Whether you're running through jungles, sneaking through restricted areas of stabbing yourself through renaissance Italy, there's just something a bit special about the third-person action genre.
Okay, so you don't step behind the eyes of the protagonist and become a hero like in an FPS - you sort of follow the hero around. But that's why this genre spawns so many gaming icons so quickly: Solid Snake, Lara Croft, Nate Drake, we fell in love with them all almost over night.
Here are some of our favourite third-person action adventure games - quite the definitive Top 7, say we. But we're sure you've got your own opinions, so make sure you stick your own lists in the comment section below....
We all have our own personal favourite parts of the Metal Gear franchise - from surviving in the shrubbery of the jungle in Snake Eater to going ever so slightly loopy as a young Raiden in Sons of Liberty.
Let's not forget where it all began, though, with Solid Snake scuba-diving to Shadow Moses, crouching on one knee and picking up the call on the Codec. We'll never forget it.
1998's Metal Gear Solid is where it all began; the unruly story of conspiracy, the exclamation marks above startled henchmen's noggins, the funny neck-breaking tapping mechanic complete with odd choking noises spewing from the victim's gullet.
Metal Gear Solid spawned a series that has become absolutely legendary, as has the characters within it and the lore surrounding it. The original had a level of sophistication that we just hadn't seen in games in the '90s and for that reason it stealthily sneaks into out list.
UNCHARTED 2
It seems that Naughty Dog's treasure-hunting adventurer makes just about every list feature that finds its way on to the internet. If we're honest, we're struggling to find different ways to write about it, but write we must because it's here for a reason.
Uncharted 2 may not have blown the third-person adventure mechanics wide open or revolutionised the genre, it just did everything really well.
Not only did it look beautiful both in terms of graphical quality and design, it had fluid, impactful mechanics in a game that moved with perfect pacing thanks to a well crafted narrative and characters you could relate to.
Add to that spectacular set-pieces that spring up on you seamlessly without interrupting your control and you've got yourself an action game (and series, in fact) that's refined in every way and sets the bar for the rest of the industry.
Assassin's Creed II did more than enough to remedy the slowly encroaching and ultimately engulfing disappointment of Assassin's Creed.
Assassin's Creed II offered a deeper, more entertaining protagonist than it's predecessor (sorry Altair, but you were a bit too straight and narrow) and a story with some proper narrative progression built in rather than just squashed into dialogue between repetitive missions.
But we've chosen Brotherhood because it manages to build on II taking it just that little bit further as far as action gaming is concerned. Having a group of assassins on call who've got your back at a moments notice was a neat and ultimately incredibly bad-ass feature and an improved combat system meant that killing could flow that little bit better.
Comments
26 comments so far...
Imaduck on 21 Jan '11 said:
Dead Space is a weird choice, I'd lump it in as Survival Horror, but whatever floats your boat
Got to play AA. Played it, got bored, stopped. But need to try it again.
flash501 on 21 Jan '11 said:
Nah, I think they were right to include it. I'd have Dead Space down as an action adventure rather than a survival horror any day. An eerie, atmospheric action adventure.
MattyR95 on 21 Jan '11 said:
I didn't like syphon filter at all. God of war should be there though.
ricflair on 21 Jan '11 said:
Vanquish trumps them all! But that's not a bad list, although I personally can't stand the MGS games!
flash501 on 21 Jan '11 said:
I thought the first one was quality to be fair. The second one was a complete mess though. It put me off trying 3 and 4.
8-bit-zombie on 21 Jan '11 said:
I might give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you wanted the community to talk about their fav games, but, it is quite clear this is just a sad attempt to fish for page views by claiming in the headline you have come up with the best seven action games list ever.
altitude2k on 21 Jan '11 said:
Good effort on not numbering them.
Rondog on 21 Jan '11 said:
Resident Evil 4 has some of the best action set pieces in gaming history. It should have got a wee mention.
ginsin on 21 Jan '11 said:
This is meant to be the 7 best action games ever? Umm, no. I know it's just someone's opinion, but, no.
Bryanee1983 on 21 Jan '11 said:
Syphon Filter? Really? I mean really?????????????????????????
Its terrible now and wasnt that good back when it was first released. I agree with Ginsin terrible list, I'd keep Batman and Uncharted on there but the rest can go.
gamefreak666 on 21 Jan '11 said:
That was my thoughts exactly. Along with Tomb Raider. Also, for me Assassin's Creed 2 is better than Brotherhood.
There are some awesome games missing from this list too.
Any Zelda game (RPG/Action Adventure???)
ICO
Shadow of the Colossus
Shenmue
Grim Fandango
Canis Canem Edit
Conker's Bad Fur Day
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
Demon's Souls (RPG/Action Adventure???)
