Great 3D Action Games of All Time

UnscathedFlyingObject · Sat Feb 19, 2005 12:46 am

I'm talking about third person action games ala Devil May Cry, Zone of the Enders, Shinobi, etc. Which are your favorites and for what reason? I recently got Blood Will Tell by Sega (20 bucks), and I think it's pretty cool. In the game, you have to battle a multitude of bosses through each of the game's scenarios to recover the main character's 48 stolen body parts. A great premise, in my opinion, which is pulled off well with great voice acting and characterization. The action has its high and lows; it gets repetitive one moment, and the next, you'll be battling an exciting boss. Overall, I'd give it a 7. The dull parts are balanced off by the awesome story and the occasional awesome boss battle.

Other Great 3D actioners: Fatal Frame (1&2).

Things I'm considering to get in the future: DMC, RE4 (waiting for price drop), Shinobi, ZOE2.

LoneSage · Post by **LoneSage** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 2:22 am

Best 3D action game of all time to me? Devil May Cry...hopefully Devil May Cry 3 can dethrone it

Anyhoo I give DMC a 9.5, it's just that damn good.

The PS2 Shinobi was also my first Shinobi game, and I absolutely fell in love with it...the Tate system is still one of the coolest things ever (if the camera's at the right angle) and Hotsuma's scarf is easily one of the greatest character design implementations ever. Not to mention the story's excellent as are the unlockables; man oh man just thinking of fighting the Oboro boss of the flooded water level on Super Hard mode gives me the shivers. I'd give this Shinobi a 9.0; my favorite out of all the Shinobi games.

I really liked the first ZOE, the game's graphics still hold up to PS2 games today. I didn't mind the whiny character too much; the game was just too fun and great. Thing is, I can't believe I beat it only in 3-4 hours the first time...

ZOE2 is an incredible disappointment, though I'm pretty much the only one that didn't like ZOE2. It had its moments, but the game never "caught on" to me...it was always reaching for that climax, but it never got that far IMO. The graphics were astounding but the camera angle is what messed it up for me; I honestly have no idea what happened, but the camera angle (and that Rider guy in the escort mission in the beginning) really f'd up my experience. I'm sure everyone else on this forum loves it, though, like everyone else in the world

I was totally hyped for Blood Will Tell a few years ago, but I never saw a copy for sale in my area. I'm pretty sure there is now, but I just don't have time for it. I wonder if the Dororo manga's coming stateside.

roushimsx · Post by **roushimsx** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 2:29 am

I'm going to go ahead and say Syphon Filter 1 - 3. A lot of people unfairly compare it to Metal Gear, when in fact it's more like the Playstation's third person answer to Goldeneye. Fantastic series of games that were initially crippled by a pretty crappy checkpoint save system and less than perfect control. However, thanks to the wonders of emulation, the checkpoint issue isn't a problem anymore and the control isn't too bad once you get the hang of it.

I had the privilige of playing through all three games in a row back in 2003 and I'm happy as hell that I finally given them a chance. Haven't heard too many good things about Omega Strain on PS2, but I'll probably still pick it up at some point.

Fair word of warning, though: The endings of the Syphon Filter games are always left open for a sequel (especially disappointing in Syphon Filter 3). The level design just gets better and better as the games progress though, and I really loved how part three was paced.

The whole trilogy can be had for under $30 these days. Get it.

beatifik · Post by **beatifik** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 2:39 am

resident evil 4 - all the hype around this game is for a reason. it's amazing. too bad i suck at it. it's really the only game i've been playing since it came out.

grand theft auto: san andreas - "oh, it's so very mainstream, blah, blah, blah." i don't care, i found myself firing this game up over and over agian and playing it for hours at a time. as soon as i get my new pstwo, i'm gonna go right back to playing it...

ZOE2 - this game blew me away when i played it. i sucked at this one as well, but it was really fun and i tried over and over to get the next weapon or get to the next area.

metal gear solid - classic. i've yet to play mgs3, but it'll probably be the next game i pick up.

honorable mentions: DMC, gungrave: od, mgs2, panzer dragoon zwei.

roushimsx · Post by **roushimsx** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 2:53 am

beatifik wrote:grand theft auto: san andreas - "oh, it's so very mainstream, blah, blah, blah." i don't care, i found myself firing this game up over and over agian and playing it for hours at a time. as soon as i get my new pstwo, i'm gonna go right back to playing it...

DMA Design has put out solid gold for a long, long, long time now. It blows my mind that the same company responsible for Lemmings and Uniracers were also responsible for Manhunt, Body Harvest, and the Grand Theft Auto series.

