Top 10's and whatever idk/gaems

Here we go so all like

NUMBER 10: timesplitters future perfect

i remember a few years ago when i was but a child this game was all i ever talked about. like i honestly thought it was the best game ever. now too its credit this is a super super fun game and one of the only games i can think of that makes me feel things despite not really placing any emphasis on story. you can argue this is just cos of nostalgia (and it totally is) but there sheer breadth of gameplay options and the game's comedic tone place emphasis on the wacky fun to be had on the arcade mode. if a game's going to be about fun, it needs to go ALL THE WAY, and that's something i still feel timesplitters does perfectly.

NUMBER 9: portal 2

iirc this is another game i never shut up about, but that's with good reason. the first portal is an amazing game but really is more a proof of concept regarding the portal mechanic - there's some great exploration and narrative regarding aperture science but i still feel portal 1 is best looked at better as a short teaser for portal 2, an appertiser if you will. portal 2 takes the most engaging parts from the first game - dark narrative and sense of humour, time/space bending puzzles and runs with them, creating an amazing story that ties in seamlessly with gameplay. not to mention this game has some kickin music and visuals as well as amazing voice acting from stephen merchant (who is bae) and a super fun co-op mode which i've played 6 times with different friends and enjoyed just as much every time.

NUMBER 8: bastion

only two games i've ever played have given me the impression that i was part of something larger. that my character really was just one person in a huge world, which so much backstory and history we may never see. one of those games is bastion, which is an amazing feat considering the game is 5 hours long, not counting optional missions. bastion's greatest strength is tone - the reason the world feels so rich and alive is because the music and visuals (as well as the beautifully written narration) work together to create an atmosphere, a culture both alien and familar to us at the same time. this combined with the tiny snippets of lore given through the narration offers us that impression of a world living and breathing, much as hours. this game is amazing and the reason i don't rate it higher is because so much of this world ISN'T explored when it could be. i feel if there's ever a bastion 2 it should do what portal did and use the original as a jumping off point for so, so much more.

NUMBER 7: fallout: new vegas

this is the other game i've played where i feel the world and lore is bigger than so much i can imagine. yes, there are many other games that share this same universe, but the reason they fail to achieve this same feeling is either because of the nature of the game itself (fallout 1 and 2 play in a weird turn based style from an isometric viewpoint, which takes away the interaction and visuals necessary to accomplish it) or just because the story isn't written that amazingly (see: fallout 3 which i still love). new vegas's greatest strength is exploration - the character is guided along the story, sure, but is free to wonder around the gorgeously decaying mojave wasteland, which is full of tiny touches which really add to the post apocalyptic setting (thousands of optional caves and disused buildings which have no purpose other than to shape the world). the writing and characterisation is on point and the game is also aided by some of the best DLC of all time, all of which only further help the build the world. i can only pray fallout 4 takes after this one.

NUMBER 6: spec ops: the line

it's really hard to convey to anyone why this game is so good until they play it. then they understand. from the outset, this game is another in the line of "call of duty/battlefield generic shooter w/e" series, but that's just it wants you to think. the game masterfully subverts tropes you'd expect from that line of gaming to plunge you into a dark, dark storyline that is honestly hard to play through at times just because of the depravity the characters sink too. i'm really concerned any of the two people in this wiki who haven't played this will read it and this will spoil it. it just has to be seen to be believed. a master-class in game storytelling. check it out.

NUMBER 5: bioshock

it was really hard for me to decide whether this should be at 4 or 5 but i have to put it here. this game is fantastic for many reasons - taking system shock's horror/action tone and not making it a bitch to play, it has an amazingly cool setting and character and it uses narrative theme amazingly. without wishing to spoil, bioshock uses its linear gameplay to fantastically compliment its theme throughout, a theme which is still relevant even 50 years (est) after the book which inspired it (atlas shrugged) arrived. this game is fun when it needs to be, terrifying when it needs to be, intense when it needs to be and provocative when it needs to be, and this ability to provoke a variety of emotions from the player is what makes it such a good game.

NUMBER 4: half-life 2

and with this valve becomes the only developer to pull double duty on this list. like nearly every other game i've mentioned, half-life 2 has an amazing plot but what's even more amazing is the player will never have had to play half-life to understand whilst still rewarding them for having played it (this being a key feature of nearly all strong sequels). the game, tonally, is incredibly different to the original, which is doubly impressive as the core gameplay remains the same. this means that while valve reward players of the original through story references, they're also able to subtly do it through gameplay, by repeating (and defying) scenarios from the original to prevent anyone, newcomer or otherwise, from being comfortable. this is to say nothing of the fantastic characterisation, dialogue and environments the game has to offer.

NUMBER 3: the walking dead

this is the only game which has successfully made me cry. the walking dead puts you in the shoes of lee everett, a former convict now tasked with reuniting a small child with her parents in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. the game does something no ever game in this genre will make you do and that is make you think like someone in this scenario. not just act, but think. the simple "choose your path before time runs out" seems silly at first but really conveys the panic one would actually feel. "but what's to stop you from shooting and looting everyone?" you might ask? well that ultimately comes down to the character of clementine, your moral compass through-out the game. clementine is also what prevents decisions from being so clear cut by offering you an alternate POV on matters. the walking dead soldiers on and soon becomes apparent lee is not the main character but clementine is, and she, ultimately, is what separates the walking dead from any other game i've ever played: the heart.

(reading over that paragraph i have no idea what i just said but play TWD anyway it's amazing)