I really like the Assassin's Creed series. I recently finished 3, For the most part they've improved with each game.
My picks in no particular order: Red Dead Redemption Skyrim Bastion Minecraft The Walking Dead Borderlands series Mass Effect series Uncharted seriess Tomb Raider Defense Grid Batman: Arkham Asylum (haven't played Arkham City yet) Forza 4 Forza Horizon
Oh, I forgot the Batman Arkham games. They would be on my list too. Added a Forza game to my rental list. Any more for any more?
I think this generation has been pretty shitty when it comes to high quality games, but there have been a few gems released. In no particular order, here are the games that made this generation (2006+) worth playing to me: 1. Super Mario Galaxy (1 and 2) 2. Dark Souls 3. Super Meat Boy 4. The Binding of Isaac 5. StarCraft 2 6. Team Fortress 2 7. Ys Seven 8. New Super Mario Bros 9. Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles (Rondo of Blood & Symphony of the Night!) 10. Donkey Kong Country Returns
Adding another vote to Mass Effect Trilogy. I post hundreds of times per week on the GameFAQs Contests Board so I don't tend to elaborate much on TrekBBS' Games section, so I'll just leave it at that. But most everything's already been covered, anyway.
I have narrow interests when it comes to video games and my perspective is therefore limited so take this for what its worth: Halo - Defined the fps and multiplayer with a great story to boot. CoD4: MW - Re-defined the fps and multiplayer. Mass Effect - Immersive rpg with great character customization and exploration of the galaxy and its civilizations. Basically its what a Star Trek game should be. Assassin's Creed 2 - The first one was repetitive but the second one gave Ubisoft their own CoD. I also though it was a pretty original IP.
These are all Xbox 360. I long ago lost my patience (and free money) to upgrade my PC, which I used to love gaming on. Mass Effect trilogy Half-Life 2 and Episodes 1 and 2 Portal/Portal 2 Bioshock trilogy Deus Ex: Human Revolution Fallout 3 Gears of War trilogy Unreal Tournament 3 Need For Speed: Most Wanted Call of Duty 2 I could throw various Guitar Hero/Rock Band games in too that I whiled away the hours with. Lego Star Wars for that matter too. I remember many good times with friends with these titles.
Treating the generation as Wii/PS3/Xbox 360/3DS/Vita/PC games to come out since about 2005 Catherine Mass Effect Trilogy Valkyria Chronicles Super Mario Galaxy Mario Kart 7 Demon's Souls Arkham City Braid Limbo And if Shin Megami Tensei IV does not join this list I will be sorely disappointed.
One I haven't seen mentioned is Torchlight. Not exactly innovative-but one of the best dungeon grinders ever made due to its magnificent create-an-item system.