It's too bad they're just a puppet company of Rockstar now, though. It's not that their current crop of games don't rock, but I miss their diversity from the mid - late 90s. Kinda reminds me of when they were stuck churning out Lemmings games for a while (again, don't get me wrong...i LOVE the Lemmings games from DMA

)

For the best GTA:SA experience right now, get an HDLoader to install it to. The game runs quite a bit smoother

beatifik · Post by **beatifik** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 2:58 am

roushimsx wrote:For the best GTA:SA experience right now, get an HDLoader to install it to. The game runs quite a bit smoother

pstwo doesn't have hd support.

anyway, i'm in the process of getting rid of unnecessary shit in my life, so all the better...

thanks for the head's up though.

dementia · Post by **dementia** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 2:59 am

MDK 2 is one of my favorites that hasn't been mentioned. It was an amazingly difficult 3D shooter that had great puzzle and platforming elements.

The original MDK is great too, but it was much easier and had less emphasis on puzzles.

Armed and Dangerous and Giants: Citizen Kabuto are amazing. I just finished A&D and I'm currently working on Giants. They're very similar games.

I'm looking forward to Advent Rising too. It reminds me of the MDK games from what I've seen.

Stormwatch · Post by **Stormwatch** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 4:59 am

Headhunter (DC, PS2) is a damn good MGS-wannabe.

Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 (DC, GC) are truly awesome.

Rayman 2 (PC, DC, PS, PS2, GBC, N64) is also fantastic.

Acid King · Post by **Acid King** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 5:19 am

I'm torn between two games as far as best 3D action game of all time; Max Payne 2 on the PC and Ninja Gaiden on the Xbox. Though MP2 was a lot easier than the first game, but the action was so good that it makes up for it. Ninja Gaiden is up there because, like Max Payne 2, the action is so damn good. The fighting system is the best, tightest fighting system ever put in to a 3d action game and the difficulty was just right.

Berserk for PS2 gets a nod from me as well. I got it on tuesday and just finished it earlier today. It can get kinda tedious because all you do is fight wave after wave of monsters but the fighting, especially the boss fights, is a lot of fun and I love the characters and story so much, a little monotonony is excusable.

Vexorg · Post by **Vexorg** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 8:19 am

I don't know that I'd call them my favorite 3D action games ever, but the Otogi games for XBox (Otogi: Myth of Demons and Otogi 2: Immortal Warriors) deserve mention here. Plenty of stuff to smash to bits, and some very nice graphics to boot. Level design is a mixed bag though. Some levels you never ever want to have to play through again, while others you just keep repeating over and over...) Ninja Gaiden was good too, but I just got stuck on one spot in level 5 that I could never seem to get past, then lost interest.

LoneSage · Post by **LoneSage** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 4:08 pm

Oh yeah, I totally digged Neo Contra. Bunch of people seem to think it's pretty tame, and I guess they're right, but the music pumps me up (prolly as much as Shattered Soldier's

) and the action's great...everybody needs to check this out. I always watch the opening cinema too, man it's just as awesome as the Gradius 3&4 cinema on PS2.

I'll honestly say I wouldn't mind a Neo Contra 2, though after the ending it's hard to see where the series is going now...seeing as how it's the year 4444 and whatnot

TWITCHDOCTOR · Post by **TWITCHDOCTOR** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 6:40 pm

I like so many...its hard to list, so I'll list a few.

Devil May Cry (PS2) One of the best, will be a classic.
Sonic Adventure (Dreamcast) WAY better that Mario 64, imo.
Kill Switch (XBOX) Special OPs type, with arcade style action.
Max Payne 1&2 (XBOX) The style and story, pulled me in.
Neo Contra (PS2) Like the "other" levels in Contra I&II.
Enclave (XBOX) Medieval action adventure.
ManHunt (PS2) voilent, but good.
Castlevania LOI (PS2) Hey, I thought it was cool...
Grand Theft Auto series (PS2) Fave would be Vice City

These might not be the best 3D action games of all time, but the games on this list took up lots of my "time". I've must have played through each one of these at least 3 times or more!

Man, I love video games...maybe even too much. Nah!

LoneSage · Post by **LoneSage** » Sun Feb 20, 2005 6:00 am

Oh deg, can't believe I forgot to plug-in BloodRayne for the GameCube...it's a stupidly awesome game. Mind you I was incredibly skeptical and assumed the game was nothing but a gore 'n titty fest, and if it didn't cost $5 at Circuit City I woulda never played it.