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
God of War (as mentioned above)
Infamous
Okami
Psychonauts
Ninja Gaiden (not a favorite of mine, but should be here, maybe)
Flash Back (I know its 3rd person games, but still deserves a mention)
Sleepaphobic on 21 Jan '11 said:
UHHH Gaiden, GoW and RE4?
These were already mentioned but seriously wtf?
richard99 on 21 Jan '11 said:
At first I thought hack and slash, shooters and action rpgs had been left out to stop this list from getting out of hand but then I saw Dead Space was in there and that's a survival horror (in which case I'd have expected Resi 4)
. Maybe CVG should've defined action game before they did this since I can think of a long list of games I'd call 'action' that I rate higher than some of these (Sands of Time and Shadow of the Colossus most of all).
I agree Uncharted 2 and Arkham Asylum are the definitive action games this gen. Both do hand to hand, platforming and stealth brilliantly and Arkham does gadgets and exploration as well as Uncharted does cover shooting and set pieces. AC2/Brotherhood is great but not quite that great.
GlynCR on 21 Jan '11 said:
i agree with rondog res evil 4 is a much better action game dead space (which i loved can't wait for sequel)
id still like a re4 psn/xbla release
cybersensual on 21 Jan '11 said:
Metal Gear Solid is not a third person game. It's s**t aswell.
Grapple on 21 Jan '11 said:
SNAAAAAAAAKE.......SNAAAAAAAAAKE
I enjoyed the early MGS and Syphon Filter games, Tomb Raider was also pretty good but then they went downhill rapidly . I'm not interested in the new MGS but the Tomb Raider reboot sounds good.
BobbyDeNiro on 21 Jan '11 said:
Shadow of the Colossus
Resident Evil 3 Nemesis
Resident Evil 4
Metal Gear Solid
Grant Theft Auto series
Gears of War series
MDK
amazingdweezo on 21 Jan '11 said:
number 8
god of war as a five-part epic
that is all.
kaptainabsinthe on 22 Jan '11 said:
wasnt resi 4 THE action game of the ps2 generation of consoles? how on earth is that not on this list? have to admit i am not a big fan of the mgs games, thought the twin snakes was pretty good, 2 was ok, didnt really get the hype about 3 and actually borrowed a friend's ps3 to play mgs4 and was unbelievably disappointed. always thought the atmosphere in dead space was stunning, the use of sound was amazing in my opinion, roll on next week!
eye.of.despair on 22 Jan '11 said:
Ridiculous how these PRICKS dont even MENTION the Legacy of Kain series which is in my opinion of the THE best action/adventure series on any platform.. I've always felt Batman Arkham Asylum is the spiritual successor to those games and they NEVER seemed to get mentioned.. shows how focused on the mainstream these knobs are.
rivariad on 22 Jan '11 said:
ONI
i like jam donut on 22 Jan '11 said:
I'd put MGS in stealth category and replace it with Kratos.
paulhudd on 23 Jan '11 said:
I think CVG, and alot of people on this forum are failing to recognise what an action game is. it's a game that mainly consists of ACTION!!! MGS 1, definately, so many "epic" scenes and battles.
I STRONGLY agree Batman should be on this list. But no one has mentioned Gears of War? Number 2 was a rollercoaster of action, cutting arteries, dodging a huge digestive system, riding betty to landown, riding a brumak, riding a reaver, and then there is the stealthy elements and the fantastic cover system. Twas the first game I played that made me feel I was playing the "next generation" of consoles.
uncharted deserves it,
tomb raider? i dont think so, the only "action" is the trex from the 1st one.
dead space? action? nah. RE4 is ACTION!!! blowing up the castle with your rocket launcher, fighting the lake monster, thrilling action I'll never forget.
god of war? sorry folks, but I just feel thats another hack n slash with not much else to offer other than the grand sense of scale, I dont feel it's an "action" game.
and whoever quoted GTA, lol, sorry but that is not an action game, yes it has action in places, the bank job springs to mind, but a game must consist of alot of "action" for it to be considered an action game.
I wouldnt call assasins creed an action game, I'd say it heavily falls into the stealth category. just like you wouldnt call splintercell an action game, yes it contains action but at its core, you wouldnt say, "aww remember that ace action game assasins creed!?" you'd say "the stealth on that game was ace" etc. too much bleeding of the genres to randomly call out these action games, need to hone in the description more guys.
"Hey, remember that friggin awesome action game Plants VS Zombies!? Good times"
photoboy on 23 Jan '11 said:
Weird list, and AC Brotherhood only came out 2 months ago. It's a bit early to be crowning it one of the best ever action games don't you think?
flash501 on 23 Jan '11 said:
No, just no.
wuntuwuntu on 23 Jan '11 said:
Snake Eater should be up there. Its still the best MGS experience. Where is Bayonetta, Ninja Gaiden and God of War???