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00:00Many modern games impress in trailers, but disappoint when you finally pick up the controller.
00:07Everything looks beautiful, full of effects, but it lacks soul. Some older games, however,
00:13nailed it. Strong identity, real personality, and unforgettable experiences. Today,
00:20I'm bringing you 15 games from the past that still put many modern games to shame.
00:26Tomb Raider 2013. Let's start with a bang, literally. The 2013 reboot of Tomb Raider is a
00:37masterclass in how to reintroduce a legend. I remember the first time I saw Lara Croft trapped
00:43in that cave, desperate and shivering. It wasn't just about raiding tombs anymore, it was about
00:49survival. What makes this better than most modern adventures is the pacing. There's no dead air,
00:56here. Every time you think you can catch her breath, the island of Yamatai throws something
01:01new at you. The Metroidvania style of the map is so satisfying. Unlocking a new tool like the climbing
01:08axe and realizing you can finally reach that hidden cave you saw three hours ago is a feeling a lot of
01:15open world games today just don't get right. The combat feels gritty and personal, too. When Lara
01:22gets into a scrap, it's messy. I personally love the bow. There's a specific thwack sound when an arrow
01:29hits its mark that is just chef's kiss. I'll admit, the side characters are a bit forgettable,
01:36but Lara's transformation from a scared girl to a hardened survivor is so well written that you're
01:42glued to the screen. It doesn't need a thousand map markers or microtransactions. It just needs a bow,
01:49a pickaxe, and a lot of grit. It's a lean, mean, 10-hour thrill ride that still looks gorgeous today.
02:03Uncharted 2 Among Thieves? If you want to talk about cinematic gaming, Uncharted 2 is the king. I'm
02:11serious. Even in 2026, the opening scene with the train hanging over a cliff is more intense than most
02:19200 million dollar movies. This game is pure, unadulterated joy. Nathan Drake is such a relatable
02:27guy because he's always just barely making it out alive. What I love about this sequel compared to
02:33modern titles is that it doesn't take itself too seriously. It's a high-stakes adventure, sure,
02:40but the banter between Nate, Sully, and Chloe is so natural and funny that you feel like you're just
02:46hanging out with friends. The set pieces are legendary. The collapsing building in Nepal,
02:53the high-speed chase through the mountains, it's all seamless. Naughty Dog managed to blend
02:58gameplay and cutscenes in a way that modern games still struggle to replicate without feeling
03:04scripted or boring. The gunplay is snappy, the platforming is intuitive, and the villain,
03:11Lazarevich, is that classic power-hungry bad guy you just love to hate. It's a perfect example of a
03:18game that knows exactly what it wants to be. A globe-trotting summer blockbuster you can play.
03:24It's tight, it's colorful, and it never wastes a second of your time.
03:36Mafia 2. Now, let's talk about atmosphere. Mafia 2 is a game that I honestly feel like the industry
03:44has forgotten how to make. It's not an open-world sandbox in the way GTA is, it's a focused crime
03:51drama that uses its city as a stage. The way the game transitions from a snowy post-war winter in the
03:581940s to the sunny rock and roll 1950s is incredible. I remember just driving around Empire Bay,
04:06listening to the radio, and soaking in the vibes. The attention to detail, the cars, the music,
04:12the way people dress, it makes the world feel so much more real than the procedurally generated cities
04:18we see nowadays. Vito Scaletta is a fantastic protagonist because his story is actually quite
04:25tragic. You really feel the weight of his work for the family. The gunplay has this heavy,
04:32dangerous feel to it, and the cover system actually makes sense because you aren't a bullet sponge
04:37superhero. I've always appreciated that the game isn't filled with a million boring fetch quests.
04:43It's linear, sure, but that keeps the story moving at a breakneck pace. It's about loyalty, betrayal,
04:50and the realization that the American dream is sometimes a nightmare. It's a classy, brutal,
04:56and deeply stylish experience that puts modern live-service crime games to shame.
05:01Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag. Okay, let's be real for a second. Black Flag is the best pirate game
05:14ever made, and it's not even close. I know it's an Assassin's Creed game, but I spent 90% of my time
05:21on the jackdaw, hunting Spanish galleons and listening to my crew sing sea shanties. There is a sense of
05:28freedom here that modern AC games have lost by trying to be too big. In Black Flag, the ocean feels
05:36massive, but it's packed with things that actually matter. Finding a message in a bottle on a tiny
05:42island or diving for treasure in a sunken wreck feels like a genuine discovery. Edward Kenway is
05:49such a refreshing protagonist because he's a total scoundrel for most of the game. He's just in it for the
05:56gold, and watching him slowly understand the weight of the Assassin's Creed is a great journey. The naval
06:03combat is, quite frankly, a masterpiece. The smoke, the roar of the cannons, the way you have to time
06:10your shots with the waves. It's incredibly addictive. I've spent literal days just boarding ships and
06:17upgrading my cannons. It captures the romantic side of piracy perfectly, while still being a gritty action
06:24game game. It's a sun-soaked, gasoline-soaked, well, rum-soaked epic that I would replay in a
06:32heartbeat over any of the newer entries.
