The Mass Effect trilogy Widely considered one of the best trilogies in gaming history, and for good reason. Commander Shepard's adventures in the endangered Milky Way are one of the best sci-fi stories ever told. It has memorable characters, great storytelling, and some incredible set pieces that feel like they were pulled from the silver screen. Very few gaming trilogies can rival that Mass Effect Genealogy, let's pass it alone, but there are some trilogies.
The best female characters in the Mass Effect series
Bioware's Mass Effect franchise has no shortage of truly stunning and iconic female characters. Few can deny the following are the best.
As incredible as it is, the Mass Effect The trilogy has one weak link: the first game. Mass Effect A very good game, but its strongest elements are its characters and story. The actual gameplay often fluctuates between very good and okay, something its two sequels didn't suffer from. These other trilogies don't have that problem either. They're all great games from start to finish, and when you're going up against a series that's respectable collective effect, This is what it takes to come out on top.
Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
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Rearrange the covers into the correct US release order.
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Batman: Arkham
The greatest superhero trilogy in gaming
- Includes a trilogy: Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman: Arkham City, Batman: Arkham Knight
of Rocksteady Batman: Arkham Trilogy (we're leaving WB Montreal Batman: Arkham Origins, (but it's also great) is much more than the greatest superhero trilogy of all time. It created the blueprint for superhero games as a whole, pioneering a combat system and traversal style that made you feel like you were Batman defending Gotham. It doesn't hurt that it tells one of the best Batman stories of all time, to boot, featuring veteran voice work from Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill as Batman and The Joker.
Arkham Asylum kicked things off and put the gaming world on notice, with Batman trapped in the titular asylum while the inmates ran amok. Arkham City Expanded the scope, turning a portion of Gotham into a prison district and placing Batman's target, Hugo Strange, at its center. Arkham Knight Finally letting players explore all of Gotham, and the iconic Batmobile to explore it. The trilogy is famous not only for three great main stories, but also for some of the best side quests in gaming history.
bioshock
One of the most iconic single-player FPS games ever made
- Includes a trilogy: BioShock, BioShock 2, BioShock Infinite
They can be spiritual successors system shock, but bioshock The trilogy surpassed that series in every way. Ken Levine's legendary sci-fi horror games created the most immersive, imaginative, and haunting settings in the medium in the first two games, letting players explore the underwater city of Rapture. For the third game, the series took to the skies, featuring an equally inspired world to explore with the floating city of Columbia.
First bioshock Set the standard. It's still considered one of the best single-player games of all time, and its mix of gunplay and supernatural powers helped it stand out instantly, while its shocking twist ending cemented it in the minds of those who played it. Bioshock 2 took a wild turn, with players looking for their little sister as Big Daddy. It wasn't as beloved at launch, but as time has passed, the story surrounding this sequel has changed, and it now ranks alongside the first game. BioShock Infinite The greatest departure was the rapture ditch for a city in the sky. It's a much less isolated experience, with a lost girl, Elizabeth, accompanying you throughout and assisting you in battle. However, the gameplay is the best in the series, and the twist ending is so good that it rivals the first game.
The Original Trilogy legitimized gaming in the mainstream
- Includes a trilogy: Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
legacy of Metal Gear Solid The trilogy here is as important for its location as the quality of the game. The first game put Hideo Kojima on the map, one of the pioneering writers of the medium, while the second and third games made him a video game visionary. It goes beyond just gameplay and story and reaches into the realm of combat design, subversive mechanics, and a shocking degree of player freedom that, at the time, had not been seen before.
The first game is pretty bare bones, relatively speaking. It's a pretty cut-and-dry stealth game, but with a ton of versatility on offer, great gameplay, and a cinematic story that proved the potential of video game stories. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty Players were immediately thrown for a loop by replacing Solid Snake with Raiden as the main playable character. It rubbed a lot of people the wrong way at first, but it's seen as a brilliant subversion of expectations and a fitting choice for the game's story. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater It is the magnum opus of the series, a great evolution of the first two games with expanded combat and stealth systems and a fantastic story. There is a reason MGS3 It was the first in the trilogy to receive a top-down remake.
