Summary
The 2010s was an interesting decade for action games, because there were a lot of excellent melee combat-focused ones at the start and end of the decade, but there was a noticeable loll in the middle. Luckily, this was when plenty of incredible shooters started to come out that revitalized themore old-school approach to the genreor strengthened the current style.
Whether you liked third-person shooting and melee combat or playing FPS games, you had something to chew on this decade. Keep in mind that only pure action games will be included here, not action RPGs, so noDark SoulsorNier: Automata.
2010
Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PC
2010 was a banger year for Platinum Games, releasing bothBayonettaandVanquish. However, Bayonetta came out in 2009 in Japan, so Vanquish will take the spot here. Another fantastic third-person action game from Shinji Mikami, who previously directed God Hand, Vanquish flips the script on the common third-person shooter you’d see at the time, prioritizing non-cover use.
The game’s fast, fluid, and filled with so much slow-motion goodness that it’s always a blast to play. If you really want to test your skills, crank the difficulty up to God Hard, where your slow-mo time is significantly shortened, pushing you to your absolute limits.
One game that was not well-liked by its core fanbase at release wasCastlevania: Lords of Shadow. Having so many game elements taken elsewhere, including the sacredShadow of the Colossus, seriously rubbed people the wrong way, but when you take the game just for what it is, it’s easily one of the bestGod of War-style action games of the generation.
You have plenty of varied levels, a great storywith solid voice acting to match, along with quality replay value and challenge. The game’s super long as well; in fact, it’s a little bit too long. The first Lords of Shadow is an Xbox 360 game that you should definitely check out if you passed on it at release.
It’s incredible looking atMax Payne 3today and seeing that it still holds up and remains one of thebest third-person shooter action gamesavailable right now. Sure, diehard fans have plenty of issues with the story because this is the only entry in the trilogy that was not developed by Remedy Entertainment.
Still, the third-person slow-mo diving fun is just as great as ever, and it’s sad this hasn’t returned in any future Rockstar title. Dead Eye inRed Dead’sgreat and all, but you can’t dive, which is a big downgrade. Like nearly all Take-Two Interactive backward compatible Xbox titles, Max Payne 3 tends to go on sale very frequently, and that’s a great time to pick this gem up.
The most notableMetal Geargame that’s not a part of the mainline Kojima entries is Metal Gear Rising. It’s interesting looking at how legendary the game is now, despite the fact that it’s probably the shortest action title on the Xbox 360, with the only exception beingStar Wars: The Force Unleashed 2.
However, people don’t care about that because Metal Gear Rising not only has amazing gameplay but a stellar roster of bosses, and an equally stellar soundtrack as well. The boss theme compilation on YouTube has 28 million views for a reason. The controls take a bit to get used to, but once you get it locked, you’ll be playing one of the most fun and thrilling action game campaigns imaginable.
WhileDoom 2016was the game that pushed the retro feeling FPS full-force into the triple-A landscape,Wolfenstein: The New Orderwas the one that first moved the ball. Even at release, this game felt so fresh compared to other FPS titles, and this is due to a couple of key factors. One: no regenerating health. This gameplay element kept the combat fast-flowing and further encouraged exploration.
The second big reason was dual-wielding. Not dual-wielding on its own, but the fact that nearly every weapon in the game can be dual-wielded. This adds so much to the combat, and if dual-wielding was restricted to only a couple of weapons, a lot of fun would be sucked out of this game. Plus, the story and characters are often regarded as the best of the recent Wolfenstein games.
When Bayonetta 2 was launched, there weren’t a lot of Japanese melee combat-focused action games coming out, and it stayed that way until around the end of the decade. This made Bayo 2 such a refreshing game to play, and it also helps that the title, in general, was fantastic and a great sequel to the original.
The combat was expanded upon; you had more weapons this time, and the new bosses were superior as well. It’s easily among thebest games on the Wii U, but even on the Switch, it remains one of the best action titles on the platform.
WhileYakuza 5is debatably the greatest Yakuza game of the decade, the one with the best combat system and most satisfying action has to beYakuza 0. You only have two characters to play instead of five, but Yakuza 0 introduced different fighting styles to the series. Okay, well,Ishincame first, but in the main series of games.
With eight total fighting styles and all of them being a blast to use, you can see why Yakuza 0 just moped the floor with the rest of the series combat-wise. Majima, especially, is so fun to dash around and go all over the place in his Breaker and Mad Dog styles. The campaign as well, has plenty of action-packed incredible moments that make it thrilling the whole way through.
Every once in a while, an FPS will come out that just changes the genre going forward.HaloandCall of Duty 4are great examples, but Doom 2016 is definitely in that camp as well. Instead of playing like a modern shooter, Doom 2016 plays like a retro one but with a few key additions. When an enemy’s near death, you may perform a glory kill to regain health.
While this system isn’t new, as it was inDuke Nukem Forever, glory kills work unbelievably well here due to the arena-like enemy encounters. Id Software thankfully kept the old-school power-ups, and they’re just as fun and useful. Complete withgreat level designencouraging you to explore, Doom 2016 is a masterpiece and led to more triple-A and indie retro shooters.
Still, to this day,Titanfallhas a rapid fanbase pleading for a third installment, and it’s totally understandable given thatTitanfall 2has to be one of the best shooters of the console generation. You have the improved multiplayer offering that you would come to expect, but the campaign’s the real standout of the package.
The original Titanfall didn’t have a campaign, so people were unsure, but Respawn exceeded expectations in spades with one of the best FPS campaigns of the decade. The action-packed moments and awesome gameplay make this a single-player FPS experience hard to top.
It’s wild looking back that the gap betweenDevil May Cry 4 and 5was 11 years. Sure, there was a reboot that didn’t go over well, but for one of Capcom’s most beloved series, you wouldn’t expect such a long wait. It was well worth it in the end, though, because Devil May Cry 5 offered the best combat in the whole series, had a great cast of characters, a solid story, and excellent replay value.
Capcom perfectly nailed how each of the three main characters play, tuning them to perfection. Heck, V plays so well that it influenced the combat system forBayonetta 3. The graphics are A-grade as well, making this the best-looking action game to date.
