Facewon wrote:

1. Dark Souls. As a total package I don't know that I can ignore the obsession, the effect it had on my playing of other games, and how good I found it when most games of late have left me completely jaded.

2. Halo CE. Just about see above. I put in so much time. Played so much co-op and so much local MP. And the revisit last year just highlighted that it pretty much stands the test of time.

3. SotC. Flawed, but executed epic bosses well ahead of everyone else, and nailed less is more and leaving things to imagination.

4. GTA Vice City. Like the Halos, hard to know which ones to include, and then in what order. But this is the one that I loved the most at the time of release, I think. Close call with SA, but SA pushed some RPG buttons a step too far.

5. Colin McCrae 2.0 The handling was just so good. And shaving seconds off times and trying to nail corners was just so satisfying. And it was nails hard in spots. Aiming for consistency over the course of an event made it even better.

6. Halo 3. In hindsight, the first of the really complete package Halos. 4 player co-op, and the beginnings of stuff like arcade scoring and forge which have gone on to be a big part of the replay value of FPSes in general. MP was where it's at.

7. Halo 2. Flawed in so many ways, but at the time, online MP was something else. it brought out the worst in a lot of people, and there were, again in hindsight, massive balance issues and bugs/tricks with the MP, but still: Hour upon hour of customs on Lockout and Midship. Say no more.

8. Ico. The little game that could. See Adkm's reasoning.

9. Prince of Persia. Sand of Time. Perfect length. No filler. Perfect little final section where they take away the sands of time, yet the game remains fair. probably UBi's best work.

10. Blast Corps. Amazing amount of time spent hammering platinum scores in this. Amazing.

Honourable mentions:

BFBC2 (MP FTW), NBA2k11, ODST, MGS, Chrono Cross, Bioshock, PGR 2, GTA SA, GTA IV, Rez, Panzer Dragoon Saga and Orta, XI (Devil's Dice), and various XBLA titles.

acemuzzy wrote:

1. Super Mario World
2. Zelda LttP
3. Final Fantasy VI
4. Super Metroid
5. Secret of Mana

screw you, other consoles

(Surely we did a top 10 ever recently? I think I also had Super Meat Boy, Civ 2, Motorstorm PR, Tetras and I can't remember what.)

Bob wrote:

Who the Fuck says eeh-co???

Yossarian wrote:

Destiny still offers the absolute pinnacle of first person shooting, both in its mechanics and level design.

This was really, really tough.  For example, I've swapped Kessen and Ring of Red in and out of the list I don't know how many times.  Trying to whittle down the final thirty to just ten was a fairly arbitrary process.  I do wonder if I should've kept the ten to twenty games that didn't make the cut in a separate list, rather than mixing them up with the other also-rans but, to be honest, on any given day there are a few of these that could've easily ended up anywhere else.  I think the top five would probably stay top five, but perhaps swapping about a bit.  Maybe.  And to think that I'm the negative one who hates all games!

1.  Ico (PS2)
This game is pretty much perfect.  It looks beautiful, the puzzles are pitched brilliantly, and it surpasses all games in getting you to emotionally invest in the lead characters.  Love it.

2.  Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)
Again, the emotional investment, this time with a gradually building sense of dread.  Working out the solutions is a little bit more frustrating, but this fits well, I think, with the more intense action.

3.  Bushido Blade (PS1)
The atmosphere of this game changes as the balance and intensity of each fight shifts.  I've played fights in near silence, with just the sound of the characters' feet on the gritty snow as each shifts their position, looking for a chance to attack without leaving themselves open, before one dives in delivering a fatal blow, the only strike of the encounter.  I've also seen epic fights spanning the whole game area, both fighters badly injured, struggling to find the energy to finish the other.  Cracking.  (Here is a thing I wrote about Bushido Blade since writing this post.)

4.  Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (PS3)
Takes the vertiginous gameplay of the previous games, and adds to the convincing physicality they set in place.  I can't think of a game that more convinces me that the character I'm controlling physically exists in the environment I'm moving him around.

5.  Colony Wars (PS1)
Along with Bushido Blade, this is a game I read about religiously in Play magazine, reading every preview over and over, never able to get enough, and, like Bushido Blade, the final product delivering everything I had hoped for and more.

6.  Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe (Atari ST)
The title music and controls mean that this version remains superior to subsequent tweaks and polishes.

