With the first next-generation console landing at its tail-end, 2005 was very much a transition year for gaming... which also meant we got to play some absolutely cracking third and fourth generation games on PS2, Xbox and GameCube.
One of the best games of the generation, Resident Evil 4 kicked off the early months with its stunning debut on Nintendo Gamecube (later appearing on PS2), followed shortly by Sam Fisher's finest hour, the excellent Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory.
More triple-A releases cleared the way for the next generation in the form of Sony's God of War and Tim Schafer's masterful platformer, Psychonauts. And when the Xbox 360 finally did release in December of that year, punters would discover that the best launch game available was also out for PC: Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 2.
The Runners Up All five of our nominations are fantastic games, but there's one clear, standout title in our 2005 list (which you can see two paragraphs downwards). Call of Duty 2 and Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory in particular are both fantastic action games that stand up even five years on, while Psychonauts holds a firm place in the hearts of many gamers.
God of War, while undoubtedly a surprising and fantastic entry in the god-punching genre, didn't perhaps properly take off until the arrival of its brilliantly realised sequel in 2007. Plus it's not as good as this game...
The Winner: Resident Evil 4
Capcom's true action classic reinvented an entire genre, taking the gaming populace by storm and moving GameCubes out of the shops even in its dieing hours.
It took years of construction and countless reboots by Resident Evil master Shinji Mikami, but finally his Japanese team managed to deliver - to our surprise - an innovative, near-perfectly formed action spin on the monster survival horror series - and it's still influencing action games to this day.
While introducing a new and refreshing gun-heavy slant to the tired franchise, Mikami's game took the brash decision of moving the in-game camera to an over-the-shoulder position, creating a claustrophobic and intense atmosphere in what would otherwise have been a great but not very scary action game.
This and many other Resi 4 hallmarks have since become near-standard in the genre (see Gears of War, Dead Space and others for examples of obvious Resi 4 spiritual decedents). But Capcom's masterpiece isn't known for its innovation in third-person shooters as much as it is for its brilliant design.
Context sensitive actions such as kicking down ladders and smashing doors mix with big bosses, intense QTE sequences and clever puzzles to form one hell of an action game. You could argue that it still sets the benchmark today - even its sequel didn't manage to receive anywhere near the level of critical acclaim.
Resident Evil 4 is definitely a big bullet point of the last decade. It's exciting to think that Mikami, now at Platinum Games, is yet to unleash his true Resi 4 follow-up.
Your Shout We've told you ours, now you tell us yours. Stick your top five and overall winner in the comments field below and we'll tell you why you're wrong.
I don't think you can dispute that. One of those games that unites all players.
Would like to make an honorable mention of Oddworld: Strangers Wrath. The game world was close to perfection. Controls, characters and story were top notch and the live ammo was a great touch. In my personal top 10 of the decade.
It was and still is the only reason why I was reluctant to sell my original xbox. And I'm still gutted that its more than likely never going to be available on the 360, sad.
It was and still is the only reason why I was reluctant to sell my original xbox. And I'm still gutted that its more than likely never going to be available on the 360, sad.
Kept hold of mine as I don't think I could part with it. The only flaw I found in Stranger Wrath was when I noticed the trees didn't reflect in the water, I was looking hard to find something but everything else is seemless.
All these years seem to be based on PAL release dates. Will Shadow of the collosus show on 2006? I haven't played it but it sounds like a worthy follow up to Ico (another game that I haven't played).
Regarding Resident Evil 4, have a look on the internet. There are many people, not the majority I grant you, but a fair few including me who aren't entirely happen with how the direction of Resident Evil 4 was changed to become so action and gore oriented in relatively wide open spaces. Fortunately the game also some enclosed areas. But there are quite a few people who miss the pre-rendered glory of the remake. I don't want to see RE6 go back to static screens and loads of obscure puzzles but I would like a move back to a more truly gothic kind of horror.
