Many will argue which of the gaming eras are the "Golden Era of Gaming"! You can speak your piece on which system you started with and which one ended up being your favorite. As a strong advocate for the Sega Saturn, I have no place to judge. Now that Planet Virtua has decided to broaden its horizons to more aspects of gaming, it's time to take a look at the Playstation 3. There can be a case that this is just basically a look at Generation 7 games, which is fair. The thing is, there is currently a Playstation 3 hooked up to our gaming docks. Unfortunately, the Xbox 360 that was once there is now long gone.
It doesn't really matter, though, both boast many great features and right now, the PS3 is in the spotlight. The real strengths of this system not only came from its earliest Bluray capabilities, but also from the range of games that are featured in its library. These are games that lit up the screen through the mid-2000's. It is not only backward compatible to the PS1 but it is also an ageless system in itself because of how useful it remains. This is going to be a very compact list, no matter how many games it ends up featuring.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Starting our list off with a bang, we've got my favorite of the modern style shooters. It's fun to grind survival, story mode, or see if anyone is ever online anymore. That last one is probably done for because I think PS3's PSN is dead. I haven't checked in a while. Anyway! It's not the greatest thing to sit and play, but you could find a lot worse. Yeah, I don't really care about the main characters because they're just guys in camo hats yelling at each other and sniping guys. Still, it's really cool when they run in and shoot guys! That part's fun! Among the shooters that came of the era, it's not so bad, but of course there's always better!
Star Wars The Force Unleashed
When you want mindless, you wand lightsabers and you want stormtroopers flying off to their deaths, this is your baby. It's not the greatest graphics and the sequel is basically more of the same. If you don't look at the story mode too hard, this game is pretty neat. It has all of the Star Wars tropes that you look for in a title. You're given some ridiculously overpowered force abilities to take on a third of the empire, vehicles included and you're after Vader, of all people, kinda. It's a long story. If you're a Star Wars fan, it's worth your time. If not, it's a little repetitive and the storyline ending is nothing to brag about, nor the final boss battle. Take it under consideration, young Padawan.
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
This was never one of the larger game franchises under the old radar. Taking a look at a lot of other titles in the franchise, this one was a lot more active and had a lot more game mechanics rather than just sneak around and stab the guy. Yes, that is an exaggeration, but the same remains for Splintercell, Thief or any of the other Stealth genre games. This one was good, and it was a great initial title to get with the first PS3, but it also aged the poorest of the bunch. It's a great franchise if you ignore a lot of what came after, but it's also an acquired taste for a niche audience.
Fallout 3
Fallout 3 was an oddity, to say the least. The open-world concept wasn't as fleshed out upon its release and it garnered a lot of praise for its unique and wide-spread gameplay. It introduced you to a world that was devastated by nuclear war and now people are starting to come out of their vaults that they took shelter in. You are one of these people born inside the vault and you had your own experience getting out based on your decisions as a child and and a teenager. Now, here's a gun, here's a weird computer thing on your wrist, go and do the world proud. Oh and go find your father while your at it. Be sure to check out New Vegas if you have the time.
Elderscrolls IV: Oblivion
Oblivion was another one of those breakout games that started to take the sandbox gaming to new heights. While it wasn't the pinnacle in the series, it is still hours upon hours of fun to play. This is one of those titles that really grips you with a decent story and a world that is filled with rules. You can break the rules, but there are repercussions to your actions. Once you gather enough money and power, though, it really doesn't matter and you get to climb new heights while gathering armor, weapons and magic. If you're new to the fantasy gaming genre, this is a fantastic place to start and a great source of entertainment if you'll allow for a few glitches here and there.
Red Dead Redemption
Open world games may be seen as common affair now, but that's only because the PS3 era of gaming was something of a pioneering days for the genre. Hence, they came up with a cowboy simulator that allowed you to rob banks, ride horses and shoot Colt .45 pistols. You're a former outlaw, looking to put your past behind you and start a new family. However, fate intervenes and some of your old posse catch up to you. You're basically forced back into a life of the old west and spitting into buckets. This is another one of those legendary titles of the Sandbox genre and it's a wonder anyone ever saw the light of day with so many simulators.
