Best stand-alone game this generation?

[Shoggoth2588]

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed could have been the winner but sadly, it vomited up a sequel.

I'm having a lot of trouble thinking of a good stand-alone game in general. My favorite games are part of franchises. Saint's Row 2, Halo Reach, Oblivion, Just Cause 2, Pokemon Black, White, Diamond, Platinum; Batman Arkham Asylum.

The only one I can think of is The Punisher for the original Xbox but that game was last gen. Spawn: In the Demon's Hand was on the Dreamcast which was also last gen but another favorite.

I could take the easy way out and vote Minecraft but I've clocked many, many, many more hours on console games.

 

[Quazimofo]

tis a tough question indeed. i would say mass effect, but that was a trilogy from the start. would say bioshock, but that has a sequel and another on the way.
would say deus ex, but that's the second game in the series (and one hell of a prequel to the original. cant wait to see where they go but i digress)
also loved Star wars: empire at war, but they made another.
Terraria is fun, but not the best by any means. nor is minecraft (but both are really damn fun)

I almost forgot about World in Conflict, but that was one hell of a game. the gameplay i remember was great, and i also remember enjoying the story a good bit (which is a rarity for me and strategy games, as i usually don't even pay attention)

but for sheer stupid fun, Vanqush and Bulletstorm. my god i played barely any vanquish (as my brother enjoyed it much more than i and so played it more), but holy fucking shit it was awesome. Bulletstorm... well draging a guy by the testicles into his friends to then cause him to explode killing them all, all with a sniper round from 200 meters, just fantastic.

in short, i cant decide. but among the fantastic sequels of this generation (fallout, halo, gears, deus ex, left 4 dead and so on and so on), we have had many good new IPs, which is a damn good thing to know.

 

[joshthor]

la noire for me. its a fantastic game that had a great story. i wish it was for the pc.

 

[peruvianskys]

Bastion gets my vote - that or Super Meat Boy. There are so few stand-alone AAA games out there (as everyone is trying to make a long-running franchise out of everything) that this category would definitely be dominated by indie games. VVVVVV, Limbo, Braid, Amnesia: Dark Descent, and Brutal Legend are also contenders!

 

[NerfedFalcon]

If you're counting SotC then it's an easy choice, if not I'd probably go with Metro 2033 (although that soon will be disqualified cause of Last Light).

Technically, I'm not counting Shadow of the Colossus, for two reasons: it's part of the same continuity as ICO (so you can't really say it's a 'spiritual' successor) and so far, it's not actually part of this console generation.

 

[Unesh52]

snip

OP, I'd like to apologize on behalf of all the people that apparently do not understand what a "standalone" title is. Or at least what it's not.

And with that in mind I'd like to nominate Little Big Planet 2.

Minecraft. It has very little flaws...

Do you want me to list flaws?

I'd like you to list its flaws. I'm sure I could think of some myself, but I'm interested in what you have to say on the subject.

 

[ZombieMonkey7]

Bioshock without a doubt. Not only is it the best game in this generation, but also the best game ever. Perfect story, atmosphere, characters, gameplay, perfect everything. Yep best stand alone game, yep, oh what's that, you say there was another bioshock game? I have absolutely no idea what your talking about......IT DOESN'T EXIST!

 

[Tipatap]

I vote for Bastion.
Above-average gameplay and combat, interesting visuals, absolutely bloody AMAZING soundtrack, and the best-delivered story I've seen in gameplay in a long time.

 

[Dango]

People aren't doing a very good job of following the thread rules...

And my vote goes to Moonbase Alpha.

 

[DanielBrown]

The Saboteur.
It's sad that Pandemic Studios dissolved(right?) after the release because The Saboteur is one of the best games I got. Would have loved to see a sequel somehow, or another game, that made the stealth a bit more doable.

Edit: Just found out they were working on a Batman game when they got canned! Movie tie-in from The Dark Knight, but still! *cries*

 

[Zarkov]

Mount and Blade: Warband.

Game. Of. The. DECADE.

I realize it's not on console but I don't own a console anymore so I can't say what's best from this generation

It is a sequel to Mount and blade and has a third installment called Mount and Blade: With Fire & Sword.

Thus, no matter how awesome, it cannot be included.

 

[Zarkov]

I'm gonna both annoy and elate thousands of escapists by saying Minecraft. It has very little flaws compared to other games, and as it's stand alone, and constantly improving upon itself, I guess it has infinite possibility thus far.

The graphics are perfect for the style, has an awesome fan base, pro mods, infinite replay value, infinite awe value.

When you boil it down, it trumps any other game this generation.

Well one, it hasn't been released officially yet, and two, the game has many flaws. Now, I won't argue with the fact that it is an completely awesome game, but as it stands Minecraft has a lot of flaws. For one, there isn't an in-game tutorial. In-game tutorials make or break a game on the "flaws" spectrum because of how essential it is. Beyond that because of the updates it has many bugs and a lot of the items in the game either don't make sense or have yet to be assigned a use.

Also, because of the complete directionless and openness format of the game, you really have to have an acquired taste for its gameplay. A lot of people don't know the point until they've wondered around the wiki for an hour or so.

Still, Minecraft is awesome and if it would be finally released already I would put it on here.

 

[MorphingDragon]

Metro 2033 or Mirrors Edge

 

[targren]

Bayonetta or MineCraft. Both terrific for different reasons.

Bayonetta really doesn't get enough love these days. A game making me laugh out loud is worth more to me than one might think.

 

[HusaneFatal]

I'd say Borderlands as it's one of few new IPs that I actually played that hasn't had a sequel come out yet. It's also one of the few games that I have over 100 hours of played time on. That said another original IP would be Torchlight that game was a blast though being underground got alittle boring and no co-op which is why I give this 2nd on my list. Also Torchlight 2 isn't out yet and isn't planned to come out on 360 or ps3 so I say it still counts.

Original IPs that haven't come out yet that I think look really good: Dragon's Dogma look at that game and tell me it doesn't look great. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning also looks pretty good, graphically the art style falls somewhere between WoW and Age of Conan (was originally designed to be a MMO but decided to make it a single player fantasy RPG instead) but the combat looks really awesome in it. Rage also looks pretty cool, looking forward to seeing the new engine id made at work for myself.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

Borderlands. I might get a lot of flak for this one, but I fucking love that game and I've logged way too many hours into it.

I think I'm going to have to agree with that one. Maybe that or Bulletstorm. Most every other good game is or has a sequel...

 

[GamerKT]

Vanquish! Damn, what a ride.

 

[Luxatrum]

Y'know Bayonetta doesn't really work either because it's sort of a spiritual successor to Devil May Cry. I'm also going to have to go with Minecraft as best stand alone. Not my favorite game for this year, but all the other games off the top of my head are sequels or remakes.

 

[Koroviev]

I'm divided between Outland, Minecraft, and Catherine.

 

[Raika]

Nier is one of the best games of all time, and nothing that came out this generation comes even remotely close.