20 Best Video Games Of The Generation (So Far)

16. Grand Theft Auto V

From a playful open-world feel on a micro scale, to something else entirely. Through sheer mechanical execution, the laboriously-detailed world of GTA V is in a league of its own.

Telling a story that lampoons various modern-day traits and pop-culture stereotypes with the subtlety of a nuclear bomb, Grand Theft Auto is easily just as much a name in satire as the likes of South Park and Family Guy, these days. Rockstar's ability to take situations we all wish we could control from the other side of the screen and inject them with an escapist player agency is what has consistently made the series so successful, seeing GTA V in particular dominate every other entertainment medium to become the greatest selling property of all time.

Sadly there weren't anywhere near enough new gameplay mechanics to make this one of the all-time greats like the original 3D trilogy, but from a string of bank heists to exploring the wilderness north of the city to refine your hunting skills, or just driving in a lorry and barrelling down the freeway as your own personal revenge against Monday morning's traffic jam, GTA unleashes our darkest desires and packages them as a fantastic explosion of good times and memorable moments.

It's a black mirror, sure, but one you'll stare into for hours on end.