Wolfenstein
While many call it the bastard child of Wolfenstein 3D and modern 2000's shooters, this is a game that has aged quite well. It is far better than many give it credit for because there are a few problems here and there. The enemies are camoed a little too well, because it is often very hard to see them. The game makes up for this by allowing you to use your talisman powers to show them up better, but that energy is finite and somewhat precious. These powers are what separate it from a lot of shooters of the time because they range from slowing down time to straight up firing weapons through armor with super charged rounds. The story is very much acknowledging of Wolfenstein lore while also putting its own spin on it. This is a game akin to Return to Castle Wolfenstein in quality. Not the greatest, but it's got lot's of charm.
Bioshock
One of those rare games that mixes story and First Person Shooter elements so well while also having a light hint of Roleplaying game qualities. Bioshock threw you into a dying world that killed itself through a chemical called Adam. With these strange elemental and biological powers at your disposal along with firearms and explosives, the awesome story elements will easily draw you in and give you a ride through an underwater world coming apart at the seams. The story is a serious trip through the mind of both you and the people around you as you make your way to Ryan, the one who created Rapture. This utopia will probably kill you more than once.
Street Fighter IV
The greatest of the titles in the series, which many will argue, but this one, even in its lesser versions, is a beautiful representation of the Street Fighter games. You see a great deal of your old, beloved character as well as a hodgepodge of many new and interesting characters to choose from. This was Street Fighter's introduction into the world of 3D and it pulled it off with a solid crack of its whip. The storylines are nothing to write home about, but the anime-like cut scenes are decent to look at, especially if you were curious about any of the characters and wanted to see their endings. This is an upgrade to Street Fighter 2 and FAR superior to that horrible Street Fighter x Tekken. We can just forget that ever happened.
Virtua Figther 5
Sadly, the final title, but at least it went out on a very high note. The first 3D fighter in the genre came out looking classy with all of its titles never falling below a very admirable standard. Akira, Jacky, Shun, the whole gang is here and you're fighting your way through. Like it's PS2 predecessor, it doesn't need to make sense, there's a plotline but it's not really worth paying much attention to. There just needs to be more fights and this game delivers in spades. Much like Virtua Fighter 2 of old, it carries on the name with pride.
X-men Origins: Wolverine
A movie tie-in game on a list of favorites. It is not a very common occurrence, outside of a few titles, but this is definitely one to consider. It is not really much at all like the movie. The developers apparently had a vision of Wolverine and they were damned if there weren't going to be bloody decapitations and slicing and dicing. This is one of those games that's just fun to pick up and play. It's rather easy to navigate, for the most part, and you don't need to see that horrible movie to know what's going on. You can watch the movie to make fun of it, but that's on you. We here at Planet Virtua had it in theaters and it will never live it down!
Batman: Arkham City
This is a sequel well worth its place in the greats of stealth beat'em ups. Batman has never looked so good as he did in the Rocksteady Arkham series. The controls and the combat scheme are often replicated for more modern games, though most pale in comparison. While this game has the same combat system as the first, now you're out in the open city where you have more criminals to fight than before. Of course, you're given new and wonderful toys to fight off the big baddies. Joker is still there, though it looks like the fight you had with him last time didn't sit well with him. Good luck taking his new scheme down. Watch out for question marks.
Doom 3: BFG Edition
This is a series that needs no introduction on Planet Virtua. Doom 3, while different from the rest of the series, had its own horror charms and dark corridors that fed a good scare element. On top of that, you still had all of your favorite guns, along with a strange version of the BFG 9000. This one is more story oriented than the ones before it, but it's still very enjoyable and shows off the top graphics quality of its time. The BFG Edition also includes Doom 1 and 2, along with the mod, No Rest for the Living. This is a proud addition to any Doom collection.
Bioshock Infinite
Prepare to take to the sky as you find yourself among some of the most beautiful graphics, awesome combat in the FPS genre and a deep story that will do its best to get you thinking. Bioshock comes back with a bombastic third title that shows off new styles with old gameplay elements of the first one. Using your powers and taking down cybernetic steampunk monstrosities has such a good feel all through this game. Not to mention but it's also a long escort mission that doesn't feel like an escort mission. In fact, your female companion quite often helps you with money and items that would aid you. While the story can get overly complex with the plane jumping and that brings some annoyances, this remains one of the great titles.
