The Best Video Games of All Time (cont'd)

#6... BioShock (Xbox 360)

- On the surface, BioShock appears to be no more than another first person shooter, with admitedly better-than-average graphics. But after the first few minutes, the player finds themselves drawn into an experience that is more a playable film than it is a game. Add to that the fact that its controls, and by extension its Gun vs. Plasmid combat system, are so unique and well-thought-out, that clearing the same room is never quite the same experience twice, and you already have found yourself a masterpiece.

But thats not where BioShock ends. Its story, of a libertarian society gone mad on a genetically-altering narcotic deep beneath the ocean, is well-paced, intriguing, and ultimately highly-satisfying. And then add the best voice acting in video game history. As you can tell, this is no title to be taken lightly.

And all of this, BioShock does without actually creating a new genre of gaming. In the end, it is the a purely single-player shooter. And while its innovative Plasmid feature is creative, one certainely cannot say that its an idea that hasn't been played with before (for what science-fiction shooter these days doesn't offset an arsenal of personal weapons with an available plethora of supernatural powers). But none of this takes away from the game, because simply put, BioShock is everything we loved about those games, now executed to perfection. "Don't be a slow-poke, Mr. B... Angels won't wait for slow-pokes."

#7... Half-Life 2 (PC, Xbox, Xbox 360)

- The fact the most nerds would be screaming over how low I've placed Half-Life 2 on this list is enough of an argument to its impact. But, beyond that, one could still argue that developer, Valve, reinvented the wheel with the much hallowed physics engine this game produced, one that has seen countless mods and eventually an entire 4-game expansion pack based purely on its genuis.

The fact that its story is... well.. kinda shitty as far the science fiction genre goes, does nothing to detract from its overall brilliance. Hell, the very fact that it introduced me to the term "Resonance Cascade" is enough to take my hat off to. But the real artistic strongpoint of this game is the fact that, despite the lackluster and ill-explained storyline, the way the game paces its use of said story actually makes you care... ALOT.

A pioneer in the realm of transforming video games into film experiences, later perfected by the entry above, Half-Life 2 managed to literally transform the entire game into an interactive cutscene. Add to that the enclusion of quite-possibly the best shooter weapon of all time, the Gravity Gun, and you have yourself quite a heafty package to deal with here. Well done, Mr. Freeman. Well done, indeed.

The Best Video Games of All Time

Yes.... there has been quite the break in posting. Unemployment and alcoholism can do that to a guy. But, barring the usual self-indulgent excuses, I thought I'd throw up the most nerdy of lists... the opinion of one, humble, vagina-bereft, young man with far too much free time on his hands. And thus follows my own, Keinada-esque, opinion of the best Video Games thus far produced...






#1... Halo 3 (Xbox 360)
- Never to be taken lightely, Bungie execute the status quo, with years of development whilst a hundred billion nerds waited with bated breath for the final installment in the Halo saga... and, unlike with Halo 2, were not dissapointed in the least.


Halo 3 doesn't nessecarily introduce you to a brand new gameplay experience, instead it pushes the flint closer to the flame, as the inarguably best First Person Shooter of all time, Halo, is refined and perfected in a way even the most hardcore of fans couldn't have prayed for in their wildest dreams. An immensely engrossing story, backed by a surprisingly solid Single Player, completes the Halo Arc with a satisfying conclussion, while allowing a slim doorway for future installments.. a feat that any fiction writer will tell you is nigh-impossible to successfully pull off. That alone is noteworthy, but the continued improvement of a Multiplayer experience that is unrivaled in all other Video Game history settles the debate for any true gaming nerd that Halo is, in fact, the pinnacle of what Video Games have thus far achieved.


Infinitely addictive, and infuriating, Halo 3 is more Sport than it is Video Game. Add the incredibly intuitive extras of the Forge and Theater modes, and you get something that is more than just a Game. Halo 3 is the summit of Everest when it comes to modern entertainment. Any player who gas devoted more than a few moments of time to it already finds him or herself identifying with the human tank that is the Master Chief, Spartan-117 "John", and is pulled into an experience that can only be imitated, but never equaled. Halo 3... is simply "it".




#2... Resident Evil 4 (Gamecube, PS2, Wii)
- Capcom reinvented the Survival Horror genre, and revitalized the forgotten 3rd Person Shooter, with its jaw-dropping effort in R.E. 4. A franchise that had grown stale through its billion incarcnations, Resident Evil 4 revived the fan favorite character of Leon Kennedy, and secured him a soft place in all of our hearts, by setting him against a throughouly disturbing rural, Spanish province in this seminal work.