Gears of War
Set the bar for third-person shooter stories
- Includes a trilogy: Gears of War, Gears of War 2, Gears of War 3
With the success of hello series, it was almost unfair that the Xbox was also fantastic Gears of War trilogy under its umbrella. The series doesn't get nearly enough credit for what it did for the third-person shooter genre. Before this trilogy, third-person shooters were simply expected to be junkies, and they paled in comparison to their first-person counterparts. Gears of War Created a blueprint for the genre, demonstrated how to design effective cover mechanics, and told an unprecedented story at the same time.
First Gears of War Set the tone, establishing the standard of polish, creativity, and intense, bloody gameplay that the rest of the franchise would follow. gears of war 2, While removing some of the horror elements of the first game, it told a much better story with some incredible set pieces and much improved enemy AI and variety. but, Gears of War 3 Arguably the best package. It marks an ideal end to the trilogy from a narrative point of view, while the combat was so varied and creative that it constantly encouraged players to try out new weapons and tactics. It also plays host to some of the best set pieces in the series and among the best in the third-person shooter genre as a whole.
Max Payne
A perfect trilogy nearly a decade in the making
- Includes a trilogy: Max Payne, Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, Max Payne 3
Cure Entertainment is considered one of the most creative development studios on the planet today, but that story began back in 2001. Max Payne. A neo-noir story with supernatural elements and incredibly satisfying bullet time shooting mechanics, Max Payne The trilogy feels like a playable John Woo movie with a dash of Lynchian weirdness mixed in that makes it both intensely engaging and startlingly weird.
Remedy's Sam Lake shares the inspiration behind the Max Payne cover art
Cure veteran Sam Lake finally reveals the origins of what became the cover art for the 2001 neo-noir action game, Max Payne.
First Max Payne, For the era, very impressive. This game actually captured the PS2 way back in 2001, which wasn't easy. The bullet time mechanic and cool, graphic-novel style cutscenes were enough to make it an instant classic. Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne Covers every aspect. The combat was as good as ever, but with a much higher degree of polish, which extended to the story, visuals, and voice acting. Max Payne 2 It was actually the first game to show Remedy's penchant for cinematic stories. Max Payne 3, Developed by Rockstar Games and not treated, the third-person shooter is perfection. While it bucks the series' weird tendencies, it tells the best story of the bunch, and the combat… oh, the combat is old. Excellent movement and shooting are combined with excellent level design to take full advantage of bullet time in a way that previous games couldn't.
Dark spirits
Pioneered a genre and changed action RPGs forever
- Includes a trilogy: Dark Souls, Dark Souls 2, Dark Souls 3
Dark spirits For many people the game is more than just a trilogy. Taking the formula established in demon spirits, The series made difficulty and challenge its calling card, encouraging players to achieve their successes rather than rewarding them for showing up. It changed the way people thought about how they viewed enemies, boss battles, and character creation while playing video games. There are very few trilogies that can say the same, and that's when it's combined with jaw-dropping world and enemy design, extraordinary combat, and some of the best lore in the genre (not just in gaming, but the entire fantasy genre). Dark spirits is simply unmatched.
First Dark spirits Might as well be the best. With dozens of memorable areas, perfect pacing, and just the right amount of side exploration, its world is definitely one of the most tightly designed. Dark Souls 2For many, the black sheep of the trilogy, but it has its staunch defenders and plays with some really interesting twists on the formula. It's big, wild, and difficult, doing everything the first game did while trying to evolve in a dozen new ways, with mixed results. The changes that work, though, are fantastic. Dark Souls 3 There is a climax. It's the most polished game in the series, from the controls to the level design. It's probably the best place for a newcomer to start, oddly enough, because that polish eases the intense difficulty curve of previous games. As for the combat and the story, what is there to say? FromSoftware is a master of this style of dark fantasy action RPG, and Dark Souls 3 It's just more proof.
A 4-column guide to the best games like Mass Effect
Craving more Mass Effect vibes? Here are some great story-driven RPGs or shooters that capture its choices, characters, and broad sci-fi feel.