After playing it, I found out it really is a gore 'n titty fest.

But how fun it is! The story is very interesting; it deals with the Occult that the Nazis were involved in and what-have-you. All the moves you can perform are just flat-out fun to do, I don't think I ever got tired of sucking a Nazi's blood and hear Rayne's orgasmic moaning as she did so.

It's so stupid, but just so much more fun...I have a feeling a lot of shmup fans will enjoy the simple-but-engaging gameplay. In fact most of the people I talk to that like this game are shmuppos themselves.

The wimmens might want to stay away from this game, though...game is definitely targeted for a 100% male audience, and as such you can expect a lot of innuendo and bounce.

Stupid ole developer didn't make the sequel for the GameCube, though..

Neon · Post by **Neon** » Sun Feb 20, 2005 6:20 am

Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 (DC, GC) are truly awesome.

Sonic Adventure (Dreamcast) WAY better that Mario 64, imo.

Proof piracy lowers your standards...

Best 3D action game...probably day of defeat. I bet source ruins it with bullshit realistic physics, thoe.

Stormwatch · Post by **Stormwatch** » Sun Feb 20, 2005 1:59 pm

Isn't Day of Defeat a first-person shooter? This thread is about

UnscathedFlyingObject wrote:third person action games ala Devil May Cry, Zone of the Enders, Shinobi, etc.

That's why I didn't mention the Marathon series or Quake 2.

CMoon · Post by **CMoon** » Sun Feb 20, 2005 2:39 pm

No love for Sonic Heroes?

Super Laydock · Post by **Super Laydock** » Sun Feb 20, 2005 5:11 pm

I am in NO way an expert on this subject since I haven't bouight many of them, but some games I really enjoyed were:

Sonic Adventure 1 (couldn't get into the sequel)
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (great atmosphere, cool fighting moves)
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
Super Mario 64
Rayman 2: the great escape

games of which I thought they sucked are:

Shadowman
Urban Chaos
Slave Zero

The n00b · Post by **The n00b** » Sun Feb 20, 2005 5:20 pm

Okay here goes:
Ninja Gaiden(xbox)- pretty much the best in the genre right now
Devil May Cry 1-Not bad and doesn't show it's age,
Both Otogis-great gameplay and great graphics style
Tomb Raider 1-One of the first and, for it's time, pretty damn good

On a sidenote, the tomb raider series has hit some pretty hard times lately but I'm still amazed that it still has some hardcore fans. I went out with this girl for awhile and I was amazed that she kept a ps2...just to play tomb raider games. She mentioned that she never forgot how cool the first one was and how it's female main character was one of the first of her kind. I'm not one for fanboyism but man that is some hardcore stuff right there.

UnscathedFlyingObject · Sun Feb 20, 2005 6:23 pm

I just finished Blood Will Tell. The (real) last guy was fantabulous. It killed me about six times before I nailed down a strategy for him, and even then, I had to refill my energy to finish him. What's so good about him is that it not only requires you to know the pattern. You also have to make full use of your moves; something most of the bosses don't. The story leading to him is great too. I think it would be safe to say this game has one of the best stories for its genre. In fact, it's better than many story-centered RPG I have played recently.

Ord · Post by **Ord** » Sun Feb 20, 2005 6:37 pm

"The Prince Of Persia : The Sands Of Time" blew me away. The atmosphere positivley shimmers and the main character is a dream to control. Nice level design too. I've heard some pretty negative things about the sequel, has anyone here played it and if so how is it?

tsunami0ne · Post by **tsunami0ne** » Sun Feb 20, 2005 6:47 pm

It used to be Ninja Gaiden, now it's Resident Evil 4. Devil May Cry 3 is so so.

CMoon · Post by **CMoon** » Sun Feb 20, 2005 6:50 pm

tsunami0ne wrote:Devil May Cry 3 is so so.

You've played it???

Brian · Post by **Brian** » Sun Feb 20, 2005 7:15 pm

I'd have to say the two Maximo games are two of my faves. Prince of Persia: Sands of Time deserves another mention, too.

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Sun Feb 20, 2005 8:05 pm

I LOVE Incoming. Ok, there are some first-person parts, but those are on rails. You get to take command of a variety of vehicles, and the game is the closest thing I've ever played to a fully 3D shmup.

I also love Sonic Adventure. The game moves faster and looks better then any 3D game I ever played when I owned a US PS2. And I've had more fun with it then with any next-gen Mario game that's come out.

