Over the past 5 years we’ve seen the release of countless great games, ranging from quirky indie oddities through to spectacular, big-budget blockbusters crafted by triple-A studios. 50 best video games of the decade may seem like an overkill, but we also left some gems out. We had to.
Though we may often complain about issues both inside and outside of the industry, we are truly living in a golden age of gaming where developers are consistently hitting it out of the park, exceeding our expectations and telling stories that are among some of the best being told across any medium. Every genre from the FPS through to the RTS is being represented on desktops, home consoles, handhelds, smartphones and tablets, giving us more variety than we’ve ever experienced before.
But with so many wonderful games having been released over the past five years, which ones stand a grade above their peers? Which games have we played halfway into this decade that rank among the very best that this bold and beautiful industry has had to offer?
50 Best Video Games of the Decade (So Far)
Note: This list was limited to games released between January 2010 and June 2015, with games that launched later than this not being included due to us not having had enough time to adequately measure where they would fit in. So rest assured, Kojima fans, that if we ever create a follow-up list with the best 50 games of the entire decade in 2020, the likes of Metal Gear Solid V will probably make the cut.
Honorable Mentions (in no particular order):
- Assassin’s Creed II
- Rogue Legacy
- Saints Row: The Third
- Shovel Knight
- Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes
- Forza Horizon 2
- Tearaway
- Dota 2
- Guacamelee!
- Dishonored
- Torchlight 2
- Halo: Reach
- Tokyo Jungle
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- DayZ
- Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
- Deus Ex: Human Revolution
- Bastion
- The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
- Dead Space 2
- Dragon Age: Inquisition
- The Binding of Isaac
- Limbo
- Battlefield: Bad Company 2
- Deadly Premonition
- Just Cause 2
- Vanquish
- Forza Motorsport 4
- Titanfall
- Ori and the Blind Forest
- Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare
Appreciate Gaming: The Coolest Video Game Quotes
he Top 50 Best Video Games of the Decade (So Far)
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50. Pokémon X and Y (2013)
Pokémon X and Y didn't reinvent the wheel when it came to the series, but it did take that wheel for its most polished, enjoyable ride yet. Adding a fresh lick of paints thanks to some lovely 3D visuals and more animated battle sequences, Pokémon X and Y gave us the best adventure in the series since the classic Red and Blue.
With a wide variety of pocket monsters to catch and excellent fan service thanks to the majority of the series' old favorites being reintroduced (you even get to choose between Charmander, Bulbasaur and Squirtle again!) Pokémon X and Y is both an excellent introduction to the series in the vein of Red and Blue, and a joy to play for veterans of the franchise.
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49. Far Cry 3 (2012)
Far Cry 3 has left a lasting legacy upon video games that no one could have really anticipated. The open-world FPS' gameplay mainly focused upon taking over enemy settlements, offering you multiple ways in which to do so that included, among other things, letting wild animals loose on the guards occupying them, stealthily dispatching of said guards with a sniper rifle or diving in there with a hand glider and laying waste to anyone you came across.
Fast-forward to 2015 and games such as the recently released Metal Gear Solid V and Mad Max both incorporate these elements into their own gameplay, and they're much better for it. While Far Cry 3 was a great game in its own right, no one could have predicted that it'd leave such a lasting impact on the industry as a whole.
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48. FIFA 12 (2011)
Fans of the soccer/football series will know that FIFA 09 through to to FIFA 12 saw the biggest changes to the series being made, with it managing to swiftly transform from a game that lived in the shadows of Pro Evolution Soccer when it came to gameplay (if not sales), to excelling beyond Konami's own football simulation game.
FIFA 12 represented the pinnacle of the improvements made to the series, and though FIFA 09 to FIFA 10 saw the biggest leap in quality, everything EA Sports had been building towards was present and correct in this installment. FIFA 12 arguably attained perfection as far as what EA wanted to do with the franchise, which is why the majority of the changes they've made to the gameplay since then have actually made it worse.
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47. Borderlands 2 (2012)
Borderlands served as the antithesis to the bleak world of military shooters that we found ourselves in at the time, and Borderlands 2 upped the ante considerably by throwing everything into bar the kitchen sink.
Borderlands 2 was a visual assault, its bright colors and over-the-top gunplay being equal parts inveigling and ludicrous. Taking to its world as a team of four led to one of the best co-op experiences you could enjoy in the previous console generation, and many are still enjoying it to this day thanks to the release of the Handsome Jack Collection.
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46. Fallout: New Vegas (2010)
Fallout 3 may still stand as the pinnacle of the series thus far, but for fans of that game who wanted more than the DLC packs they had been offered, New Vegas gave them plenty more to play.
