This month I have been enjoying:
Half-Life 2 (I love the Chapter Select) (PC)
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (PC)
Need For Speed: Underground 2 (GCN)
Time Splitters: Future Perfect (GCN)
Super Mario 64 (Nintendo DS, but played it previously on N64)
Of all time, I'd say my top 20 games are, in ascending order (and that took me ages):
If modding were a part of it, it'd be Half-Life 2, Half-Life, etc... but it's not. It also doesn't include games I haven't finished, with the exception of Majora's Mask. which I like to think I've finished what with having owned it for five years, and GTA: Vice City, which I've played to death without doing many missions.
20: Comanche 4
Cheesy accents, storyline and just about everything else aside, this game is criminally fun. You can start on the arcade mode WASD to fly (even spacebar to jump) helicopter flying, and gradually move up to joystick and pedals when you can be bothered. The missions are really well planned and laid out, with a great mix of stealth and blazing guns - and a good deal of choice over the tactics used.
19: Return to Castle Wolfenstein (PC)
If this had been a Half-Life mod, it would have been insanely popular. As it was (and it's interesting that Valve have popularised Quake engine and descendants far more than ID have), it was just popular. I haven't played Enemy Territory yet, and it's on a really really long list (along with every Medal of Honour game and a couple of Call of Duty games). RtCW was the first game (and one of the few) that genuinely scared me at any point - when I emptied a magazine into a zombie and the bullets rebounded off a shield into my face.
18: Flight Simulator 2004 (PC)
I used to be a great simulator pilot. I could do it all, and I enjoyed doing it. Then I went on a two-week flying course with the Royal Navy and now I can't play FS2004 at all - when I want to know if my wings are level, I try and look out the window. I can't trim from the feel of the control stick etc.. Pity, it's dropped a long way down the list.
17: Shenmue 2 (DC)
I'll admit that this is much lower than it should be - mainly because I'm pissed off at the total lack of Shenmue 3, but this game tells a story better than Half-Life and Half-Life 2 put together. The fighting is fun - especially the scripted action sequences, but the endless exploring never gets dull - there's always someone to talk to, or classic SEGA arcade games to play.
16: Rainbow Six: Raven Shield (PC)
Forget Counter-Life, SWAT 4, Tactical Ops and all those impostors, Rainbow Six has always been the king of the counter-terrorism simulation, and I reckon it always will be. The pretty graphics and the huge weapon selection don't make much of a difference (hell, they all use the same weapons in real life) - what sets this apart from all the others are the "I should be able to do this, but I can't" moments, which are few and far between here. You can lob grenades through partially opened windows, seamlessly command your team, pick locks and all. What I love most though, is the way the weapon noise / people noise ratio is something akin to how it's supposed to be - not one to play while the neighbours are asleep.
15: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 (PS2)
I should think most of you have played a THPS game at some point. I haven't played Underground or Underground 2 yet, so this remains my favourite of them all. There's so many completely and utterly ridiculous stunts you can do, the missions are all fun (and some are infuriating, but still fun) and once you get good you can crack up insanely high scores. This one has the best levels, and the levels make the game.
14: GoldenEye (N64)
My memories of GoldenEye are distant now - it's been over five years since I've really played it much, but given how much I played it then - it was by far the multi-player king - it really has to be here. It was also the first console FPS (I think?), and probably still one of the best. Expect it to be pushed out by Time Splitters: Future Perfect soon.
13: Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (PS2)
I don't think I need to say anything about this. You've all played it. I'll just say I don't like San Andreas as much because the voices piss me off (I shouldn't have to play with subtitles) and having to go to the gym / defend turf etc. removes freedom from the game. The whole point of LC and VC was you could do a mission, then fuck around for a month and the story would be exactly where you left it. The motorcycles rock...
12: Splinter Cell (PC)
This game changed my life, it changed the way I played games, and most of all it scared me more than RTCW, AvP2 or anything else like that. When enemy soldiers with NVGs, AK47s and body armour are stalking you around the map, you bloody well should be scared. Didn't stop me completing it on hard without being hit, raising an alarm or using the sniper scope (I didn't realise you could hold your breath until I read the manual afterwards). Tom Clancy may know jack shit about politics, but he writes great stories nonetheless, and the folks at UbiSoft Montreal came up with great gameplay to match.
