Author Topic: Top 10 Games of the Decade  (Read 3174 times)

Offline iPPi

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Top 10 Games of the Decade
« on: Saturday, February 13, 2010, 11:39:45 AM »
This list isn't half bad actually.  These games are some of the greatest and most memorable games out there.  I'm not sure if Zelda: Twilight Princess deserves to be on that list at all, but the rest of the list is pretty good.

10. Zelda: Twilight Princess
9. Super Mario Galaxy
8. Devil May Cry
7. Shadow of the Colossus
6. Half Life 2
5. Metroid Prime
4. Halo Combat Evolved
3. Resident Evil 4
2. GTA III
1. World of Warcraft

Offline W7RE

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Re: Top 10 Games of the Decade
« Reply #1 on: Saturday, February 13, 2010, 11:44:58 AM »
Well, I can agree with 4 of those being on the list.

EDIT: Actually, instead of baiting for "WTF" replies, I'll explain. First, the ones I agree with:

1. World of Warcarft - Brought MMOs from a niche market to a massive player base. Before WoW, MMOs were had sloppy controls and felt like beta versions of single player games. I remember games where EVERYTHING was a slash command and nothing was user friendly. WoW treated the game's interface and controls like a real game instead of brushing it off because it was an MMO.

4. Halo Combat Evolved - Not an amazing game on it's own, but brought FPS to the consoles in a big way.

6. Half Life 2 - Amazing game, one of the best FPS ever.

7. Shadow of the Colossus - This game was just fuck awesome. The epic scale of the boss battles was amazing, and they were confident enough in it that they didnt' bog it down with tedious stuff to fight leading up to the bosses. What's better than a game with huge, awesome bosses? A game with nothing but huge, awesome bosses.



And the rest:

2. GTA III - This game looked bad, had boring missions, and worst of all controlled like utter shit. The only thing fun about it was rampaging around killing random people, but even that was messed up by the shitty controls. I'm not talking about what is mapped to which button, I'm talking about the way it felt when trying to move and aim. Also, putting the camera below the center-point on the character's body results in some seriously bad camera wrestling, which GTA 3 suffered painfully from. A large and expansive city does not make up for everything else that sucked about the game.

3. Resident Evil 4 - The controls. Everything else looked good, the controls are a bastardization of every first or third person shooter that came before it. Even if you disregard the inability to move and aim at the same time, you still have the shitty laser sight. Because it puts it's red dot on the targets in 3d space, it ends up jumping across the screen every time the dot goes from the background to a closer object, magnified by the fact that the camera isn't lined up with it. Also, there's no way to tell where your laser sight will be when you bring it up, because it's not consistent with the position of the camera before you go into aim mode. The series is dead to me because of this game.

5. Metroid Prime - See Resident Evil 4. FPS game, with butchered FPS controls just so they could call it a "first person adventure." This was the first Metroid game I didn't play through start to finish, and it's the last Metroid game I ever bought. The series is dead to me because of this game.

9. Super Mario Galaxy - Maybe it's not fair for me to bash on SMG, since I've never played it. I'm just operating under the assumption that it does wrong all the same things that Mario 64 did. Mario moving through a 3d space is nothing Mario moving through a 2d sicescrolling space, and it suffered because of it. Also, fuck you Nintendo for turning Mario into a collect-a-thon where you have to play each level 6 times each. It wouldn't be so bad if I could just play them all and be happy with no clearing everything, but no, you had to collect enough fucking stars to unlock each level. The series is dead to me because of Mario 64.

10. Zelda: Twilight Princess - I don't necessarily feel like Zelda was butchered by 3D as much as Nintendo's other games, but I never got into it. I remember playing Zelda 1 and Link to the Past a hell of a lot, and then just never being able to get into OoT.
« Last Edit: Saturday, February 13, 2010, 12:16:58 PM by W7RE »

Offline Pugnate

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Re: Top 10 Games of the Decade
« Reply #2 on: Saturday, February 13, 2010, 12:16:00 PM »
I haven't played any of those aside from GTA3 and HL2.

