Top Ten Games of an Evolving Gamer

Alright, so I figured I’d have to one-up ya Peri and do my own top ten. This will go in the order I played these games(If I can remember that correctly) and the only criteria will by that I owned the game at one time(My god, I’ve missed out on so many great games) and that I have fond memories of it.

1. Goldeneye - N64

This game pretty much turned me into a gamer. I have vague memories of the NES, SNES, and Genesis, but the N64 was really the console that turned me into the person I am today. And as we all know, Goldeneye was a flagship game for that illustrious system. I still remember my tiny 6 year-old arms opening up this masterpiece of an fps on christmas day and going on to play my older brother and various friends in split-screen for years to come. This game not only made shooters on consoles viable, but also was the exception to the movie-to-game rule. To come out as one of the best games of all time on top of those feats is truly amazing. But most importantly, this game turned me into a hardcore gamer and set my preferences for years to come.

2. Perfect Dark - N64

Simply put, this is my favorite game of all time. As the spiritual successor to the famed Goldeneye, this game set a standard for console shooters that a lot of games haven’t lived up to even today(Why was dual wielding such a huge deal in Halo 2 when it was done 5 years earlier?) The multiplayer combat was refined to such a tightly balanced optimization that it boggles the mind. The AI option was a great way to make a match more intense in addition to 3 other pals, and the ability to program the behavior of the bots is just insane considering the generation this game came out. It had more weapons than one could ever dream of and they all proved useful in some situation or another. The number of customization options and the number of stats tracked is indescribable. The levels were great. Most importantly though, it was just pure fun. I still remember the franticness of throwing poisoned knives at foes through the chaos of an n-bomb…good times. But that’s just the multiplayer! The single-player campaign featured a great story(At least I remember it that way, the details are blurry now) and the highly-tuned AI provided a great challenge. It hurts me to say that I’ve never beaten my favorite game– I could never get past that final boss. Perhaps being 9 years old had something to do with that. I need to beat that before I die. But yeah, this game was about as close to perfect as I’ve ever seen.

3. Grand Theft Auto III - PS2

When I was trying to decide what to move into the next generation with(Let’s forget my Dreamcast) I was really leaning towards the Gamecube based on my experiences with the N64. But after playing this revolutionary title at a friend’s house, I knew the PS2 was the way to go. Unfortunately, that ended up being my least favorite console of that generation, but that’s not important. This game was amazing because it was like nothing before it. The very concept of being able to do what you want, when you want was foreign to me when it came to video games. To be able to heal up with a hooker in the back seat of my stolen car full of illegal firearms and then proceed to murder her with a baseball bat seemed pretty damn cool to an 11 year old- hell, it still seems cool! There was nothing particularly great about this game, just that the sum of it’s parts added up to a new kind of freedom that’s been copied ever since. GTA3 will forever hold a place in my heart for that(Not so much for the others though).

4. Halo 1 and 2 - Xbox

After I bought my PS2, and my Gamecube, finally, I came around to the best console of the last generation. And the first game I bought for my box-that-rocks was Halo: Combat Evolved. Perhaps its mechanics weren’t quite up to the lofty standard of Perfect Dark, but there was something about the combination of solid shooting, crazy-fun driving, and a hero for the ages that made this game a classic. The Master Chief is one of the all-time greatest video game characters, and when you take the wheel of a hog loaded up with ODSTs you really feel like a super-soldier bad ass. Halo 1’s campaign was probably the best I’ve ever seen in an fps with a perfect balance of wide-open vehicle levels, dark corridor crawls, and intense combat the entire time. The story was superb and I really liked the dash of horror. That said, the Library was garbage. Halo 2 took the concepts of Halo 1 and ran with them. It expanded on them and refined them. Unfortunately, that only carried over to the multiplayer. The single-player had a decent story, but it was a drag to play through. The multiplayer however, was and still is the best online console experience there is. I can’t count how many hours I’ve lost to my first xbox live experience. If it wasn’t for the cheaters and little kids the online would be flawless. As a whole, I’ve played through the Halo franchise multiple times and intend on giving it a few more goes before I kick the bucket.

5. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - Xbox

Now if you haven’t noticed by now, my list is kind of shooter heavy. Well that’s because I’m a bad person who didn’t like RPGs until this game(Dark Cloud may have come first, but this kind of takes the cake). I often regret missing out on so many classic RPGs of the past simply because I had nobody to introduce me to the genre. But I managed to seek this game out on my own and it introduced me to an amazing world that I remember fondly today. I’ve been in love with western RPGs ever since but none has quite matched the stellar experience that was KOTOR. Combine one of the most fascinating and fully fleshed out fictional universes in the world(Star Wars) with the ability to play the role of a bad ass of the up-most proportions, add a dash of an incredible story with a twist for the ages, and mix thoroughly with addictive leveling up, and you have the formula for a captivating RPG. The amount of work that went into making interesting and fun quests, believable NPCs, real character relationships, and fun, intuitive combat make this one of the all time great RPGs. Let’s hope for a KOTOR3!