Regarding Resident Evil 4, have a look on the internet. There are many people, not the majority I grant you, but a fair few including me who aren't entirely happen with how the direction of Resident Evil 4 was changed to become so action and gore oriented in relatively wide open spaces. Fortunately the game also some enclosed areas. But there are quite a few people who miss the pre-rendered glory of the remake. I don't want to see RE6 go back to static screens and loads of obscure puzzles but I would like a move back to a more truly gothic kind of horror.
Only thing I missed from the older games was zombies. Resident Evil 4 is, was, and always will be a sublime game, and EASILY the best in the series. And I am a die hard Resi fan.
I dream of having Resi 2 remade with the Resi 4 engine. That happens and I die happy.
I'm also a lover of the Resident Evil series and I agree that its lost some of the charm that made the early ones so creepy. That said I see 4 as a good change of direction but my heart still belongs to 1 and 2. Personally I want them to go back to the earlyer parts of the storyline and make a god damn Barry Burton game! If any of the characters suit the new action led versions of RE then Barrys the man.
Hell, Barrys is the man.
And one last thing. I think the reason 5 wasn't loved as much as the others was the fact that it wasn't your little secret anymore (within the game I mean), you weren't isolated like the others, you weren't the only ones who new what was going on. That type of mystery is gone when you inroduce huge agencys and military support. You just felt like an expendable force rather than a survivalist. For me that feeling in the gut was gone.
RE4 hit the spot at the time but it was in no way as eerie or unnerving as the first RE games. Didn't really like the presidents daughter narrative but the game itself was excellent. The over the shoulder cam and target laser were brilliant for adding an extra action element but I felt that took just a little bit away from the tension of the first games. As for 5, well they really exhausted the new mechanic and sacrificed much of what made the series so brilliant. I never did understand why they made it like that. Lets hope 6 takes some pointers from Dead Space.
resident evil 4 is my favourite game ever, next to left 4 dead 2, SSBB, modern warfare 2, and ocarina of time. have completed it 3 times, but then my disk (wii version, loved it), decided to die on me after updating to make games run from the sd card
Knew it was gonna be Resi 4 as soon as I saw Leon in the cluster of 5 on the CVG home-page. How predictable.
While it did turn a lot on its head with its new style of gameplay... I still preferred Chaos Theory and God of War.
I really wish journalists wouldn't kiss Japanese dev bottom. If Zelda, Metroid, Resi or Mario gets into a poll or comp. they always finish top, or thereabouts. How droll.
They went through a lot to get Resi 4 how it is now. I remember they scrapped it a couple of times and started again. There are some vids on Youtube of previous incarnations of 4. I think they got it bang on especially as they knew they were taking a lot of risks. Kinda how 2 was remade from scratch. 2 is still my favourite Resi Evil game by quite a large margin too.
Resi 4 is such a worthy winner. Best bits were protecting Ashley and fighting your way through the castle. This game would feature is my all time top 5.
Im playing through Resident 5 now and it took me ages to get into it. In fact at the start I hated it. I loved resident evil 4 but I guess that was also the turning point that led to the new very action based system. Which is weird because as an action game the controls are awful. Res 4 does deserve to win I guess though, I do have very fond memories or it (and my cube) though I only played through it once so dont know what its like now. Strangers Wrath is coming to PC soon I think via steam. Ive never played it. Oh and I would have loved to see Psychonauts winning this list but at least it got a mention. People really need to go check that game out. It was sheer brilliance
Resident Evil 4 was the worst of the series! Psychonauts definitely deserved this.
then you havent played the wii one or 0 or 5 or tht 1 with the zoo or any of those other ones with retarded names.
I still think it's the best one to date. It had a really cool atmosphere; you could feel the wind, every agonizing creep when walking in a seemingly empty house and man the feeling you got when those chainsaw guys came after you... 5 lost all that and added the mentally impaired sheva with those stupid boss fights.
While I loved the older RE's they never were scary and had the camera probs and not so precise controls + the combat was very poor. If they were to go back to that we will all see how aged the system is, hence the reboot.
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