Just as this year is seeing various games turning 20 years old, the video game anniversaries still do not cease. Twenty years ago, the gaming world was still in the sixth console generation with the the PlayStation 2, GameCube, and original Xbox, with the next generation on the way later that same year with the Xbox 360. Fast forward another decade and gaming was two years into yet another new console generation with the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and the Wii U. Just thinking of gaming in the year 2015 just makes it feel like it was yesterday, doesn’t it? If so, prepare to re-live some decade-old nostalgia because here are my selections for five video games turning 10 years old this year.
Rocket League – July 7, 2015
In short, the Psyonix online multiplayer game is Soccer (or Football) played with rocket-powered cars. Released on PC and eighth-gen consoles (and ninth gen consoles later on), Rocket League became one of the premiere Esports titles alongside those like Call of Duty and Rainbow 6. The game is still kicking to this day. Personally, I never figured out how to properly score goals (or points) in this game, no matter how much I tried. Your vehicle drives so fast and I keep on missing the ball and/or kicking it off the wrong angle. Though perhaps it is the challenge and high octane action that has continued to attract gamers after all these years. Though fast forward five years later and Rocket League became a free-to-play title on September 23.
Transformers: Devastation – October 6, 2015
Following the War for/Fall of Cybertron titles by High Moon Studios and the Michael Bay live action movies, Transformers: Devastation was the last of the Activision era TF games before the licensing deal with Hasbro expired, and the games getting delisted in 2017 (via PCGamesN). Even the official multiplayer servers of some of these Activision Transformers titles were shut down for good in 2020 (via Reddit). Transformers: Devastation was developed by Platinum Games, the studio of Bayonetta fame, and continued the franchise’s 80s nostalgia, centering around a team of five Autobots waging battle against a host evil Decepticons. This hack and slash title was released on PC and 7th/8th gen consoles and is remembered by fans in part for the cell shaded graphics that really made the game look like it leapt straight from a comic book.
Despite generally solid reviews, Transformers: Devastation never received a sequel. Almost 10 years after the delisting, Transformers fans can only hope that the recent relisting of Activision Transformers games will one day pull through and games like Devastation can be officially purchased once again.
Halo 5: Guardians – October 27, 2015
“Hunt The truth” are three words that Halo fans can remember this game by after all these years. After the Master Chief’s iconic AI assistant went rogue to enact galaxy-threatening plans, Master Chief finds himself leading a team of Spartans (Blue Team) to stop Cortana. All the while, Master Chief and company are themselves hunted down by franchise newcomer Spartan Locke, and his own Spartan Team (Team Osiris) that also features the return of the familiar ODST Buck. Though aside from beautiful graphics powered by the Xbox One and arguably solid gameplay/multiplayer, fans have lambasted the game’s story, considering Guardians one of the worst (if not THE worst) Halo stories in the franchise. The general negative fan reaction to the story alone may have been a prime reason shaping the direction of the long awaited Halo sequel six years in the making after Halo 5.
Call of Duty: Black Ops III – November 6, 2015
Hey, you still with me? This is the second to last game on this anniversary list. After Respawn’s Titanfall considerably popularized advanced movement, of course games like COD: Advanced Warfare leapt on to the trend… and continued with the 2015 COD title: Black Ops III. The story is set during the mid 21st century in a world gripped with advanced cybernetic enhancements and robotic warfare galore. Unlike many of the past COD titles up until 2015, players get to customize their own main character in the story, even though the custom-made main character is only referred to as “Player” in the campaign subtitles.
On a more personal note; Black Ops III was the last new Call of Duty game I ever got into (aside from Warzone around 2020). From what I remember, Black Ops III had the most colorful graphics of any COD game back in 2015. Since I haven’t played it in years, I wonder if it still holds up…
Star Wars: Battlefront – November 17, 2015
Last but not least on this list, don’t get this title confused with the original Star Wars: Battlefront from 2004, developed and published by Pandemic Studios and LucasArts respectively. This Star Wars video game is the series reboot by Dice Studios and Electronic Arts, among the first Star Wars games released under EA’s license exclusivity deal with Disney.
There’s just two rather polarizing sides to this Star Wars gaming reboot. On the Light Side, the game received praise for aspects such as the immersive sound design and the multiplayer all around. On the Dark(er) side, the EA reboot received great criticism for its lack of content. Compared to the classic Battlefront games from a decade earlier, the 2015 reboot was only limited to the Original Trilogy era. There wasn’t even an offline/single player story mode.
Granted, the 2015 Battlefront reboot was released to coincide with the first live action Star Wars movie in 10 years. But even with the multiplayer and overall content boosted some with the Scarif DLC debuting in time for the 2016 Star Wars anthology movie Rogue One, this was still not quite the return of the Battlefront that long time Star Wars fans remembered from the mid 2000s.
What other games released in 2015 have we missed from our list? Let us know in the comments and on our social media!