06:38That is crazy.
06:40Far Cry 3? Man, I'll never forget the first time I met Vos Montenegro. I remember sitting there,
06:47staring at the screen while he gave that legendary definition of insanity speech, and I realized this
06:53isn't just another shooter. Far Cry 3 is the game that basically wrote the blueprint for every open
07:00world game we've played for the last decade. You're Jason Brody, a spoiled frat boy who gets dropped
07:06into a tropical nightmare, and watching him slowly lose his mind and become a warrior is such a wild,
07:13disturbing ride. It's a story about losing your soul to the jungle, and it's way deeper than it looks on
07:19the surface. The gameplay is pure freedom. I spent my first 10 hours just liberating outposts, and let me
07:27tell you, there is nothing more satisfying than sitting on a hill with a suppressed sniper rifle and
07:33picking off guards one by one. Or better yet, just breaking the cage of a tiger and watching the
07:39chaos unfold while you sit back and watch. The fire physics are also still insane, lighting a field of
07:47marijuana on fire while Skrillex blares in the background? Peak gaming memory right there. It's got
07:53that Skyrim with guns vibe, but with a much tighter, more visceral feel. Vos remains one of the greatest
08:01villains in history, and honestly, the series has been chasing his shadow ever since.
08:13Alan Wake. Now let's talk about atmosphere. Alan Wake is like playing through a Stephen King novel
08:20directed by David Lynch. The second I drove into the town of Bright Falls, I was hooked. The vibe of the
08:27Pacific Northwest is so thick you could almost smell the pine trees and the damp fog. You play as a
08:34writer with writer's block, and the hook is that everything he's writing is actually coming to life
08:40around him. It's a psychological thriller that uses light as a weapon, and back in the day, that was such
08:46a mind-blowing concept. You aren't just shooting, you're using your flashlight to burn away the darkness
08:53before you can even land a hit. I remember playing this with the lights off and jumping every time a
08:59crow flew past. The sound design is terrifying. The way the wind whispers and the Taken scream at you from
09:07the shadows is pure nightmare fuel. I'll be honest, the combat can feel a little repetitive after a while,
09:14and Alan runs like he's never seen a treadmill in his life, but the story is so compelling that you just
09:20don't care. It's structured like a TV show, complete with previously on Alan Wake segments, which kept
09:26me binging it like a Netflix series before Netflix was even a thing. It's got so much personality and
09:32soul that it makes modern horror games look generic by comparison.
09:41Deus Ex Mankind Divided
09:44Okay, for my fellow Cyberpunk fans, Deus Ex Mankind Divided is a masterpiece of level design. People
09:52complained it was too short at launch, but they were missing the point. It's not about how big the map is,
09:58it's about how deep it is. Prague is one of the most densely packed hub worlds I've ever explored. I spent
10:05hours just breaking into apartments, reading emails, and finding hidden vents that led to entire subplots.
10:12You are Adam Jensen, a mechanical god in a world that absolutely hates people like you. The social
10:20commentary on mechanical apartheid is gritty, uncomfortable, and totally absorbing. The gameplay
10:27is the ultimate toy box. You want to be a ghost who never touches a hair on anyone's head? You can do
10:33that. You want to turn your skin into titan armor and shoot blades out of your arms like a walking tank?
10:39Go for it. The game never tells you no. I remember feeling like a total genius when I found a secret
10:47path into a high-security bank vault using nothing but a remote hacking tool and a well-placed vent.
10:53It respects your intelligence in a way that modern games, which usually hold your hand with giant objective
11:00markers, just don't. It's a smart, stylish, and incredibly detailed immersive sim that feels like a real
11:07window into a dark future.
11:16Batman Arkham Asylum. Finally, we have the game that finally proved superhero games could be art.
11:23Batman Arkham Asylum. Before this, most Batman games were, well, pretty bad. But Rocksteady
11:32understood the assignment. They didn't just give us a map, they gave us a dark, gothic, metroidvania
11:39nightmare. Walking through those front gates with the Joker in custody only to have the whole place
11:44descend into chaos is one of the best openings in gaming history. The atmosphere is so heavy it feels like
11:52the walls are closing in on you. The free-flow combat literally changed the industry forever.
