My Top 10 Games

Welcome, fellow Otaku & Metal Heads, to my 4th top 10 list!

So far, I’ve covered my favorite singers & bands, old-school anime, and my favorite movies & tv shows. So what’s next, you may ask? Well, as you can tell by the title, my top 10 favorites games of course! This will be a really weird list to look at: with only a tiny few exceptions, everything on here will be PC (Or PC-Console crossover). My father was a Computer Engineer (Still is), and he basically said that it’s pointless to have a console, when you have a computer that does the same thing. I still subscribe to this philosophy, but there’s always a surprise or two. So with that said, here are my top 10 favorite video games of all time. Enjoy!

10) Skyrim (Clip)

I’ll fully admit this fact to you: I don’t have a good history with the Elder Scrolls franchise. Mom & I got Daggerfall back in the day, but that was a buggy mess. Flash forward to 2002, and we get Morrowind. We got along better with that game, but thanks to a crash, we lost the save files & never went back again. Oblivion came & went (I never even touched it), and for the longest time I never really payed attention to the franchise as a whole. Come 2014, and the game gods above decided to send me something.

Around early/mid June of 2014, and Steam is having it’s annual Summer Sale. Games from across the spectrum were on sale, and I was looking through to see what was cheap. I spot Skyrim shortly into my searching, and found the “Legendary Collection” that contained the main game & all of the DLC for the low price of around 13 or 14 dollars. That was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up, and so curiosity finally took hold & I bought the collection. It was money well spent!

Easily one of the most breathtaking worlds I’ve ever come across, Skyrim feels alive & realistic. The various towns, caves, and dungeons are all teaming with life. The character system is simplistic but has depth, and the dragons! Dear God, they weren’t kidding when they said that the dragon attacks would be random, and I can’t tell you how many times they’ve come out of the blue to whoop me a new one. It can be huge for new players, and you can get enough quests to where it feels like you’re overburdened. I got over this relatively quick, and Skyrim has since become a RPG classic for me. Speaking of classic...

9) Diablo Franchise (Clip 1 - Clip 2 - Clip 3)

The Diablo franchise is one of the oldest gaming franchises I’ve been devoted to, as the first game came out in 1996. True be told, I wasn’t able to play the first game until at least 6 months to a year (It’s hazy for me remembering back this far) after it came out, because my Mom was mostly against me playing violent games back then. When I was a little older, she finally let me play the original game, and it was worth the wait! It was dark, gritty, gothic, and very action packed despite not having much of a story to it. Even today, I still play the original Diablo & Hellfire mission pack for nostalgic purposes, as well as the fact that it holds up quite well today.

Even though Diablo holds up today, Diablo 2 blows the original game away. Stronger & more expanded classes (Necromancer for life!), bigger world, better graphics, and a fleshed out story brought more players into the fold, and any players that may have been disenfranchised by the original Diablo. When the mission pack came out, the game was given new classes (Druid & Assassin), new items & monsters, a new part of the world to explore, and more expansion to the story. Yes, Diablo 2 has perhaps surpassed the original game, and is still played today by fans.

Which brings us to Diablo 3. I think we can say that, while fun when it first came out, the launch wasn’t the best in the world. There’s was rampant hacking (I was a victim of a hack, but I got that situation fixed), difficulty could be problematic, and the Auction House was a main source of the game’s controversy (Didn’t mind the Gold Auction House. Thought the Real Money Auction House was pathetic.). Fast forward to 2014 & this year, there was a tidal wave of changes crashing over the wall, and with the Reaper of Souls expansion, things were returned to a better place. There are still some problems, mostly the required internet connection, but now Diablo 3 feels far more like the games of old. It’s gotten back to the days of Diablo 1 & 2: it feels more gothic, the gameplay is great, and the loot feels like it has far more bite that their original incarnations. It appears that Diablo 3 has been redeemed!

8) Dante’s Inferno (Clip)

And here we come to one of the few console games I’ve ever played through & through.

Though I haven’t turned on Dad & mine’s PS3 in a while, I enjoyed Dante’s Inferno when I played it. Though it’s a bit of a God of War clone, there was enough of a difference in terms of combat that it felt separate from that game series. Also, the depiction of the nine circles of hell was impressive & beautiful in a dark sort of way. Not to mention the fact that the denizens of hell (Both normal enemies & bosses) were equally imaginative & dark. Hell, I even enjoyed the story of Dante’s Inferno, as it twists & turns the original into something that feels different, but doesn’t completely stray from it’s source material. It also helps to have a kick ass website that rewards interactivity (If it’s still up, I don’t know). It is because of Dante’s Inferno that I align myself with Sony, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in the Playstation 3 system.

