Top 20 Heroes of the Generation - Part II: 10-1

So, here we are, the top ten heroes to grace the previous generation of gaming. The collective heroism these fine folk have bestowed upon their loved ones and their people deserve a little recognition for their duties, and this is the cream of the crop of those heroes created during this fading epoch. We salute you.

10 – Jason Fleming (Shadow Complex)

 

For poor hiker Jason Fleming, a splendid afternoon of spelunking escalates quickly into a desperate bid to rescue his girlfriend from the clutches of a sinister underground organisation bent on plunging the US into civil war. Jason is a peaceful man, who quickly steps up to the task at hand – rescue the girl and take out tonnes of bad guys – by recalling his father's wise words when teaching him the art of killing. Amassing an awesome arsenal along the way, Jason Fleming transforms from everyman to man plus, all for love and world peace. Isn't that nice?

9 – Booker DeWitt (Bioshock Infinite)

 

Every hero needs some skeletons, and for debt-ridden PI Booker DeWitt has his fair share. The revelations about his life are visceral, and you soon realise below the cliched veneer of alcoholism and gambling hides a history riddled with horror. Through saving the mysterious Elizabeth, Booker has one heroic last attempt at redemption.

8 – Cole McGrath (Infamous series)

 

Good? Bad? Both. That might be the tagline for Driver 3, but to Empire City resident Cole McGrath it applies to the choices he is forced to make. Gaining electric super powers, the good karmic side of Cole heroically saves the hysterical residents of the city from more empowered entities with a penchant for chaos through his shocking arsenal of electric missiles, grenades and bolts.

7 – Dovahkiin (The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim)

 

Many a hero is a wisecracker, some are philosophists. For the Last Dragonborn, only three little words are all that is required of Dovahkiin to rid the world of marauding dragons. He kills dragons. By shouting at them. Hero, a badass Fus Ro Dah-ing hero.

6 – Ezio Auditore da Firenze (Assassin's Creed II series)

A good old revenge hero, Ezio becomes the master assassin after bearing witness to his father and brothers' deaths, covertly shanking and freerunning all the way up the papal hierarchy. Ezio's meteoric rise from womanising errand boy to keeper of the Assassin's Order, not to mention his unwitting aid with a spot of bother from an apocalyptic solar flare 500 years in the future, charter a lifetime of taking as many lives as he saves. But in a good, heroic way. Probably.

5 – Ethan Mars (Heavy Rain)

“Jason? Jason?!” The torment Ethan Mars endures after his son's kidnapping, coupled with the tortuous trials he puts himself through by request of the kidnapper, showcases the hero quality in any father worth his salt when his son's life is threatened. Ethan is a desperate man willing to do whatever it takes – self-mutilation, speeding down the wrong way of the highway – to get “Jaaa-son!” back.

4 – Nathan Drake (Uncharted series)

Although usually spurred on by greed and ego, treasure hunter Nathan Drake is an action hero's hero. At times frustratingly goofy and naïve, Nathan bounces from epic plane-falling cutscene to bullet-ridden shootout at breathtaking pace, always cracking jokes along the way and, of course, finding copious lost treasures of yore.

3 – Rex 'Power' Colt (Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon)

Encompassing all the 80s action movie zeitgeist with modern tweaks and a casual disregard for the fourth wall, man-machine Rex Colt can destroy the hulking, neon, laser-firing Blood Dragons with a cheesy one-liner alone. Well, not alone, his stash of heavy weaponry helps a lot. Drawing every last ounce of terrible B-movie nostalgia, Rex epitomises a true, vintage action hero retaining all the world-weary pessimism and peccadilloes associated with them. Rex 'Power' Colt is funny, rude and downright violent – what a good hero should be.

2 – Joel (The Last of Us)

Joel's tale is one of heartache, loss and deadly spores played out across a moribund landscape filled with deadly zombie-like clickers, and even deadlier human survivors. Joel's true inner heroism extends to Ellen Paige-a-like Ellie, as a simple escort job transpires to become an epic tale of friendship and valour, giving Joel a second chance of being a hero to a young girl where he couldn't with his own daughter, murdered before his eyes. He does just that, all the while rocking a vagrant's beard.

1 – Lee Everett (TellTale Game's The Walking Dead)

In his previous life, Lee Everett was a murderer, about to begin his stint in prison when a handy zombie apocalypse intervenes and collides his fate with that of young Clementine, an orphan girl hiding out in her treehouse. Lee instantly becomes Clementine's hero, as well as his own, as that little girl gives him the purpose and will to be a better man. Through various horrors and encounters with groups of ne'er-do-wells, Lee steps up to the challenge of protecting her, leading groups of survivors and slaying armies of the undead as he does so. He has to live with every gruesome choice he is forced to make, but his intentions never waver. His group needs to survive, and survival requires a hero. Lee is that man – decisive, loyal, caring, and pretty badass with a hammer, too.