Each console generation brings with it a new generation of heroes, champions who define genre, platform and medium and stand out from the throngs of endlessly recycled gaming personalities. With the latest hardware iteration going from strength to strength, it’s high time we take a look at some of this generation’s icons.
Niko Bellic
Grand Theft Auto games are often groundbreaking masterworks, but until the fourth in the series, they were not known for strong central characters. GTAIII’s lead was a mute and Vice City’s Tommy Vercetti was a tired gangster stereotype. San Andreas showed some progress with its reformed gangbanger Carl Johnson, but it wasn’t until Rockstar returned to Liberty City that the developer found their defining protagonist.
An eastern European immigrant in search of the American dream, Niko Bellic is a truly modern hero. Haunted by memories of his past, he is soon dragged back into a life of crime by people who respect, yet take advantage of his honourable nature. Funny, smart and vicious, it’s a joy to play as Niko.
Defining Moment: “So this is what the dream feels like? This is the victory we longed for”. A post-credits lament sees Niko express regret at everything that has occurred through the course of his tale. It’s a bleak moment, one which calls into question the motives of the player.
Nathan Drake
With Master Chief standing tall for Microsoft and platform hero Lara Croft losing her appeal, Sony needed a new star for the PS3 age. Naughty Dog answered the call with Drake, a traditional action hero in the Indiana Jones mould. All sly quips, death defying leaps and brutal fisticuffs; Nate is an engaging presence. Some saw him as slightly derivative at first, what with the bloke-Lara vibe and Gears of War shooting mechanics, but Nate came into his own with robust sequel Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.
Defining Moment: Leaping from truck to truck in Uncharted 2’s epic mountain-top chase sequence.
Commander Shepherd
Bioware’s Mass Effect series is this generations defining RPG experience, setting itself apart from the pack with a suitably grandiose story arc and thoroughly engaging, unique universe. Shepherd is the avatar which the player moulds into either a genocidal badass or heavenly saviour of the galaxy. Shepherd’s back-story and appearance is up to the player (as is his/her gender), the rest of the commanders action packed career is carved out by some of the best dialogue and plotting in modern gaming.
Defining Moment: Towards the end of ME1, Shepherd is faced with ending the genophage, a manufactured plague that is responsible for the near extinction of the Krogan race. His trusted squadmate Urdnot Wrex is a Krogan, Shepherd must make a choice…
John Marston
Another Rockstar hero from another Rockstar masterpiece, Marston is an homage to the grizzled outlaws of the old West; Eastwood, Wayne and Cooper all rolled into one. With his salty dialogue and cocksure swagger, Marston is a shining example of a central character done right.
Defining Moment: His death at the hands of government agents, sacrificing himself to save his family and finally obtaining that elusive redemption.
Ezio Auditore Di Firenze
Altair may have been our introduction to the world of Assassins Creed, but he was just a dry run for Ezio. Ubisoft’s most lucrative IP of this generation, AC is a wonderfully scripted open world adventure that improves its own established formula with each instalment. Replacing the blank, monotone assassin from the first game, Ezio is a smooth lothario, as adept at wooing the ladies as he is slitting throats and AC fluid parkour themed acrobatics sets him apart from the other leading men in action/adventure genre.
Defining Moment: Developing the resource management of ACII, Brotherhood sees Ezio rebuild Rome. Renovating buildings, hiring his own team of assassins and growing his empire.
Master Chief
Ok, so he may have only had one game this generation, but what a game. Halo 3 not only smashed every conceivable multimedia sales record, it was also a hugely successful salvo in the ongoing console war, marking out Microsoft as a force to be reckoned with.
With minimal dialogue and a shiny orange visor where his face should be, Chief’s job was to serve as an avatar on which the player can project themselves as they blast the covenant to multi-coloured smithereens, but over the course of 3 great games he has managed to become a star in his own right.
Defining Moment: Chief’s story ends much as it began, after defeating the flood and destroying the Halo (again), John-117 decides to put himself in cryo-sleep as his lifeless ship drifts through space. Get some rest Chief, you deserve it.
Obviously this was written on Jan 18 2011 (Before Uncharted 3) because that is not Nathan Drake's "Defining Moment"!!!!!