what one game stands head and shoulders above the rest

hey guys, i was thinking the other day what one game stands heads and shoulders above every other game ive played, what one game still brings back the oh my that was awesome, and thought hey ill make a thread and see what all you guys favorite all time game was and of course the all important why?

for me, i think it would have to be Baldar's gate it really had everything i could want in a game, a great story with intrigue, twists and everything in-between, even better characters, with depth and humor and a great game-length where everything flowed well.

so what is your all time stand out game?

 

FF7, game changer for RPGs everywhere. Amazing story, characters, materia system. Huge world to do lots of stuff, spents 100's of hours playing it. Best $20 ever.

 

I would have to say Operation Flashpoint (original) and its expansions. Great military shooter with a well told story and intense action. Multiplayer was also top notch for the time too with vehicle and infantry combat mixed together. One of the few games that I played the campaign multiple times and logged hundreds of online hours with as well.

 

Battlefield 1942. So much depth for an fps. You've got 64 player battles, plethora of vehicles, weapon variety, classes, dedicated servers, mods, and massive maps. During that time, I personally think that was a game changer to future fps. Then, arrived 2 expansion packs that added more to the already massive game.

 

Anything Half-Life. 1 and 2

 

Yeah it would have to be BF1942 for me, specifically the Forgotten Hope mod. They took BF1942 and added an absurd amount of depth to it with literally dozens of tanks, hundreds of weapons, and full scale naval battles. Honestly I don't think I will ever have a game experience again with the depth and breadth of the FH mod for BF1942 (except maybe FH2 for BF2, but I have never played that).

 

Starcraft - needs no explanation.

 

Most epic of epic games for me through out my gaming career.

- Breakout (Atari)
- Mario Series (NES)
- Punch Out (NES)
- Street Figher 2 (SNES)
- Final Fantasy 6 (SNES)
- Chrono Trigger (SNES)
- Final Fantasy 7 (PS1)
- XenoGears (PS1)
- Twisted Metal (PS1)
- Warcraft 3 (PC)
- Starcraft 2 (PC)


What defines a game that stands out abobe the rest to me is the one that you keep playing over and over and it becomes timeless. Not just high replay value but a game that just does not die you can revisit it or it keeps evolving due to community.

For this reason Warcraft 3 and Starcraft 2 are the two games that win because due to the nature of RTS and how the game changes you can play the game virtually forever and never master it because there is always new ways to do things and you must react to your opponents strategies.

FPS games and such strat only goes so far, thinking only goes so far. Its more of a skill based game and you reach a peak skill.

RTS though is skill, speed, smarts, it involves so many things.

Beyond that if your not into the competitive nature of the vanilla game there is the online custom map scene where literally every day a new game is added to the game. Tower Defense, RPG, Line Wars, Hero Combat, the names and game types are endless and if you play these maps just the one game purchase can give you years of new experiences and countless hours of fun and entertainment.

 

Starcraft/Starcraft 2.

I think SC2's competitive scene is amazing, the game is fun to just watch with pros playing each other. I've never enjoyed watching an FPS as much as I enjoy watching Starcraft 2.

Command and Conquer.

For this year: Skyrim: Basically you will get lost in Skyrim and you will forget how to come back to the real world.

Console: Halo (at least for me).

 

@ViciousXUSMC, on FPS, I disagree, one can always be more skilled, but that requires map knowledge and just time invested. Like in CoD4, I still remember almost all of the spawns and what to do to change/trap most of them, which guns work best vs certain opponent/allied playstyles, etc. MW2 and Bops, I probably couldn't be bothered to. Though in well made RTS games, like SC2, the competitiveness does seem to scale infinately

 

Mass Effect 2. Great characters, great story, just enough shooter, just enough RPG, epic soundtrack, six really unique classes with unique play styles, and atmosphere.

 

Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind. Still have all of the good memories of becoming half-way to godhood by attaining invincibility, flight, underwater breathing. And oh, slaying gods is fun!

 

For me, it's Team Fortress 2. I've been playing since it came out in 2007, and it's just grown so much since then, in terms of both community and the game itself, which has several times more content now than it originally had. I have put by far more hours into TF2 than any other game, and it's the only game I've played for so long without quitting for long periods of time.

 

I fear I might be the only person that mentions this (as it doesn't seem 'fashionable' anymore) but for me it is World Of Warcraft.

As an older member (big 4-0 next year) Ive been gaming since the old woody Atari system, played some games to utter death (hello Dungeon Master / Counter Strike!), but if there is one game that took the biggest chunk out of my life it is Warcraft. I still want to go back to it, still want to start another character (telling myself it will be different this time, I wont get into raiding!). Ive never been so happilly addicted to a game as much as Warcraft, it grabbed me and took me to a great place. A place filled with great moments, great places, and a fantastic backgrouond / story. I have stopped playing now (for about six months), and this is only because I cannot justify the time I would like to spend in there to the time I can actually spend in there.

Honourable mention goes out to Dungeon Master though!

Boz

 

Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind.

