My first memory of the last generation is swearing very, very loudly at the woman in Woolworths who was telling me that my pre-ordered Launch Day PlayStation 3 had been sold and I would have to run down to Brixton to see if they had any left. This was at 5.15pm and the Brixton store, over 20 minutes away, would close at 5.30pm.
Thankfully, at quite literally the very last moment as I was walking out the store, a delivery came in and I was able to get my PS3 with copies of Resistance: Fall of Man and MotorStorm.
I was annoyed because the PS3 was going to be my first ever launch day console, it was the first year when I had a bit of money to throw about, so treated myself to a brand new console and a brand new telly to go with it, a ridiculous (for the time) 52″ Phillips TV which cost over £3300. It was awesome, and no one else had a telly that big. It turned out to be a good investment as it is still working perfectly nearly eight years later and now has a PS4 plugged in to it.
Killzone 3
Surprised, eh? Believe it or not, I would not class myself as a fan of first person shooters, but for some reason – god knows why – I’m quite good at this one, but I’m useless at any other shooter, including Killzone 2. I think this is because you have to play the game tactically; you really cannot just run about and shoot. You have to swap classes to achieve objectives and help the team, loading up the Sniper class and sticking to that for the entire game just does not work.
It has its flaws, notably there can be a lot of spawn camping, but for balls out fun absolutely nothing comes close to Killzone 3. I was playing it right up until the launch of the PS4 and have over 250 hours of game-time racked up. That’s a week and half of shooting people in the head.
Warhawk
Warhawk was the only game I played for nigh on a year. It managed to balance vehicles both on land and in the air with turrets and infantry, a feat that really has not been matched since. It was simple, easy to learn and endlessly addictive.
One of the first digital-only games on PS3, the game offered endless possibilities in attack and defence and nothing has the same exhilarating feeling of seamlessly jumping a jeep, driving to a Warhawk and screaming off in to the skies. It’s such a shame that Starhawk felt the need to add a story and silly aliens, a simple sequel with bigger maps and new vehicles would have done me just fine.
Aliens: Colonial Marines
Aliens: Colonial Marines was certainly memorable, but for all the wrong reasons. To be honest alarms bells should have started ringing when I went to preview the “gold” version of the PC multiplayer and my gun vanished for half the match.
I finally got round to renting the game a few weeks back and it is truly terrible. The levels are badly designed, the AI for your companions is awful and the Aliens are about as terrifying as a puppy.
Colonial Marines set the benchmark for disappointment and is the second worst thing to happen to the franchise bar Aliens Vs Predator 2.
But only just.
Heavy Rain / Beyond
No they are not games, get over it. Perhaps the closest description would be ‘interactive movies’, something that seems to annoy gamers, but I was more than happy to watch the story unfold and occasionally twiddle a joystick.
Heavy Rain was something new; a sci-fi detective story you could play, with twists and turns that nobody could guess, including the reveal of the killer. The whole game was drenched in a sense of dread, the rising rainfall echoing the father’s desperation as he searched for his missing child. Whilst many will mock the “Press X to Jason” sequence, there were many other sequences that I will never forget, not least of all having to chop off part of your hand to continue the story.
Beyond: Two Souls continued David Cage’s vision but swapped the brown and grey tones of Heavy Rain for neon lights and snowfall. It’s the gaming equivalent of the TV series Fringe, as the story merged family, heartbreak and sci-fi weirdness in seven hours of pure brilliance and once again, I never guessed the massive twist ending. I never want to play the game again and I don’t want a sequel. It was one of the most perfect seven hours of “gaming” I have experienced.
Games Everyone Else Liked And I Think Are Stupid
What the hell is wrong with you people? All you do in Journey is push up, Grand Theft Auto IV was dreary and stupid and what the frickin’ frick is with all the love for pixel games? It’s not the 80’s; bugger off Hotline Miami.
Whilst we’re at it, let’s talk annoying and useless companions. Why were they so popular this generation? Bioshock Infinite, I couldn’t care less about your multi-universe gobbledegook, mainly because the winsome heroine kept shouting “Here, I found this,” and flinging something at me, making me lose control of the camera just as was about to fire on an enemy. As for my darling Clemantine, there really should have been an option to feed her to the zombies.