7.  Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance (PS2)
I've never played any other Baldur's Gate games, so I don't know where this sits with them, but it's the most involving hack'n'slash I've enjoyed.  Great atmosphere, involving gameplay, convincing environment.  A joy.

8.  Kessen (PS2)
Because who wouldn't want to be a kick-ass Japanese warlord in a camp/magical version of history?

9.  Gears of War 2 (360)
This defines online multiplayer for me, both co-op and versus.  I know that a lot of those who were in on the act with the first game had complaints about the balance of this, but I was too busy having fun to care.

10. Grand Theft Auto (PS1)
Now here's a game that has never been improved on.  The London instalment seemed rushed, the sequel handled awfully, and since then it's gone 3D and, while some of them are good, they've rather changed from the original.

Honourable mentions (in no order whatsoever):
FIFA, ISS-Pro Evo, Madden, Tekken 3 (PS1), X-Blades (360), Batman The Movie (Atari ST), The Untouchables (ZX Spectrum), UFC 2009: Undisputed (360), Tenchu (PS1), Road Rash (PS1), Project Overkill (PS1), Star Gladiator (PS1), Cannon Fodder (Atari ST), Kilzone Liberation (PSP), Spider-man (PS1), Spider-man 2 (PS2), Full Spectrum Warrior (Xbox), Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS3), Uncharted 2: Amongst Thieves (PS3), Uncharted: Golden Abyss (Vita), Rayman Origins (360 & Vita), Tomb Raider (PS1), Rez (PS2), Worms (PS1), Timesplitters (PS2), Burnout (PS2), Medal of Honour (PS1), Medal of Honor (360), Nitro (Atari ST), Supercars II (Atari ST), Freedom Fighters (Xbox), Portal (360), Metal Gear Solid (PS1), Rally Cross (PS1), GTA: Vice City (Xbox), Ring of Red (PS2), Dropship: United Peace Force (PS2), SSX (PS2), Prototype (360), Sky Odyssey (PS2), Urban Chaos (PS1), Gran Turismo (PS1), Forza Motorsport 2 (360), Barbarian (ZX Spectrum), Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox), Resident Evil (PS2), Left 4 Dead (360), Chequered Flag (ZX Spectrum), Hostages (Atari ST), Target Renegade (ZX Spectrum), Double Dragon (NES), Turrican 2 (Atari ST), Crackdown (360), Hard Drivin' (Atari ST), other games that people mention that I'd somehow forgotten about.

adkm1979 wrote:

Yossarian wrote:

Destiny still offers the absolute pinnacle of first person shooting, both in its mechanics and level design.

I’m no major FPS fan, but this is a ma-hoo-ssively subjective statement, Yoss.  If I for one minute thought that the ridiculous prancing around that goes on non-stop in bungie’s titles where all FPSes were headed, I wouldn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Tempy wrote:

mistercrayon wrote:

Brooks wrote:

- Throwing things into distant bin while slumped in swivel chair - Avoiding cracks in paving - Thumb wrestling - Some kind of table hockey thing with coins - Dance-offs

Reminds me, has anyone played pac man air hockey? It's really fun and mad.

Yeah it's an arcade about ten minutes from where I stay

Djornson wrote:

1) World of Warcraft[/b] Where to begin. I am glad i played World of Warcraft, i will remember certain experiences from the game forever. I didn't really know what it was when i started but i remember reaching the first big city and wow, it was so atmospheric, so much atmosphere lied ahead. I spent something like 320 days actual days playing. I never reached highest level. I'm literally insane. After my initial hit of amazingness my guild disbanded and i kept making new characters searching for how good that could be. I'm not really selling it am I. My favourite memory is making it on to the world of warcraft europe front page. I had joined the very first roleplay + player versus player server as a Tauren. I joined a Tauren guild and we had an inter-faction rivalry with a Troll guild. We decided we were going to go attack the night elves in their home city. On the way we saw the trolls who conveniently had the same idea at the same time. (Obviously the guild leaders were organising each other.) I shouted something like 'for now trolls we fight together' and my character with that speech bubble was immortalised on the website. We made it to Ashenvale and everything was strangely quiet. We got to the Night Elves home city and suddenly out of nowhere thousands of night elves materialised. (they had a special ability to go invisible.) They murdered us all. It was fun.