Your favourite games from the dark age of pure shit (2005 - 2009)

[std::namespace]

For the whole 2005 - 2009 stretch though? Here's my list:

Here is mine:

Call of Duty 2 2005 Windows, macOS, X360, J2ME Infinity Ward Call of Duty 3 2006 PS2, PS3, Wii, Xbox, X360, J2ME Treyarch Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare 2007 Windows, macOS, NDS, PS3, PS4 (Remastered), Wii, X360, XONE (Remastered), J2ME Infinity Ward (Original), Raven Software (Remastered) Call of Duty: World at War 2008 Windows, NDS, PS3, Wii, X360, Windows Mobile, J2ME Treyarch Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 2009 Windows, macOS, NDS, PS3, X360 Infinity Ward (Original), Beenox (Remastered)

 

[Vlajdermen]

Supreme Commander and Crackdown.

 

[Beastro]

Sins of a Solar Empire hasn't been mentioned.

 

[oldbonebrown]

2005 was a great year and 2006 was pretty good too, better than 2010 and 11
The Warriors
Resident Evil 4
Shadow of the Colossus
Battlefield 2
Psychonauts
Bully
Dead Rising

 

[Nutmeg]

Just off the top of my head:

Civilization 4
Field of Glory
Solium Infernum
Company of Heroes
Rise of Legends
Universe at War
Sid Meier's Railroads
FEAR
Knights of the Chalice
Berwick Saga
Days of Ruin
Knights in the Knightmare
Kunitori Zunou Battle
Valkyria Chronicles
Ys Oath in Felghana
Ys Origin
Deathsmiles
Ibara
Muchi Muchi Pork
Pink Sweets
Radirgy
Under Defeat
Demon Souls
Godhand
Ninja Gaiden Black
Outrun 2 SP

Many more, I'm sure.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Game of the Year listed first, other games worth playing listed after:

2005
Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)
Civilization IV
Pathologic
Soul Calibur III (PS2)

2006
Okami (PS2, ported to Wii and PS3)
God Hand (PS2)
TES IV: Oblivion for people who really, really enjoy Open World RPGs
The Shivah

2007
ArmA: Armed Assault
Odin Sphere (PS2; I've only played the 2016 Leifthrasir version)
The Witcher

2008
World of Goo
Fallout 3 for people who really, really enjoy Open World RPGs
Mount & Blade (I've only played the 2010 Warband version)
Soul Calibur IV (PS3)

2009
Demon's Souls (PS3)
ArmA II
Fuel
Muramasa (Wii)
Trine
The Void
Yakuza 3 (PS3)

 

[H. P. Lovecraft's Cat]

2005 - Resident Evil 4 by a light-year

2006 -This was a extra shitty year but I'm ashamed to say either Gears of War or Resistance: Fall of Man.

2007 - God of War 2 by a mile.

2008 - Condemned 2 or Dead Space.

2009 - Demon's Souls by multiple light-years.

Out of that stretch Demon's Souls and RE4 were head and shoulders above all the rest.

 

[destinae vomitus]

Only counting stuff I actually played at the year of release.
2005: Civ 4 and FEAR, honorable mention to Black & White 2 even though it was a half-baked unfinished mess in many ways
2006: Dark Messiah and Rise of Legends
2007: STALKER and CNC3, Crysis was pretty cool too up until it shat the bed with the final few levels and capped things off with the worst cliffhanger ending I'd ever seen
2008: uhhhh Dead Space and Red Alert 3 were ok
2009:

2005 and 2006 were perfectly fine outside of preliminary outliers like Oblivion, and the dark ages lasted all the way till 2013 which was the absolute zenith of dogshit years for games IMO.

 

[karoliner]

Ace Combat Zero
BlazBlue
Bully
Condemned: Criminal Origins
Dawn of War 2
Dead Space
Demon's Souls
Devil May Cry 3
Devil Survivor
Digital Devil Saga 2
F.E.A.R.
God Hand
God of War 2
Haunting Ground
Heroes of Might & Magic V + Hammers of Fate + Tribes of the East expansions
Mana Khemia 1+2
Medieval II: Total War + Kingdoms Expansion
Muramasa: The Demon Blade
Persona 4
Prey
Resident Evil 4
Shadow of the Colossus
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey
Star Wars: Republic Commando
SWAT 4 + The Stetchkov Syndicate expansion
Tales of the Abyss
Trauma Center: Under the Knife 1+2+New Blood
The Witcher
World in Conflict + Soviet Assault expansion
Yakuza 1+2

 

[I eat frozen vegetables]

Mother 3, as nobody has mentioned it so far.

