Ranking the Decade 03.20.10: 2005 Edition!

Posted by Armando Rodriguez on 03.20.2010

From God of War and Guitar Hero to Call of Duty 2, Indigo Prophecy and even Nintendogs, see which games made the list!

Hello there and welcome to the 2005 edition of Ranking the Decade! What an excellent year for gamers was 2005 with some really innovative titles and debut of the Nintendo DS, PSP and Xbox 360 in North America. The PS3 was still a year or so away, but the PS2 got some of the best games of the year with hits like Guitar Hero and God of War. As always, let us take a look at what happened in 2005!

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2005 in Music: In 2005, 12 rock bands released albums that managed to hit #1: this was the first time since 1996 in which 10 or more rock albums reached the pinnacle of the charts. Blink-182 and Destiny's Child disbanded that year while Alice in Chains would reform. Mariah Carey's The Emancipation of Mimi was the best selling album of the year. The rest of the Top 5 was composed of The Massacre by 50 Cent, Kelly Clarkson's Breakaway, Green Day's American Idiot and Monkey Business by the Black Eyed Peas.

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2005 in Movies: It was a year of remakes and sequels. Two sequels, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith were the two highest-grossing films of the year. Meanwhile, two remakes, War of the Worlds and Peter Jackson's King Kong, also made their way into the Top 10. The third highest-grossing film was The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, something that should have kick started a successful series of movies, but after the not-so successful sequel, it was put on hiatus. Christopher Nolan's reboot of the Batman franchise began that year with Batman Begins, a movie that scored the #9 spot in the Top 10. Other movies in the top 10 were the Will Smith comedy Hitch, Madagascar, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the always fun to watch Mr. & Mrs. Smith.

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2005 in Games: Console sales and hardware sales were down from 2004. Experts claimed that the anticipation of the next generation of consoles hurt overall sales. The Xbox 360 officially arrived in North America in November, while the Nintendo Wii and Playstation 3 had been officially revealed at E3. Nintendo released the Game Boy Micro in the fall of 2005 as well. The Playstation 2 once again dominated game sales, with the PS2 version of Madden NFL 06 being the best selling game of the year. Other PS2 games in the Top 10 include Gran Turismo 4, NCAA Football 06, Star Wars Battlefront II, MVP Baseball 2005, NBA Live 06, Lego Star Wars and Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith. The only non-PS2 games to make the list were the Xbox version of Madden NFL 06 at #4 and the Game Boy Advance's Pokemon Emerald at #2.

Honorable Mentions: Shadow of the Colossus, Perfect Dark Zero, Psychonauts, Racing Gears Advance, Mortal Kombat Shaolin Monks, Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction, Amped 3, Star Wars Republic Commando, Stubbs the Zombie, Project Gotham Racing 3, Killer7, Cold Winter, Condemned: Criminal Origins, Battlefield 2, Guild Wars, Gun, Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath, X-Men Legends 2, The Warriors, Forza Motorsport, The Matrix: Path of Neo, SWAT 4, Civilization IV, Mario Kart DS, Fight Night Round 2, Lumines, Ninja Gaiden Black, Devil May Cry 3, Soul Calibur III, Sonic Rush, Burnout Revenge, We Love Katamari!, Dragon Quest VIII, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, SSX On Tour, Metal Gear Acid, NBA Street V3, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, Advance Wars: Dual Strike

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Nintendogs (Nintendo DS): How many dozens of "animal care" games have been released for the DS and the PC since 2005? Much of the success of these types of games on the DS has to be attributed to the multiple versions of Nintendogs. Nintendogs is a very simple game. You chose from one of the available puppy types, which vary depending on the version you are playing. Then you name him, teach him tricks, feed him and otherwise take care of him, just like you would a Tamagotchi virtual pet. The game uses the internal clock to have the puppy grow hungrier or dirtier as time goes on and uses the stylus to allow you to pet your dog, feed him, play with him and so on. The game also uses the microphone, allowing you to name your pet and teach him simple commands like "sit" and "roll-over". Although virtual pet games existed before this game, Nintendogs became the most interactive, since you use the DS's unique properties, like the touch controls and the microphone, to interact with your pet. Nintendogs won the 2006 Games Innovation Award from PC World, the Best Handheld Game Award from the Associated Press, has an overall Metascore of 85% and all the versions of Nintendogs combined have sold 22.27 million copies, making it the third highest-selling franchise on Nintendo's portable system.