I would personally like to hear some opinions on Sky Target for the Saturn.

roushimsx · Post by **roushimsx** » Sun Feb 20, 2005 9:50 pm

If we're going to be counting more than just straight up action games, then I'm going to have to nominate Beyond Good & Evil and SuckerPunch's library as well.

Beyond Good & Evil is from the creator of Rayman, planned to be the first part of a trilogy, and released at the same time as Prince of Persia by the same publisher (Ubisoft). It was outright slaughtered. It got very little backing from Ubisoft initially (they dumped their resources into promoting Prince of Persia) and even extremely positive word of mouth wasn't enough to give it the holiday sales it deserved. Ubi decided to slash the price on it to $20 though and then people started taking notice of it. Awesome adventure / platform / action game with some really nice puzzle elements, a slick combat system, and some of the most impressive facial animations I've ever seen in a game. The only negative point I can think of is that the game ends

Sucker Punch is also a victim of having their games killed by similar products. Rocket: Robot on Wheels came out at the same time as Rayman 2 and went pretty much under everyone's radar. Not saying Rayman 2 was bad, but as great as Rayman 2 was, Rocket somehow managed to be better. The childish exterior hid some devilishly clever puzzles that were never too obscure to figure out (there were small hints that it'd feed you) and always felt within reach. For reals, this may well be the best platformer on the N64.

Sly Cooper I and II also came out at less than optimal times for Sucker Punch, and as anyone that's played them can attest, they fucking rock. I could probably write a good bit about how much they rock, but I think it'd be better for all of ya'll to grab $10-$15, run to the nearest game store, and pick up a copy of one of them and get back to me in the morning with how much you agree that they rock.

Metal Arms: Glitch in the System is a pretty damn good 3rd [s]Robot[/s] Person Action Game, too. Some of the sequences were nerfed for the sake of making the game more difficult (and they're pretty obvious where they are. Hint, throw grenades into the fucker's mouth), but all in all it's a damn good title with some quality humor in it. Swinging Ape is right now working on Starcraft Ghost, and after playing Metal Arms I'm comfortable in thinking that Ghost is going to turn out A-OK.

Oh, and another great game that never got enough love: Silent Bomber for PSOne. Low print run, apprently, so snatch it up if you ever see it.

(Someone write up love love love for the Ratchet & Clank and Jak & Daxter games; I'm pooped)

Ord · Post by **Ord** » Sun Feb 20, 2005 10:21 pm

^^^ I forgot about how cool "Beyond Good & Evil" and "Metal Arms- A Glitch In The System" were. Thanks for reminding me.

FRO · Post by **FRO** » Sun Feb 20, 2005 10:48 pm

roushimsx wrote:I'm going to go ahead and say Syphon Filter 1 - 3. A lot of people unfairly compare it to Metal Gear, when in fact it's more like the Playstation's third person answer to Goldeneye. Fantastic series of games that were initially crippled by a pretty crappy checkpoint save system and less than perfect control. However, thanks to the wonders of emulation, the checkpoint issue isn't a problem anymore and the control isn't too bad once you get the hang of it.

...

Fair word of warning, though: The endings of the Syphon Filter games are always left open for a sequel (especially disappointing in Syphon Filter 3). The level design just gets better and better as the games progress though, and I really loved how part three was paced.

The whole trilogy can be had for under $30 these days. Get it.

I 2nd the above.

Also, I have really enjoyed the Spyro series, especially 2 & 3.

TWITCHDOCTOR · Post by **TWITCHDOCTOR** » Sun Feb 20, 2005 11:44 pm

Neon wrote:
Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 (DC, GC) are truly awesome.

Sonic Adventure (Dreamcast) WAY better that Mario 64, imo.
Proof piracy lowers your standards...

Best 3D action game...probably day of defeat. I bet source ruins it with bullshit realistic physics, thoe.

Piracy lowering "standards"...what is that supposed to mean!?

Sonic has more action, whereas Mario 64 is just a "Star Scavenger Hunt".

Neon · Post by **Neon** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 12:13 am

Isn't Day of Defeat a first-person shooter? This thread is about

UnscathedFlyingObject wrote:
third person action games ala Devil May Cry, Zone of the Enders, Shinobi, etc.

That's why I didn't mention the Marathon series or Quake 2

Nooooooooo...I pretty much owned myself on that one

I read the topic post, but it quickly leaked out of my brain.

I actually gave sonic adventure to Dave as a gift...it does have good graphics and music, but otherwise meh.

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 12:39 am

Sonic Adventure is mostly action, but the more I play the game, I'm finding that it has plenty of it's own tasks for you to complete.