 

[Nutmeg]

Mother 3, as nobody has mentioned it so far.

It is certainly good for what it is. There's a few good for what they are games I didn't mention cause I don't particularly like what they are e.g. Dark Spire, Dark Messiah, Dark Revenant, Warlock of Fire top Mountain as I don't particularly like attrition exploration sandbox games anymore but if you do they're all quite good.

 

[Frank Capicoli]

One that hasn't been mentioned before, Dead Rising.

 

[Humanophage]

2005	Civilization 4, Hearts of Iron 2, Pathologic
2006	Geneforge 4, CyberNations
2007	NWN2 Mask of the Betrayer, Avernum 5
2008	Mount & Blade, Geneforge 5
2009	Eador: Genesis, King's Bounty: Armoured Princess, Risen, KOTC 1, Divinity II: Ego Draconis

Terrible years for gaming indeed. In fact, I became so disillusioned with games that I just transitioned to forums, although there were still enough games to play from the previous period. My main gaming memory from 2006-2009 is CyberNations and the alliance we had there, for which I made propaganda and design elements like forums, buttons, and avatars. The nostalgia!

 

[Disciple]

People always complain about how the first Xbox and the PS2 destroyed PC gaming at least for a while, and they are probably right. But to me the following console generation (which this thread's timespan captures to a great extent) was way worse in terms of quality video games output. This was the era of Uncharted, Gears of War, Assassin's Creed... I feel like the PS2 era wasn't as bad in comparison.

 

[DemonKing]

F.E.A.R. was awesome, as was the original Company of Heroes.

 

[Zoo]

2005

Civilization IV
Devil May Cry 3
F.E.A.R.
Ninja Gaiden Black (enhanced version of the 2004 game)
Psychonauts
Rome: Total War - Barbarian Invasion (much better than the base game)

Honorable mentions: Age of Empires III, Condemned: Criminal Origins (melee is good, but the hitboxes are strange, the investigation is very shallow gameplaywise, F.E.A.R. is a much better game), Fahrenheit (I found its first half interesting back in the day, but it aged very badly, and I barely bear QTE-fests now), God of War, Ratchet: Gladiator, Samorost 2, Shadowgrounds, Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves.

2006

Call of Juarez
Company of Heroes
Final Fantasy XII
FlatOut 2 (my all-time favourite racing game besides Carmageddon)
Heroes of Might and Magic V
Okami
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas (yes, popamole RS, but it was immense fun in co-op)
WH40k: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade

Honorable mentions: Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, Medieval II: Total War, Shadow of the Colossus (special game, but I'm not a fun of it), Daxter (I adore Precursor Legacy), The Blackwell Legacy

2007

Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword (really great expansion)
Fantasy Wars
FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage (enhanced version with some extra content, but its great, but I like the original more)
God of War II (my favourite entry of the series)
Portal
Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction (its decline if we compare it to Up Your Arsenal, but it is still a good game, and has Mr. Zurkon)
Sam & Max Save the World
The Darkness
The Witcher
Honorable mentions: Crysis (okayish FPS with great graphics and physics, and it has some freedom and vehicles), Mass Effect (poapamole shooter RPG, but has moments), S.T.A.L.K.E.R. (I didn't played it too much), Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (I liked its vibe, it was more enjoyable than modern Tomb Raiders)

2008

Army of Two (co-op focused fun)
Battlefield: Bad Company (not a remarkable shooter, but it has a great Kelly's Heroes meets Deadly Dozen vibe)
Braid
Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization (servicable, moddable remake of the classic)
Dead Space
King's Bounty: The Legend
Mirror's Edge

Honorable mentions: Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty, Spectromancer, Stranglehold.

2009

Batman: Arkham Asylum
Bayonetta
Demon's Souls (not a fan, but I appreciate it despite its faults)
Dragon Age: Origins
King's Bounty: Armoured Princess
Risen
Honorable mentions: Brütal Legend (gameplaywise it's not good, but it is a enjoyable metal comedy tale), Machinarium, Trine, WH40k: Dawn of War II.

 

[Kev Inkline]

For the whole 2005 - 2009 stretch though?

That's it. For a full four-year stretch. 17 games I could think of.

That's a five-year stretch.

For me, it's

GW1
DA:O

 

[Zlaja]

Some games that haven't been mentioned yet are Call Of Juarez: Bound In Blood (2009) and Drakensang: The Dark Eye (2008).

