3. The Last Of Us
I'm gonna put my head on the chopper here and say I didn't enjoy playing The Last Of Us. Perhaps it's because I'm a little bit of a wimp when it comes to the horror genre (the 'Petergeist' episode of Family Guy gave me nightmares for a week), and perhaps it's because it was impossible for the game to live up to the overwhelming hype that preceded it's release, but I always felt the game was constantly just a few steps behind where I expected my enjoyment level to be. Nevertheless, Naughty Dog's 2013 title was received with strong critical acclaim, with high praise aimed towards it's writing, voice-acting, and visual aesthetics. With these elements I cannot argue - the game plays out like a player-controlled movie, the characters are voiced with precise emotions that connect seamlessly with what we see on-screen, and the graphics make it genuinely look like the real Ellen Page is running across the screen (oops, should I have said that?) If it's these three factors you're after, I recommended you watch a film - it's cheaper, less time consuming, and requires minimal effort. But as far as the gameplay goes, it's boring and repetitive - once you've played for an hour, the cut scenes are all that are gonna spike your interest. I must stress this is all the opinion of one clueless and (when it comes to post-apocalyptic USA-based horror games) uneducated man, but as you explore each level there doesn't ever seem to be any particular structure to the zombie infested struggle - nothing clicks (ironically), and every action just blends into one. I suppose it's quite anti-climactic to place a game in the top 3 and then ridicule it mercilessly - I can only assume there's some bigger picture that everyone can see except myself, yet it would be unreasonable for me to ignore the plaudits heaped upon The Last Of Us. Five-star ratings and chart-topping sales mean I have no choice but to acknowledge it as one of the most widely celebrated games of the PS3 era.