Favorite Video Games

Top 10 (Favorite) Video Games

Please realize while reading this that I haven't played every game that was ever made, I can only choose games I've actually played. These are merely my favorites, the games on which I wracked up the most hours of playtime. For some entries I included two games from the same series of games simply because otherwise this list would be dominated by sequels and their predecessors.

Number 10 - QUAKE (1996)



Fresh from creating DOOM and DOOM II (which will both be on the list) ID Software set out to up the ante with far better graphics that pushed the technology of the day to the limits. QUAKE was one of the first video games I ever played and was undoubtedly the first FPS (first person shooter) I ever played. As a teenager this game provided hours of fun despite the fact it was more than five years old when I started playing it (as video games were concerned I was a fairly late bloomer). QUAKE takes place in several realms that look like something from the mind of H.P. Lovecraft, the kind of world where dark lord Cthulhu would be right at home. You play, much like in DOOM, as a survivor of a scientific experiment into teleportation gone wrong. There are four realms to fight your way through and zombies, monsters and possessed soldiers to blast away. Quake was also one of the first games to have a multiplayer mode.

Number 9 - DOOM and DOOM II (1993, 1994)



DOOM was the precursor to QUAKE developed by ID Software. The game has a very similar plot. The unnamed silent protagonist makes his way through military bases, ruined cities and often right into Hell while blasting away demons and trying to find his way into the next area. The tendency of demons to teleport out of nowhere, or to appear as punishment for flipping the RIGHT switch, actually makes the game frightening. DOOM is the grand-daddy of essentially all First Person Shooter games in existence today and remains one of the best games I’ve ever played.

Number 8 - Assassin’s Creed 2 (2009)



Assassin’s Creed 2 is a third person action-adventure game set both in the future and centuries into the past. Employing a device known as the Animus people are able to tap into genetic memories and relive things through their ancestor’s bodies. This puts the player in the shoes of ancient assassin’s and gives them the ability to free run over rooftops through medieval cities. Assassin’s Creed 2 was a huge improvement over the first game and is one of the largest and most immersive free roam games imaginable. The story taking place in the future may be a bit uninteresting but once you get into the Animus you won’t want to get back out.

Number 7 - Star Wars Battlefront 2 (2005)



For a Star Wars nerd such as myself (see my Top 10 Movie list) there was nothing better than being put in the shiny white boots of a Storm Trooper and getting to pwn some rebel scum or getting to force throw Darth Vader as Yoda. Star Wars Battlefront 2 is one of the most fun multiplayer games ever conceived and had a robust single player following a group of Clone Troopers up until the fateful day that Order 66 was executed and beyond. The game allows you to utilize many familiar vehicles and play as heroes and villains such as Luke Skywalker and Boba Fett. Star Wars Battlefront 2 remains one of the best games I’ve ever played and despite being over five years old still looks awesome graphically.

Number 6 - Portal (2007)



Portal is a puzzle game developed by Valve. Like many first person games it follows a silent protagonist, an android named Chell, as she navigates her way through multiple test chambers at the behest of a computerized task-master named GLaDOS (Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System). The premise is simple but the game can be quite painful on your brain the first time you play.

Number 5 - Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007)



I was never a big Call of Duty fan until this game. Up until that time I’d played Medal of Honor games religiously but when Activision and Infinity Ward brought Call of Duty into the modern era I jumped on the bandwagon. The game offers a realistic and downright awesome single player mode following the adventures of two soldiers as they deal with world altering events. COD4 also boasts one of the deepest online multiplayer modes ever conceived that provided my friends and I with hours of fun. While not flawless by any means the game set the bar for war related games and even, finally, coaxed an attempt at a modern war setting from Medal of Honor just a few months ago.

Number 4 - Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 (2008, 2009)



In 2008 Valve took a break from the adventures of Gordon Freeman (more on that later) to delve into the world of zombies. The product was Left 4 Dead, the story of four survivors neck deep in the undead, or the infected at least since I’m pretty sure these zombies aren’t the Romero kind. Instead of the standard lumbering ghoul we get grizzly pale-green-gray zombies more interesting in clawing their way through your skin and punching you into oblivion than on indulging in a meal of gray matter. Both games excel at putting you right in the middle of the action and when played with friends the game shines as an excellent cooperative, or competitive game. The ability to play as the infected, who have begun mutating and gained some odd abilities that help them snare survivors, is a stroke of sheer genius on Valve’s part, but what else would we expect from them right?

