With Green Man Gaming hitting its 13th birthday, we decided that there was no better way to celebrate this most momentous occasion than by looking back at the best games of the last 13 years. So without further ado, these are the best games that have been released since Green Man Gaming launched all the way back in 2010.
Fallout: New Vegas – 2010
Boasting one of the best narratives of just about any RPG ever, Obsidian Entertainment’s stab at the post apocalyptic Fallout mythos relocated the whole thing to the titular Sin City and built upon the same solid open world RPG gameplay that Fallout 3 had just a couple of years prior. With some of the most memorable characters and quest lines ever, it’s little wonder why fans still clamour for a sequel to the game that many consider to still be Obsidian’s finest hour.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – 2011
Though it’s occasionally amusing to poke fun at just how many times The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has been re-released and ported over the past decade, it can also be easy to forget just how good Bethesda’s last numbered Elder Scrolls game really was and is. Offering up a sprawling, frosty fantasy realm for players to carve out their own stories against the backdrop of an epic narrative about dragons, gods and more, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has long been recognised as a modern day RPG icon. All of a sudden the frenzied porting and re-releases of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim make a whole lot of sense.
Dishonored – 2012
Setting the stage for one of the most immersive, first-person stealth adventures ever, Dishonored thrust players into the magical boots of Corvo Attano, an immensely powerful assassin trying to clear his name after the murder of the Empress of Dunwall. A natural heir in many ways to the Thief games, Dishonored grandly expanded upon its classic influences by allowing players to freely murder and sneak from the darkness, or unleash a barrage of devastating magical attacks upon their foes.
More than that, it’s really the world of Dunwall that has made Dishonored so timeless, with developers Arkane depicting a largely filthy world that is almost entirely on whale blubber and oil, while every part of the game world functionally arms players with sufficient tremendous creative latitude to approach their endeavours.
Grand Theft Auto V – 2013
As I write this in 2023, Grand Theft Auto V is still extremely prominent with its Grand Theft Auto Online multiplayer mode still doing the sort of decade-long monster business that other games publishers would do unholy things for. Grand Theft Auto V also made brave strides with its story-driven, single-player campaign too, allowing players to switch between three very different protagonists at any one time, all the while fleshing out a fictional take on Los Angeles and South California with eye-opening detail.
One of the best critically and commercially received games of all-time, the fact that Grand Theft Auto V recently gained a re-release on current-gen consoles with revamped ray-traced visuals should provide you with some clue about just what rude health Grand Theft Auto V still enjoys.
Dark Souls II – 2014
After the runaway success of the first Dark Souls title back in 2011, a sequel seemed like a done deal and so Dark Souls II rocked up in 2014 to carry the torch of its illustrious, action RPG predecessor. Though regarded as a black sheep of sorts by some corners of the Dark Souls fandom, Dark Souls II nonetheless soared with more deliberate combat, superb new hub areas, power stances, reworked PvP mechanics and a fantastically enticing New Game Plus mode.
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain – 2015
With its much more open-world style design, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain went to significant, shall we say, pains, to separate itself from the previous games in Hideo Kojima’s legendary stealth series. Continuing the Cold War setting seen in Peace Walker and Ground Zeroes respectively, The Phantom Pain deftly blended this newfound nonlinear approach with all of the stealth mechanics and trademark absurdity from the best entries in the franchise.
Though seemingly the final stop for the Metal Gear Solid series, at least for now, The Phantom Pain nonetheless saved some of its best and most transformative moments until last.
DOOM – 2016
With its super satisfying arsenal, monstrous foes and superb level design all set against the thrashing thrum of Mick Gordon’s furious soundtrack, DOOM’s 2016 release represented a textbook example of how to reboot a much beloved genre icon.
By reimagining the godfather of the FPS genre with a retina-searing audiovisual presentation but keeping the run ‘n’ gun mechanic of the superlative 1993 original very much intact, DOOM in 2016 would set an all-new standard for its genre stablemates to follow.