7) Call of Duty Franchise (Clip)

Call of Duty.

When one mentions those 3 words, chances are you either praise from it’s fans, or you’ll hear corrosive vitriol from it’s critics. Truth be told, I understand both sides: I can certainly see the flaws in the franchise. Modern Warfare 2 definitely started the trend of hate with it’s flaws, and Ghosts is a horrendous pile of crap, especially when you consider what Black Ops 2 did. For me, however, I think that the franchise as a whole has been fun. Call of Duty has always been a series that I’ve always loved, especially since I’ve been with it since the original way back in 2003. Even today, Call of Duty is fun to play, especially with attention-grabbing titles like Black Ops 2 & Advanced Warfare. Sure, Call of Duty is a highly dividing game franchise & it has some issues, but for it’s fans, it home.

6) Lego Island (Clip)

Now, I was originally going to put this game somewhere from 4 to 1 spots on this list. Lego Island was a game that I remembered very much when I was little. The game from which all other Lego games came from, you can’t help but respect Lego Island. Sadly, there’s two things that prevent me from doing so. Dated graphics & repetitive gameplay. These two dents in the armor keep me from putting the game that high on the list.

Having said that, this game is a blast to play! As I said, the world is a bright, colorful place where you just want to hang out in and have fun. The activities, while few & repetitive, are absolutely a blast to do (Build & drive race cars, drive an ambulance to rescue fellow Lego people, etc), and you can customize just about anything on the island. Even the characters you come across (Primary & secondary) can provide you with some nice chuckles & laughs, as you don’t always know what they’ll do. As you can tell, fun is the word in this game. Even if you’re not a kid, if you’re a fan of Lego video games you should play though this at least once.

5) Quake (Clip 1 - Clip 2)

I think many old-school FPS fans often shake & froth at the mouth when observing the modern shooter scene. What made the genre popular back in the 90s & early 2000s is often not in modern shooters. Perhaps obviously so. As much as I enjoy the Call of Duty franchise, I can’t deny that it’s damaged the reputation of the FPS genre, and at times I can agree with critics. Yeah, First-Person-Shooters might get a little more flak than they used to, but the classics of the genre’s heyday still stand tall to this day, and Quake is most definitely a classic!

Having a quick little turf war with my number 4, Quake was revolutionary for it’s time. The first full 3d FPS game, Quake was known for 2 things: fast action & atmosphere. FPS games before this certainly had an environment, but due to the new graphics engine that Id Software developed, there was a depth that wasn’t seen before. The enemies were some of the most eerie foes created in a 90s game, and many of us can’t forget the first time we saw a Fiend or Shambler charge at us. Luckily, things were fast & furious, as you could move around to swiftly blow them away. With the multiplayer, you’re given an equally fast & furious experience against other players, and when skins first came into play, the creativity of gamers was put into the spotlight.

Quake, an absolute classic shooter of the 90s. You’re doing yourself a big disservice if you don’t even watch someone play it! Speaking of 90s shooters....

4) Duke Nukem 3d (Clip)

Ah, good old Duke Nukem 3d!

What’s funny about this game in terms of the character, it’s that there really wasn’t much of a character to begin with. The original game pretty much had nothing to Duke as far as personality was concerned, and while Duke Nukem II certainly established more of a background, it was Duke Nukem 3d that really fleshed out Duke. An ass-kicker, womanizer, and hardcore drinker, Duke doesn’t put up with any alien bullshit. Woe to any extraterrestrial that tries to take away the ladies, cause chances are they’ll probably have some lead pumped into their heads! The game still has fans today, and with a community that continues to pump out content to this day, it’s unlikely that Duke Nukem 3d will fade from gaming history.

3) Epic Pinball (Clip)

Now here’s a game that ancient!

Coming in at 20+ years old (It was released in November of 1993), Epic Pinball was one of the best PC pinball ever made. It’s really tragic that Epic Games hasn’t been re-released as a free download on their website, or as a cheap buy over on steam, because Epic Pinball is a easy game to pickup & play. While there’s no overall story (Makes sense, considering the game subject), each of the 13 tables have their own theme to them (Android has you building an...android, Crash & Burn puts you in a Formula 1 race, and Pangea puts you in the time of the dinosaurs), as well as their own difficulty.

I really recommend this game. If you can somehow find the complete collection online as a download, or find the Wizardworks collection somewhere, go for it!

2) Jazz Jackrabbit (Clip)

Yet another game that’s ancient!

