2007 Was the Best Year for Gaming, and These 10 Classics Prove It
Lucas Kloberdanz-Dyck is a writer for Collider. He grew up creating lists, stories, and worlds, which led to his love of anime and video games. He attended Sheridan College where he earned an Honours Bachelor of Game Design. Lucas and his group won 1st place for technical innovation at LevelUp Toronto 2023, and he was also an intern for the Oakville Film Festival of Arts.
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Video games are getting better and better every year, with many considering the 2020s to be the pinnacle of the medium in the new millennium, especially as technology, design, and graphics get better. With masterful games like Elden Ring and Baldur's Gate 3 earning universal praise, it is hard to argue. However, just because the 2020s have some incredible games doesn't mean the older years don't have anything good.
2026 has a lot of good video games, but when it comes to the best year of gaming, 2007 reigns supreme. That is why this list will feature the greatest video games that prove why 2007 was the best year for video games. Based on aspects like gameplay, design, originality, influence, staying power, narrative, visuals, fan opinion, critical acclaim, and overall quality, it is miraculous that so many masterpieces came out in the same year.
'Crysis'
Graphics are the main aspect of video games that have gotten better, but 2007 still had surprisingly good visuals, as evidenced by games like Crysis. When suspicious North Korean activity is spotted on a remote island, a group of special operatives equipped in nanotech suits goes to investigate it, only to find an awakening race of aliens that are hiding beneath the island.
Crysis was a revolutionary game in 2007, mainly earning a legacy for being one of the most technically advanced video games at the time. The sandbox gameplay and nanotech suit offered fun combat options, but the real star of the game is by far the graphics. Crysis set an impossibly high benchmark for visual fidelity that spawned a timeless meme of "but can it run Crysis?"
'Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga'
Star Wars is one of the biggest franchises of all time, and they are no stranger to video games; in 2007, fans got to play the entire thing with Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga. This game lets players experience the original and sequel trilogies from a more immersive perspective, allowing them to play as hundreds of familiar characters in levels that reflect the story of the movies.
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga is a video game that is a blast from start to finish because of its charm, nostalgic vibe, and well-designed puzzles. The level design, puzzles, gameplay, and authentic experience highlight a love letter to the films that makes it fun to play. Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga is the definitive Star Wars video game that perfected the cooperative action-platformer genre.
'God of War II'
The God of War franchise is one of the most acclaimed out there, and while the 2018 version is arguably better, God of War II was the first game that captivated viewers. After Kratos is betrayed and killed by Zeus, the Titan Gaia revives him, giving him the chance to travel through time and fight through the underworld to rewrite his fate and kill the King of the Gods.
While the franchise entered new territory in the 2010s, and for the better, there is something so cathartic and freeing about God of War II, which delivers an unbridled sense of anger, exhilaration, and action. The scale knows no bounds, resulting in a larger-than-life experience that players crash through with unstoppable rage, proving why it is a perfect action game that is one of the many standouts in 2007.
'Rock Band'
2007 was such a great year for video games because not only were many games high quality, but there was a lot of variety, including puzzle, action, and FPS games. The year also boasted a perfect music game with Rock Band. Gamers can play solo or with a group of four to start their music career from dive bars and gain fame to make it to the top and play in sold-out stadiums.
If fans want a break from the action, then Rock Band was the perfect game for them, turning the living room into a studio of unfiltered music and passion. The 2000s were a time of amazing music, and the era was perfectly represented in this game with a fantastic list of songs to perform. More than that, though, this fun video game introduced many non-gamers to the medium.
'Portal'
Valve is best known for Steam and their platform of games, but they used to be prominent in making video games as well, such as Portal. When a character named Chell wakes up in a scientific testing facility, she is forced to be a subject of experimentation with a portal gun. However, when thrown out, she must now try to escape the facility before being caught by GLaDOS.
While Portal 2 enhances everything about this first game, Portal was still a pioneering effort. The gravity gun is one of the best gimmicks in the medium, allowing for so many engaging puzzles and emergent possibilities that have unlimited agency for the player. Portal is charming and witty on top of its gameplay, highlighting its importance in 2007.
'Mass Effect'
2007 saw the introduction of the first games in many amazing franchises, including Mass Effect. Players control Commander Shepard, who is tasked with retrieving a rogue agent, but on their mission, they uncover a much larger threat. The Reapers are an ancient biomechanical race that lives by eating galaxies, threatening the fate of the Milky Way if Shepard doesn't do anything.
The first three entries in Mass Effect form one of the best video game trilogies of all time, but the first game introduced gamers to the galaxy. It boasts some of the best worldbuilding in video game history, creating an immersive setting through lore, character interactions, and a complex political history. Mass Effect is a narrative masterclass with outstanding dialogue that was the best of 2007.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Personality Quiz Which Sci-Fi Hero Are You Most Like? Paul Atreides · Captain Kirk · Princess Leia · Ellen Ripley · Max Rockatansky
Five iconic heroes. Five completely different ways of facing an impossible universe. One of them shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of refusing to back down. Eight questions will tell you which one.
🏜️Paul Atreides
🖖Capt. Kirk
✊Princess Leia
🔦Ellen Ripley
🔥Max Rockatansky
01
How do you lead when the stakes couldn't be higher? The way you lead under pressure is the most honest thing about you.
02
What is your greatest strength in a crisis? The quality that keeps you alive when everything else fails.
03
What is the thing you'd sacrifice everything else for? Your deepest motivation is your truest compass.
