5. 2013
Notable Game Releases: GTA 5, The Last of Us, BioShock Infinite, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, Assassin’s Creed IV
We’re all the way down to the ultimate 5 years on this record, and that is the purpose the place the rankings go from “tough” to almost unimaginable. There’s a powerful argument to be made that any of those 5 years need to occupy the highest spot.
2013 was undoubtedly highlighted by the releases of Grand Theft Auto 5 and The Last of Us. The former would go on to develop into the second best-selling online game ever, whereas the latter is a kind of uncommon titles that almost everybody agrees is a story masterpiece. 2013’s BioShock Infinite might have been something however universally acclaimed, however that considerably divisive title stays a compelling lightning rod. This was additionally the 12 months that noticed Final Fantasy XIV remodel into Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. The significance of that transformation has develop into an increasing number of obvious with every passing 12 months.
Beyond that, you had an unbelievable Tomb Raider reboot that few noticed coming, smaller titles like The Stanley Parable, Gone Home, and Papers, Please vying for GOTY awards, and repeatedly underrated video games like Rogue Legacy, DmC, and Metro: Last Light. All of that, and I barely have time to speak about DOTA 2, A Link Between Worlds, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Saints Row IV, Blood Dragon, Metal Gear Rising: (*20*), and Assassin’s Creed IV. Imagine making an attempt to play all these video games that 12 months.
Honestly, the most effective issues you may say about 2013 is that we’re nonetheless taking part in a few of that 12 months’s greatest video games to today.
4. 2001
Notable Game Releases: Halo: Combat Evolved, Grand Theft Auto III, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Devil May Cry, Final Fantasy X
If you ever hear players of a sure age lament that the beginning of latest gaming generations aren’t as thrilling as they was, attempt to forgive them. After all, a few of us have been lucky sufficient to be children within the unbelievable 12 months for gaming that was 2001.
Few doubted Microsoft’s skill to ultimately make an affect within the console market, however fewer nonetheless suspected that Halo would go on to develop into one of the vital impactful launch video games ever. Mind you, people who purchased a GameDice as an alternative have been too busy taking part in Super Smash Bros. Melee, Luigi’s Mansion, Super Monkey Ball, and Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader to thoughts.
During its first full 12 months, the PS2 turned in the most effective single-year software program lineups ever. Indeed, it’s generally onerous to consider that Metal Gear Solid 2, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3, Gran Turismo III, Grand Theft Auto III, Silent Hill 2, Devil May Cry, SSX Tricky, Final Fantasy X, ICO, Red Faction, and Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy have been all launched in the identical 12 months.
Even the N64 bought in on the enjoyable with the discharge of Paper Mario and Conker’s Bad Fur Day. Add Max Payne, Golden Sun, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Dead or Alive 3, and Aliens vs. Predator 2 to the combo and…effectively, the one means I can justify not placing this 12 months on the prime of the record is to maneuver on to the remaining three years.
3. 2007
Notable Game Releases: Portal, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Halo 3, World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade, Rock Band, Super Mario Galaxy
Throughout this 12 months, has been celebrating its fifteenth anniversary. While I hope you’ll have a good time with us, I do know lots of you entered 2022 able to have a good time the fifteenth anniversary of what many contemplate to be the very best 12 months in online game historical past.
2007 was the form of 12 months that gave us Team Fortress 2, Half-Life 2: Episode 2, and Portal within the similar assortment. It was a 12 months when Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare arguably provided the height of one of many greatest recreation franchises ever, whereas Halo 3 delivered what was basically the top of an period for one more FPS sequence (although Bungie would nonetheless ship ODST and Reach). If that is the primary time you’re realizing all these video games have been launched in the identical 12 months, that’s most likely as a result of the noise they generated was being drowned out by your Rock Band classes. That, otherwise you have been too misplaced in WoW’s Burning Crusade growth to note anything.
More than something, although, I’ll keep in mind 2007 as a golden time for daring new concepts that turned franchises. It was the 12 months that gave us the very first BioShock, Assassin’s Creed, Uncharted, Crysis, and Mass Effect video games. Even Super Mario Galaxy was adequate to develop into the temporary way forward for the Super Mario franchise.
There’s one thing bittersweet about wanting again at 2007. It’s straightforward to blind your self with rose-colored glasses, however there actually was one thing stunning about this time when the way forward for gaming appeared so vivid as a result of the current was so nice.
2. 1998
Notable Game Releases: Metal Gear Solid, Half-Life, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Fallout 2, Resident Evil 2, Starcraft
I went into this record totally anticipating 1998 to take the highest spot. It wasn’t only a nice 12 months in gaming; it’s one of many solely years in gaming that I might argue was undeniably nice. I definitely can’t fault anybody who considers it to be the very best 12 months ever.
Above all else, 1998 will at all times be remembered because the 12 months that gave us Half-Life, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and Metal Gear Solid. More than simply three nice video games, they have been three very totally different video games that represented the very best of the three greatest platforms accessible at the moment.
If you want extra proof of 1998’s greatness, you’ll discover it in Starcraft, Fallout 2, Resident Evil 2, Starsiege: Tribes, Tekken 3, Grim Fandango, Banjo-Kazooie, Thief: The Dark Project, and even the NA debut of Pokémon. Many of these video games (and extra from 1998) are rightfully thought of to be the easiest of their respective genres to today.
That’s the factor about the very best video games of 1998. Like the very best films of the beloved summer time of 1982, the very best video games of 1998 have stayed in our collective acutely aware for thus lengthy that it’s generally onerous to overlook that they weren’t launched simply yesterday. Many of them may doubtless nonetheless win GOTY this 12 months if that they had been.
1. 2004
Notable Game Releases: Halo 2, Half-Life 2, Metroid Prime 2, Metal Gear Solid 3, World of Warcraft, GTA: San Andreas, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2
If I informed you that Counter-Strike: Source, Killzone, Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, Everquest II, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, Halo 2, Half-Life 2, Jak 3, Need For Speed: Underground 2, Metroid Prime 2, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, Spider-Man 2, Metal Gear Solid 3, and World of Warcraft have been all launched in the identical 12 months, you’d most likely agree that was the most effective years in gaming historical past, proper?
Well, what if I informed you that every one of these video games have been really launched in the identical month: November of 2004?
That’s the humorous factor about 2004. In a 12 months the place the dialog ought to have been dominated by arguably the very best month in online game historical past, we nonetheless bought The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay, GTA: San Andreas, Ninja Gaiden, Rome: Total War, Burnout 3: Takedown, Katamari Damacy, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2, ESPN NFL 2K5, The Sims 2, Far Cry, and extra unfold out throughout the remainder of the 12 months. Mind you, that’s solely the video games that have been typically thought of hits on the time. There are many extra titles from 2004 which have solely grown in acclaim since then. This is even the 12 months that gave us the Nintendo DS (although its launch lineup solely provided a glimpse at how nice that handheld could be).
If you’re one of many many who contemplate the PS2/Xbox/GameDice console technology to be the very best console technology ever, then there’s a great probability you additionally contemplate 2004 to be the height of that exact period. We might by no means see the likes of this sort of 12 months once more, and I’m unusually virtually grateful for that. It’s the form of 12 months for gaming that calls for lengthy vacation breaks with pals, lazy summer time nights, and most of the different highlights of youth that we are sometimes really nostalgic for after we speak about the very best video games of years passed by.