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Trauma Center: Under the Knife (Nintendo DS) A game that lets you play as a medical surgeon? Really? Yes, by combining puzzle-solving skills hidden underneath a medical surgeon premise with a pseudo-sci-fi plot and interactive novel qualities, Trauma Center: Under the Knife went on to inspire a successful series. If we ever make a list of the Top 10 game premises most likely to fail, the premise of a game in which you play a doctor and conduct operations has to be in it. But Trauma Center succeeded and spawned several sequels. The game was custom made for the DS, as you use the touch screen to perform the operations, be it cutting the patient open, suturing wounds and injecting medicine. What separates Trauma Center from games like Cooking Mama (that also use the stylus for a multitude of functions) is it's well developed plot, the time limit that adds a sense of urgency to the proceedings and the fact that the game makes you feel the pressure of trying to save someone's life when everything seems to be going wrong. Sure, the game adds a sci-fi plot dealing with bioterrorism and a new virus called GUILT that looks like a miniature shark and tears people up from the inside, but that does little to detract from the feeling of accomplishment the player feels after saving a life. At its core, the game is a traditional puzzle-solving game, but it is so well developed and so well disguised that you will never feel like you are playing Tetris or Columns. For spawning a multitude of sequels and basically creating an entirely new genre, Trauma Center: Under the Knife deserves to be one of the most influential games of 2005.

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Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved (Xbox Live Arcade): Geometry Wars is responsible for the creation of the "two-stick" shooter craze. The premise of the genre is simple enough: you control a spaceship that can move on any direction with the left-stick and shoot independently on any direction with the right-stick. The idea is to survive as long as possible and score as many points as possible. The game went on to become the highest selling game on Xbox Live Arcade and became one of the biggest reasons the Xbox 360 and the new Arcade platform became successful. More importantly, it created the dual-stick shooter genre and was a big influence in the current trend of developing retro games and retro concepts in games. Geometry Wars was later ported to Windows XP, Windows Vista, the Nintendo DS and the Nintendo Wii and also inspired a sequel.

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Indigo Prophecy (Playstation 2, Xbox, PC) Indigo Prophecy, known as Fahrenheit in the rest of the world, is not a game. The developers call it the first "interactive movie". Developed by Quantic Dreams and being the spiritual predecessor to Heavy Rain, Indigo Prophecy throws normal game conventions like complex controls and throws them out the window in favor of telling one of the most compelling tales ever seen in a video game. The entire game is played by performing simple actions, usually using the right stick. While the left stick controls movement, the right stick is used to select an action. For example, after approaching a table you can press up on the right stick to sit down, or down to pick up a glass and so on. In other words, the game works like a collection of QTE's or Quick-Time Events in which you interact with the story being told. More complex actions and fighting game-style button presses are required to do such things as spinning a yoyo or climbing a fence. The game's story and multiple endings are definitively the game's strongest point. The plot involves a supernatural occurrence that has apparently led to some random everyday people killing complete strangers for no reason whatsoever. Although it sold only a combined 800,000 copies across all systems, the game has appeared in multiple Greatest Game of All Time lists and won multiple Best Story and Best Adventure Game awards in 2005, including those awarded by Gamespot. Indigo Prophecy changed the way we look at games and what we expect a game to be like. Simply put, without Indigo Prophecy there would be no Heavy Rain or any other "interactive movie game".

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Call of Duty 2 (Xbox 360, PC): This one is going to be short and sweet and deals more with the 360 version of the game than the PC counterpart. Sure, Call of Duty 2 was a fantastic game with 64-player online on the PC version and 8-player online on the 360, a fantastic and highly rated single-player campaign and much more. But Call of Duty 2 became the highest selling Xbox 360 launch game and is part of the reason Microsoft's platform became a success. It sold 250,000 copies in the first week! An astounding 77% of people who purchased a 360 also purchased Call of Duty 2! Also the graphics and sound were amazing in this game and it was that first "next-generation" game that slapped you in the face and showed you just how awesome things were going to be in the near future. Coming from someone often billed as a PS3 fanboy, I will make a statement that I hope will redeem me somewhat. The "next-generation" began with Call of Duty 2 on the Xbox 360.