I am trying to think of games that belong on such a list, but for some reason my mind is drawing a blank. It is something I'd have to think about, though for some reason the only game I can think of is Company of Heroes.

Offline iPPi

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Re: Top 10 Games of the Decade
« Reply #3 on: Saturday, February 13, 2010, 01:26:17 PM »
There are only two games I haven't played on that list - Shadow of the Colossus and Devil May Cry.  Everything else I have played and in contrasting the games I've played over these years, I find myself agreeing with the majority of the list.

I do not agree with Zelda on that list though -- I have lots of trouble finishing the game as the first half of the game was an absolute chore to get through.  It does pick up though and eventually becomes a decent game but in the end it is still very much classic Zelda without really bringing anything new to the franchise.

Super Mario Galaxy is an amazing game.  It is truly remarkable, and the best of all -- actually challenging.  There are several levels that are quite challenging.  The only detriment to the game I can think of is for completionists.  The Purple Coin challenges are a little drawn out and boring sometimes. 

Half Life 2 is a remarkable first person shooter.  It definitely deserves to be on that list.

Metroid Prime brings a classic game into the 3D world... and it works great as well.  Metroid Prime has never really been about combat and more about exploration of the world, and to do it in first person was a blast.  The attention to detail was also amazing.

I've only played the first Halo on the PC and I didn't like it, but it is still undeniable the impact it has had on first person shooters in general and creating a thriving multiplayer community.

Resident Evil 4 is one of the best games I have ever played.  It truly is an amazing game.  The controls definitely take some time to get used to, but it doesn't hamper the experience at all.  Instead, it ratchets up the intensity even more.  A truly landmark game in recent memory.  I consider it the best game I've played on the last generation of consoles (PS2/GC/Xbox).

GTA3 is a groundbreaking game.  I got so many hours from it, but that said, it wasn't particularly memorable.  Still, it was incredibly fun for the most part.  I'm not sure I would rank it so high on the list.

WoW is a drug and a phenomenon.  Classic and The Burning Crusade truly stand out as great MMO design.  Wrath of the Lich King offers a great leveling experience, but the game is starting to suffer from homogenization which leads to it being slightly boring, which is what made me quit.  That said, it is still an amazing game.

Now, in retrospect, I'm a little disappointed that Deus Ex didn't make it onto that list.  It ranks as one of the best games I've played and it came out in 2000, so it should have been there.

The lack of RPGs on that list is also disappointing. 

Lastly, I would have almost expected a stealth based game to be on that list.  The genre has really started taking off in recent years.  Thief and MGS came out in the late 90s but Splinter Cell and Hitman came out in the 2000s. 

Overall though it is a decent list.  I think it does highlight some of the most memorable and groundbreaking games that were released in the last decade.

Offline Quemaqua

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Re: Top 10 Games of the Decade
« Reply #4 on: Saturday, February 13, 2010, 02:15:53 PM »
Actually, it seems like quite a bad list to me.  The games I feel don't deserve the list:

10. Zelda: Twilight Princess
9. Super Mario Galaxy
6. Half Life 2
4. Halo Combat Evolved
3. Resident Evil 4

None of those deserve to be on there, IMO.  Not because they were necessarily even bad games... I liked SMG a lot, and I played RE4 to the end and mostly enjoyed it, but they just don't deserve top slots.  DMC I wasn't sure about until I thought about how much it really revitalized the action genre and how much of a model it became on a lot of levels for many other games.  I don't think it was the best game ever, but it really did move some things forward and provide the groundwork for a lot of better games that came later.  SMG was great, but it was evolutionary, not revolutionary, and it didn't really do anything terribly important, even though it did a lot of things that were very cool.  I haven't played Twilight Princess, but nothing about its design or philosophy impressed me at all.  I don't doubt it was good, but it wasn't that good from what I've read and heard.  Don't even get me fucking started on the repetitious and totally uninspired design of Halo, or the no-story, repetitive, mechanical gameplay of Half-life 2The Darkness deserves a place on that list in place of those 2.

