GVMERS

The representation of horror in gaming wore many faces by the advent of the seventh console generation. Developers equipped with a knack for guiding players through terror-laden adventures had covered everything from zombie narratives and psychological horror to tales of suspense and the supernatural. For its Xbox 360 launch title, Monolith Productions endeavored to explore interactive horror from a different angle, a more brutal, in-your-face point of view teeming with themes about violence and the nuances of human nature. It accomplished as much with 2005’s Condemned: Criminal Origins, then pushed the envelope further upon delivering Condemned 2: Bloodshot in 2008.

In four decades, gaming has evolved from a niche hobby to a multibillion dollar industry. Sony and Microsoft gained ground 20-plus years ago, cementing themselves as integral parts of the business. Recent years have seen other non-gaming enterprises enter the race, too, hoping to cut themselves a slice of the very lucrative pie. But unfamiliarity with game development’s myriad idiosyncrasies placed the likes of Amazon in a difficult position, thus resulting in canceled projects and layoffs. When Google threw its hat into the ring with Stadia, the expectation was that the conglomerate had learned from its competitor’s mistakes. However, Google’s penchant for abandoning risky ventures left many to believe Stadia would constitute a yet another short-lived experiment. The company wasted no time proving the skeptics right.

Tumultuous development cycles have long plagued video games from conception to release. In some cases, the turmoil stems from poor management. Funding-related issues stifle progress on several occasions, as well. And projects that hop from one studio to another in a precarious game of hot potato rarely arrive at the finish line in a respectable state. But what of the titles whose protracted development rested on the back of one vision, fueled by previously well-managed teams with funding from publishers boasting an excess of wealth? The critically panned Too Human from Legacy of Kain and Eternal Darkness creator Silicon Knights fit perfectly into this strange stew of circumstance.

Triple-A game publishers have always chased the success of the industry’s latest trends, a phenomenon that inspired the creation of an exorbitant number of Grand Theft Auto clones throughout the sixth and seventh console generations. On occasion, such thinking has born good fruit, evidenced in PUBG’s quick claim to fame influencing everything from Fortnite Battle Royale to Call of Duty: Warzone. But on the flip side, pursuing popular trends runs the risk of stifling creativity and alienating players, a recipe for disaster that has taken many once-ambitious endeavors to an early grave. This Square Enix learned the hard way upon publishing Babylon’s Fall.

The summer of 2003 abounded with talk of Ford’s supposed “Ferrari Killer,” the 2004 GT40. A faster, quicker-to-brake counterpart to the Ferrari 360 Modena, the Ford’s high-performance race car certainly dressed to impress. But a Ford was still a Ford matched against Ferrari. At the same time, another killer of a premiere brand lurked in the shadows, awaiting its chance to pounce on the competition. Sony’s Killzone played terminator in this scenario, its prey the game-changing Halo: Combat Evolved from Bungie and Microsoft.

The trailblazing Left 4 Dead and its 2009 sequel redefined cooperative shooters, carving out a new path in the genre that later paved the way for countless co-op-centric experiences. Despite their best efforts, though, no development team could recapture the unique thrill of zombie killing in the Valve-owned franchise; as such, the company’s decision to cease regular support on Left 4 Dead 2 marked the end of an era. A much-coveted Left 4 Dead 3 wouldn’t reinvigorate things either, leaving other studios with the task of carrying the torch. But the likes of Killing Floor 2 and World War Z, while admirable in their own right, arguably paled in comparison to that which came before. With the industry still itching for a comparable zombie experience, Left 4 Dead’s original creators took it upon themselves to revisit the genre through the lens of a new IP—Back 4 Blood.

After a long hiatus, which intersected with the canceled Patriots game, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six returned to market with Rainbow Six: Siege in 2015. The online tactical shooter launched to positive critical reception but little fanfare, its early days beset by game-breaking bugs and frustrating server errors. Ubisoft Montréal navigated the maelstrom of issues over time, elevating the title to a standard of quality where it could competently dominate in the oversaturated games-as-a-service space. With Siege’s PvP multiplayer on lock, Ubisoft tried its hand at PvE by building upon the alien-infested Outbreak mode that debuted in Siege. The publisher originally subtitled the endeavor Quarantine, then rebranded as Extraction because of the coronavirus pandemic. Regardless of its naming conventions, many would argue the PvE experience hardly stood a chance.

Akin to the great musical artists and films of our time, certain video game releases have instituted a culture shift, establishing a clear demarcation line dividing the art created before its existence and after. Wolfenstein 3D earned its place among such a prestigious list, having fathered the modern first-person shooter in 1992. The 2001 launch of Grand Theft Auto 3 similarly shifted popular culture, birthing the open-world genre whose potential knows no limits. BioShock from Boston-based developer Irrational Games drew yet another indelible line in August 2007, its immersive gameplay, gripping atmosphere, and pioneering use of inventive storytelling devices elevating first-person shooters on countless fronts.