With a post-apocalyptic Las Vegas to explore, Fallout: New Vegas added an extra emphasis upon survival, along with a brand new and engaging story for players to sink their teeth into, even if it didn't particularly make any meaningful improvements over its predecessor.
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45. Spec Ops: The Line (2012)
Not many games dare to hold up a mirror to the player, but Spec Ops: The Line did so with unrelenting efficiency.
Yager Development's highly meta third-person shooter played out as a criticism of both military shooters and of war itself, forcing the player to grimly traverse through disturbing scenes which they themselves had helped create, implicating enemy soldiers and civilians alike. Spec Ops: The Line may have suffered from underwhelming gunplay and a tacked-on multiplayer that was entirely at odds with its single-player campaign, but its exploration of the shades of grey present in war outside of the black/white rhetoric spewed forth from politicians was engaging and upsetting in equal measure, making for one of the most memorable experiences of 2012.
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44. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (2013)
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn has one of the best comeback stories in all of video games. Following on from the hugely criticized launch of the underwhelming original Final Fantasy XIV, A Realm Reborn saw Square Enix return to the drawing board and come back with not only a capable MMO set within the FF universe, but a pretty incredible one.
FFXIV instantly thrust itself into the upper echelon of popular MMOs, and while it certainly piggybacked on the success of its namesake, it was competent enough to stand on its own two feet and entice both Final Fantasy fans and MMO veterans alike into giving it a spin. Compared to the original, A Realm Reborn felt so incredibly polished, and its satisfying progression system made it one of the most accessible and enjoyable MMOs around.
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43. Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010)
With Modern Warfare 2 becoming a swamp of cheating players and sniper-heavy chaos, it was up to Treyarch to right the good ship Call of Duty with their next entry in the series following World at War. They successfully did so with Black Ops, one of the most enjoyable CoD games to date that offered a variety of unique modes such as Gun Game and Sticks 'n' Stones that kept players returning for more long after they'd grown tired of TDM and Domination.
Black Ops cleansed the palette for those who had grown increasingly frustrated at the mess Activision left MW2 in, and popularized the Zombies mode that has now become a mainstay of the series even outside of Treyarch's output.
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42. Gears of War 3 (2011)
The concluding chapter in Marcus Fenix's story, Gears of War 3 offered the perfect send-off to the series by perfecting what Gears fans loved about it.
Combining a relentlessly gory and over-the-top single-player campaign with a refined multiplayer offering that almost reached the heights of the original Gears' online component, GoW3 was the burly, ultra-macho conclusion to creator Cliff Bleszinski's run with the series.
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41. Papers, Please (2013)
Over the past few years public perception has shifted in regards to what they expect from their video games. There is no greater example of the industry's changing landscape than Papers, Please, developer Lucas Pope's bleak tale of the difficult choices faced by an immigration officer operating in the war-ravished country of Arstotzka.
Papers, Please touches upon issues of morality as you're tasked with controlling the borders of the fictional country whilst also supporting your own family in this dystopian world, with you starting out as a righteous hand of judgement, sending into the country those who need your help before realizing that holding to your principles may not always be a good thing. Papers, Please isn't a fun game by any stretch of the imagination, but it's one that needs to be experienced.
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40. Heavy Rain (2010)
There are those who argue that Heavy Rain "isn't a game," as though there is some strict definition of what a game should be. Those people are wrong, of course, but the criticisms that could be made of Heavy Rain were always clear. It certainly wasn't as interactive as other games in the traditional sense of the word, but in actuality the agency afforded to the player in the game actually made a bigger impact upon its story than, say, mindlessly shooting waves upon waves of enemies with giddy abandon.
Heavy Rain wasn't perfect, but it was one of the most unique games you could get on the PS3 and one of the very best games to play with friends, even though it was entirely single-player. Sitting down with a crowd and essentially taking control of your own movie was great fun and often hilarious, making it one of the most enjoyable experiences you could have in the previous console generation.
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39. FTL: Faster Than Light (2012)
Every time you sit down to play FTL, your experience with the game will be different. Placing you in control of a spaceship and its sleep, exploring the surrounding galaxy and desperately trying to keep the lives of your crew in tact, during one session you could find yourself evading multiple threats and garnering resources effortlessly, while in another session you could unfortunately be confronted by pirates time and time again, before your crew are forced to face their untimely demise within minutes.
Though the PC has become inundated with a myriad of roguelike games recently, FTL stands head and shoulders above many of its peers and offers the prospect of a thrilling journey through space every time you load it up.
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38. Tomb Raider (2013)
After struggling to find her footing through much of the Xbox 360 and PS3's life cycle, Crystal Dynamics decided to give Lara Croft a makeover once again in the Tomb Raider series' 2013 reboot, essentially crafting a darker, bloodier take on Uncharted that modernized the classic franchise and introduced it to a brand new audience.