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Resident Evil 4 (Gamecube, PS2, PC, Wii): The reinvention of the Resident Evil franchise that occurred in Resident Evil 4 led to one of the highest-rated games in the sixth generation of consoles. While still retaining the survival horror elements, Resident Evil 4 incorporated a more action-packed element to the game and the result was nothing short of brilliant. Besides the action element, the game made some other big changes to the gameplay, including context sensitive controls and the lack of any zombies, the trademark foe of the series. Instead, players fought parasitically-controlled humans, which led to creatures that were faster, smarter and more challenging than your typical mindless zombie. The Infected, also known as Ganados and Las Plagas (the plagued) could wield melee and projectile weapons and communicate with each other. The inventory system was replaced by an upgradable case, while weapons and ammo were more readily available to go with the new action-focused direction. This led to a game that, while retaining some of the core survival horror elements from the previous games, was modified to compete with the action-packed thrill rides available at the time. The controls, usually a weak point in the series, were easy to master, intuitive and responsive. The boss battles were memorable. As a result of all the changes, this entry in the series is considered to be the very best and also the most accessible to newcomers. Both, the PS2 and Gamecube versions had a Metascore of 96. This score ties the Gamecube version with The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for the second spot in the All-Time Gamecube ratings behind Metroid Prime. It is also tied with Metal Gear Solid 2 for the second spot in the All-Time PS2 ratings behind Tony Hawk 3 and Grand Theft Auto III. Overall, it is tied for the second spot in the All-Time Sixth-Generation list. It won multiple Game of the Year awards in 2005 and was voted Nintendo Power's #1 Gamecube Game of All Time in their Top 20 Gamecube Games of All Time list. It received perfect scores from Game Informer, a publication that also named it the Game of the Year and one of the Greatest Games of All Time in their Top 200 Games of All Time list. It won the Game of the Year award from Famitsu (tied with Kingdom Hearts II), The U.S. Playstation Magazine, X-Play and the Spike TV Video Game Awards. It has sold over 3.6 million copies combined. For reinventing one of the greatest series of all time, for becoming one of the greatest games of all time and one of the highest rated in the sixth generation of consoles, Resident Evil 4 deserves to be one of the most influential games of 2005.

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God of War (Playstation 2): Is there one Playstation exclusive that generates more passionate responses than God of War? Kratos became Sony's unofficial mascot and it is their most widely known character, beating the likes of Ratchet & Clank, Jak & Daxter and even Sack Boy. There is something about a bad-ass antihero that battles Gods and eventually becomes one that can pull at all our strings. God of War was the first game in the series and arguably one of the best games of the sixth generation of consoles. Although the hack/slash, combo heavy combat system is not something new (Devil May Cry originated the modern-action genre), God of War provides the Mature, visceral thrills and plenty of satisfying combat to boot. The game is rated M for a reason. Blood and limbs fly everywhere, topless ladies are seen several times and Kratos is the ultimate example of anti-authority, anti-hero badass. The story is one of redemption, retribution and betrayal. Kratos did some terrible things during his life, including taking the life of his family and now has to pay for it. He has sold his soul to the God of War and had to do everything he asked of him, including killing his own family. After the God of War goes out of control, the rest of Olympus seems to side with Kratos and encourage him to destroy the God of War and promise him a reward…..to rid them of the haunting memories of the time he killed his family. Through the course of the adventure you will visit mythical locales, battle mythological monsters and solve challenging puzzles. The combination of the fast-paced, combo heavy combat system with context-sensitive, Quick-Time Events finishing moves would become a staple of the genre. The cut-scenes and overall story progression is fantastic and as much a bad person as Kratos has been, you cannot help it but sympathize with the man by the end of the game. God of War went on to win over 25 different awards in 2005, from Game of the Year to Action Game of the Year, Console Game of the Year, PS2 Game of the Year, Best Voice-Acting, Best Graphics, Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design and others. It was named the 7th best PS2 game of all time by IGN and appears in numerous best game of all time lists. It is tied for the 3rd highest Metascore in the PS2's history, scoring a 94 overall score, a number that also places it in the Top 5 all-time games of the sixth-generation consoles.