Originally released on July 30, 1994, Jazz Jackrabbit is a hybrid of Sonic the Hedgehog style speed, coupled with frantic side-scrolling shooting action. Perhaps the funniest thing about this game is that it’s story is a fantasy version of Aesop’s classic fable: 3000 years after that incident, Devon Shell (The evil leader of the turtles) has captured Eva Earlong (The long-eared princess) of Carrotus in an effort to conquer the galaxy. The king of Carrotus sends it’s greatest hero, Jazz, on a journey through the worlds that Devon has conquered to get back the princess, and save the planet. It’s incredibly cheesy, but it’s a lot of fun at the same time.

Just like Epic Pinball, if you can find the entire file online, or somehow locate the CD that has all the episodes, go for it!!

Before we get to my number 1 Game, I wanted to give you some of my Honorable Mentions in this category. Video Games that, while very enjoyable, just didn’t make the cut. Maybe it’s because of the games’s background, design, or whatever other reason comes to mind. With that said, here they are:

HM1) Borderlands 2 & Borderlands the Pre-Sequel (Clip 1 - Clip 2)
- For a while, I had these two games on the main list. The number 5 spot, if you can believe it! Sadly, some issues have come up in recent times that reluctantly got me to put these games in the honorable mentions sections. Namely, it’s rather lackluster story (I consider it lackluster, but some of you might not), and it’s wishey-washey drop rate. That said, I truly can’t hate either of these games. Borderlands 2 & Borderlands the Pre-Sequel has some of the best action in modern FPS games, and the character of the two I can only describe as “Mad Max rewritten & redirected by Monty Python”. Certainly, two games that can be absolutely fun.

HM2) Dungeon Keeper 2 (Clip)
- This game is something of a paradox. On the one hand, it’s better than the original. It’s got a newer (At the time) graphics engine, revised mechanics, humor both dark & goofy, and a personality that hasn’t been able to have been replicated in modern gaming times. On the other hand, the graphics are very dated by today’s standard, some people didn’t like some of the revisions, and it doesn’t quite hold up to modern strategy games. For me, this game has a big nostalgia factor. The intro is easily one of my favorites, and while archaic, the overall experience is still fun.

HM3) Heroes of the Storm (Clip)
- If my friend Amanda is reading this, them she might kill me if she sees this.

Now, I don’t hate this game. In fact, I can’t. Heroes of the Storm is an absolute blast! A collection of characters from across all of Blizzard’s franchises (Even 1 pre-Blizzard) in a battle royale is a recipe for greatness! Coupled with some equally ridiculous levels, and the entertainment doesn’t stop. What’s stopping me from putting Heroes of the Storm on the main list? In-game purchases, that’s what! Normally I don’t mind this. Hell, I’ve gotten some of Call of Duty’s DLC, and the pricing wasn’t terrible. Here, it’s quite maddening. Skins can cost up to about 10 dollars, and characters can fluctuate from about 4 to 9 dollars! Yeah, it’s a little stupid for me not to put HotS on the main list because of prices, but that one little thing stops me from doing so.

1) One Must Fall 2097 (Clip)

Let's rewind the clock a bit: it's the early 90s. 1993, to be more specific. We're living in a small apartment house in Clinton, New York. At the time, we were a lower middle-class family: we weren't poor, but we didn't have a lot of money. We didn't have a lot of full PC games, but we had plenty of demos. One of them was for a fighting game called One Must Fall: 2097, published by Epic Megagames (long before they became the popular Epic Games). OMF: 2097 was a fast paced games where two giant robots went toe-to-toe against each other, with the only goal of tearing each other apart. It was a fun demo, but the only problem was that it was...a demo. There wasn't any multiplayer (against another computer, that is.), there were only 5 out of the 10 pilots available, and there were only 3 of the 10 robots available. Despite that, me and my Father (sometimes my Mother) spent a lot of time playing against each other, and basically having a good time.

Forward to 1994, and we're still living at the same place, or so I believe (It was so long ago, I can't remember well). I believe I came home from school, and after doing my homework, my Father calls me into the computer rooms and asks if I wanted to play a game of OMF with him. Without batting an eyelash, I said "Sure!" I got over to the seat, and my Dad starts up the game. Both the demo and the full game start up the same, so I didn't know what was in store. My Dad selected the two-player option, and the first thing he said was "Well...let's see. I think I'm going to be...Raven." It was then that I knew that something was different, and when he selected a robot that was previously unavailable, I was bouncing off the walls in joyous celebration. I couldn't believe that he did this for me, especially at a time when we had to be careful with our money. Although I was never certain, I could have sworn that my Mom was in on this as well, so props to you Mom if you were.

So these were my top 10 video games. A bit PC centric to be sure, but we all have our preferences. Hope you all enjoyed this list, and I’ll see you next week for my 4th metal overview, covering one of the most infamous metal bands of all time.