天才的な閃きと平均以下のテクニックやな。 課長有野

Offline K-man

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Re: Top 10 Games of the Decade
« Reply #5 on: Saturday, February 13, 2010, 02:27:30 PM »
Some right off the top of my head that I think deserve some consideration:

MGS4
Dragon Quest VIII
Fallout 3
GTA IV.

I'll give this thread more attention later

Offline Quemaqua

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Re: Top 10 Games of the Decade
« Reply #6 on: Saturday, February 13, 2010, 02:38:22 PM »
Fallout 3 without question.  I think GTA III was more important than IV just because it was the one that did the groundbreaking stuff... IV was just built on that foundation.

天才的な閃きと平均以下のテクニックやな。 課長有野

Offline Pugnate

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Re: Top 10 Games of the Decade
« Reply #7 on: Saturday, February 13, 2010, 03:05:14 PM »
I just realized that I did play the hell out of Metroid. It was very unique.

Games that came out in 2000:

Deus Ex
The Sims
Starcraft
Baldur's Gate II

I do agree with GTA III being more important than GTA IV.

I can't say from what I have seen of Fallout 3 that it belongs on such a list. It looks like a damn good game, but more evolutionary than anything else. Again, I haven't played it...

There are so many aspects of Deus Ex that are still more advanced ten years later than any game in first person. If Deus Ex was rebuilt today in a new engine exactly as it had been, it would be hailed as something amazing and new.

And Baldur's Gate II is the greatest CRPG ever made, which in essence makes it the greatest RPG ever made.

As for The Sims, we may hate what it has become, but upon release, The Sims was an insanely addictive hardcore and robust strategy game, which created its own subgenre.

Again, I think of Company of Heroes. I think it belongs on such a list because it had many aspects which were revolutionary. In fact, I think RTS games have stepped back from CoH since.

Quote
This game looked bad, had boring missions, and worst of all controlled like utter shit. The only thing fun about it was rampaging around killing random people, but even that was messed up by the shitty controls. I'm not talking about what is mapped to which button, I'm talking about the way it felt when trying to move and aim. Also, putting the camera below the center-point on the character's body results in some seriously bad camera wrestling, which GTA 3 suffered painfully from. A large and expansive city does not make up for everything else that sucked about the game.

I see what you are saying. I had my issues with the game as well, but there is no doubt in my mind that GTA3 belongs on such a list. It was a game changer.

edit:

Looks like Diablo II was also released in 2000 like Starcraft. I am not saying it belongs on the list, I just find it amazing that 2000 was such a great year... nearly as good as 1999.



Offline K-man

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Re: Top 10 Games of the Decade
« Reply #8 on: Saturday, February 13, 2010, 05:02:50 PM »
OH yeah forgot about D2.  DEFINITELY belongs on the list.

As for the GTA III vs IV argument, I can see both sides.  III was definitely groundbreaking.  I mean I remember when it hit.  There was NOTHING like it at the time.  I just feel like IV is the better representative of the series, especially since it was the only one I could stomach finishing.  I really enjoyed it from beginning to end.

Offline scottws

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Re: Top 10 Games of the Decade
« Reply #9 on: Saturday, February 13, 2010, 05:38:28 PM »
This list isn't half bad actually.  These games are some of the greatest and most memorable games out there.  I'm not sure if Zelda: Twilight Princess deserves to be on that list at all, but the rest of the list is pretty good.

10. Zelda: Twilight Princess
9. Super Mario Galaxy
8. Devil May Cry
7. Shadow of the Colossus
6. Half Life 2
5. Metroid Prime
4. Halo Combat Evolved
3. Resident Evil 4
2. GTA III
1. World of Warcraft

I feel like Z:TP, RE4, and especially DMC definitely don't belong on that list.  Z:TP was a rehash of all the other 3D Zelda games with a bit of a rip-off of Okami thrown in for good measure.  RE4 was a leap forward for that series, but I wouldn't put it anywhere close to the top ten games of the decade.  DMC was just terrible.