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Lego Star Wars (PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, PC): The Lego series of video games have gone on to spawn a multitude of games: Lego Batman, Lego Harry Potter, Lego Battles and of course, Lego Star Wars II and Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga. All of that originated with the release of the original Lego Star Wars in 2005. Based on the first three episodes, Lego Star Wars allowed you to control pretty much every character that was somebody in the series, from Anakin to Obi-Wan, from Padme to Jar-Jar Binks. Everything was made of Legos, of course, and that added a kid-friendly charm. Besides, when a character or droid was destroyed, it will send lego pieces flying everywhere. The game was very basic, using simple combat, puzzle-solving and the ability to replay levels with different characters to open new areas. This accessibility made it a hit with smaller kids, while carrying enough charm and gameplay to hook older players. It is hard to imagine the many Lego games that have followed Lego Star Wars would have ever come to exists without the success of this first entry.

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Guitar Hero (Playstation 2): This is it! The game that really started the music game craze, Guitar Hero. Although the gameplay mechanics were taken from Konami's Guitar Freaks, there is no doubt in anyone's mind that it was Guitar Hero who made them popular. Using a guitar-shaped controller, players were required to hold one or more of the five colored fret buttons while strumming the guitar's strum button as notes descended down the screen. The idea is to hit the note in time with the music and when the note hits a certain spot in the screen. The guitar also featured a whammy bar and the concepts of Star Power, Rock Meter and the Hammer-On and Pull-Off techniques were introduced with this game. The main mode was Career Mode, which follows the standard system has used since then, revolving around different "tiers" of songs and by beating one tier you move to the next. The game featured 47 songs, of which only 17 were master tracks and the other 30 were covers. As the series grew in popularity, more artists allowed their master tracks to appear in subsequent games. The game went on to win multiple "Best Puzzle/Rhythm Game Awards" since the music game category did not even exist in 2005. It also won the Outstanding Achievement in Game Design and Outstanding Achievement in Game Engineering awards from the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences. Overall, the series has sold over one billion dollars worth of games. For kick starting the music genre and becoming a cultural phenomenon, Guitar Hero deserves to be one of the most influential games of the decade.

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F.E.A.R. (PC, PS3, Xbox 360): By combining the action of first-person shooters with the elements of survival horror, F.E.A.R. became one of the finest "Horror Shooters" ever produced. At first glance, F.E.A.R. looks like just any other FPS. The weapons are satisfying to use, if typical FPS fare, the combat is intense and shock full of surprises, the enemy A.I. is pretty smart and the game's graphics are awesome. Contrary to many FPS games, you can see your character's hands and feet performing the necessary actions….you don't magically float up ladders, for example. The game also incorporated its own version of "Bullet Time" called "Reflex Time". But what truly set the game apart were the supernatural occurrences and the survival-horror scares. Things would move on their own, lights would blink on and off, enemies will break doors and windows to get at you on some scripted scenes and oh, did I forget the scary little girl that looks straight out of The Ring? How many rounds did I waste on things that weren't really there? F.E.A.R. was one of the few games that made me be constantly on edge. As a matter of fact, I could rarely play for more than one hour at a time because I would get so tense anything would make me jump out of my seat! From things in the game, like scurrying rats or the many times I accidentally knocked paint cans or something over and jumped out of my seat, to the many times my mom would sneak on me while I was playing with headphones on and scare the living shit out of me! The sad thing? I was 20 years old! Besides that, F.E.A.R. Combat, the game's multiplayer mode, was very addictive and it was one of the best multiplayer games released in 2005. For combining survival horror with first-person shooter action and making one of the best games of 2005, F.E.A.R. deserves a spot in the most influential games of 2005.

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Until Next Time: There you have them boys and girls. Time to start the debate!