Mainstream Games are so bad nowadays

[boredgunner]

I agree, nearly every game released in the past 5+ years is either mediocre or crap with only a few exceptions. The following are the only ones that stand out to me (on PC at least).

- Amnesia: The Dark Descent
- Penumbra series
- S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series, mainly Shadow of Chernobyl and Call of Pripyat
- Metro 2033 (great FPS campaign)
- Cryostasis: Sleep of Reason (good horror game with an interesting story, gameplay doesn't live up to Penumbra/Amnesia though)
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (overrated, but so much content and free roam is done so well, plus the main campaign and story aren't bad)
- ArmA II (Combined Operations)
- Crysis - one of the better FPS campaigns and really good multiplayer with teamwork emphasis and unrivaled admin tools. Crysis Wars enhanced this, but Warhead's campaign is too linear and more generic. No silent protagonist BS at least.

Nowadays most people just want a mindless, easy PvP shooter. Even the most popular ones are terrible. Call of Duty is supposed to be a war game, but the gameplay is 100% arcade and is not even competitive, plus the storyline is completely unbelievable starting with MW2. Battlefield 3 was mediocre when it came out (when it worked, Origin and Battlelog cause all sorts of problems) but now they're updating it to increase arcade-like features... namely unrealistic downsides to the already unrealistic weapon attachments. Heavier caliber guns also do no more damage, despite having more recoil and a slower ROF. Realism is one thing, but it is also poorly balanced.

RPGs are also popular, and at least Skyrim has great gameplay. I can't say the same for Fallout, due to my limited and unpleasant experience with only New Vegas.