Ben-DutkaThis is bound to prompt some discussion, yes?
Amazon UK – or rather, Amazon UK's customers who participated in a recent poll – has selected the "greatest game of the current generation," and it's The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim .
The poll in question asked gamers to vote between June 1 and August 4; there were 16 finalists separated into two brackets of eight each. In the final vote was Skyrim and Naughty Dog's latest masterpiece, The Last Of Us . We don't know how close the competition was because the site didn't release actual voting numbers, but Bethesda's epic open-world RPG won. The site did reveal, however, that TLoU and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves received more votes than all eligible Xbox 360 exclusive titles combined. Well…duh. That's not even counting Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception , Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots , Gran Turismo 5 , God of War III , etc.
If you're wondering, the 16 finalists were: Batman: Arkham City , Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare , Bioshock , Bioshock Infinite , Grand Theft Auto IV , Mass Effect 2 , Super Mario Galaxy , Portal 2 , Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots , Fallout 3 , Far Cry 3 , The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim , The Walking Dead , Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and The Last Of Us . …are there any 360 exclusives in there?
By the way, it's a crime that Uncharted 3 isn't. That's just wrong. Heavy Rain should've been there, too, although I'd have to say the overall crown goes to Uncharted 2 .
Related Game(s): The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Whaaaat? The Last of Us didn't top this? I don't want to hear it, no, no, no.
Best of the generation really has to be based on more than just how the game reviewed.
Thanks for putting up this article Ben. I was hoping for an outright The Last of Us win, but I guess I should be happy it's a PS3 exclusive, yet came a close 2nd!
No.
The lack of RDR also makes me very sad.
I am not sure how Skyrim can be considered when you look at how the game released.
For some it became unplayable and while I was never put into that situation, I did have several quests glitch out on me including the Civil War one.
Was the game great? Sure was, as I put in near 200 hours in before I got bored with it. A game of a generation should be defined by the complete package and that includes the game breaking issues as well.
In my opinion, the greatest game of this generation is Uncharted 2. No game has captured my emotion nor captivated me like that masterpiece.
I agree to a certain degree. What may place it ahead of Uncharted 3, was the stronger narrative. Otherwise, in terms of gameplay, set pieces, graphics, level design, physics, etc, Uncharted 3 was as much an improvement over the Among Thieves, as Among Thieves was to Drake's Fortune (though being the first still packed a story as charming as the 2nd, and with visuals that hold up to this day).
If you played the game any time since about October last year, you would have noticed most of those issues were fixed.
I did encounter the Civil War glitches, but I was able to get around it, but saving often and reverting back to my previous save whenever I found a glitch. Thanks to that, my 150+ hour game save has 0 glitches, aside from a few quest items that are stuck in my inventory.
So Skyrim won because it was on more platforms…sighs…
In anycase, for me it would be Xenoblade: Chronicles – Which was sadly overlooked being dumped on the Wii at the end of it's life span – by that time the console already looked prehistoric. Had the game been on the PS3 and the Graphical power of this new 'X' title, I reckon it would have been a different story.
Out of those 16, my pick wud be U2
I say no. I don't know how a game that was unplayable for many, mostly those of us on the PS3 version, can be considered great. The game would always freeze on my after fast travel or going to a large, populated area.
Which is why I picked it up for my 360. Only reason I still touch the damn thing, lol
Not played Skyrim but have been tempted to pick up the complete version out now. Should I?
As for LoU, it was a good game, played it 5 times through for trophies, but the best. Or at least there are ties for that spot.
Personally I would break it down. Examples, Expereience in LoU would be 10 fore me but as a complete game such as gameplay, graphics, story, character dev I give it an 8.5. Thats not saying its bad, but I recognize its flaws and bugs which at times bothered me. Thats excluding the ai.. BUT that did not take away from the experience. If I was to look at it as an exclusive BIG game on the PS3, LoU would be up there with UC series. Journey and Flower for small indie games.
As for multiplay game, for me its Mirrors Edge, AC 1 and 2, Bioshock series, all for experience, for story and visuals.
Its all subjective and dependent on your tastes and what you choos to see and/or ignore in the games (flaws, etc).
Overall, I was entertained by many games of various genre.
Keep playing!
Yes. You should. It's that simple.
How come no Dark Souls? IMHO it is a better RPG and overall gaming experience than Skyrim. For those who haven't played it, do so. You will not be disappointed.
Skyrim was terrible on the PS3–I had a game-breaking glitch in the very first area right after building my character. And it never ran very well even after all those patches.
It's all subjective, of course, but for me, it's really close. I think I need to play Last of Us once or twice more, and revisit it in a year or two, to see if it really holds up as well as I think it will. If it does, that might be the best game of the generation. Right now, though, man, Skyrim was just awesome.