Number 3 - Half-Life (1998)



A decade before Left 4 Dead Valve cut its teeth on what remains one of the best FPS games to date. Half-Life was built from the same basic formula as QUAKE and tells a fairly similar story. You play as a silent scientist, a young Doctor named Gordon Freeman who, after an experiment causes aliens to teleport into the secret facility where he works, must fight his way to safety and try to save the world. The game features both alien and human enemies in the form of a military team sent in to exterminate the witnesses and destroy the facility. Using both normal fire arms and some futuristic sci-fi style weaponry Gordon Freeman eventually makes his way to the alien world.

Number 2 - Red Dead Redemption (2010)



Red Dead Redemption, developed by Rockstar games (of Grand Theft Auto fame) tells the story of John Marston, an outlaw trying to redeem himself in the dying days of the Old West. The story takes place in the fictional setting of New Austin and also features parts of Mexico all of which are, by the end of the game, entirely open to exploration by the player. The game is incredibly immersive and there is as much to do outside the main storyline as there is to do within it. A player can quite literally get lost out in the wilderness, its that massive. The sandbox element is only part of it, the story itself is also excellent and has plenty of emotional depth and things to say about humanity and society as a whole. Its also one of the longer story-modes of recent times. Lately many game companies have been lazy and have included single player modes that only take a few hours to beat but Red Dead Redemption will keep you busy for way longer than a few hours.

Number 1 - Half-Life 2 (2004)



We’re back to Valve once again, what can I say I am a sucker for Valve games. Half-Life 2 was the hotly awaited sequel to the first game, how hotly awaited was it? Well it took SIX YEARS for Valve to finish the game in an industry where the turn around is usually only two years, maybe one year for sports games like Madden. Half-Life 2 shines in everything it does, the graphics are some of the best ever done, the physics engine is outstanding, the characters are interesting and engaging and the plot is one of the best science fiction stories ever told in any artistic medium. To top all that off the game includes some pretty awesome weaponry and combat that shifts between being surrounded by zombies, shot at by soldiers and trying to shoot down a helicopter with laser guided rockets while being atop a lighthouse. I’ve probably played the game two dozen times by now, partially because of how awesome it is but also because Valve has been agonizing slow to churn out the next part of the saga. Knowing Valve, the wait will be worth it.



So that’s my list of top 10 games. Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment below with your own top 10. Here are those that didn’t make the list but still deserve honorable mentions:

ESPN NFL 2K5
Batman Arkham Asylum
Assassin's Creed
Diablo II
Grand Theft Auto III, IV and the others in between
Metroid Fusion
Pokemon Gold and Silver Versions (don't hate, Pokemon games are the shit)
Mortal Kombat: Deception
Medal of Honor and its various expansions (not the new game)
Warcraft II (because it was the first PC game I ever played)

Things in MW2 that piss me off

Top 10 Things about Modern Warfare 2 Multiplayer that Piss me Off -

In honor of the upcoming release of Call of Duty Black-Ops I'm going to do a rundown of all the things present in Modern Warfare 2's Multiplayer that really pissed me off. These are both issues with the game itself and with the way that other players played the game. Many of these problems are tolerable but when I face more than one of them during a match I am tempted to take the disc out and chuck it across the room.

Number 10 - Bullets that Vanish



Let me set the stage, I'm using an ACR and pumping some nub full of bullets when he kills me but when he kills me the bullets that were leaving my gun VANISH. Simply because I died every bullet I fired ceases to exist... But why? If the game were as realistic as it pretends to be that asshole would be dead too because the bullets would hit him only a fraction of a second after his bullets hit me. The ultimate injustice of it all is that usually grenades fired from a grenade launcher SURVIVE after you die. If they changed that and made it so neither noobtubes OR bullets survive the player's death than I'd feel it was at least FAIR even if not realistic.

Number 9 - Overpriced Maps



Infinity Ward apparently thinks people are made of money. Fifteen dollars for five maps is hardly worth it and is far higher than the maps for the first Modern Warfare (and World at War). Luckily I only bought one of the Map Packs and that was over a month after it came out. I'm guessing 90% of the people who bought the maps were also like me, impulsive and bored of the old ones. The thing is that, aside from the COD4 maps that returned, the new maps SUCKED. Here's hoping Treyarch aren't a bunch of greedy assholes and give us reasonably priced maps.