11: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64)
Maybe one day, when I'm old, retired and have plenty of time on my hands, I'll actually finish the Zora Temple. Then I might finally see Anju and wossname get married and all that wonderful Nintendo magic I know I'm still missing. Every Zelda game should be on this list, except I've only ever finished two of them - and they're both above this one.
10: Super Smash Brothers: Melee (GCN)
This game is the most fun you will ever have with your friends which doesn't involve alcohol or things you might regret later. It never gets boring, because there are so many stupid ways to kill people, so many hilarious characters, moves and items, and enough different levels to give it infinite replay value. If you've got a GameCube and you don't own this, you should be ashamed of yourself.[/b]
9: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (GCN)
I don't know what went wrong with Warrior Within, but this was an absolutely fantastic trip through time. The scenery was beautiful, yet every part of it was designed for a wall run or jump, a pole climb or any one of the great moves you could pull off to climb up the vast buildings. The combat worked, the music fit in, the voice acting was believable and the story enough to keep you playing. What more could you ask for in a game?
8: Grim Fandango (PC)
You can pick this up for next to nothing in any game shop you're lucky enough to find one in. It beats Monkey Island hands down - in fact I don't think any puzzle/adventure game has come along since to beat it (Zelda etc. are a different category). There are elements of comic genius in the script of this game, and elements of criminal mastermind in the design of the puzzles. It will keep you addicted for however many months it takes you to finish it
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7: Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (PC)
More of the same, but with enough improvements to make it that much cooler. The ltrain level is one of the best levels I've seen in a game (pity it was so short).
6: Mario Kart: Double Dash (GCN)
The console multiplayer king. It may not be as deep as Super Smash Bros, but it wins over being so easy to pick up - anybody can walk in and be driving inside of a minute. This game is also the reason I'm not at Oxford University
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5: Half-Life 2 (PC)
Yes, I know I'm posting this on an HL2-based forum, but that doesn't change a thing. It's in the top 5, but it wasn't the epic that the games above it were. I don't need to tell you why it's good
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4: The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time (N64)
Beautiful, involving, addictive, amusing and scary alternately (and frequently at the same time), this is quite possibly one of the best games of all time. It took me seven years to complete, but it was worth it. Everything about it is absolutely top-notch, from the dungeon design to the music.
3: Half-Life (PC)
I only wish I had played this game properly from start to finish before I'd played bits. Half-Life 2 didn't quite match the sheer sense of awe at what was going on - the endless spawl of the Black Mesa Research Facility, the shrieks of fellow scientists, the terror of crashing ceilings/trams/lifts/everything. This game invented the FPS with the storyline.
2: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GCN)
When people saw the screenshots of the new graphical style for Wind Waker "omg wot hav they d0ne!!!11?!?1". When the videos came, most people realised what Nintendo had done - they'd made a game with beautiful graphics that didn't aim for photorealism. The quality of animation in this game, it might as well have been a pre-rendered cartoon. The music, story, and all were all easily up to Nintendo standards - the gameplay raised the bar. The cave on Shark Island is the best fight scene you can have in a computer game.
1: Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (PC)
I still can't think of the right words to accurately describe how much I enjoyed this game. I bought this game, came home and played it until I finished it. Every single mission was a masterpiece. Every new feature was a useful addition to the game. When I get some time I'll be making videos of playing this. If you can get me a video fo you killing every enemy of the game by pulling them over a walkway, I will love you forever.
Other games I really enjoyed that didn't make it in, mostly because I didn't think of them till now:
Banjo Kazooie, Perfect Dark, Super Mario 64, Deus Ex, Deus Ex: Invisible War, Donkey Kong 64, Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, Half-Life: Opposing Force, Aliens vs Predator 2, Age of Empires, Red Alert 2, The Sims, Theme Hospital, Sim City 4, Ultima Online, Planetside.
The Best Game Ever.
Linear Mode