6. Deus Ex: Invisible War

Maybe it’s not as critically acclaimed as every other game on this list, but it should be. Unfortunately, I’ve never played the original, so I don’t really know if this sucks in comparison. What I do know, is that if the upcoming 3rd one is anything like this awesome adventure, I’ll be a very happy gamer. This game had solid mechanics all around and featured many of the same traits that made KOTOR so great. I especially liked the portrayal of the seedy underworld with black market Omar dealers. The NPCs were great, and the story was really exceptional too. Customization options were terrific as well. But what really makes this game stand out in my memory is the moral greyness and the “there is no right or wrong” approach. I really wish games would follow Invisible War’s example here. Too many games today only feature extreme sinner or saint type choices, and that really doesn’t make one think about his actions too much. Not to mention, giving achievements for absolute devotion to one moral side is a terrible idea because it taints your logic while making important choices. That’s why games should take Deus Ex’s approach and provide like 4 very different endings that are all simply a result of your ROLE PLAYING choices. As Ash Williams once said, “Good, bad…I’m the guy with the gun.” Also, the secret developer quote room was hilarious!

7. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Xbox 360

What can I say? This is the first game that truly felt “next-gen” to me. It had a massive and believable world that felt very lived in. It had an insane amount of NPCs(although many were very shallow) and fostered real relationships with a few of them. The quest variety was incredible, with the guilds seeming like games unto themselves. There was great enemy variety. There were consequences for your actions. There weren’t a whole lot of limits. But where this game really shined was just in the way it played. Riding your stallion through the immensely detailed wilderness as day changed to knight and running into all sorts of foes in a very real feeling first person melee combat was indescribably fun. And there was more than one way to play it. Up-close and personal, from afar with the bow, using magic, avoiding fights through stealth, etc, etc…This game was just sooooooo deep! How many games let vampires prey on while you sleep so you begin to develop into a creature of the night as well!?! As I lit my torch and walked into a dark and dreary dungeon, this game just felt like a session of D and D.

8. Bioshock - Xbox 360

This game was a major step forward for story telling in games. I’m not saying this game had the best story of all time, but it did introduce a deep and engaging story to a mainstream audience. You could attack a goal in any number of ways and it almost played like an RPG without level-ups. The shooting was adequate and everything looked great. Man, did it look great. More games should take place under water. That place really looked like it was falling apart. Too bad there was nobody normal left- just a bunch of splicer junkies. But they’re people too! But what made this game great was it was as deep as you wanted to make it. Collecting all the extra audio-tapes really gave me a greater sense of the already terrific story. The characters were fleshed out and could make you feel for their cause even if it was a little despicable. The world had it’s own ecology. This game just added up to a great experience that could feel very much like a good book if you weren’t having so much fun gunning down big daddies all the time. The only real down fall was the illusion of moral choice(Two choices? Come on 2k) and a sort of anti-climatic ending. The franchise holds promise though. And with the man who designed the best level in the game(Fort Frolic) heading up Bioshock 2, I’m already stoked.

9. Portal - PC

The only PC game to make my list, mostly because the Orange Box is the only PC game I’ve ever owned. Simply put, portal had a vision of what it wanted to do and did it flawlessly. The puzzles are both challenging and rewarding, making for a very addictive experience. On that merit alone this is a great game. But what pushes this over the top into the territory of best games of all time is a little lady by the name of GLADOS. Well, she’s really more of a computer network, but she’ll feel like a person to you…a very evil person. Throughout the course of Portal, GLADOS provides zinger after zinger with her adorable sarcasm that just hides her love for you. “But wait, she tried to kill me!” you say. Well, it’s kind of a love-hate relationship she has with her test subjects. Why else would she be promising cake? Oh that illusive cake! But anyways, my point here is that Portal is probably the funniest game I’ve ever played because of a black humor that no other game touches. I hope that’s not the case for long. Hopefully this franchise has some potential for the future.

10. Call of Duty 4 - Xbox 360

We began it with a shooter, so we’ll end it with a shooter. It’s hard to think of a war game as being a memorable masterpiece as most are just recycled concepts living in the same old decade like the old hippie you see talking about his day at Wal-mart. Call of Duty 4 is different. First off, it’s campaign is not so cut and dry. For once, America is not the world’s savior. We’re actually portrayed as a country at war; we do our best to act on what we believe is right but maybe we’re making a decision we’ll regret. After a nuclear bomb goes off, I’d say the fictional America of CoD4 probably does regret that decision. This moment of the game had an opportunity to be very poignant as well, as the very character you play as dies. However a total lack of dialogue or character building makes it impossible to care. Still, the campaign was different and refreshing while providing Infinity Ward’s staple intensity in combat. This intensity carries over to the multiplayer which is probably the deepest since Perfect Dark(But I still have yet to see a game surpass that masterpiece’s depth). Simply put, it’s addictive. That’s all I can say. It’s fun and addictive. Go play it.

So in conclusion, those are probably my top ten favorite games. 5 shooters, 3 RPGs, a puzzle game, and an open world game. I think that reflects my preference for FPSs and RPGs pretty well, and shows that I’m a fan of all games as well. I think the order of the games also shows my growth as a gamer. I’d certainly say RPGs are the tell-tale sign of a true hardcore gamer. And on a console to console comparison, I’ve become much more selective of what I buy with each console I’ve owned. The only non-AAA title I own for my 360 is Madden 2006…damn you Madden. I’ve also observed a pretty good balance between each generation, but I have a feeling that games are getting better and we will begin to see more classics in our own generation. So to wrap things up, I can’t really tell how this list will change in the future, but I think it represents the state of me as a gamer and the state of the current gaming industry pretty well. All we can do is keep on gaming and see what gems fall into our disc trays.

~ by prophetofregret on May 7, 2008.