With Green Man Gaming turning a golden fourteen years old this month, it can perhaps be a little too easy to forget the years and decades of truly great games that have come and gone in that time. Luckily, we’ve conjured up this feature to remind you just what the best games were of the last fourteen years, so strap in and reacquaint yourself with some of the best games ever made.
Fallout: New Vegas – 2010
Long considered by many to be at the zenith of the recently reinvigorated Fallout franchise, thanks in no small part to the unexpectedly great Amazon series adaptation, Fallout: New Vegas took players to the irradiated Great Southwest and spun out a multi-layered adventure filled with double-crosses, great characters and some of the best writing the series has ever seen. Further cementing its place at the apex of the series is the setting itself, with everywhere from the neon-stained Vegas Strip through to the dusty Mojave Desert providing an evocative backdrop to the delectable open-world RPG shenanigans that Fallout: New Vegas offers at every turn.
Portal 2 – 2011
An eye-opening exercise in achieving the seemingly impossible, Valve’s Portal 2 was somehow not just better than its much-celebrated 2007 Game of the Year-winning predecessor, but it was superior in every way a sequel can be. Portal 2 didn’t just double down on the fiendish, spatial conundrums that made the original such a smash hit, it also introduced a host of new characters to the proceedings along with an endlessly compelling two-player cooperative mode to boot. Even in 2024, it’s not unreasonable to say that Portal 2 still stands tallest in the three-dimensional puzzle-solving genre.
Dishonored – 2012
When Dishonored released in 2012, it not only felt like the heir apparent to the long-dormant Thief series with its super satisfying stealth beats but Arkane’s effort managed to innovate on its own merits too, casting players as a supernatural assassin hellbent on securing his revenge in a world where the arcane and technological often violently clash. Aside from allowing players free rein to tackle its numerous quests and environments however they see fit, Dishonored’s setting strikes something of a match in the imagination too, with the city of Dunwall proving to be an evocative, alternate historical take on the industrialisation of the 19th century where whale blubber and other arcane sources power the city, all the while filth, rats and decay and tear through the city streets.
Grand Theft Auto V – 2013
One of the best-selling video games ever with nearly 200 million(!) copies sold to date, Grand Theft Auto V was (and still very much is) an industry juggernaut the likes of which we probably won’t see again until Grand Theft Auto VI touches down sometime in 2025. Grand Theft Auto V’s success was well-earned however, with extremely high production values underpinning a frankly gargantuan story campaign that had players switching between wannabe criminals Michael, Franklin and Trevor in arguably the most epic single-player campaign Rockstar had devised up until that point. Beyond its sprawling single-player story campaign, Grand Theft Auto V also introduced Grand Theft Auto Online to the masses, a constantly updated open world where players can indulge in all manner of heists, missions, new storylines and traditional PvP modes that is still going unbelievably strong even today.
Alien: Isolation – 2014
Few would dispute that 2014’s Alien Isolation was as perfect a distillation of its big-screen counterpart as you could possibly get. Eschewing the confrontational guts and glory tone of James Cameron’s Aliens, Alien: Isolation instead hews closer to the much more intense dread that crackled through every frame of Ridley Scott’s 1979 Alien. This results in an oppressively claustrophobic and always terrifying survival horror adventure that has you hiding in lockers, crawling around air vents and generally making as little noise as possible as you attempt to evade a roaming xenomorph while learning about Ellen Ripley’s fate after the events of the first movie. Alien: Isolation provides weapons-grade terror that is still as effective today as it was ten years ago.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – 2015
With generous amounts of widespread praise heaped upon it, it was clear that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was exactly what the franchise needed to bring it into the big leagues of the RPG genre. Providing players with a beautifully handcrafted world to explore based on Slavic mythology, together with some of the best quests you’ll ever play in an RPG and a cast of characters where an acerbic comeback is never far away, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt remains one of the best genre efforts you can buy and soars as a blissfully accomplished fantasy RPG that deftly combines darkness, ultraviolence and a grim sense of humour like no other.
