365 Games To Play Before You Die - #28-31: Current Gen Games
By mracoon 5 Comments
365 Games To Play Before You Die
A couple of newer games today which I consider to be future classics.
Previous 5 Games
#23: DOOM#24: MDK
#25: The Operative: No One Lives Forever
#26: Far Cry
#27: Serious Sam: The Second Encounter
#28: Braid
Platform(s): XBLA, PC and PSN (eventually)Release: 2008
Developer(s): Number None
Best Quote: 'Now we are all sons of Bitches'
GB Wiki Page
When Braid fist came out and everybody was giving it rave reviews and saying how it proves gaming is an art form I was bit skeptical. Even Ryan's 5 star review didn't have me fully convinced and I still thought that Braid looked too pretentious. A year later the game was released on PC and I thought it was time to see if people were overhyping something that actually wasn't that great. Now I'm ready to admit that I was wrong in doubting all those people. Mostly.
Braid is truly a special game. It doesn't force itself to be something it's not to appeal to a mass audience and it's a game which is telling the story, what the story actually is about is left to the interpretation of the player. What elevates Braid from other games with great stories is that the gameplay is intrinsically tied to the plot and that is something which isn't seen much.
People go on about Braid as the 'art' game (along with the two other most commonly refereed to 'art' games: Shadow of the Colossus and BioShock) but to me it doesn't really matter. That's because it's just an amazing experience which weaves story with gameplay so seamlessly and is still a great puzzle game.
#29: Left 4 Dead
Platform(s): PC and Xbox 360Release: 2008
Developer(s): Valve
Best Quote: 'Pills here!'
GB Wiki Page
Controversial? Not really. Too soon? Not soon enough. Left 4 Dead may be less then a year old and getting a sequel in a few months but it has already become one of my all time favourite games. It's games based on zombies (infected if you want to be accurate), which everybody loves and it's in co-op, the most fun way to play a game.
L4D is just the perfect co-op game. Each character is instantly recognisable and so are all of the boss infected with there individual groans and screeches. The levels may not be very long but with AI director you get different experience. Even now I still get surprised at what's thrown at me as it never happened before.
I'm also excited for Left 4 Dead 2. It may be a year since the original's release but it looks like Valve are adding a substantial amount of new content and completely relocating the game, which sounds great to me.
#30: Mass Effect
Platform(s): Xbox 360 and PCRelease: 2007
Developer(s): BioWare
Best Quote: Asari Councillor: Commander, Is this some kind of game? Are you calling in a report just so you can cut us off again?
Commander Shepard: You know it.
[disconnects communication]
Joker: That never gets old, does it?
GB Wiki Page
BioWare know there RPGs and they know how to make a good story to, as seen in KOTOR. So it's no surprise that Mass Effect is one of, if not the, best RPGs fo this generation. It has all the BioWare staples from player choice to an engaging story and very fleshed out world (seriously, I gave up on the codex and reading all the planet descriptions but it's nice that it's there).
I'm always attracted to a game with a good story so ME was game that immediately drew me in so when I got my 360 it was one the first games I picked up. As in other BioWare game you get choices over your actions but this time they have a much more direct impact over your story and the character involved. That's my favourite part of ME, seeing how your actions effect the course of your adventure.
Another big reason that I picked up ME was the fact that your story would carry over to Mass Effect 2. I haven't seen many games do this so I really hope that this turns out to be something substantial and not just that my character model is the same. I'm currently on my second playthrough and the recent signs of new dlc is good for me as I'm trying to reach level 60 and a lot of side missions can get repetitive (I've got Bring Down the Sky and even that just feels like a longer version of an ordinary side mission) so this will help me on my way.
#31: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Platform(s): PC, Xbox 360, PS3, DS and soon on WiiRelease: 2007
Developer(s): Infinity Ward
Best Quote: 'Cost of a single B-2 Bomber: $2.2 Billion'
GB Wiki Page
What's there to say. You've all probably played this game already because it sold over 13 million copies and it's a brilliant FPS. While the other Call of Duties were fun COD4 took the series to bigger and better places by having a fast paced story and engaging multiplayer mode.
I only really played the single player part of the game because the multiplayer aspect was not the kind I like, not to say that it's bad because it's use of levelling up and perks are cool features. The single player itself was enough to satisfy me. It's so relentlessly fast paced and before you know it your in another country playing a different character but still have a hell of a lot of fun. The variation in levels is also perfect. While you have most of the normal run and gun section there's also the memorable guile suite level and the just as memorable bomber section.
While I still prefer FPSs like Half-Life to the COD series it's still an amazing game and I can't complain when other games are using it as a mold because I'd rather they copy COD4 then some other crappy game.
31 down 334 to go.