Those who remembered Angel of Darkness as the grittiest game in the Tomb Raider series were forced to reevaluate, with the level of violence being kicked up a notch alongside a new emphasis upon crafting and a stronger focus upon the survival aspect of Lara's adventure.
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37. God of War 3 (2010)
The original God of War trilogy had no delusions of grandeur by trying to be something that it wasn't. It knew that it was a game about smacking mythological beasts and Greek Gods in the face and tearing them limb from limb, and it never tried to do anything more than that. Even though on the surface it appeared to be the kind of game that would make parents faint if they knew their underage offspring were playing it, there was a dignity to how much it reveled in allowing the player to commit these violent atrocities on anything that stumbled into their path.
God of War 3 was the epitome of the series' unfaltering devotion to depicting as much explicit bloodshed as possible, tied together with pitch-perfect mechanics and visuals that remained among the PS3's best long after it had released. It knew who its audience was and catered to them with gusto, and there's a lot to be said for that.
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36. Battlefield 3 (2011)
Bigger doesn't always mean better, unless you're talking about Battlefield in which case yes, bigger definitely is better, and Battlefield 3 was the most gloriously refined large-scale shooter of them all.
Played on PC (which is where you absolutely should have played it), every round of Battlefield 3 felt like a shot of adrenaline to the arm, and experiencing it with a server rammed with players made the obsession with CoD seem thoroughly implausible. While BF3 didn't manage to beat Call of Duty in terms of sales, we all knew who the real champion was.
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35. Alien Isolation (2014)
Though it was met with only decent reviews upon release, it's likely that time will be kind of Alien Isolation. After Aliens: Colonial Marines left every fan of the iconic sci-fi series with a sour taste in their mouths, Alien Isolation released and instantly righted that tremendous wrong, providing a nail-biting, terrifying experience befitting of its namesake.
Alien Isolation was deemed too unforgiving for some, who were used to their horror games playing to a specific set of rules. There were few rules that were adhered to in Creative Assembly's underrated classic, though, as the Alien sniffed you out as you hid trembling in a locker, and hunted you down with unwavering dedication, which is exactly what you'd expect from a perfect killing machine. This made for one of the most torturous (in a good way) survival horror games we've seen in years, that was made all the more better by its devoted replication of the Alien world as depicted by the likes of Ridley Scott and James Cameron.
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34. Batman: Arkham City (2011)
Expanding from the more linear setting of Batman: Arkham Asylum to an open-world environment in the form of the titular Arkham City, Rocksteady's sequel successfully managed to bring the revolutionary combat and stealth gameplay to a busier Gotham cityscape.
Littered with even more fan service than its predecessor, from Easter Eggs through to chance encounters and glorious cameo appearances, Batman: Arkham City allowed players to feel even more like they actually were the Batman than they did in the original game, thanks to it granting them the ability to soar above the city's skyscrapers before dropping down and terrifying a selection of armed goons. Couple this with an original plot that concluded with the shocking death of the Joker, and Rocksteady managed to transcend the video game medium and craft one of the best Batman tales of all time.
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33. Journey (2012)
At a time when gamers were becoming increasingly incensed by video games that didn't offer them 40-hour experiences for their money, Journey highlighted why bigger doesn't always mean better.
Thatgamecompany provided players with one of 2012's standout releases, with it also being one of the most unique and memorable co-op experiences that had been released up until that point. Having a random stranger join you whilst you embarked upon your grand adventure towards the ominous mountain in the distance, Journey didn't allow for direct communication between players, instead only enabling them to "talk" to each other through indeterminable sounds made by their respective Travelers. Having a stranger point you in the right direction, or watching your new-found friend mercilessly mowed down by one of the game's mammoth, snake-like enemies was made all the more compelling by not being able to thank them/scream obscenities using a mic, and up until the game's end credits that informed you that you had been joined on your journey by "BigDick69," it made for one of most beautiful and rewarding gaming experiences in video game history.
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32. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (2011)
After the classic Uncharted 2, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception could have been considered something of a disappointment. However, while it failed to match the quality of its predecessor, an underwhelming Uncharted game is still far better than most other games.
Drake's Deception was the final Uncharted game to be released on the PS3, and it pushed the console to its limits. With stunning visuals mixed with the smooth gameplay that the series has become known for, Uncharted 3 saw players assuming the role of Nathan Drake once again as he battled his way through a variety of exhilarating set-pieces, including fighting for survival on a sinking ship in a stage that almost equaled Uncharted 2's infamous 'A Train to Catch' chapter.
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31. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (2013)
While 3DS owners are seemingly much more enamored with the console's remakes of Nintendo 64 classics Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds deserves far greater praise for being a completely original Zelda game that actually manages to compete with SNES classic A Link to the Past, which shares its setting and top-down gameplay.