Two games, about as different as can be in most, both stellar examples of what is capable in the medium. Pretty cool to see both getting some good recognition.
To be honest from that list I would pick Mass Effect 2. Probably the only game of this generation that I have completed 5 times and with 100% of the quests completed.
In my opinion the technical achievement behind Skyrim made it a worthy winner. Never before have we seen that level of graphics combined with this insane size and openness. Quite frankly I do not to this day understand just how they did it with the extreme memory bottleneck of the current consoles.
But if I am to pick my personal favourites on that list, it has to be Mass Effect 2, with Fallout 3 as a close #2.
I do however find it interesting that neither Fallout NV nor ME3 is nominated. Rightfully so.
Last edited by Beamboom on 8/5/2013 2:43:37 PM
Skyrim is EASILY the best game, especially considering that the game itself is a pure rpg lovers dream. You have a game that has MANY outstanding stories and tons and tons of awesome quests. You have so many ways to build your character it is insane.
You can build your own houses. It has horse and dragon mounts, EVERY dungeon is different, the fighting is awesome. You can spend 500 hours on this game, easily.
No game, and I mean NO game, gives you the amount of almost unlimited adventure that Skyrim does. Best 64 bucks you will ever spend.
Load times were terrible though.
End of line.
I hate you.
can't agree with the gameplay comment because thats what killed the game for me. So big and so bad gameplay, I couldn't take it any more. Still put 60/70 hours in it though. Then started cursing it
HA.
I agree with you ethird.
Look back on this generation, and find ANY game that enabled users to put that sheer amount of time into it, and spend MOST of that time actually doing things.
I played for 150 hours, that was doing quests and collecting things with barely little time spent screwing around with chickens, and that was before the DLC, which I have just started playing, and I am SO into the game again now that I know I am about to spend another 50 hours on it.
The number of mods on the PC probably out weighs any other game in recent times. I haven't checked that though.
It is the closest thing RPG fans have had to the perfect game in many years, and while it is very unfortunate that it had the amount of bugs that it did, a lot of them were eventually fixed.
Considering this game is 100% single player, and the average play time is probably somewhere between 50-100 hours, I think it takes the crown.
Last edited by Akuma_ on 8/5/2013 7:19:38 PM
That's not my list. My list is my best and not an average of everyone elses =p
It isn't even in my top10.
I successfully resisted the Steam deal. I'll catch it under $10, maybe.
Easily in the top 3… and a serious contender, if that.
wow…didn't see that coming, but am not entirely surprised. Don't get me wrong, I'm a skyrim fan, but like everyone else in the ps3 community I was let down by the known issues that plagued ps3 players, late DLC, and a game that while entertaining, huge and what not…was also predictable after they fist 4 hours of gameplay. The last of us, at least in my humble opinion, was hands down one of the best games I've played and definitely deserved a spot.
Assassins Creed II and Red Dead Redemption should be definitely be on the list. My game of the generation is Red Dead Redemption.
But… but… it wasn't multiplayer! I thought every game had to be multiplayer now or it would be a useless, unpopular, bankrupt failure. Single player is dead, isn't it?
Wait… a LOT of those games on that list are single player or primarily single-player experience.
"Fascinating, Captain."
My thoughts exactly. This is an outrage! (sarcasm.)
Last edited by Masszt3r on 8/5/2013 5:24:02 PM
I thought Skyrim was an awesome rpg, but it's not close to what I consider the best game of the generation. It looks like it legitimately won, so I have no problem with it. I personally would've picked The Last of Us over Skyrim.
Skyrim had too many problems in my opinion, and I wouldn't have selected it during preliminary voting, much less the finals.
Thing is, Last of Us may be a great game, it obviously is since it has scored 90+% on nearly every review site, but you can't really consider a game that came out a few months before the end of a generation to be the best. Also, one of the reasons why Skyrim won, is because of the content, the value in that purchase.
I couldn't see myself spending 150 hours in any other single player game this generation.
"but you can't really consider a game that came out a few months before the end of a generation to be the best."
I really don't understand why you think that, but I disagree. I think every game within a generation should be considered, if not, you can't say one is the best if it's not compared to all, no matter the release date.
I couldn't call the best game of the generation, but it certainly is my favorite. I had all sorts of "favorites," such as: Disgaea 3 & 4, Fallout New Vegas, Nier, Just Cause 2, inFamous 1 & 2, Legasista, etc. But Skyrim was THE favorite. Thus far, I have probably logged over 600 hours in that game alone, which puts it second only to Disgaea 2 (I worked 13 hour shifts and had a PSP, so I sunk a LOT of play time into that game in those two years). Even now Skyrim continues to be no less engaging, making it extremely difficult to just say, "I'm done."
