A list of the greatest games of all time. This will likely be a more present-focussed list than most (god knows we're all sick of Mario 3 being at the top of every list). The timeline for it begins with the N64. Current re-playability is heavily taken into account. The games are listed in no particular order
Without question the greatest game released so far. No other game, not even GTA, has really fufilled it's promise of true open world gameplay where players can choose how they complete the game and how and when they begin each of the game's countless stories. In Oblivion, a player can find one of the hundreds of caves in the game and spend hours raiding the entire cavern for loot and training their skills and still not have even scratched the surface of their potential game experience. If you get bored of the main story, no worries. Just go spend the next 12 hours playing through one of the five minor guild driven quest lines that will develop your skills while generally providing an entertaining narrative. And once you've got full daedric armor and a sweet enchanted sword, you can plunge back into the main story and immediately start cutting up daemons.
Even more amazing, Oblivion is first action RPG to do the action part right. Fighting takes skill and reflexes and this increases the immersion to point where you really feel like the hero you're supposed to be on the screen. I could go on and on about this game, but suffice it to say that with it's hundreds of hours of gameplay and mind-blowing graphics, this RPG/action-game/shooter is currently the greatest game of all time.
This is perhaps the one game on this list that breaks the re-playability rule, but that's mainly due only to the overwhelming strength of the story and the power of the atmosphere that makes you reconsider if you want to re-enter the world of Rapture again, now that you know the true horror of this underwater city.
Bioshock, who's game genre probably runs closer to survival horror than an RPG, succeeds in making the player feel an increasing sense of dread the farther they progress through the story. Every enemy is a challenge, every BIg Daddy is a boss fight, and every time you hear the unpleasant raving of another splicer a cold chill runs down your spine as you check your always dwindling ammunition.
What makes the game exceptional is that each aspect of it could be a full game in itself. Plasmids are so well done that a lesser developer would have stopped there. However, Irrational decided to add one of the most visceral and satisfying FPS experiences to game as well, in addition to a hacking mini-game that I pray will one day come out for the DS.
The game's one flaw is that the same enemies you've been fighting all game get disproportionality stronger in relation to the strength of your guns, so it feels a bit unfulfilling when you're pouring shot -gun shells into splicers and they still don't go down. However, even in those situations, all it takes is a pistol, 1 anti-personnel round, and keen aim to make sure that splicer won't be getting up again any time soon. This game will hopefully be remembered for having the best story experience of any game to date.
Dead Space does something few other games outside of Half Life have ever accomplished: It makes you forget that you're playing a game. That's because Dead Space has no HUD at all. Everything, from your ammo to your inventory is realistically projected onto your gun or suit and thus creating a completely immersive experience. However, it's not just the lack of gamey features that make this game so enthralling, it's the general feel created throughout the entire experience. Dead Space cribs from Bioshock (who cribbed from every other survival horror game) and presents an environment filled with the scratching of Zombies, the wailing of insane survivors, and the creaking of ship parts in order to constantly put the player on edge. In addition to these effects, the developers at EA actually spent time crafting scary moments for the player to experience, and this care pays off; Dead Space is the only Survival Horror game to date, perhaps outside of the original Silent Hill games, to present movie level scares. Finally, the player is further made uneasy by the tight third person perspective on your character. This not only makes you feel a bit more vulnerable by preventing you from feeling COMPLETELY in control, but also enhances the sense of claustrophobia already encouraged by the game's setting: A mining ship.
Nevertheless, it's not just the feel of the game that makes Dead Space great, but the gameplay as well. Lesser developers would have just put in an SMG, shot gun and pistol and called it a day. However, EA has taken the time to give the player a series of completely unique (and space mining specific) weapons to further distinguish the experience from the plethora of other shooters currently on the market. Instead of just shooting zombies in the head and moving on, the player is forced to remove their limbs in different and totally awesome ways (projection buzz-saw blade to the right leg will slow 'em down) and then occasionally finish them off with a curb stomp to whatever remaining appendages the offending alien still has. Once again, this description of the game could theoretically go on forever, but add a light RPG element to the game along with crazy and diverse enemies and a compelling story and you've got one of the greatest games of all time.