A completely revised combat system helped Resident Evil 4 distinguish itself from its already admirable forefathers, by bringing the the sheer fun on shooting zombies back into the game. Where once combat had been something to simply deal with between complicated, and sometimes ill-explained, puzzles, the Fourth installment made combat itself the most enjoyable part of the game. And, on top of that, suddenly the age-old Resident Evil problem of confusing, and walkthrough-begging, puzzles was solved simultaneously, with new challenges that ACTUALLY kinda made sense. Add to that a compelling story and a fair degree of unlockable content, the replay of this title is incomprable to any other purely single-player experience on the radar.


And, on top of that, its still very, fucking scary. Go figure. Although any Resident Evil fan will always appreciate the fact that, yet-again, uber-zombie, genetically altered, game-ending psychopaths seem only vulnerable to a red-painted rocket, aimed vaguely towards their 180 degrees of the screen. All hail Leon Scott Kennedy.





#3... Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight (PC)
- The oldest game on the list, Dark Forces II was as revolutionary as its forefather, which introduced the concept of JUMPING to the 1st person shooter, with the then-innovative tactic of making one's morality actually effect the ultimate outcome of the game's storyline. Beyond that landmark alone, Jedi Knight was the first, and still arguably best, game to give the player the abilites of the nerd-trademark Force within gameplay. If that wasn't enough in itself, it still managed to bring the most famous non-ranged weapon of all time, the Lightsaber, to the gamers hands, and balanced it well enough (if simplistically) to make it the bane of any run-and-gun gamer for the rest of time.


Add to all of these innovations the fact that Jedi Knight offered the first live-aciton Star Wars sequences seen since "Return of the Jedi" in the then-still pre-Phantom Menace days, and you have a literal geek orgasm in the form of a Video Game. To so many gamers, Kyle Katarn almost overshadowed Luke Skywalker on their first day of gameplay. A complelling storyline, which still stands as the best non-movie tale, this game roped you in and never let go until the final cutscene rolled.











#4... Gears of War (Xbos 360)

- Anyone's complaint of how short Gears' single-player campaign is, is merely evidence of how much that person just wanted some more. The only game that advertised itself as a "Halo-killer", and yet couldn't be laughed at for that boast, is enough to make Gears noteworthy. But, even if alot of its noticably influenced by the under-the-radar "Killswitch", Gears is a completely different take on the shooter genre. Granted, its 3rd-person, but its tactical use of cover and careful, strategic tactics have invented and entirely new brand of shooter-gaming: the "Tact-shooter".

Its single-player is enrapturing. The only complaint anyone had ever had is that they simply.... want.. MORE! The fact that its PC incarnation sold platnum largely due to one extra mission packaged with it is enough to prove that point. But beyond that, Gears provides a Multiplayer experience unlike any other game out there. Single-handedly, we may one day look back at the console wars, and mark Gears as the moment that Microsoft stabbed Sony in the heart.

God knows what is going on with the much-anticipated sequel, but should Gears of War stand alone for all time, all of us will still have to at least pause a moment when someone askes us who would win in a fight: Marcus Fenix or Master Chief. Granted, the answer is the Chief.. but the fact that we have to pause to think about it for a moment is enough to show you how much respect the Gears have earned.




#5... God of War II (PS2)
- Released in an age where the PS3 and 360 were already doing battle, God of War 2 managed to top any sales record by either system... and on a last-generation system no less! Despite what creator, Dave Jaffe, could ever claim, God of War continued its tradition of taking the new, button-masher genre pioneered by Devil May Cry, and put it to shame, with a gameplay experience arguable unrivaled elsewhere. Kratos, Kratos, Kratos, how can I count the ways I love thee? This game is the unadulterated definition of "bad-assery".

Building on the exact foundation of its forebearer, God of War 2 is the only game ever to feel like you're literally playing the second installment of a trilogy. Its story and cutscenes are engrossing, and play to the fans of the series at every level. Its puzzles are challenging, and delightfully offest the freneic combat inbetween. This game is like Greek mythology on PCP, even including the ever-popular group-sex mini games of its parent. And all the while you cannot help but take it completely seriously, as the pacing of the storyline is melodramtic, yet-never alienating.

A masterpiece of art, as well as gaming, God of War 2 trumps its predescesor, if that was even possible. Kratos has become a legend in his own right. And any doubers need merely watch is Blades of Athena bisect a few foes to find themselves agreeing that here they have found something uniquely magical.

#'s 6 through 10 will shortly follow, barring unforeseen, and albiet much-sought for real-life intrusions.