So here it is, the mother of all lists. As Alex said in his write-up, these things are usually pretty fun and not too taxing on the old bean. But this one? This one is a little different. If you were to ask me pointblank what my favorite game of all time is, I could give you that answer. If you were to ask me to tell you what some of my other all-time favorites are, I’d be happy to oblige. But if you ask me to actually put them in some sort of order, that’s another story entirely. This was by no means easy to actually put into writing, and who’s to say that it won’t change by the end of the year, or by the end of the week. But, as of this moment, these are my top five favorite games of all time. Again, note that I said favorite and not best, most influential, greatest or any other adjective that would imply that I was comparing them to one another. These are simply the games that tickled my personal fancy; maybe they’ll tickle yours as well.
5. BioShock-Xbox 360, PS3, PC
This is a game that many of you, Fish, may disagree with because the game does get a little bumpy towards the end when it comes to pacing. Other than that though, this game holds in it one of the single greatest moments I’ve ever had playing a video game, or in any other sort of media for that matter. The funny thing is that this moment wasn’t about anything that I did, but it was absolutely about what I couldn’t do. Anyone who’s played the game knows exactly which part I’m talking about. This single moment had such an impact on me as a player, not as the character or anything else. It brought up questions of choice, direction and control and how they impact me as a gamer of all games, not just this one, and that’s what makes it so special for me. Throw on top of that my love for art deco, and you’ve got yourself a spot in the top.
4. God of War 3-PS3
This game embodies the perfection of its respective genre. If you love a good combo-based hack n’ slash, and you haven’t played Kratos’ latest adventure then you are truly missing out. Does it do anything super new? No. Does it rock the boat in terms of gameplay and formula for the series? No. Does it take advantage of the evolving technology that drives the gaming medium? Absolutely! The combos are seamless and flow faster than the blood of a dead Olympian soldier. Only now the combos are heightened by the fact that Kratos is animated beautifully while he does his dirty work surrounded by incredible texture work and lighting. Not to mention, it gives a fitting end(?) to Kratos’ story and makes the whole adventure seem worthwhile for those of us who have been there since the first game.
3. Psychonauts-PS2, Xbox
What can I say? I love a good platformer. I also love cartoons. Psychonauts combines solid platforming and puzzle mechanics with the closest thing to a fully realized cartoon world that has ever been put in a video game. Tim Shafer’s ability to create an incredibly engaging universe, fill it with endearing and funny characters and then set them off on an adventure worthy of the best Saturday morning animated treats is second to none. It also helps that I find most brain-related things fascinating. What also makes the game so interesting is that although we always preach that gameplay should come first, this game is able to sidestep that mantra a bit by delivering on the narrative side in spades. Because while it isn’t by any means the best platformer ever made, the trip this game took me on almost completely blinded me to those cracks in the gameplay. Awesome characters, no two levels that are alike and main a character voiced by the guy who voices Invader Zim; what more do you want?
2. Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem-Gamecube
There are a few themes that run through my favorite games, and one of them is a large narrative that takes you to many different settings and locations. Psychonauts does it, the God of War series does it and Eternal Darkness does it as well. But this game wasn’t just about the story; it was mostly about the mood and atmosphere. This game fed off of your anxiety and tension, and it used that to screw with you as the player. If the game assumed you were getting nervous, it cranked up the creepy sound effects. Rumbling? Screams? Babies crying? Check, check and check. How about a healthy dose of the game telling you it was over after an hour, or that it was erasing your memory card? One of my personal favorites was to enter a new room with a character only to watch his limbs or head fall off while you helplessly saw multiple enemies attack you. Then the game would snap back to reality. These is the type of fourth-wall breaking shenanigans that the game implemented with its sanity meter. While there are a few other games that attempt this bit of trickery, none have really done it to this extent by treating it as a core game mechanic. On top of all that, there’s a solid combat system and a decent amount of replay value. A lot of people missed this one last generation. If you fall into that group and have a Wii or a Gamecube, I highly suggest you remedy that.