It's been almost 10 years and i still play. First by xbox and then by pc. Nothing else has managed to wrest it away from being number 1 for me, though not for lack of trying. *looks at the 800GB of games on his hard drive*

It's just a huge world with real dangers (not the levelled opponents of Oblivion) with all manner of weird and wonderful creatures.

 

i also really really enjoyed Morrowind and although i didn't enjoy Oblivion as much i have high hopes for skyrim, also loved FF7 and 8, and the likes of masseffect 2, dragonage origins as well.

there was a game on PS1 that i loved, i may not have the name exactly right but i think it was syphonfilter, it was a great game as well.

 

Counter Strike 1.6
As far as tactical, relatively fast paced multiplayer shooters go, it's still the best.

 

Too much to list but actually most of the first party games by Nintendo is a step up compared to other games.

But on PC then its Half Life 1 & 2 pluss the expansions.

 

LoZ: A link to the past.

Always keep coming back to that one.

 

All I remember of that game was setting people on fire with the taser lol, no need to use any other gun.

 

Fools! It's obviously Giants: Citizen Kabuto.

Or possibly MechWarrior...?

 

Who like ace combat?

I like 3, and 4

 

This

The only game I followed over a year almost daily before release I still have the voucher, the video card, receipt

 

Ultima Online.

 

I'll have to agree Half-Life 2 is up there. Half-Life 3 will be epic though. When it comes out in the next ten years or so!

 

Agreed+CSS for me.

 

Diablo 2

10char

 

Battlefield 1942

 

World of Warcraft. Too bad the stigma and time requirement prevent me from playing it now.

 

I think that's Syphon Filter.
Oddly, I remember that despite playing it for only an hour .

 

I have different ones for different systems, you different standards and all that.

PC: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series by far, nothing beats that level of immersion and atmosphere. Great games, I play them over and over still, the first games I install after a reload, and first ones I try with new drivers. Can't wait for 2, just hope GSC stick to their word of PC first.

Cryostasis: Sleep of Reason, another game with great atmosphere and really good story, advanced PhysX and amazing graphics help as well.

Metro 2033 (Ranger mode only) Great story and atmosphere, from the guys that designed the underground areas of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl and it shows, cause they were creepy and amazing. I say Ranger mode only cause it takes out all the console hand holding and really patches out the dumbed down for button mashers. I highly recommend this one and $5 right now it is really worth it.

PS3:
Ico/Shadow of The Colossus, been replaying SoTC now and loving it all over again. The only game I have encountered to rival S.T.A.L.K.E.R. level atmosphere. The beautiful landscape coupled with the feeling of being utterly alone against impossible odds. Playing Ico for the first time now, missed it on PS2, and when I did hear of it copies were going for $300 +, it is also a beautiful game and I am loving the story, never thought I could love a game that was all escort mission. XD

God of War series, Kratos going ballistic on the Gods to the extent that he cares little for the consequences of what he does. Great story, even when Kratos has you cringing cause you know what he is doing is wrong.

XBox:
Not much worth anything on this system at all, it's old standbys are just that, old, repetitive and boring. Looking at you Halo and Gears of Snore. Alan Wake had a great story and atmosphere, only reason to even own an XBox.

 

Sadly I agree with these. I was very happy with WoW for a very long time and sadly was fine and happy with the addiction. It was when I stepped out for breaks that I realized what it did to my real life that made me quit.

I cannot for the life of me think of a game that I played for as long and as much to this day. I also dont know of a game that I havent played for as long as I have been away from WoW that still draws me in. My last stint was over 10 months ago and it was a very casual stint at that and still I yearn to play.

Being as my xbox is down and its the cheapest way to game now I might actually pick it back up. Im hoping I dont as Im WAY too busy now to pick it back up...

 

QW Team Fortress. It's not the graphics, it's the feel

 

For me it'd have to be... So many games come to mind... Let's start from the beginning.

NES- Contra, Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros.
SNES- Mario Kart, Super Mario World
Gameboy- Pokemon
N64- Mario Kart 64, Super Mario 64, Super Smash Bros, LoZ games, Mario Party
Playstation- Spyro, Crash Bandicoot, Metal Gear Solid
Gamecube- Pikmin, Extreme G, Harvest Moon, Resident Evil 4
Playstation 2- God of war, GTA:SA
Xbox- Halo, Burnout Revenge
Xbox 360- Fallout 3, Oblivion, Gears of war, Bioshock, COD4, Portal, Left 4 Dead
Playstation 3- (never owned one sorry)
Wii- (nothing great imo)
PC- Starcraft, Warcraft 3, WoW, Rollercoaster Tycoon, The Sims, Worms Series, Battlefield series, Minecraft, Counter Strike

I just probably listed every great game out there. These are all 9/10-10/10 games imo. If you haven't played any 1 of these, consider it. I still play all of these games due to how awesome they are.

The game that provided me the most enjoyment and made me the most happy has to be super mario 64. I remember the sense of wonder and awe as a child exploring the mario castle and jumping into paintings collecting the stars. No other game ever gave me that pure bliss that super mario 64 did.

