The Obligatory Top Arbitrary Number List: Top 8 Modern Console Games

Editor’s note: If I were writing up a top 10 list of my favorite gaming-related top eight lists of all time, this post would probably rank at two or three, so kudos to Mike! Of course, Mike’s also gone the extra mile and created his own screenshots, either in Paint or maybe even a more limited drawing program, if one exists. This guy is poised to revolutionize the top X list industry! -Demian

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I know that one of the most desired skills for a gaming journalist is the ability to create viewer-attracting top 10 lists. Top five lists are also good, but usually reserved for more extraneous subject matters (such as Top 5 Game Protagonists with White Hair). Sadly, due to inexperience, I was unable to get my list to a nice, round number.

I also arranged my article from best to worse, instead of the standard, more climatic “counting up” method. Oh, I also do not have rights to use screenshots from any of these games, so I had to provide my own visual interpretations. Hopefully, with some practice, I will overcome these flaws. For now, please enjoy my Top 8 Modern Console Games list!

1. Uncharted

Please, let your voice actors have more than one take per line. When you do, you get something like Uncharted. Seriously, I could probably count the number of games with great voice acting on one hand, and still have a finger left over to flip-off any bald space marines that come my way. And yes, something like voice acting is a big deal. Once you have characters speaking and interacting with each other in a realistic fashion, the game world has instant credibility.

The other thing in Uncharted that impresses the hell out of me are the animations. I don’t think I’ve ever felt a need to comment on animations in a game, for good or bad, until Uncharted’s blew me away. Not only do they look beautifully realistic, but with so many animations for any given action or situation, nothing ever feels canned. I still have to smile when I think about the first time I saw Nathan flinch while reacting to a nearby grenade explosion, while running for cover.

Look how much I’ve said about Uncharted without even talking about things like gameplay or graphics. The game has tight 3rd-person-shooter controls, with the same cover-based gameplay made popular by Gears of War. The graphics are absolutely beautiful, with the game’s many foliage-covered locations still trumping current game environments, even two years later.

Uncharted is pretty much everything I want in a game. It’s fun, beautiful, well-acted, and plays like a dream.

2. Bioshock

A lot of people love to focus on Bioshock’s few problems. They complain about the lackluster ending, or berate the game’s admittedly simple morality system. Still, a game like Bioshock does so much right, I can easily overlook those faults.

Bioshock may have my favorite intro to a game not called Half-Life 2 ever. From the moment you wade through the fiery waters (oxymoron?) into the eerie lighthouse, and the lights turn on, you know you’re in for something special. Bioshock is all about atmosphere. Rapture is one of the best looking gaming worlds I’ve ever explored, with an overall architecture that is mesmerizing, and filled with thousands of small details that you could spend hours looking at.

RPG/FPS hybrids are nothing new, but I think that Bioshock finds a great balance between the two. It definitely leans more towards the first-person shooter side, with the role-playing elements and upgrading stat bonuses a more subtle component.

It’s an unforgettable game. I love games that immerse me in a unique and beautiful world, and few games do that better than Bioshock.

3. Braid

A lot of people complain that Braid is too pretentious. Considering how many downright stupid games we have, I don’t mind one that overshoots it a bit the other way. Braid is simply beautiful. The game’s art and music (which was licensed, but wonderful nonetheless) created a perfect mood for the game, and “mood” is something that a lot of games have a hard time getting right.

Braid is also the first game that really made the whole time-traveling mechanic work for me. I remember when Blinx was supposed to be this really cool time-bending platforming game — Braid is the kind of game that I was hoping Blinx was going to be. Fun, innovative, and challenging. It’s pretty hard to argue against a game that has those things going for it.

4. Portal

The prospect of writing a few paragraphs about how great Portal is seems kind of silly. The game quickly became the darling of the online gaming community with its sharp wit and innovative first-person-puzzle gameplay.

What I love about Portal was the way it exceeded my expectations. I anticipated a series of puzzles in a sterile environment, loosely tied together by some half-hearted attempt at a plot. But when you start digging around the world of Portal, you begin to see clues to a larger plot in the cracks and crevices of Aperture Science.

And yes, GLaDOS is hilarious. She (it?) also makes for a surprisingly good boss fight.

5. Fallout 3

I typically hate western RPGs. I think I tried to play Oblivion a dozen times, each time only barely leaving the tutorial dungeon. I usually find the genre to be filled with too many numbers, too little structure, and terrible art design.

Fallout 3 is the first western RPG that I really got into. All of the stat building makes sense, the inventory and leveling systems aren’t a complete mess, and at least the ugly art style fits with the game’s Capitol Wasteland setting.

Besides, there’s such a wealth of things to do in Fallout 3, and so many ways to go about doing them. I love just walking through the world and stumbling on side quests that seem simple at first, but quickly escalate in complexity. Great DLC support also helps.

6. Super Mario Galaxy

3D Mario platformers are always great. Add crazy gravity, and they only get better! Actually, the game’s different from Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine in other ways as well. While those games had more open world levels filled with different objectives, most of the levels in Super Mario Galaxy require good old-fashioned platforming from one end of the level to the next.

Super Mario Galaxy also has a wonderful soundtrack, boldly opting for beautiful, original orchestral compositions instead of simply remixing past Mario standbys.

You can also play as Luigi! I mean, I haven’t actually done it, but it sounds cool.

7. MLB 09: The Show

I don’t play a lot of sports games. Not that I don’t like sports, but I often find playing gaming simulations of sports to be less than thrilling. I’ve found a few games to be pretty good virtual representations of the sport; I just never found them to be particularly fun.

MLB 09: The Show, however, is a blast. The game finds that wonderful balance between sports sim and sports game. The base mechanics, including a three click system for throwing pitches and a single button press for batting, are simple enough for anyone to understand, while the minutiae are surprisingly deep and can take hours of gameplay to master.

And it has an absolutely insane amount of game modes. My favorite is Road to the Show, which allows you to create a single player in any position and then play through his entire professional baseball career. You start in the minors, earn stats to improve your attributes and skills, and only have to play during moments where your character is active. It’s an addictive mode that leads to a lot of “one more game” nights…that quickly become days.

8. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

A friend of mine once told me that Metal Gear Solid 4 is everything Metal Gear Solid turned to 11. The cutscenes are longer, the story is more melodramatic, and the plot twists more…twisty. That said, the action is also more intense, the graphics are even more stunning, and the stealth is more (trying hard to not say stealthy) involved. All in all, you have a game that’s a bit wordy and excessive, but has some fantastic play controls.

Besides, if you’re the type of person who has been reading messageboard theories on the creation of the Patriots since 2001, you’ll enjoy a good deal of the game’s revelations. I’d also say that this is the most technically impressive game I’ve seen.

So that’s my list. I hope you liked it, but am fully aware that you probably hated it. I take solace in the knowledge that that was the whole point.

– Mike Minotti (still without a job, despite ability to count to eight)

See this post and more on my site, Give Mike Minotti A Gaming Journalism Job.