People always complain about how the first Xbox and the PS2 destroyed PC gaming at least for a while, and they are probably right. But to me the following console generation (which this thread's timespan captures to a great extent) was way worse in terms of quality video games output. This was the era of Uncharted, Gears of War, Assassin's Creed... I feel like the PS2 era wasn't as bad in comparison.

What!? Almost everyone agrees that the PS3/360 was the worst era for videogames. At least here on the Codex.

 

[Modron]

Lots of DS and PSP games to consider during this era as well. But I'll just list the Front Mission remake for the DS that added an entire new second campaign the switch/pc remake is based on this version.

 

[oddech_wymarlych_swiatow]

2005:
Digital Devil Saga 2
Ultimate Spider-Man
Shaolin Monks

2006:
SiN Episodes: Emergence
Raidou Kuzunoha vs Souless Army

2007:
Spider-Man 3
Mortal Kombat Armageddon
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3

2008:
Street Fighter 4
Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe
Persona 4
Raidou Kuzunoha vs King Abaddon

2009:
Strange Journey
Devil Survivor
Wolfenstein
Necrovision
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows
Osmos
Arkham Asylum

 

[SpaceWizardz]

2005
Civilization 4
SW Battlefront 2

2006
Dark Messiah

2007
Team Fortress 2
Shadow of Chernobyl
The Witcher
Mass Effect

2008
Dead Space
Left 4 Dead
Mirror's Edge
Saints Row 2

2009
Arkham Asylum
Left 4 Dead 2

 

[Bester]

Nobody named Spore (2008). It was okay.

 

[deuxhero]

Just stuff I'd actually replay:
Battle Network 6
Swordcraft Story 3
TimeSplitters: Future Perfect
Pokemon XD Gale of Darkness
Path of Radiance
Chibi Robo
Baten Kaitos Origins
Radiant Dawn
Ape Escape 3
Okami
God Hand
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon
Lots of DS games
Demon's Souls
Valkyria Chronicles
3D Dot Game Heroes
Saints Row 2
Ys Oath in Felghana
Ys Origin
Star Wars: Battlefront II
Dark Messiah
Call of Chernobyl

From an examination the problem is that most good games of the era were just sequels perfecting on their predecessors (actual or spiritual/genre) and the sheer number of franchises that got turned into absolute crap for mass market. The only ones on that that list I think of that weren't just "refinements of earlier stuff" or "solid entry into an established genre with little gameplay risks taken" are Valkyria Chronicles, Demon's Souls, and Dark Messiah.

 

[octavius]

2006 was the last year I bought a new game.
Oblivion can be good with the right mods.
Dark Messiah of Might&Magic was a very good action RPG despite ultra cliche story and voice acting.
Heroes of Might&Magic 5 was quite good, with a new and fresh skill system, albeit somewhat buggy.

 

[wwsd]

2005	Civilization 4, Hearts of Iron 2, Pathologic
2006	Geneforge 4, CyberNations
2007	NWN2 Mask of the Betrayer, Avernum 5
2008	Mount & Blade, Geneforge 5
2009	Eador: Genesis, King's Bounty: Armoured Princess, Risen, KOTC 1

Terrible years for gaming indeed. In fact, I became so disillusioned with games that I just transitioned to forums, although there were still enough games to play from the previous period. My main gaming memory from 2006-2009 is CyberNations and the alliance we had there, for which I made propaganda and design elements like forums, buttons, and avatars. The nostalgia!

Good times. CyberNations was a pretty shitty game by itself (well, it was a text-based browser game, so what can you expect?), but the whole forum and clans and the drama between them and between personalities was top notch. It was one of those games where there was a real incentive for clans to betray the power blocs they were in and switch sides to the other one. So there was a real sense of drama as the power of different blocs waxed and waned over time. I was never in Nordreich but it was pretty hilarious how they trolled everyone with the whole "We're not really Nazis, these are just Nordic symbols bro" shtick. It even caused a real-life diplomatic incident with Norway IIRC. And the communist clans splitting off into several factions just like in real life, that was pretty funny too.

About "real" (vidya) games, I think most highlights have already been mentioned in this thread. GTA SA and KOTOR2 came to my mind, but then I looked them up and it turns out they're both from late 2004. Although the PC port of GTA SA was released in 2005, so maybe that's why it's associated with that period in my mind. I definitely also played the everloving crap out of Civ IV, Football Manager 2007 and some Medieval II.

In this period I had just started college, so I had little money. I did actually buy a laptop for my studies at that point, but it wasn't exactly a gaming beast. So I ended up mostly playing FM07 and a bunch of older games. The older shit mostly on the 2004 Windows XP PC I also still had sitting around. So this decline period kinda passed me by for the most part.