The Last of Us managed to avoid the annoying companion plague, but then forgot to add “interesting gameplay”, funnelling you through wave after wave of zombie things, whilst tiny-footed Batman demanded I cape my way across an entire bloody city every time a new mission started.
However the game that deserves to be sent to Hades is, appropriately, God of War III, a title that was so proud of being technically awesome that it gave you view points in Hell. Yes, nice little platforms where you could click a button and admire the cleverness of the people who made it. Self indulgent crap, much like the entire game.
After all those surprise twists and turns, we’ll be back with more memories of the last generation tomorrow.
Avenger
The last section is utterly brilliant. I do love it when someone rants freely and pragmatically about something. It’s refreshing.
I still have The Last of Us and haven’t got round to playing it yet (backlog!). I tried the first 30 minutes, and it worryingly concurs with what you said. I’ll still play it through to the full though and then choose how to criticise it.
Youles
You really should play The Last of Us…if you don’t like it then nothing lost, but if you like it you’ll be really pleased you did. I think it’s a bloody brilliant game, although it can be repetitive so I stuck to playing a maximum of a couple of hours at a time. The multiplayer is also really decent!
I agree with TC regarding BioShock Infinite – the gameplay is terrible, clunky and basic, and you spend half your time searching empty boxes and barrels. However the story is fantastic if you can put up with that.
I also don’t get the buzz around Hotline Miami, whilst the gameplay might be fun/challenging/whatever, I could not watch something that ugly.
Avenger
Like I said, I will play The Last of Us to the end. Something with so much appraise can’t be ignored after all. Just need to churn through some of this backlog really and then there’s Uni too. Beyond got played at the start of the semester because I had bouts of free time, so TLOU will probably get played the start of next semester as a treat, I hope.
hannes_truce
Warhawk. What I wouldn’t give for a reboot with more players, bigger maps and none of the Starhawk bull.
OnlineAssassinOA
Warhawk was the first game I ever played online and blew me away,my friend bought a PS3 the next day due to playing Warhawk at mine,loved Warhawk and was gutted how much Starhawk changed everything.
Bilbo_bobbins
Warhawk, what a game! Starhawk was a massive disappointment and nothing like Warhawk IMO.
Eldaveo
I think my top 3 memories of the PS3 were:
1) Uncharted 2 – easily one of my favourite games of all time.
2) Playing through Heavy Rain in one sitting with the Mrs. Absolutely brilliant experience. Couldn’t put it down.
3) Talking my friend into buying a PS3 over a 360 and then living at his for a week, playing Rainbow Six Vegas. Attack and Defend on Calypso Casino, unmatched brilliance.
bunimomike
TVs were hilariously priced back then. Just the year before my mate spent £17K on his although that was stratospherically priced and built for him, as such. Saying that, it’s still working superbly now along with his Japanese day one PS3 which he had delivered. The latter being under £500 (all in) which is surprisingly keen considering we had to wait six more months for the official PS3 launch in the UK and even then, you didn’t get much change from £500 for it.
Nocure-fd
Well, the one thing this article has done is show me I actually didn’t spend all THAT much on a new TV recently :P
It’s all relative I suppose.
Oh, and Hotline Miami was worth the money just for the sound track.
MrJimmy
KZ3, Warhawk – I agree SO much. Note both are exclusives … Nice wordage TC
Jakster123x
Warhawk, Journey, Hotline Miami, God of War 3, Heavy Rain and The Last of Us were all brilliant.
Uncharted 2 ranks very high for me too. I think I spent most of that game in awe, even when replaying the game for the umpteenth time.
Also, I think Killzone 2 was way better than Killzone 3. Sorry Tuff.
Tuffcub
Yes a lot of people found the changes annoying, whereas I found them to be perfect. Shadow Fall seems to be more 3 than 2 which makes me happy.
stueeeee
Yeah I found the online of 2 difficult, but 3 I loved. And not for the jetpacks. I suppose I use cloak a lot but I’ve tried without it and I’m still pretty good! And it’s 3D which is fun.
bigchrissyc
Warhawk has too be my favourite game from the last gen. When got in to a full match that had a good mode and map rotation you could spend hours and hours playing it. I remember it being my first downloaded title, the 14th of dec, i pumped in over 200 hours. Loved it. Until Starhawk which the beta for was better than the eventual title. TSA should do a submission for this so a few of us can voice our opinions, as the forum is down. Maybe?