A Link Between Worlds didn't represent a seismic shift in the way Nintendo handled Zelda's gameplay, but rather highlighted how finely tuned the Zelda formula is, with it feeling like an almost effortless classic. Introducing a few notable alterations including granting Link the ability to transform into a painting and stick to walls in order to solve puzzles, along with giving the player immediate access to its variety of items and weapons in order for them to pick and choose which ones they wish to take with them in a dungeon, A Link Between Worlds was one of the most challenging and downright fun Zelda games we'd seen in a while, and showed what Nintendo can do when they're at their most confident.
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30. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (2014)
Following the disappointing Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii, Nintendo returned to the drawing board and released not one, but two Smash Bros. games in 2014, for the 3DS and Wii U respectively.
While both games shared the same blood, it was the latter that impressed the most as it offered the most comprehensive and feature-packed Smash Bros. experience to date. With a roster of characters no longer stuffed with clones and an online mode that - gasp - actually worked, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U was the game that Super Smash Bros. Melee hoped that Brawl would be. While members of the fighting game community will argue until their blue in the face over which is better and more suited to professional play, for outsiders Smash Bros. U can easily be considered the ultimate battle between their favorite Nintendo characters.
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29. XCOM: Enemy Unknown (2012)
XCOM: Enemy Unknown represented a shot in the arm for isometric strategy games, offering a hugely detailed and challenging selection of battles with unforgiving alien enemies that tested the wits of even the most battle-hardened of XCOM fans.
A game that both competed with the level of difficulty of earlier entries in the series whilst also proving to be adaptable enough for new players, Enemy Unknown awarded careful planning and pitch-perfect strategies, playing out like a captivating, wonderful tabletop game in the process.
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28. LittleBigPlanet 2 (2011)
Media Molecule is a development studio of great ambition, and this level of ambition was never highlighted as well as it was in LittleBigPlanet 2, their bigger, better and more bonkers sequel to the innovative original LBP.
While platforming fans may have still found it difficult to get to grips with its particularly floaty controls, its greatness lied in its creation suite, which offered players an unprecedented amount of freedom in being able to craft their own levels, short films and even music videos.
Years down the line we saw everything from fighting games through to first-person shooters being created using its design tools, with its community being one of the most dedicated (not to mention talented) we've seen for a video game. Their combined efforts led to a seemingly infinite treasure trove of excellent creations that gave LBP2 an incredibly high level of replayability, with it still being a joy to play years after its release.
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27. Hearthstone (2014)
A free-to-play collectible card game (CCG) from Blizzard, Hearthstone has proven to be one of the most addictive games of its generation, sinking its claws into PC and mobile/tablet gamers alike with its simple yet deceptively deep gameplay.
Hearthstone continues to be a huge money-maker for Blizzard, with players routinely forking over money to get their hands on better cards and improve their decks. However, the game is fortunately not "pay to win," as skilled players can craft an accomplished deck from cards obtained outside of purchasable packs. This, along with Blizzard's continued support of the game including the excellent new Tavern Brawl mode, means that Hearthstone will likely share a similar longevity to Blizzard's other hugely popular game. You know the one.
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26. The Stanley Parable (2013)
"Walking Simulator" is a derisive description given to games that feature limited player interaction outside of exploring an environment. While this is a more than adequate term for the likes of the dull Dear Esther and Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, it most certainly should not be leveled at The Stanley Parable.
The Stanley Parable sees the player exploring the fabric of video game narratives, whilst guided by the voice of one of the most acerbically witty video game characters in the history of the medium in the form of its Narrator. The Narrator questions each choice you make during the course of the game, with you able to explore a variety of different scenarios depending upon the paths you take in the game, with the result ranging from grim commentaries on the state of modern life to philosophical musings regarding player agency in video games. It can be a different game each time you play it, with an array of different endings that each intelligently delve into a different subject matter, ranging from the disconcertingly dark to the genuinely hilarious. You won't play anything else like it.
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25. Bloodborne (2014)
Bloodborne released during a time when PS4 owners had little to play on their console, and even though From Software fans were excited to see what the Souls series creator Hidetaki Miyazaki would pull out of the bag, after he returned to the franchise following his partial absence during the development of Dark Souls II, in many ways Bloodborne exceeded expectations and proved to be an interesting departure from the series' conventions, becoming the PS4's first must-have exclusive in the process.
Bloodborne wasn't as difficult as the Souls games, but it offered its own unique flavor that amounted to much more than just the addition of guns. Alongside a traditionally obtuse story that encouraged exploration and conversations with your fellow player in order to decipher exactly what was going on within its bleak, sinister world, Bloodborne also added a welcome burst of agility to the Souls formula in both its movement and combat, along with a variety of insane weapons to equip your character with and similarly off-the-wall enemies for you to slaughter. While not as ruthless as its predecessors, Bloodborne was an excellent spin-off.