I'm not sure about SotC and MP.  They were good games, don't get me wrong.  For MP I think it was good, but top 10 in the decade?  I'm not sure I could put it up on that lofty pedestal.  As for SotC I think I liked Ico a little more than SotC.  That said, the game design of SotC was pretty unique whereas Ico's was slightly less so and SotC still was a great game.

I'm not sure what to say about Halo since I found it to be a pretty lame game in comparison to lots of PC FPS games.  I don't deny that it made a big impact on the console market and sold gangbusters, but when you are considering the top 10 games of the decade, do you really put it there because it was a popular console game when there were better games on PC?  I don't know but lots of people loved the MP on consoles and it was crap on PC so I can't speak too much on that.

HL2, GTAIII, and WoW definitely deserve to be there.  All were phenomenal games for their time.

Where is Starcraft and Deus Ex?  I find it pretty ridiculous they were left out in place of stuff like RE4 and definitely DMC.  I also agree that Baldur's Gate II deserves some consideration as well, but not ahead of the other two heavyweights.  I might even consider one of the Call of Duty titles on a list like this.  The first one was pretty great, especially considering it came out during the waning period of WWII-themed shooters and made a big impact.  I think I would put CoD4:MW ahead of it though.  It was a great game with a great presentation.  I would also consider maybe Silent Hill 2.  That really was a fantastic game.

Offline ren

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Re: Top 10 Games of the Decade
« Reply #10 on: Saturday, February 13, 2010, 05:49:11 PM »
Starcraft came out in the 90s but Deus Ex is definitely eligible.

Offline Quemaqua

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Re: Top 10 Games of the Decade
« Reply #11 on: Saturday, February 13, 2010, 06:02:50 PM »
Diablo 2 for sure, and Okami for sure.  I haven't really sat around and thought as much about what should be on the list... was thinking more about what's on it that shouldn't have been.

Fallout 3 definitely deserves it, though.  Mechanically it wasn't a very innovative game, but the *design* and the focus on making a huge world full of unique content that wasn't repetitive... it really has never been done that way before.  I've never played any game that could break away from its raw mechanics and simply provide a totally engrossing experience just based on content alone.  You could have removed almost all the numbers from that game and I would have spent probably almost the exact same amount of time with it.  The experience itself was just great.

天才的な閃きと平均以下のテクニックやな。 課長有野

Offline Cobra951

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Re: Top 10 Games of the Decade
« Reply #12 on: Saturday, February 13, 2010, 07:47:05 PM »
Heh, yeah I have to agree about Fallout 3.  Spectacular game, which I'm still playing.  I've created a 2nd character now, and pursuing an evil approach.  I would have missed some gutbusting hilarity with only by do-gooder first guy.

I did like Zelda: TP enough to think it belongs there, but only the uncorrupted GC version.  Nintendo can kiss my ass for what they did to the Wii version.

Metroid Prime: definitely.

GTA 3 was groundbreaking, but also very unpolished.  Not sure it belongs with the cream of the crop.

Half-Life 2: loved it.

Super Mario Galaxy: maybe.  It did not grab me nearly as much as Mario 64 in its day.

I have no excuse for stepping away from Shadow of the Colossus after only a short time playing it.  The others I haven't played.

Offline MysterD

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Re: Top 10 Games of the Decade
« Reply #13 on: Sunday, February 14, 2010, 07:14:45 AM »
I would put Planescape: Torment on my list, but it came out in 1999. :P

EDIT:

GTA 3 was groundbreaking, but also very unpolished.  Not sure it belongs with the cream of the crop.

Agreed. I prefer GTA: VC over pretty much every other GTA game they've made.
Keep in mind, I still ain't finished GTA4 yet...

Oh, and as much as I liked GTA: SA, I ain't finished that yet, either...