Number 8 - Stupid Clan Tags



These go hand in hand with stupid gamertags such as those spelled with numbers or those involving the words: Merk, Swag, Sniper, Ninja and Assassin. VAG, Merk, UGAY, i>u, etc. We've all seen them, terrible shitty clan-tags designed for terrible shitty players. The worst are those pictured above that draw penises. These are the kind of morons who deserve to be arrested for pedophilia every time they jack off because their minds aren't out of the third grade.

Number 7 - Double Shotguns



Thanks to Infinity Ward a soldier in MODERN Warfare 2 can run into battle wielding TWO 1887 shotguns. Perhaps someone needs to remind Infinity Ward that its almost 2011, not 1911. Even Treyarch's mediocre first attempt, World at War, didn't bring in any shotguns from the 1800s. To make me even more seething with rage the morons at Infinity Ward saw fit to allow someone holding two shotguns to still launch a successful melee attack.

Number 6 - Hardcore Campers




You know who I'm talking about, you see them all the time. In the corner with a tac-insert or surrounded by claymores or perched atop the same roof even after you've dislodged them several times. One Hardcore Camper isn't a big deal but their are entire clans who indulge in this noobish behavior. They are particularly aggravating when utilizing One Man Army with Claymores, this gives them an essentially infinite supply of Claymores. While camping might be a legitimate strategy for a sniper ANYONE holding an assault rifle, SMG or LMG and camping is a pussy.

Number 5 - Boosters



Ever seen a person who isn't 10th Prestige with an emblem that's a spinning skull? Than you've probably seen a Booster (very few get that emblem legitimately). Boosters, however, are not always easy to spot unless they are boosting in your lobby. Chances are if you do public MW2 lobbies you've gotten a voice message at some point from someone hosting a BOOSTING lobby. These degenerate rejects have decide that playing the game in a legitimate manner isn't for them and have chosen to cheat. Be sure to avoid Boosters whenever possible.

Number 4 - One Man Army Noobtubes



One Man Army is a cool idea on paper and even I thought it sounded cool when MW2 first came out. However noobs are crafty creatures and they quickly concocted a way to use this perk to be even more noobish. One Man Army Noobtubes allows a player to have infinite grenade launcher rounds thus allowing them to forgo actual shooting skill. While there are SKILLED noobtubers out there those that use this combination are typically the type to wildly spam-launch grenades across the map. When an entire enemy team is doing it it quickly brings the fun level to zero.

Number 3 - Marathon-Lightweight-Commando



Each of these three perks has their place in the game, each can be used WITHOUT being a total dick about it. When you put all three together, however, you have one of the least fun tactics in the game. Enemies using these three perks will teleport right through bullets, around and through objects and are nearly impossible to knife. While not impossible to shoot they are distracting and often direct your attention away from slower moving targets. When used in conjunction with the tactical knife Marathon-Lightweight-Commando becomes one of the most noobish tactics in game.

Number 2 - Spawn Killing/Spawn Camping



Most of us have experienced this, we will spawn only to be struck down a second later. Sometimes spawning into bullets, grenades, predator missiles and essentially every other weapon available in the game. While being spawn-killed once or twice in a match is usually no big deal often times an entire team will spawn camp another team. This traps a team in their spawn and kills them every time they come back to life. Caution is a must, the line between dominating a team and spawn camping them can be thin. Being spawn-killed can ruin the game for either team.

Number 1 - QuickScoping



Quickscoping used to be more difficult. In Call of Duty 4 it usually required at least a little bit of skill to get a kill without fully scoping in on your enemy with the sniper rifle. That went out the window in Modern Warfare 2 with the inclusion of Sleight of Hand Pro now every twelve year old nub with an intervention can instantaneously scope in on you and kill you. Quickscoping is a game stopper for me. The way I play the game is fluid, I start moving at the beginning of the match and unless I need to stop to reload or get a better chance of hitting an enemy I continue moving until the game ends. Nothing ruins a game faster for me than when members of the enemy team have decide to hang back like a bunch of pussies and quickscope. It brings me great joy to know that Sleight of Hand Pro will not allow for easier quickscoping in Black Ops. I doubt it will stop the dyed in the wool quickscopers but it might save me some aggravation. Stop being pussies for two seconds, get a different gun (not a sniper rifle from a mile away) and we'll see whose aim is actually better the way the game is supposed to be.