Most Original (and great) games

I wanted to make a list of the most original games around. I mean ORIGINAL, and also great (Original gameplay, graphics, general idea, screenplay, etc). Please add the year to your list. I thought on:

Portal (2007)
Zeno Clash (2009)
Crayon Physics (2009)
Plants vs Zombies (2009)

 

Crysis (2007)

 

iFluid (2007)
Penumbra (2007,2008)

I don't think Crysis is "original" in the sense the OP is getting at.

 

I think the Half Life series.

 

actually, i think it was very original, i dont care for it but it did alot of things completely new, not only were the graphics absolutely fantastic but the open world gameplay was well done and the nano suit options were something ive never seen before (switching between shield, invisibility, strength, and speed)

as for my pick i have to go with mirrors edge. it was bashed alot but it was absolutely fantastic with a totally new type of gameplay, assassins creed and prince of persia had alot of acrobatic running and jumping but they delivered that type of gameplay at a much stronger and more complex level. you couldnt just grab a gun and rush through all the enemies, you had to take them fast and run.

 

Mirror's Edge (2009)

 

yes .....

 

Eve Online

 

Mass Effect

 

Deus Ex - June 22, 2000.

A game truely a head of its time, action, rpg, fps all rolled into one.

 

Err...............ME was nothing more than KOTOR, in sheeps clothing !

Agrees with Jasp...................Deus Ex.....................way ahead of its time !

 

Never player Knights of the Old Republic.

 

meh, even so, not super original. it was a great game, one of my favorites, but not original.

 

i think the combat system and the actual story was original.

 

yeah, it was, I think most if not all of Bioware's games are original in some way.

 

Halo (2003)
deadspace (2008)
SplinterCell

 

Overlord and Sacrifice for me.

 

Another one just came to, Giants Citizen Kabuto......hate it or not it was original lol.

 

combat was just computerised dnd right?

 

dnd? dungeons and dragons? i wouldnt know i dont play that. it was a mix between third person shooter and stat based powers

 

KoTOR was turn based, no way was it a shooter.

 

Descent broke the FPS mold set by Doom and was a great game...

Rainbow Six made the tactical FPS popular, but hasn't aged too well (as most FPS haven't aged too well)...so it was great in 1998/1999...not so much anymore although it's sequels are decent...(I think the Rainbow Six 3 games were the high point in the series and they still look good)

Diablo was the first 'action' RPG I remember and was a great game...

Homeworld was novel for an RTS...units moved in three dimensions vs two or the 2+ of games like Total Annihilation...and it was a great game...

Interstate 76' borrowed slightly from Quarantine/Carmageddon, but used the MechWarrior 2 engine in a very original way with a very original back-story, and some great car physics at a time when only Papyrus was doing car games with physics...great game...

And that's PC gaming...if you go back another decade, other than Synapse's clones of arcade games, almost everything made for the Commodore 64 seemed original...Archon and M.U.L.E. and Raid on Bungeling Bay were all very original, and, in my opinion, have very few equals in the 'fun' factor...

 

Everquest (1999) ... yes, it built on Ultima on-line, so you could use that, but Everquest completely redefined the genre (the concept of raids, grinding, etc), and brought more gamers in than ever before...which WoW should be grateful for...

 

Kotor was based on the d20 system, which is from DnD, just like Neverwinter Nights 1 and 2 and Baldur's Gate. I think the new Dragon Age: Origins game will also use the same combat system.

 

HALO:Combat Evolved
Company of Heroes
Entire Half Life Series

 

booo... halo was absolutely not original, nor was it great.

 

The first Splinter Cell game was way different for its Stealth Action genre. I think it was very original for when it was released.

 

hehe, super smash bros brawl

 

I don't see how any of those are "original" and the only "great" game in there is the half-life series. Other than that they were just standard fps's/rts.

 

Very difficult to call a modern game really original. From the top of my head, World of Goo, Audiosurf and Mirror's Edge. Everything is derivative these days. For example, somebody cited EVE Online. If EVE is original, what was E.L.I.T.E?

The first time I felt I was playing something truly original was with F19 Stealth Fighter (1988). The first "thinking man" flight simulator, where stealth, and not dogfighting, was the best way to go.

 

Betrayal at Krondor was pretty dang original... but i have no idea how far back your going... cuz people could always say Pong

 

Baldars gate
Tomb raider
Bioshock
Civilization I
X-com enemy unknown
Dune 2
All classics and original

 

All of these are great but I'm listing why they were original

Red Faction - Original because of its environmental damage
Warcraft 3 - Original because it combined rts and roleplaying together
Diablo - Original because of its the 1st hack n' slash i ever played
GTA 3 - Original because it was the 1st open world game i played

 

Wow, everyone seemed to bash my opinion like mine doesn't matter.