Few companies have revolutionized video games in more ways than Nintendo. The practice of literally stamping cartridges with the Nintendo Seal of Quality, introduced to circumvent Atari’s failures at quality control, marked the first step towards hardware makers profiting from software developed by third-party studios. And it need not be stated how effectively the Wii appealed to multiple generations, from children enjoying their first video game to nursing home residents in need of a convenient and fun tool for bolstering their motor skills. For decades, Nintendo constituted the entry point for many a gamer and easily vacillated between catering to casual and hardcore audiences. But after the Wii prioritized the casual with motion controls, which came at the cost of third-party support, Nintendo used its successor—the Wii U—to regain a foothold in the market dominated by PlayStation and Xbox.

Not too dissimilar from a B-tier action movie franchise, Avalanche Studios’ Just Cause series never rose far above its station. It earned varying degrees of success across four entries, thereby enjoying a comfortable status quo that many of its Double-A counterparts would aspire to. However, such comforts came and went liberally, especially with the launch of a fourth installment in December 2018.

The release of Borderlands in 2009 marked the first step towards Gearbox Software cementing itself as a master of developing hybrid experiences, games capable of artfully blending together otherwise disparate genres. For the cel-shaded, vault-hunting romp, such a blend consisted primarily of first-person shooter mechanics and elements consistent with role-playing games. Borderlands went on to enjoy success beyond Gearbox and its publishing partner’s wildest imaginations. It made sense, then, that the studio similarly combined genres when trying to break ground in the hero shooter space with a brand-new IP, Battleborn.

Halo 5: Guardians proved divisive amongst longtime fans who were disappointed that series protagonist Master Chief didn’t serve as the sole playable hero. Out of the backlash came a lesson for developer 343 Industries, resulting in the team establishing a new pillar for the brand going forward, which centered on paying homage to the Halo that Xbox gamers fell in love with years prior. Thus, the shooter that later bore the name Infinite returned Chief to the forefront. The studio acted upon a few other ambitions as well, chiefly exploring a more open-ended gameplay structure and free-to-play multiplayer. It all manifested courtesy of engineers dedicating a good chunk of development to building a new set of proprietary tools, the SlipSpace Engine. However, admittedly insufficient management and a rash of technical shortcomings nearly prevented Halo Infinite from reaching its true potential, evidenced by the ill-fated Ascension demo that debuted during Xbox’s 2020 Games Showcase. As opp

Even when stacked against the large and looming shadow of Activision’s Call of Duty, Electronic Arts and developer DICE always positioned Battlefield as the cream of the crop for first-person military shooters. Few would disagree the franchise’s penchant for hosting massive battles and dropping players into hectic vehicle-involved encounters set a precedent hardly rivaled. However, Battlefield 5 tested such thinking, launching in November 2018 to reviews that labeled it messy, unpolished, and technically unsound. The World War 2-set experience found better footing years later, but by that time, series faithful had cast their gaze toward the next major outing—Battlefield 2042.

Initially conceived during a period of great competition in the first-person shooter space, Red Faction had its work cut out for it long before entering the spotlight. Developer Volition Inc. harbored dreams that ventured far beyond simply adding another Quake-like shooter to the pile, though. Advanced destructible environments and intense vehicular combat were positioned as the differentiating factors between Red Faction and nearly everything else available for PC and console. And despite launching in 2001 to tepid reception, the Volition-developed FPS title set quite the precedent.

What began as a quirky role-playing game created in part by one of the industry’s most notable auteurs would go on to count among Xbox’s most important properties. Fable from Lionhead Studios always boasted a certain charm that meshed well with its fascinating characters and awe-inspiring fantastical world. The 2008 sequel Fable 2 arguably represented the series at its best, considering it took home a BAFTA and a slew of well-deserved Game of the Year awards. This momentum wouldn’t culminate in similar praise for Fable 3; yet no one could have anticipated the third number title marking the end of Fable as fans had known it for the better part of a decade.

Star Wars video games date back several decades, its first interactive adventure hitting arcades in 1983. Dozens of other experiences followed in subsequent years, with the space-faring IP delving into the FPS genre for the first time in 1995’s Dark Forces. Titles of this nature more or less fulfilled the fantasy of adventuring through George Lucas’s spectacular universe; however, one group of developers in the early 2000s made building the “ultimate Star Wars fan’s dream” their mission statement. The mission itself revolved around the production of Star Wars: Battlefront, a single-player and multiplayer hybrid where players could join the factions, pilot the vehicles, and battle across the stunning locales that had long impacted popular culture.