I didn't play LoZ Ocarina of time as a child but if I had, it would probably be the #1. All I remember as a child is going over to a friends house and playing for 5 minutes then throwing the controller yelling "WHAT THE HECK MAN THE GAMES BROKEN! YOU CAN'T JUMP", then my friend trying to explain it to me that he jumps automatically when he needs to, and me thinking that was stupid and not liking the game. Lol I missed out.

I haven't played WoW and liked it but I know it is a great and addicting game for many many people so I added it.

Minecraft has to be the honorable mention though. That game is the most innovative game I have ever came across in my life. It shows that even in a time of developers following the easy cheap recipe of graphics/action/story, one man can create such a different game. Such a creative game. Creative for the developer and creative for the players. If you haven't seen already, there's tons of videos on youtube of minecraft. Whole cities built block by block by people who mined those blocks underground. The starship enterprise scaled 1:1 (it's enormous), The golden gate bridge (see profile pic ), Legend of Zelda maps, a LOST map, creative survival maps, parkour maps, roleplay maps, and multiplayer... This game has brought families together, brought people across the world to know each other well, sparked creative minds to create real works of art, and provided hours upon hours of enjoyment for many people across the world. Here's a link to a video of some of the works of art

 

i am already disliking this thread, who was the idiot that started it , when i created the topic i was sure it was Baldar's gate, then you all chime in and im sure ive changed my mind 6 or 7 times, from Diablo 2, FF-6/7/8, and now 408Cali you just had to say Crash Bandicoot, what a great game that was, so much fun had with it, i might even have to say Sonic as well,

anyway its great to remember some of the greats of the past and present, keep them happening guys.

 

Has to be Final Fantasy 9 for me if I am going on the story and the way in which I left this planet for a fantastic fantasy world at a bad time in my life and returned a changed person. That game saved me in so many ways!

Apart from that Baldur's Gate will always be the best game ever it ruled my younger years.

Roland on the ropes remains my best childhood game though

I thought WoW was the best game ever until I escaped it 4 stone heavier, single, skint and my fridge was full of pizza's. Game Over. 2 years later I recovered haha!

 

Fallout 1 !!!

 

dino crisis, id love nothing more than a decent survival horror remake not anything like resi 5.

 

COD WAW and COD BO.

Seriously though, if I had to rank them:
WoW
Simcity 4
Civilizations

On console:
MW2 Competitive
Infamous

 

World at war?

Really?

Just because you played a game a lot doesn't mean that it's a good game. Okay, yes it was a good game. But it doesn't stand head and shoulders above the rest. It's actually considered one of the worst COD games ever made. Zombies aside that is.

Can you explain what makes you choose simcity also?

 

Probably a toss-up between Fallout 2 and Deus Ex for me. I played Deus Ex more to be sure, but no game's storyline intrigued me or drew me in as much as Fallout 2's, not Baldur's Gate 1 or 2, not Fallout 1 or 3, not Ultima V: Lazarus (Dungeon Siege engine remake), nor Bioshock nor Half Life (any iteration) nor Max Payne, not even S.T.A.L.K.E.R. or Deus Ex itself. It's that good.

Oh, and if we're allowed another game for a separate genre, Grim Fandango is the best adventure game of all time, and that's accepting that the control scheme was wonky and some of the puzzles were downright upsetting.

 

It was a joke lol, thats why I said "seriously though." Those games SUCKED.

Simcity 4 is one of a kind. There is NO other game like it. I played the hell out of it and I could go back and play some more. It is awesome, and because there is no game like it, people keep playing it. On Simtropolis.com there is still mod support, when I say mod, it is like adding a new building. I didn't start adding buildings to the game until I played it for like 5 years.

 

I personally didn't like any of the simcity games due to the fact that I couldn't figure out how to power the cities. I put power lines down and generators and everything...

HOW DO YOU DO IT lol

And I played it when I was 11 so hush.



EDIT: By the way, those games didn't suck. They weren't as good as any of the other CODs but they didn't suck. Play medal of honor or sniper ghost warrior and tell me they suck lol. At least zombies was good. TDM was kinda fun on black ops. Sniping in combat training vs 11 crappy enemies was fun also.

 

Try it again, you will surely figure it out now. If you still need help lol, pm me.

 

I kinda would rather not. Unless you give me a really good reason to play it. It seems to me like you're saying simcity4 because of nostalgia purposes more than fun factor.

 

I did not say anything about nostalgia. It is still a very challenging game, and it is one of the only games where when I am playing it, it is for fun. Not for competition, but fun (I am a very competitive person).

 

Half Life series.

 

Many people mistake fun for nostalgia.

How old were you when you first played simcity4?

 

I guess it's hard to say just one. I'd have to add Civilization to the list. While it's pretty common these days, Civ was such a big deal at the time of its release. Civ 2 was by far one of the best and most well made games ever. Even at the time the graphics weren't great, but the AI would churn away forever on my ancient PC, lol.

 

I was thirteen