Video games move fast, and the rapid advancement of technology means that they can feel dated a lot more quickly than other forms of media. What was once the most incredible thing you’ve ever looked at can appear head-scratchingly unspectacular before you know it.
That said, the passage of time isn’t always unkind, and sometimes a game is so original, technically impressive or just straight up fun at launch that it still hangs very comfortably a whole decade later.
That’s the case with all three of these games, all of which arrived 10 years ago in 2016, but are as worth booting up today as they ever have been.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
The final (for now) mainline entry in Naughty Dog’s globe-trotting action-adventure series was also its best, and very few games as breathlessly exciting and fun to play as this one have come along since.
Uncharted 4 sees the seemingly retired treasure hunter Nathan Drake roped back into the family business by his estranged brother Sam, with the quest to hunt down the famed pirate captain Henry Avery’s fortune taking them to the Scottish Highlands and the jungles of Madagascar.
2016’s Uncharted 4 is Naughty Dog at the top of its game in every respect. The more emotional, introspective story about a man finally taking responsibility for his choices was the perfect payoff for longtime series fans, elevated by the studio’s signature cinematic flair.
The power of the PS4 meant Naughty Dog was able to make its stunningly detailed locations larger and more open-ended than in previous entries, rewarding your individual playstyle. It also plays great on PS5 too.
From the iconic tower collapse set piece to thrilling chase sequences, the fiery finale, and the seemingly torch-passing epilogue, Uncharted 4 remains a very special game.
Titanfall 2
If ever a series deserved the trilogy treatment, it’s Titanfall, but for a number of largely depressing reasons we haven’t had a new entry since 2016’s ludicrously entertaining Titanfall 2.
This is still a game anyone with good taste would immediately point to if asked about the best FPS campaigns of all time.
Putting mechs into any game is almost a cheat code for a good time (see also: Xenoblade Chronicles X, Kirby: Planet Robobot), but Titanfall 2 has so much more to offer than the (admittedly huge) thrill of stepping into the cockpit of one of its titular Titans.
In the single-player portion of the game, you play as the young soldier Jack Cooper, who becomes best mates with his old mentor’s Titan and teams up with it to stop a shady corporation from enacting its evil plans.
In the world of Titanfall, Pilots are parkour experts, and in Titanfall 2 it feels just as good to slide and wall-run around the meticulously designed playgrounds Respawn Entertainment built as it does to unload your weapons on grunts.
There’s an almost Nintendo-esque commitment to introducing incredibly creative gameplay mechanics and then abandoning them for new ones minutes later. Wreaking havoc in your 20-foot-tall mecha is only half the fun here.
The Last Guardian
Like its fellow masterpieces Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, Team Ico’s The Last Guardian is a game built on director Fumito Ueda’s “design through subtraction” philosophy.
This essentially means that a minimalist approach puts all of the focus on the thematic core of the game – in this case the bond between the boy you play as and the giant cat-dog-bird creature called Trico.
In this near-wordless adventure, the boy and Trico explore the mysterious ruins of an ancient civilisation, solving environmental puzzles along the way and letting the big guy tackle the stone soldiers that try you block your progress.
What made The Last Guardian so memorable is also what made it so divisive. Trico is an incredible AI companion, but like any wild animal, he’s also entirely unpredictable. The creature often needs to be encouraged to participate with your mutual quest, demanding patience and perseverance. You’ll also be wrestling with the controls as much as Trico’s temperament.
This might all sound like a recipe for frustration, and it definitely can be, but the early friction means that when you do start to work effectively as a team it feels so much more rewarding. The Last Guardian still feels like no other game, and everyone should try it.