So, best of the generation? Probably not. Best for me? Oh yeah.
If I had to keep only one game for my PS3 it would be Skyrim. To me the game seem's endless.
I have about 200 hours playtime and I still find new things and places that wow me. Plus just completing the skill trees takes forever.
One of the best games made, period.
Skyrim is on my top 20. But definitely I would score higher: The Last Of Us, Red Dead Redemption, Uncharted 3 and Little Big Planet 2 (and 1).
Also on my top 20: Mass Effect 2&3, Heavenly Sword, Heavy Rain, Saints Row 3, Bioshock 3, God of War 3, Batman: Arkham City, The Witcher 2, Demon's Souls, Tomb Raider, Max Payne 3, L.A. Noire, Dragon Age: Origins … so many others I dont remember right now I could probably increase the list to top 30 or 50!
Last edited by TheOldOne on 8/5/2013 6:04:31 PM
Hahahaha no.
The gameplay was so bad, I wont even consider the bugs. Its the most monumentally boring game I ever played and regretted paying for it. I tried Fallout games and found them borng too. I think any other dev could easily convey the same idea in terms of the state of the world in a better way. I think its because I don't like the graphics of bethesda's games. I like RPGs but I wont be playing anything from bethesda unless maybe something completely different and stepped up comes out. Skyrim was amazing at the start but that did not last. I really dig the idea of Skyrim but sometimes I try to imagine what it would be like if CDProject Red made the game. I wish they did it instead of bethesda. I really dig the main story of Skyrim but I feel it fell way short of its potential
Well, that's your opinion. Bugs aside, I personally loved the game and did not find it boring whatsoever. All the Lore behind Skyrim and the Elder Scrolls is impressive for a video game franchise. If CDProject Red did the game it would probably be another Witcher or something like that… so I wouldn't wish for CDPR to do it.
If you found Fallout and Skyrim boring, then you clearly are a gamer who does not share ANY kind of fondness of RPG's.
Perhaps you are a twitch gamer, who knows, but my point is, you obviously knew you wouldn't enjoy Skyrim, or Fallout, so why did you bother?
If someone comments and says "This game is crap, because I hate all games like this" It kind of makes your point invalid.
"you obviously knew you wouldn't enjoy Skyrim, or Fallout, so why did you bother?"
You really won't know until you try.
Thats so funny, I found both Fallout 3 and Skyrim boring. Someone come collect my RPG fan card. I don't even need to mention all the RPGs I've enjoyed in my 20+ years of gaming.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution gets my vote for best game of the generation, though I haven't gotten around to The Last of Us yet.
IMO the greatest game of this generation was Witcher 2. I played it so many times and I could play even more without any problems. Wait, did that come out on PS3?
I never had any game breaking glitches in Skyrim. I know that I own a house with a bloody floor that should be cleaned up, but that's about the extent of the damage. Everything else ran smoothly. I have yet to play the expansions and am saving that for the winter season. Not quite sure what everyone on here has against Skyrim. Those who deem it boring may have quit after a few hours of playing or just not played it at all. I could NEVER find that game boring. I could play it a hundred times with a hundred characters and would still be shouting enemies off cliffs.
To me, the reason why this game excels is the mechanics. It's unlike any other RPG in the fact that when you hit something or someone it looks like they actually take an impact. You can feel every sword, axe or mace swing. I do believe that the PS3 version isn't quite as bad as everyone claims. It just seems like everyone wants to bitch about something now. Mass Effect 3 ending would be a good example. I could be wrong though. What do I know? I do have a friend with Skyrim for 360. He has all the expansions downloaded but they wont show up in the game at all. Nobody at Bethesda or Microsoft seems to know how to fix this issue for him.
No, No, you're very right.
The game had it's glitches, they were worse on the PS3 due to BethSoft's clear stupidity with coding for that console.
But most of them were ironed out in the end.
Most of the people on here just don't enjoy that kind of game.
Personally, I think Fallout 3, Metal Gear Solid 4, Mass Effect 2, Bioshock and UC2 without a doubt are the top 5 games this gen for me because they defined my PS3 era. With that said, I think Mass Effect 2 takes the crown.
I loved Skyrim, but boy games have made some serious advances and the archaic gameplay held it back.
Archaic gameplay?
Explain.
The gameplay was more advanced than Fallout 3, and that was in your top 5?
Skyrim is not for me. It's boring right in the very beginning. Just played it for 2-3 hrs. and then gave up for lack of motivation to play it. Maybe it's the singing of some dude in the open field after you meet the king.
However, The Last Of Us is an epic experience every minute. I'm craving to play it again right now but I'm gonna wait and let it pass for a month if I can resist.
No. Not the best game, not the best RPG, not the best open world rpg.