartridge when you were 15 because you had the wrong trainers on.

Wants to be my friend now though, doesn’t he?

Fucking prick.

Wii Sports
My nan played Wii Bowling. MY NAN. Turn on the telly in December 2006 and you would Eamonn Holmes flinging his arms about like a div while laughing because he couldn’t get the ball over the net.

I’ll be honest, I fell out of love with the Wii pretty quickly, but for the first few months it felt like a magic box. We’d have Wii bowling tournaments with flatmates till the early hours. When no one else was in we’d spend time practising or beating one anothers' scores. Wii Sports was so inclusive and fun that everyone wanted to play it and it symbolises how widespread gaming has become this generation. This was the breakthrough title that families wanted to play together and it’s nothing short than a work of genius from Nintendo.

The Walking Dead
One of the biggest step forwards in gaming this generation is story telling. Whether it be a controlled experience to pluck at your heart strings or an interactive one to provide a unique experience, gaming has certainly stepped forward when it comes to narrative this generation, and I feel as though The Walking Dead is the best example of that.

It’s a simple tale of a man finding a child in danger and trying to protect her. Soon enough you became so attached to the child that you were no longer a gamer playing a game but a character trying to make the right choice in difficult situations. You no longer played so that the lead character could survive, you played so that you could protect another one.

Many games have tried to achieve what The Walking Dead has. Mass Effect was something special, as was The Last of Us, while Heavy Rain had its faults but still achieved something different. But this is the pinnacle of story telling in videogames.