04
How do you relate to the people around you? Who you are to others under pressure is who you really are.
05
You're facing a threat that no one else believes is real. What do you do? How you respond when you're the only one who sees it defines everything.
06
What has your heroism cost you personally? Every hero pays. The question is what — and whether they'd pay it again.
07
How do you feel about the rules of the world you're in? Every hero has a relationship with the system. What's yours?
08
When everything is on the line, what keeps you going? The answer is the most honest thing about you.
Your Hero Has Been Identified Your Sci-Fi Hero Is…
Your answers point to the iconic sci-fi hero who shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of facing the impossible.
Paul Atreides
You carry a weight most people would crumble under — the knowledge of what you're capable of, and the burden of what you might have to become.
- You see further ahead than others and you plan accordingly, even when the vision frightens you.
- You are driven by loyalty to your people and a sense of destiny you didn't ask for but can't escape.
- Paul Atreides is not simply a hero — he is someone who understands the cost of power and chooses to bear it anyway.
- That gravity, that willingness to carry what others won't, is exactly you.
Captain Kirk
You lead with instinct, warmth, and an absolute refusal to accept a no-win scenario — because you've always believed there's a third option nobody else has thought of yet.
- You take the mission seriously without ever taking yourself too seriously.
- Your crew would follow you anywhere, not because you demand it, but because you've earned it.
- Kirk's genius isn't tactical — it's human. He reads people, bends rules with purpose, and wills outcomes into existence through sheer conviction.
- That combination of warmth, audacity, and relentless optimism is unmistakably yours.
Princess Leia
You are the kind of person who holds the line when everyone else is losing faith — not because you're fearless, but because giving up simply isn't something you're capable of.
- You lead through conviction. Your voice carries because your belief is unshakeable.
- You gave up everything ordinary the moment you chose the cause, and you've never looked back.
- Leia is not a supporting character in her own story — she is the moral centre of the entire rebellion.
- That same fierce, principled, unbreakable core is what defines you.
Ellen Ripley
You are not reckless, not grandiose, and not particularly interested in being anyone's hero — you just refuse to stop when it matters.
- You see threats clearly, you document the truth even when no one listens, and when the time comes you handle it yourself.
- Ripley's heroism is earned, not performed. She doesn't have a speech — she has a flamethrower and a plan.
- You share her composure under the worst possible pressure, and her refusal to pretend the monster isn't there.
- When it counts, you don't flinch. That's everything.
Max Rockatansky
You have been through fire that would break most people — and what came out the other side is something the world underestimates at its peril.
- You don't ask for help, don't need validation, and don't wait for anyone to tell you the rules no longer apply.
- Your loyalty, when it finally arrives, is absolute — but it's earned in silence and tested in action, not in words.
- Max is not a nihilist. He is someone who lost everything and found, against his will, that he still has something worth protecting.
- That bruised, stubborn, ultimately human core is exactly yours.
'Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare'
One of the best FPS franchises is Call of Duty, and while a lot of the games are similar, one that stands out is Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Players control either a British SAS squad or the US Marines, and must set out on a dangerous mission where they need to stop a Middle Eastern dictator from setting off a global nuclear war.
2007 had some of the greatest FPS titles of all time, and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is just the start. It is the pinnacle of the FPS genre in terms of action, having a tightly paced campaign and snappy gunplay. But this remarkable game is more than just a cinematic shooter, because its influence can still be felt in the genre today. Indeed, the franchise never got better than this seminal title.
'Halo 3'
The Xbox 360 was the go-to console for FPS games, and like Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Halo 3 was a definitive entry on the console. The franchise is Microsoft's crowning gem, and it peaked with its third entry. The fight against the Covenant seems to never end, but Master Chief hopes this time will finally be the end of this war.
The first handful of Halo games were all magnificent, but Halo 3 perfected the series with its polished gameplay and engaging story. This third entry into the long-running series defined split-screen multiplayer, just as a decade of co-op gaming was at its height. Fans have fond memories of this game that perfected the multiplayer servers and format, showing why it was a must-play game in 2007.
'BioShock'
2007 was one of the best years for gaming of all time, meaning the choice for Game of the Year was the hardest up to that point, but it came down to two games, and one of them is BioShock. When the protagonist crash-lands in the ocean, they find refuge in a lone lighthouse. However, when descending further into it, they discover a failed Utopia plagued with political strife and terrifying genetically spliced monstrosities.
This year was one of the best for gaming of all time, with so many influential, important, popular, and enjoyable titles gracing fans. However, while they were feasting, BioShock was the pièce de resistance for many. Its political critique of Randian objectivism was captivating, and it was made even better because of the atmospheric backdrop that boosted the narrative. Today, BioShock remains a foundational piece of modern sci-fi and the clear choice for the 2007 Game of the Year.
'Super Mario Galaxy'
As mentioned, the Game of the Year award was split between BioShock and one other game, which is now revealed to be Super Mario Galaxy. After Bowser kidnaps Princess Peach and takes her out to space, Mario must team up with Rosalina to venture around the cosmos and hop between the planets in order to find and rescue her from the evil King Koopa.
There are so many incredible Mario video games, but it is hard to beat Super Mario Galaxy, which is the final cherry on top of the 2007 cake. It may be a different vibe than a lot of the FPS titles or action-packed games, but it is a platforming masterclass that perfected the genre. The imaginative spherical gravity changed the gameplay to add a fun gimmick to the already flawless puzzles, proving why 2007 is the undefeated king of video games.
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