Company of Heroes was innovative and original.Just because it was WWII doesn't make it "non" original.You guys act like I said Command and Conquer.

And for a 2001 game, Halo 1 was not that bad.It was when Halo series went pro-console is when it went downhill.

Most of games I think are innovative, your tiny short attention span First Person Shooter brains couldn't even get past the first turn.

Here's my REAL list:
War in the Pacific:The struggle against Japan 1941-1945-Original for being the only *real* Pacific wargame.(CoD:WaW, Battlestations Miday/Pacific are a Joke)
Steel Panthers Series-Original because there no other games like it for the time, at that scale.
The Campaign Series by John Tiller(except Divided Ground)-Great Platoon level wargame, still the only wargame to have platoon level units to this day.

 

Game in general:

Dungeons & Dragons (née Chainmail)

Pen & paper version

Computer game:

DOOM
MYST
Grim Fandango
Portal
World of Goo

 

I don't think CoH was original, it has a more complex system than DoW, but basically it takes the same aspects used in DoW.

As for Halo 1, I always thought it was a pro-console game. Yet, there were already enough FPS on the PC market to make it look just like another FPS.

I agree with Deus-Ex, the first FPS/RPG and with actually a very decent plot.

About the Half-life series: I don not think all of them are original. The first one was original because it implemented actual narrative on the game itself rather than a couple of long paragraphs every 10 levels (like Doom 1 or 2). The second game was original in terms of the variety of stuff to do in the game plus the gravity gun. The episodes are not original.

Another original game was X-Wing, not sure if there was another space flight simulator before it arrived. Quite exciting, but I rather prefer Tie Fighter.

 

Metal Gear Solid (1998), though it's not for PC (Integral is).

It brought the stealth action genre into the 3D world, and the first game to implement cut scenes so extensively. It turned video games into a medium for art.

 

i think system shock would be the first fps/rpg (and survival horror) hybrid. but yes, deus ex is an incredible game.

 

Well, really I was meaning REALLY original. Like the once that almost started a genre or a sub-genre or at least a sub-sub-genre.
i.e. Bioshock was great, and sure, the story and graphics are original, but most of it we have seen it before. On the other hand, Mirror's edge really started something new. Pong, for sure it was original at that time.
I guess it's hard to judge originality, that's why I just let the thread go once started to derive.

 

Thief : The Dark Project (1998) : I think it was the first FPS ( First Person Sneaker). I had great gameplay, voice acting, music, story, AI, level design, etc.
I think the first two Thief games are the most well rounded games ever made

 

Dungeon Keeper 1995 I think, loved DK2 too
Homeworld 1999
Total Annihilation 1993 I think ; for its time the crysis of RTS games.

All awesome original games! Was kinda surprised noone mentioned DK it was so novel in the way it was literally good to be evil still waiting on the third installment....

 

CoH is DEFINATELY original. No RTS before included firing arcs, snipers with 1 hit kills, the kind of detailed tank combat (rear, side, turret criticals), quality building combat, TOTALLY destructable environment...I mean EVERYTHING. If you load a halftrack up with 2 squads and a sniper shoots at it he can double headshot people...how detailed is that?

The game has a harder learning curve than any game I've ever played. If you dont agree, go online and find out. IGN said it redefined the genre, and I dont mean upon release, they still say it now in their best games of all time list.

Also on my list:
-Brothers in Arms series
-Portal
-Left for Dead
-Warcraft 3
-CS 1.6 (more of a refinement of a genre than a real innovation)

Ones I dont agree with:
-COD or Crysis...theyre good games...but not particularly innovative in terms of gameplay...maybe GRAPHICs...

 

portal isn't exactly original, they picked up a dead game project with first person mazes and of course, portals.

 

Well, maybe not original to industry insiders but to the general gaming public it would be since Portal did actually get published.

 

I love X-Wing, and, along with Doom, it was the reason I gave up gaming on my Genesis and bought a PC.

However, Wing Commander I and II both pre-dated X-Wing. And if you go further back, you have Star Trek (The Arcade Game...no up or down in that one) or Star Raiders and Starmaster on the 2600. And although the plot line in X-Wing was original, it was using one of the biggest movie franchises ever as a backdrop. Definitely a great game though.

And I agree, Tie Fighter was better...and Alliance better yet.

 

Warcraft 3 for me

 

Tennis for Two, the first game ever, although I guess it wasn't too original but still

 

psychonauts!

 

there is a large debate which was the first ever video game invented.

OXO was created before tennis for two. we had an entire months discussion on this controversy (first game ever and who holds the patent) in my game theory class.

i agree that the MGS series is original and awesome

 

Duck hunt

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