Elderscrolls V: Skyrim
The crown jewel of the open world games. Fantasy has never looked so amazing and single player has never felt so crowded. While load times are a bit of a problem, the game itself is astoundingly gorgeous, especially with how much of it there is. Killing trolls, escaping death, raiding caves and so many other elements of the journey keep going on for hours upon hours! Oblivion was one experience, but Skyrim opened up into an even larger doll. Choose from any number of activities and quests to go on. Turn into a vampire, take over a town, do whatever you like. Just don't get caught by the guard! Yes, kill him now but he'll be back eventually!
Ghostbusters
The unofficial third movie that still remains the official third movie as far as this site is concerned. The whole quartet is back for one last rodeo against the forces of darkness and ghosts alike. Take on Staypuft, take on the librarian, maybe even take on a giant lady spider, it doesn't matter! You're a Ghostbuster and there's a paycheck involved. You have wonderful, deep lore of the Ghostbusters to ogle and so many callbacks that are a joy to play through. The storyline is a little overly contrived to facilitate all of these nostalgic beats from the movies, but it really doesn't matter because playing it is a whole different experience. If you're a Ghostbuster and you've got about 12 hours to spare, this is the title you may have been looking for. Bust out the Ecto Cooler and get out the old proton pack and have a ball.
Batman: Arkham Asylum
The title that truly started the Batman rage in video gaming. While not every title fared as well, Asylum stands among them as the true original and raw greatness. This is a game without any real complication and while it may be a little short, it is still worth every drop. It's tight and it flaunts its greatness through its awesome mechanics and a dream team lineup of big Arkham villains. If you were to make a Batman storyline, this is something that a lot of the big nerds would make. Though, if I did it, there would be more of the Batmobile, but different strokes.
Mortal Kombat 9
If any franchise needed a reboot, it was Mortal Kombat. The 3D era was all kinds of awesome but it was all kind of awkward as well. There were a lot of different characters that they would rather we forget and MK9 is their way of doing that. Prominently titled "Mortal Kombat", as it was going to restart everything in the storyline, the storyline took the liberty to have all of its characters back only to kill them again. Well, that was fun, I hope. It caused more problems for sequels, but this title is still a very solid title for the franchise and for fighting games in general. The fatalities, Kratos on PS3, and all kinds of little extra features add up to make this a fantastic return to form. It's just a shame they couldn't stick the landing with MK1 buahahaha I'm not bitter!
Alice Madness Returns
American McGee has broken away from the Doom days and earned his own very strange reputation among gamers. The Alice series is an oddity for many reasons. While the story has a few unneeded elements that could have been left out, the gameplay, the scenery, the atmosphere and the combat make this into an amazing title to pour your hours into. Alice the gaming franchise is what the live-action movies should have been based on, minus the less comfortable elements. The Vorpal Blade, the stunning worlds, Alice's inner turmoil, all of it accumulates into a solid experience that many do not seem to give enough credit. Give this game a try. As 3D platformers go, it's not quite as frustrating, though it does have platforming puzzle elements here and there. It is no slouch.
Katamari Forever
This was a game that was meant for Virtua Venus, my space partner from space. She ended up liking the game and finding it charming, but I took to this game like a fish to the right temperature water. This game was so random, sarcastic, simple and yet the impulse was to keep getting better and better scores. You can settle for beating a level at a low percentage, but if the level is fun enough and you think you could do better on certain segments, you'll want to go right back in and roll up more things. That's all it is, rolling up things with more things to make planets, moons and stars. Apparently the king... sneezed or something? It's all rather strange, but something happened and we need to make new things to put into space and repopulate the stars and step 3 somehow turns out as profit. The process of rolling up entire planets and stars while starting no larger than a bottle cork is so satisfying. Give it a try and be sure to check out the time we rolled up Planet Virtua. That was a very good day.