Stardew Valley – 2016
Ably maintaining its status as a worldwide phenomenon more than eight years after its initial release, Stardew Valley is a delightful hybrid of farming sim and RPG elements that oozes wholesomeness out of every digital pore. Featuring both single-player and multiplayer activities, Stardew Valley has you finding your place in an idyllic village as you tend to your crops, attend local events, complete quests, discover love and find your place in a welcoming community. Just writing about it gives me the fuzzies.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – 2017
Though Nintendo had seemingly resisted the trappings of the open-world genre for years, it finally succumbed in 2017 when the Japanese industry giant released The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Bringing its tentpole adventure franchise kicking and screaming into the open world, Breath of the Wild didn’t just build upon the template, by actually providing a vibrant world that you want to explore thanks to a mixture of overworld dungeons, unique landmarks and secret areas, it masterfully did so in tandem with traditional Legend of Zelda series design. Somehow, those wizards over at Nintendo had fashioned a Zelda game that simultaneously maintained its essence all the while enjoying the sweep and spectacle that open-world design can bring. Truly magic stuff.
Red Dead Redemption 2 – 2018
A prequel to 2011’s Red Dead Redemption, Red Dead Redemption 2 is set in the dying days of the Wild West where the lawlessness and savagery that dominated much of the time are spasming through the stubborn holdouts that are resisting the impending 20th century. Set against this rich socio-historical backdrop, Red Dead Redemption 2 invites players to put on their bandit sash and tear across the Old West in a blistering tale of vengeance and hubris that arguably stands as the best single-player campaign Rockstar Games has ever created.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice – 2019
Regarded by many as technically the finest Soulslike game ever made, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice meaningfully separates itself from other comparable offerings in several key ways. Not only does Sekiro’s action unfold during Japan’s Sengoku period – albeit with a whole heap of mythology chucked in for good measure – it also makes massive, yet nuanced changes to the combat system. Rather than just chipping away at the health bar of your foes, Sekiro is all about striking out at the posture of your enemies, eventually leading to a split-second parry that can result in an instant kill, lending Sekiro a level of intensity and satisfaction that no other Soulslike can match.
The Last of Us Part II – 202
Though The Last of Us Part II doesn’t fiddle too much with the survival horror, combat and crafting systems that defined its predecessor, it does deliver a nihilistic odyssey that is without parallel in its presentation, scope and narrative. Encompassing an absolutely harrowing story that makes the first game look like an episode of Paw Patrol, The Last of Us Part II isn’t just a cautionary tale about the cycle of violence, it also happens to be one of the most atmospheric, satisfying and downright ultraviolet adventures you will ever play.
It Takes Two – 2021
Elevating the bar for local multiplayer gaming into orbit, It Takes Two puts players into the shoes of a squabbling couple who find themselves trapped within their daughter’s hand-made dolls. Locked within the confines of their own home, the two must learn how to work together all over again as they seek to make their escape and break the spell. Embracing a mixture of platforming and puzzle-solving elements, together with a hefty dose of humour and heart-tugging moments, It Takes Two is without a shadow of a doubt the best local multiplayer experience of the last decade and it isn’t even close.
Elden Ring – 2022
Much like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild before it, Elden Ring was a capitulation of sorts by its developer to embrace open-world design. Naturally given the affection that From Software commands, some players were somewhat anxious about whether or not the Soulslike formula would work in that framework. As it turns out, they needn’t have worried as Elden Ring leans on many of the Soulslike principles that helped to establish the sub-genre in the first place, such as challenging combat, losing collected Runes (think Souls) when killed and more. Yet From Software’s magnum opus takes it even further by giving players a massive realm filled with so many dungeons to conquer, hidden areas to uncover and so much more besides, that the setting of the Lands Between itself is as much a character as the main protagonist themselves.
Baldur’s Gate 3 – 2023
Quite simply, Baldur’s Gate 3 is the entirety of the classic Dungeons & Dragons tabletop experience and all of its trimmings manifested into reality. A true titan of the RPG genre, Baldur’s Gate 3 not only pulled off the unthinkable feat of surpassing the much loved Baldur’s Gate 2 with ease, but it also gave us a resolutely polished, choice-stuffed, utterly massive and downright compelling adventure that doesn’t look like it will be bettered in years if not decades to come. Bravo.
