My Top Ten Games of All Time – Part 2

Narrowing down my absolute favorite gaming experiences to only ten titles was not easy.  I’ve played so many games.  There are so many memories.  I’m sure I will wake up tomorrow thinking, “how could I have forgotten that game!”  Countless fantastic games come to mind just as I write this sentence.  But here it is.  My last four favorite games of all time.

4 – Fallout 3

I’m not sure how Bethesda pulled this game off. The game is post-apocalyptic. It’s dreary, depressing, and extremely grim; but somehow it found a way to be hilarious too. The world of Fallout doesn’t take itself too seriously, and that makes it great. The story is very campy, but fantastic. The gunplay is over-the-top ridiculous, but extremely fun. The game is riddled with endless bugs – some of them game breaking – but no one cares. Fallout 3 is an absolute riot to play. I’m pretty sure it led to me barely passing grade 11.

My heart still stops at the sight of a Deathclaw.

3 – The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion

Oblivion is the first Elder Scrolls game I ever played. From the moment I stepped out of the sewers of the Imperial City, looked out upon a huge lake, and realized that I could just start walking anywhere, I was immediately sold. I could do whatever I wanted; I could live a whole new life.

2 – Bioshock

Bioshock is one of my favorite game franchises of all time. The atmosphere, the gameplay, the stories; everything about Bioshock essentially summarizes what I love about games. Just give me an experience. Give me an experience that I could never have in the real world. Give me a game that I can come to at the end of a long, boring day, that says to me, “wanna visit a failed underwater utopia filled with incredible characters, stories, and deep socio-political themes?”

“Hell yes I do!”

1 – Half-Life 2

Half-Life 2 is, without a doubt, my favorite game of all time. Describing what makes Half-Life 2 so good is incredibly difficult. It is a AAA game in the purest sense – a game designed to be of the upmost quality. Everything about Half-Life 2 is excellent: the sound design, graphical fidelity, voice acting, gameplay, story, pacing, music, and even its length.

The first time I played that game I had a remarkable sensation throughout its entire duration. It was a feeling of desolation and grim surrealism that was achieved in an unobtrusive sort of way, almost like a constant underlying uneasiness. It was like a dream. It’s quite difficult to describe that feeling, and attempting to do so just does not do the game justice. Nothing has ever given me that same eerie feeling.

In my opinion, Half-Life 2 is a perfect game. If you have never played it before, I highly – highly – recommend it.

Honorable Mentions
– Vectorman
– Goldeneye 007
– Halo: Combat Evolved
– Metro: 2033
– Minecraft
– Bioshock: Infinite

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