Moot_Geeza wrote:

E: Trials HD A: Uncharted 2 R: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare GOTG: Mario Galaxy 2. I'll edit my reasons in tomorrow, because I should be in bed.

Trails: Either this or the sequel is my favourite game ever.  If you told me I would only be able to play one or the other, for the rest of my life, at the expense of any other game past or future, I'd instantly try to look to the positives.  Maybe I could break into the top 100 on Chessboard!

Uncharted 2: Stunning.  Not just beautiful to look at, but also the perfect marriage of tight gunplay and cinematic climbing-on-stuff.  I like games to be games, rather than 'interactive movies', but everything worked in this for me, and I found myself equally happy during the cutscenes as I was when I had control of Drake.  Another note on the visuals: If games never look any better than this, it would seriously no big deal to me.

COD: Modern Warfare: A good game that I had no interest in, which is something that became increasingly more frequent this generation.  Sadly, it moved away from many of the aspects of, say, Quake III: Arena that I was particularly keen on (small maps, even playing field in terms of character abilities), and most modern first person shooters have followed suit.  Even Halo 4 ended up having perks, so no thanks to that series too.  It also made me realise that my brief love affair with online gaming (which was Quake 3 and Phantasy Star Online on Dreamcast, followed by Halo 2 on the Xbox, and pretty much nothing else), was over, and I'll blame this for the decline of FPS single player campaigns too.  Four hours you say?  I like a short game, but that's just silly. 

Mario Galaxy 2: Quite simply a wonderful game.  It has less of a niche appeal than Trials, so it pips it for GOTG because I can't see how anyone would fail to enjoy it if they gave it an hour or so with an open mind.

Kow wrote:

It don't get all the love for Call of Duty, it was fun but I could think of a hundred games that were better and more representative of the current generation of consoles, particularly as it was just carrying on a game type and genre that had existed for quite a while on pc.

It's representative and shit for me.

The same as actual in WTAF?

That was my way of saying IDGIE

Was in two minds about Bayo- thought about it. I mean mechanics. Mind=blown every time.

Yeah I'm not doing that again

Not being a 360 owner (yet) nor a PS3 owner I don't think I have a valid shout - however when did that ever stop anyone?

Mario Galaxy restored my faith in games and is my game of the gen.

wrote:

"JonB" R - What everyone else said.

This.

JonB wrote:

R - What everyone else said. 

This.

The one he said

hylian_elf wrote:

What have you been playing games on?!?!

Wii/GC, Dreamcast & Saturn.

yes - I am living in the past. I have a couple of 360 games (shmups) that I will get around to playing once the 360 dips in price (though at £99 in Tesco for a 4GB model I suspect that is as low as it will go).

I'm with Reg. The different categories are here to address the fact that the phrase 'Game of the Generation' is ambiguous. The ambiguous nature of the phrase is why the thread exists. Picking a game for each category, and then a different overall game of the generations is, well, stupid defeats the purpose of the categories.


Entertainment
This is still open to interpretation. I had a greater response and engagement with The Last of Us, but I don't think it would be right to say that I was entertained. Crackdown and Gears of War 2 defined my introduction to this generation, and my socks were entertained clean off. Crackdown, in particular, allowed me to play my favourite style of game, and along with Prototype and inFamous have made up for a lack of Spider-man game as good as Spider-man 2 on the PS2. I can't not mention Rayman Origins. There's been a lot of talk in this thread about certain military shooters, but it had more fun with Medal of Honor than any of them. As much as it has debilitating faults, GTAV is tremendous fun. I have to turn my attention, though, to the game which was the only game which made me want a current gen console: Uncharted 2. The rational part of my brain says that the exciting parts of the game are relatively risk free, but when I'm playing, I'm there. I feel nervous when Drake is hundreds of feet up, gripping a ledge and a hand slips. Overall I was more impressed by 3, but I think I had more fun playing 2. I think. I dunno. I think I'll vote Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.

Apex
This gets difficult. Logically, this should be a game at the end of the generation. GTAV comes at the end of the generation and has some phenomenal tech, really impressive. Take the notion that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, though, and GTAV's position is weaker. I am a big fan of solidity and consistency, which is why I highly rate The Last of Us - a major contender for my vote - and Assassin's Creed 3. It's also why, in all seriousness, I seriously consider Gears of War 2 in this category. I know it's been five years, but wow! I still remember the first time Muse and I rounded the corner and we saw that underwater lake for the first time. I thought the section inside the worm was impressive, too. Fuck, Fuel, for it's lack of fun, was immense, technically. However, I'm going to plump for a game which wowed me while still feeling solid, delivering a consistent game world where everything felt nailed down, everything felt right; so my vote won't go to Naughty Dog for TLoU... it'll go to Naughty Dog for Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception.

Representative
Crikey. Difficult one. This is the generation that brought videogames to your mum in the living room, so WiiSports has it wrapped up. Or WiiFit. But this is the generation that brought videogames to your colleague's commute, so it's Angry Birds. Or Bejewelled Blitz. Or Draw Something. Or Candy Crush. But it's also the generation that brought the cover shooter to the fore, so it's Gears of War. Nah, I think we've got this one nailed down already; this generation belongs to the (near-future) military shooter, so of course it's please-stop-leaving-out-the-four Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

@EvilRedEye I hope I've protected myself from potential curses.

E: Mario Galaxy 2 - fun as fuck.
A: GTAV - that city is one of the wonders of the videogame world.
R: Modern Warfare - the real defining feature of this of gen consoles is multiplayer.

Has anyone mentioned Minecraft yet or is it excluded due to its PC origins? For pure sandbox creativity it surely warrants a consideration... Haven't spotted a mention of FIFA vs. Pro Evo either, which was the other constant 'Battle of the genre'.

Some excellent commentary here. It'd be perfect for online/offline quotes but fuck you Edge.

Nobody seems to have mentioned Left 4 Dead, which was the first game to really oblige teamwork and cooperation, got people really communicating, as well as being a hell of a lot of fun.