11:59Every time you see a game with rhythmic fighting today, it's trying to be Arkham. It's so fluid and
12:05satisfying that I used to just restart the combat challenges just to see how long I could keep a combo
12:10going. And the stealth. Hanging from a gargoyle and watching thugs panic as you pick them off one by one,
12:18that is the most Batman I've ever felt. The voice acting is also the gold standard. Kevin Conroy and
12:26Mark Hamill are the definitive Batman and Joker, period. It's a tight, focused, and perfect experience
12:32that understands its protagonist better than most movies do. If you haven't sat through a scarecrow
12:38hallucination in this game, you haven't lived.
12:46Red Faction Guerrilla. I am still waiting for a modern game to give me the level of destruction we
12:52got in Red Faction Guerrilla. It's been years and it's still the king. You're on Mars, you have a giant
13:00sledgehammer, and literally every building you see can be leveled to the ground. I remember spending hours
13:07just trying to take down a massive bridge by strategically placing remote charges on the
13:12support beams. Watching the physics kick in and the whole structure groan and collapse in real time,
13:19that is pure lizard brain satisfaction that modern static open worlds just can't touch. The gameplay is
13:27so emergent. You don't just complete a mission, you improvise. If a base is too heavily guarded,
13:34you just drive a heavy truck through the front wall, jump out, and start swinging that hammer.
13:39It's glorious. Sure, the Martian landscape is a bit red and rocky, big surprise there,
13:46and the story about the resistance is pretty standard. But the physics? Man, the physics are
13:52the main character. It's a game that encourages you to be a one-man wrecking crew, and it's a crime
13:58that we haven't seen a modern sequel that doubles down on this level of freedom. It's raw, loud,
14:04and incredibly addictive.
14:11Just Cause 3. If Red Faction is about destroying buildings, Just Cause 3 is about destroying,
14:18well, everything else while flying. This game is basically a Michael Bay movie on steroids.
14:25Rico Rodriguez is a human, physics-defying god. The wingsuit-grapple-parachute combo is quite
14:32possibly the most fun movement system ever designed. I remember the first time I perfected the loop,
14:38grappling a car to a gas tank, slingshotting myself into the air, and then opening my wingsuit to glide
14:44over a massive explosion. It's pure, unadulterated joy. The setting of Medici is gorgeous, all sun-drenched
14:52Mediterranean islands and blue water. But the real hook is the tether system. I've spent way too much
14:58time just tethering two helicopters together, or attaching a soldier to a rocket and watching them
15:03blast off into the sunset. It's a game that doesn't take itself seriously for even a second,
15:08and that's why it works. Modern games often get bogged down in realism and survival mechanics,
15:14but Just Cause 3 just hands you a rocket launcher with infinite ammo and says,
15:19go have a blast, kid. It's the ultimate stress reliever and a masterpiece of pure, chaotic fun.
15:25Rise, Son of Rome. Okay, let's talk about the game that still looks better than half the stuff
15:39coming out today. Rise, Son of Rome was a launch title for the Xbox One, and it is a technical marvel.
15:47The facial animations, the way the light glints off Marius' Lorica Segmentata, the mud in the forests of
15:54Britannia. It's stunning. It feels like you're playing inside a big-budget Roman epic, like
16:00Gladiator. I love the story of Marius. It's a classic, gritty tale of revenge and honor that keeps you
16:07engaged from the first beach landing to the final showdown in Rome. Now, I'll be honest with you,
16:13the combat is simple. It's heavy on the QTEs, or quick-time events, and some people found it
16:19repetitive. But man, the impact of the hits. When you parry a barbarian's swing and go into an
16:25execution, you feel the weight of every strike. It's visceral and cinematic in a way that modern
16:31action games often miss by being too fast. Leading a legion in a turtle formation, the Testudo,
16:38while arrows rain down on your shields is a peak gaming moment that still gives me goosebumps. It's a
16:44short, focused, and incredibly polished experience that proves you don't need a 100-hour map to be a
16:51legendary game.
16:59Sleeping Dogs. Rounding out this batch is Sleeping Dogs, and I will say it until I'm blue in the face.