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24. Diablo III (2012)
Diablo III had an unfortunate start to its life cycle. With it being launched as an always-online game plagued by consistent server troubles, fans of the series were left unable to play it weeks after its release.
However, as these issues were ironed out, many allowed themselves to fall in love with what was a refined dungeon crawling experience, and the release of its fantastic Reaper of Souls expansion, which in many respects bettered the quality of the full vanilla game, helped it to garner more fans after the initial controversy.
Now Diablo III is considered a rich and rewarding experience, with its Ultimate Evil Edition having successfully courted many console owners and introduced it to a whole new audience of gamer.
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23. Sid Meier's Civilization 5 (2010)
Now widely regarded as the greatest Civilization game to date, the fifth entry in the world-destroying strategy series introduced hex tiles and other such improvements that made global domination much more fun this time around.
Gigantic in scale yet somehow managing to be incredibly welcoming for not only newcomers to the series, but newcomers to turn-based strategy games in general, Civ 5 can successfully snatch away hours upon hours of your life without even realizing it, and not once leave you bored. It's one of the oldest games on this list, yet is also one that we'd be most likely to play again, given how well it has aged.
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22. Fire Emblem: Awakening (2013)
When you think of Nintendo's world famous intellectual properties, Fire Emblem likely doesn't rank among them considering it's got competition from Mario, Zelda and the like. However, Fire Emblem: Awakening successfully introduced more followers to the first-party franchise, with it proving to be one of the finest turn-based strategy games of the past five years, an even more impressive accomplishment when you consider that it's a 3DS game.
Fire Emblem: Awakening is arguably the greatest entry in what many consider to be the best turn-based strat series of all time, and such was the overwhelming praise it received upon release that it immediately became a must buy for 3DS owners, effectively opening it up to a wider Western audience. With a colorful cast of characters and accessible but deep gameplay, it's not difficult to see why this proved to be Fire Emblem's breakout hit, and why so many consider it to be the best game the 3DS has to offer.
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21. Mark of the Ninja (2012)
Prior to the release of Mark of the Ninja a 2D stealth game wouldn't have seemed plausible, but the creative minds over at Klei Entertainment not only showed us that a side-scrolling sneak 'em up was possible, but that it could actually be one of the very best entries in the stealth genre.
Mark of the Ninja featured gloriously smooth gameplay that made subduing enemies from out of the shadows feel satisfying, and mechanics that reward lighting fast reflexes, eventually honing the player's muscle memory so that they can deal with potentially deadly situations with all the fluidity of a ninja themselves. Though its 3D stealth peers may be more widely recognized, Mark of the Ninja still stands head and shoulders above most of them.
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20. The Walking Dead: Season One (2012)
Even if you aren't enamored by The Walking Dead TV series and aren't interested in reading the graphic novels that inspired it, The Walking Dead: Season One is a completely original tale from developers Telltale Games that will sink its rotten teeth into you and refuse to let go.
Featuring one of the most emotional and best written relationships featured in a game in the form of the bond shared between protagonist Lee and his young companion Clementine, who he affectionately refers to as "Clem," players are tasked with making difficult choices throughout the duration of each of its episodes, and as the bonds you share with its memorable cast of characters increases, these decisions become increasingly torturous to make. Despite Telltale having now released a myriad of games sharing The Walking Dead's formula, they've still yet to better this masterpiece.
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19. Animal Crossing: New Leaf (2012)
Animal Crossing: New Leaf is so good that it can actually make you feel guilty for not playing it. A game that is best played in 30-minute bursts, daily, for the rest of eternity, if you don't return to the game in a while then your in-game secretary Isabelle will make you feel awful not having done so, crying about how your fellow townsfolk have sorely missed your presence.
It says a lot about Nintendo that they can form a bond with New Leaf's critters using only text dialog, but aside from the odd guilt trip, the world of this 3DS game is so lovely to envelope yourself in that visiting it every morning in order to pick weeds, catch fish and sell furniture is a joy, not a chore. It's the very best Animal Crossing game there is, and a perfect portable game to boot.
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18. Hotline Miami (2012)
Inspired by the Ryan Gosling vehicle Drive, Hotline Miami was unlike anything we had seen before upon its release. Yes, it was technically a top-down shooter, but it was far from being a bullet hell game - in fact, rather than soaking up ammunition like a sponge, if you so much as put one foot out of line you'd find your brains splattered over the wall behind you.