What Remains Of Edith Finch – 2017
Weaving a wistful though melancholy tale, What Remains of Edith Finch is a first person narrative adventure that meditates on the power of stories and how the memories of our loved ones can manifest as such. What Remains of Edith Finch has players exploring the familial home of the Finches, uncovering clues and stories about all of Edith’s deceased relatives through a variety of very different gameplay sequences that reflect the individual natures of each family member duly.
Stirring, amusing and heartbreaking in equal measure, What Remains of Edith Finch is an unforgettable cacophony of storytelling that lingers long in the memory after the credits have completed their roll.
Red Dead Redemption 2 – 2018
Rockstar Games third foray into the dusty and cutthroat frontier of the Old West proved to not just be its best yet, but gave wannabe cowboys an evocative, painstakingly detailed take on that era which felt like a microcosm of the best Wild West movies ever made. Beyond its irresistibly compelling setting, Red Dead Redemption 2 also presented players with a deeply physical world full of heft and secrets to unearth, all of which served to underscore the breathtaking sweep and scope of its story campaign as players rampaged across the Old West during its dying days.
Endlessly immersive and filled with enough interesting characters and ample tragedy to make Sergio Leone blush, Red Dead Redemption 2 is a peerless masterclass in open world building and impactful storytelling that everybody should play.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice – 2019
Though Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice comes from the same wickedly talented team of folks that gave us the Dark Souls games, Sekiro’s approach is far removed from the typically more proactive aggression that is so often rewarded in FromSoftware’s more famous series. Unfolding against the backdrop of Sengoku-era Japan, Sekiro places players on a path of vengeance as a disgraced warrior who must protect a vulnerable young lord and face off against a murder’s row of monstrous foes in the process.
Though the setting is relatively fresh, it’s really in the counter-focused melee combat that Sekiro truly excels, making the player feel like a true Samurai savant as successful split-second parries can end fights while later on in the game, failing to do so can send your wayward warrior to an early grave.
Cyberpunk 2077 – 2020
It’s no secret that when Cyberpunk 2077 released in 2020 that it was in decidedly rough shape and yet in the intervening time since its debut, developer CD Projekt has stuck with the game, diligently patching out the myriad performance issues and bugs. The result is that Cyberpunk 2077 is now among one of the best action RPGs available, offering up a sublime game world in Night City which taps into all of the most evocative fantasies about just what a cyberpunk game world rendered with high fidelity should look and sound like.
With a focus on freewheeling character customisation, non-linear story progression and more side quests than you can shake a katana at, Cyberpunk 2077 is now among one of the most essential RPGs on the market.
Deathloop – 2021
Taking all the right lessons from Arkane’s previous immersive simulation offerings in Dishonored and Prey, Arkane’s Deathloop would dramatically augment the concept with a Groundhog Day style mechanic, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Marooned on the hedonistic, art-deco influenced island of Blackreef, players take control of an assassin called Colt that must track down and murder eight specific targets before the day resets.
Where the real genius of Deathloop is brought to bear is in how its time-travelling premise is blended with the non-linear shooter beats that are typical of Arkane’s output. In Deathloop, some assignments can only be completed at certain points in time and in particular areas, while players can use the knowledge gained in previous cycles to progress in future ones. There’s nothing quite like Deathloop, that’s for sure.
Elden Ring – 2022
Quite rightly lauded as one of the greatest games in recent years, FromSoftware’s Elden Ring once more brings the legendary developer’s penchant for challenging combat and subtle lore to the fore. Where Elden Ring makes a keen departure from its celebrated forebears is in the embrace of a massive open world – a first for any game in the Souls-like subgenre.
The result is that Elden Ring is nothing less than a bounty of riches, as the breathlessly expansive game world of the Lands Between provides curious players with near endless vistas, nooks and crannies that all begged to be explored. An astounding evolution of the Souls formula if there ever was one, Elden Ring’s position as one of the greatest games of the past decade is absolutely earned.
