I’m sure many of our lists will feature broad open worlds and RPGs full of choices and alternate player-driven directions, but I have always been a fan of the more curated experience – the one that has been designed with a specific goal in mind that the player must accomplish. I love exploring open worlds and making decisions about my character, but when it comes to considering the best games of the last generation, I recall games with boundaries and direction where the designers knew exactly where it wanted the player to go and how and what they would be experiencing along the way.
5. Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead snuck up on me. I love Valve games and I was excited to play Left 4 Dead leading up to its release, but I prefer single-player experiences in general. I assumed Left 4 Dead would be a game I‘d play for a few days and have a good time, but would quickly abandon in favor of something with puzzles I could stare at for a few hours with no one waiting on me.
Instead it became a temporary obsession. We bought a second copy so my wife and I could play together on a pair of TVs placed side-by-side and we forced every person who entered our home to play with us. It’s the only game to ever inspire me to yell, “Get to the chopper!” in complete earnest, and in many ways it continues to be unlike anything I’ve ever played.
It’s the kind of game my friends and I would theorize about with no expectation of it ever existing after binge-watching Romero’s Trilogy of the Dead on VHS. Where most would opt for a night out of heavy drinking and debauchery for their bachelor party, I invited my friends over for a night in (with heavy drinking) to play Left 4 Dead.
It’s one of my favorite multiplayer experiences ever, and certainly my favorite of the previous generation.
4. Limbo
This is an entry I am certain will not appear on anyone else’s games of the generation lists. It’s not that it’s a bad game – I doubt anyone would argue that point – but it simply did not resonate with others the way it did for me.
I am a big fan of environmental puzzles (hence my love for Zelda) which Limbo executes on expertly, but it’s the dark mysterious world that draws me in so much. I gasped out loud the first time I saw other children in the world; I winced every time I died; I breathed a huge sigh of relief every time I barely made a jump; and when I burst through the glass in slow motion in the end and made my way to the sister, I barely breathed.
Both my wife and I played through the game multiple times seeking out the hidden eggs, and then took it further by seeking out the extra additional non-achievement related eggs that curiously disappeared from the game in every release following the Xbox 360 version.
After completing the Xbox One release of the game, I have officially played the game on every platform available (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, Vita, and iOS) and even got the fewer than five deaths achievements a few times. There’s just something about the game that I cannot get enough of.
For my top three games of the previous generation, head to page two.