It was a game which caused the player to employ cat-like reactions in order to complete objectives in its labyrinthine stages, complemented wonderfully by a neon-lit aesthetic and a pulsating soundtrack. All of this was topped off with an obtuse story that is still debated today, and was made even more complicated by the release of the (sadly underwhelming) Hotline Miami 2. It's one of the most stylish games released this decade (so far), and not even its developer Dennaton has been able to match it.
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17. Super Meat Boy (2010)
A leader in the rise of the indie game industry, Team Meat's Super Meat Boy managed to light up the Xbox Live Marketplace when it first released due to its pinpoint platforming mechanics, and in this respect it has yet to be bettered.
Following the success of the revolutionary Braid, Super Meat Boy managed get even more people to pay attention to developers outside of the triple-A studios creating big-budget releases, turning everyone's heads with a low budget game that bettered the majority of its more expensive contemporaries. While PC gamers had been enjoying indie oddities for a while, for many console gamers Super Meat Boy was the game that convinced them to purchase a release that wasn't created by the likes of EA, Ubisoft or another big-name player, and it opened up the doors to a whole new wave of indie developers, with it influence being a direct result of its high quality.
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16. Guild Wars 2 (2012)
When a developer steps out into the open with a brand new MMO, comparisons are inevitably made between it and World of Warcraft with an abundance of opinion pieces regarding how it could finally be the "WoW killer" we've been waiting for.
We've yet to see an MMO that has managed to lure WoW's still substantial (though decreasing) user base away from the game, but Guild Wars 2 managed to offer the best alternative yet, and has courted many players to the genre who may have otherwise been left cold by it if they had only experienced WoW thus far.
Featuring a huge and bustling world to explore and a gameplay system focused upon fairness that doesn't punish newbies, Guild Wars 2's lack of a subscription fee made this a no-brainer for those who wanted a new MMO to play outside of WoW, and it continues to be a fantastic alternative three years later.
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15. Mario Kart 8 (2014)
Mario Kart 8 is the best local multiplayer game of the past 5 years, and there is a great argument for it being the very best Mario Kart game ever.
Mario Kart 8 was a celebration of everything that makes the series beloved, with it being given a fresh lick of high-definition paint that showed the Wii U was capable of wowing us with its visuals, that familiar, frenetic gameplay we've grown accustomed to and a new focus upon actually rewarding skill rather than luck, something which led to many being disappointed by the far too lenient Mario Kart Wii.
With an online multiplayer mode that allowed players to battle it out against their friends in lag-free races, and a variety of different courses that rank among the very best the series has to offer, Mario Kart 8 bolstered the Wii U's line-up significantly and is the second-best game to have ever released on the console, right behind...
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14. Super Mario 3D World (2013)
Super Mario 3D World is massively underrated considering it is one of the very best 3D Mario titles Nintendo has ever created.
Allowing up to 4 players to journey through the Mushroom Kingdom in order to thwart Bowser's dastardly plans, Super Mario 3D World combined the chaotic multiplayer aspect of New Super Mario Bros. with the superb level design of the likes of Super Mario Galaxy, and ended up being the best of both worlds. There's nothing quite like riding on the back of a giant orange dinosaur, shouting at your friends to turn right and then accidentally sending your heroes hurtling off the side of a level.
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13. BioShock Infinite (2013)
BioShock Infinite had its problems, from its underwhelming gameplay through to accusations that its anti-racism themes may have actually contained some racism in the form of the treatment of the black character Daisy Fitzroy, who goes from heroic leader of a rebellion to a cold-hearted killer with worrying ease. But despite this, BioShock Infinite had us all talking more so than any other game in the past five years.
From an outsider's perspective, video games can often look like dumb things that people use to mentally switch off for a few hours, but BioShock Infinite highlighted how diverse the medium actually is by leaving thousands off us to debate long into the night about the multiverse theory. Like any great work of fiction it has since been dissected and its plot holes exposed, but for weeks after its release we were forced to retread its ending over and over in our minds, exploring every little detail in order to glean more information that could further explain the conclusion to Booker and Elizabeth's story, and even revisiting the old games in order to make sense of it. BioShock Infinite was an imperfect masterpiece, and the perfect final chapter for the now-defunct developer Irrational Games.
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12. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015)
Consistency is a rare trait for an RPG to possess, given that they typically require hours upon hours of dedication. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is something of an anomaly, then, for remaining routinely entertaining throughout the duration of its runtime.
Along with its refined, rewarding combat, The Witcher 3 managed to achieve this by featuring some of the best dialogue in an RPG to date, with CD Projekt Red showcasing their wicked sense of humor in exchanges between memorable characters across its gorgeous-but-deadly world. As a result of this it has proven to be one of 2015's most beloved games, along with catapulting protagonist Geralt up into the upper echelon of video game heroes.