17:06This is the most underrated open-world game of all time. Period. You're an undercover cop, Wei Shen,
17:13infiltrating the triads in Hong Kong. The atmosphere is so thick, you can almost smell the pork buns in
17:20the night market. What makes this better than your average GTA clone is the combat. Instead of just aim
17:26and shoot, this is a brutal martial arts brawler. Using the environment, like shoving a guy into a phone
17:32booth or a meat hook, feels so much more personal and exciting. The face system and the split between
17:38cop and try-out experience points makes you actually care about how you play. Do you stay professional,
17:44or do you lose yourself in the violence of the underworld? The story is genuinely emotional,
17:49especially as Wei's two worlds start to collide. I also have to mention the driving. It's snappy and
17:56arcade-like, making high-speed chases through the rain-slicked streets of Hong Kong feel like something
18:01out of a John Woo movie. It's a game with a massive soul, a killer soundtrack, and a world I never
18:07wanted to leave. It's a total 10 out of 10 that deserves way more love than it got.
18:17The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt. Man, where do I even start with The Witcher 3? This isn't just an RPG,
18:24it's the game that ruined other open worlds for me. Even years later, the level of writing in a
18:30random side quest puts modern main storylines to shame. I remember wandering into a tiny village in
18:36Velen, thinking I'd just kill a monster for some coin, and two hours later, I was caught in this
18:42tragic, multi-layered family drama that actually made me sit back and think about my moral choices.
18:49That's the magic of Geralt's journey. Nothing is ever black and white. The continent feels lived in,
18:55in a way that's hard to describe. You feel the war, the poverty, and the ancient, terrifying folklore
19:01lurking in every woods. And don't even get me started on the Blood and Wine expansion. It's
19:07practically a whole new game that looks like a painting come to life. Sure, the combat can be a
19:12bit dance-like and take some getting used to, but the storytelling, the music, and characters like
19:18Yennefer and Ciri are so deeply etched into my memory that I feel like I actually know them.
19:23It's a massive, beautiful, and incredibly mature experience that proves that when you respect
19:29the player's intelligence, you create an immortal masterpiece.
19:39Red Dead Redemption. I'm talking about the first one, the legend of John Marston. While the sequel is
19:46a technical marvel, there is something about the atmosphere of the original Red Dead Redemption that
19:51is just haunting. It's the feeling of the Old West actually dying. I remember the first time I crossed
19:58into Mexico while Far Away by Jose Gonzalez started playing. Man, that is a top 5 gaming moment for me.
20:05It's lonely, it's dusty, and it's incredibly cinematic. John Marston is such a grounded protagonist. He's just a
20:13man trying to get his family back, and his journey is tragic and beautiful. The dead-eye mechanic felt
20:19so fresh and badass, and the random encounters in the world made it feel like anything could happen at
20:24any moment. I also have to mention the Undead Nightmare DLC. To this day, it's one of the best
20:30expansions ever made. It took a serious western and turned it into a B-movie horror masterpiece.
20:37The original Red Dead has a specific pacing and a sense of grit that I think often gets lost in
20:42modern games that try to be too big or too busy. It's a tight, focused, and emotional story that hits
20:49you like a gut punch by the time the credits roll. If you haven't lived John Marston's story,
20:54you haven't seen the best of what Rockstar can do.
21:02Quantum Break. Closing out our list is a game that I think was way ahead of its time. Quantum Break.
21:10Remedy Entertainment really swung for the fences here, blending a high-octane third-person shooter
21:15with a live-action TV show. Within the first hour, you realize this isn't your average run-and-gun.
21:22You're literally breaking time. I'll never forget the first time a time stutter happened. Seeing the
21:29world freeze and shatter into these crystalline shards while I could move freely was a total holy
21:35crap moment. It's visually stunning even by today's standards. The combat is where the game really puts
21:42modern shooters to shame. Once you master Jack Joyce's time powers, blinking across the room, creating
21:48time shields or freezing enemies in a bubble, you feel like a god. It encourages you to be aggressive
21:55and creative. I personally loved the choice system. Playing as the villain for a moment to decide the
22:01future of the story was a brilliant touch. It's a stylish, smart, and incredibly polished sci-fi thriller
22:08that actually has something interesting to say about fate and time. It's a game with a strong identity and a
22:14bold vision. And that is exactly what makes it better than the safe generic titles we see so much of today.
22:20And that's the list, guys. 15 old games that, in my humble opinion, still have more soul,
22:31personality, and pure fun factor than a lot of the shiny new stuff hitting the shelves today.
22:36These are the games that remind us why we fell in love with this hobby in the first place.
22:41They took risks, they told great stories, and they respected us as players. But now,
22:46I want to hear from you. Which old game do you think is way better than the modern stuff?
22:51Is there a classic you keep going back to because nothing else hits the same way?
22:56Let's talk about it in the comments. I love hearing your stories.
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