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11. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011)
For some (namely PC gamers) Skyrim represented a more diluted version of The Elder Scrolls world they had come to know and love, and it being adapted for a console audience was deemed an unwelcome change by many. However, for those who had not been introduced to the series by the likes of Morrowind or Oblivion, Skyrim was the perfect jumping-on point.
An open-world RPG that demanded you fully immerse yourself in the vast expanses of its landscape and explore all of its seemingly infinite secrets, for those who found themselves inveigled by its mythical universe of dragons, ogres and headless horsemen, Skyrim was recognized as one of the front-runners of a new age of RPGs for a new generation of gamers.
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10. Rayman Legends (2013)
Rayman Legends isn't just one of the best 2D platformers of the past 5 years - it's one of the best 2D platformers of all time.
The level of ingenuity on display from developers Ubisoft Montpellier oozes out of each and every single one of its pores, from the music-based levels in which you'll blast away enemies and hop along crumbling ledges to the tunes of Black Betty, Eye of the Tiger and more, to its challenging co-op levels in which one player assumes the role of Murfy and guides their teammate to victory. It was an outstanding accomplishment, and saw Ubisoft even managing to outdo Nintendo in the genre and put its underwhelming New Super Mario Bros. series to shame.
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9. Portal 2 (2011)
When the original Portal found its way into Valve's The Orange Box alongside Half-Life 2 and Team Fortress 2, it surprisingly became the biggest selling point of the entire collection, and made a star out of its sarcastic, robotic antagonist GLaDOS. Expectations were high for its full retail release of a sequel, then, and Portal 2 exceeded those expectations by leaps and bounds.
Along with cramming in more GLaDOS, Portal 2 saw Valve introduce a robot companion into the mix in the form of Wheatley, a dim-witted sidekick that, due to an unfortunate series of events, winds up usurping GLaDOS in her role as the ruler of the Aperture Science Laboratory.
Along with providing us with two of the best characters we've yet seen in a video game, Portal 2 also brought with it an even wider selection of cerebral puzzles and a co-op mode that we didn't even realize we wanted, but that actually proved to be a highlight of one of the best games of the past five years.
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8. StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty (2010)
The original StarCraft defined the real-time strategy, and so when the time came to release StarCraft 2, the pressure was on Blizzard to match the hype.
We now know that StarCraft 2 managed to do so, with it still being one of the top 5 most streamed game on Twitch and an eSports regular, thanks to Blizzard not choosing to reinvent the StarCraft model but rather open it up to a brand new audience. It paid off marvelously, and StarCraft 2 represents one of the highlights of the genre and an enduringly popular addition to Blizzard's library of incredibly games.
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7. Grand Theft Auto V (2013)
Rockstar returned to their record-breaking flagship franchise with the biggest GTA to date in the form of Grand Theft Auto V. Set in a world littered with reprehensible characters, GTAV tasked players with assuming the roles of three protagonists as they battled their way to the cream of the crop of Los Santos' criminal underbelly.
With a vast open-world to explore - the biggest in the series' history - Grand Theft Auto V may have featured a story that came under fire for its wanton immaturity and brazen teetering on the line of offensiveness, for those who were willing to be offended, it provided an endless amount of things to do, cars to steal and police helicopters to explode with RPGs. This high level of replayability was only emphasized by its GTA Online mode, which saw players duking it out online in a flawed though very fun multiplayer mode, which improved monumentally with the introduction of Heists.
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6. Red Dead Redemption (2010)
When we heard that Rockstar were taking on an open-world Western setting, it seemed implausible that the famed developer could match our incredibly high expectations of what they could deliver. Fortunately, they did so in leaps and bounds, with Red Dead Redemption remaining one of, if not the most beloved Rockstar game to have ever been released.
Providing a sympathetic hero in the form of John Marston, save for a slump in its concluding chapters Red Dead Redemption was perfectly paced, and managed to do great things with its desolate yet stunning Wild West location.
We all wiped a collective tear from our eye when John met his untimely demise during the game's shock finale, but an accomplished multiplayer offering meant that we could keep returning to the game long after we were forced into the shoes of our hero's belligerent son Jack.
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5. Mass Effect 2 (2010)
BioWare's magnum opus, Mass Effect 2 is the developer's Empire Strikes Back, in that it made the original Mass Effect more of a joy to experience in hindsight, though it also somewhat sullied our enjoyment of Mass Effect 3 due to it being so darn good.
Mass Effect 2 was the darker, better sequel to its predecessor, improving it upon it in almost every way and introducing characters both old and new that were ingrained in the memory thanks to a compelling narrative and accomplished dialogue. Reservations about its conclusion aside, Mass Effect 2 was the highlight of one of gaming's greatest trilogies, and proof that RPGs don't require swords and sorcery to be epic.
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4. Dark Souls (2011)
Dark Souls was a slow burner when it came to achieving the level of notoriety and popularity it now enjoys. The successor to the underappreciated Demon's Souls, From Software's foreboding and intensely difficult journey through an increasingly hostile gothic landscape is now widely celebrated as one of the very best games of the previous console generation (we'll forget about the shoddy PC port), and for good reason.
To newcomers Dark Souls can feel wholly unfair, but as with all of From Software's games, eventually something just clicks and you begin to understand how the game wants you to handle its intense combat scenarios and punishing boss battles, and how to navigate its perilous world, cruel world. Though you'll still be greeted by the now infamous "YOU DIED" screen an unfathomable amount of times before you reach its conclusion a battered and bloody mess, this is all part of the experience, with death being an integral part of the Dark Souls experience in order to help the player adapt to each specific scenario the game throws at them. The end result is a game which will have you throwing your controller in frustration, but will also fill you with a greater sense of achievement than the vast majority of its peers.
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3. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2010)
Nintendo rarely returns to the same concept twice when it comes to its 3D Mario series, but even they decided that the Super Mario Galaxy formula was too good to not revisit, creating a sequel that arguably bettered the original and proved to be a highlight of the Wii's twilight years.
Super Mario Galaxy 2 featured an unprecedented level of variety for a platformer, offering up brand new, exciting ideas just as quickly as it threw them away. It was Nintendo at their most imaginative, consistently keeping players on their toes through the introduction of a variety of new mechanics and special abilities, along with the welcome addition of Yoshi.
While the Wii was home to copious amounts of shovelware and featured little in the way of decent third-party support, Nintendo knew how to get the most out of that little white box, and Super Mario Galaxy 2 was the console's crowning achievement.
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2. The Last of Us (2013)
2013 began with release of BioShock Infinite, a game which told a story that sprung forth philosophical theories and promoted a viewpoint that, if pondered too heavily, could quite easily lead to one suffering from an existential crisis.
On the other side of the coin, a few months later Naughty Dog presented us with a far more human and affecting story in the form of The Last of Us, which saw us assuming the role of weary survivor Joel as he battled with his demons in a post-apocalyptic universe, accompanied by the young, brash Ellie. Their reluctant relationship drove a story centered around the relationship shared between father and child, touching on the heavy-hitting themes of loss and bereavement as Joel struggled to contend with the emotional weight he carried as a result of the death of his daughter, concluding in a heart-wrenching finale that transformed Joel from a sympathetic to a divisive character.
This plot was helped along by gameplay that, unlike The Last of Us' myriad of post-apocalyptic peers, actually felt like it belonged in a game focused upon survival, with scraps needing to be collected, weaponry proving to be inconsistent and the infected enemies you encountered being genuinely threatening and at times terrifying, compared to the cannon fodder we had seen in other games.
Then just to prove that they were capable of turning whatever they touched into gold, Naughty Dog transformed what we had presumed would be a tacked-on multiplayer component into a genuinely unique online mode that, rather than detracting from The Last of Us' world, only added to it by focusing upon that central theme of survival and running with it.
The Last of Us stands neatly alongside Uncharted 2 as Naughty Dog's very best games, and is a modern classic that isn't just one of the best games of the past five years, but one of the best games of all time.
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1. Minecraft (2011)
Minecraft's influence upon the gaming industry is monumental, both from a development and a consumer standpoint. With it having attracted millions of users throughout its alpha and beta stages, when it received its full release in 2011 it was already a seminal title, having inspired an influx of pretenders to creators Mojang's throne, none of which managed to emulate its success.
Minecraft is frequently described as the video game equivalent of Lego, but in actuality it's much more than that. While it grants players the ability to experiment within a sandbox that allows them to bring their blocky creations to life, it's also proven to be a phenomenon that extends far beyond its own respective medium. Minecraft toys, books and other assorted merchandise flies from off the shelves worldwide, while YouTubers can achieve a lucrative living by solely playing the game to an audience of millions. Much like many of the older generation of gamer were introduced to it through the likes of Mario, Sonic and before that Pong, Space Invaders et al, Minecraft has opened the doorway for players new and old who have become inveigled by the prospect of exploring its imaginative playground.
Minecraft may be met with scorn by cynics who are baffled by its popularity, but there is no denying that when the dust has settled on every game on this list, there will still be those who will be playing Minecraft, with it being unharmed by evolving graphics nor the ever-evolving landscape of the industry. It's a game that you can envisage being played even a decade away from now and with players still gleaning the same amount of enjoyment out of it, and as such it makes it the overwhelmingly obvious number one choice for our top 50 games of the decade so far.
