What will become the classics of the 7th generation?

Whoops, wrong gen. Still a classic. :)

Classics happen in every media. Something gets a big hit or a passionate cult following for its niche, focus, or accomplishments, and it goes down in history as something big or something that truly held a major impact. Something people remember and associate with its medium as something special, or something that got a ton of attention and keeps people talking. Gaming is no exception as we clearly have our big classics, icons, and masterpieces. A good old fashion example might be something like Pac-Man, Final Fantasy, and most obviously Mario. However what were the big ones here in this passing generation? We've had plenty of length and time to think of the classics and see what games made an impact through either audience or raw influence within the market. I'm going to list some of the ones I hear about most often, and those that probably will stick to memories and association with this generation and maybe even iconic for the medium itself. That isn't to say they're all great games in my own opinion or that I think everyone will like them, and I may not even like them myself. Heck I know personally I only "like" two of these on the lists becoming classics while the others I have a more ify time judging. Instead this small list is of a few simple ones I base off their core work and accomplishments mixed together with how well they are received and talked about. So yes LittleBigPlanet and Dishonored are incredible games that should be classics, but honestly I don't hear of them nearly as much as those that make this list nor do they have that standout media grabbing appeal. Yes maybe one or two of these are overrated, but because of the massive overrated status they have they'll be remembered and go down big time in history. I want to make this a short list though, so lets get some honorable mentions out of the way and restrict the list to games within a simple straight forward 5 game list. Then I'll get to a straight top 5.

Honorable mentions:

Skyrim- Yeah Skyrim is amazing, but then again when haven't the elder scrolls gotten big hit status? They've sort of always traveled that odd line of getting big attention and kind of being the mainstream hit WRPG without feeling like a mainstreamed game. Its actually kind of a given to just let skyrim be considered special, just like oblivion before it, and morrowind before that. And then when the next comes out (hopefully we're talking about a real one not the MMO) it'll replace skyrim with some people arguing over which was better, complaining the new one is dumbed down, or saying its so brilliant and amazing it raises the highest bar of scope. You know of its amazing scope, you knew it would do some incredible changes, and you know it'll top the last in the series except to die hard of the last game that complain the new one is too easy, so lets leave the list a little more free and chat about some more fresher entries. Besides I honestly can't help but think of skyrim as that middle of the road RPG. Sure its amazing, but chances are there is a better niche appeal to some stronger focused RPG.... and while most don't get a big enough following to consider a wide classic, there is a certain one that I think goes higher on this list and goes above and beyond what skyrim pulled off. So skyrim stays off the list.


Minecraft- Ok I'll admit this is a bit unfair as it really deserves this list. But honestly I was running out of space when I suddenly remembered #5... I was going to place that here when I really thought about it. I'm not a fan of either game, but honestly people remember and are more fond of what I put in minecraft's place. MineCraft is a great game and a masterpiece that has a big amount of gamers playing it and has had quite a lot of influence, however the community has kept to themselves compared to some other games. It makes sense to that Minecraft players are a bit more quiet, as the game is very open canvas based and centers more around what you do with the game rather than what the game did for you. So I opted this out in place of the game that gets more people loud and feeling more vocally nostalgic for as well as something that had more direction and focus to become a classic.

Anything Nintendo or Valve related- If I tried to measure which of the Wii's library really deserved strong memory and achieved a big status and impact it would be.... well quite challenging. As for Valve, they're primarily PC and those don't really have the big generation impact, its instead sort of in its own line of things much like Nintendo. Don't get me wrong Portal, TF2, and if you consider it a part of this gen Half-life 2 are all classics in their own right but they're a bit dislocated from the more common market I'm measuring. If anything just give this the same reason I gave to skyrim.... its nintendo and valve, of course they're off making their weird classics and big hits but they measure up differently compared to the classics I'm aiming at for this list.

Now with honorable mentions out of the way, lets get on with the list....

5) Bioshock

I've got to say I'm not a fan of this when I totally should be. I just don't know why.... it just doesn't click with me. Combat certainly is clunky, but that hasn't stopped me from loving other games with that issue. Still its become a big hit and one of the few non military shooters with great and creative ideas behind it to get good attention and it really deserves its praise as it stands to be a strong game. Sadly its not exactly been a solid hit throughout the whole series with 2 losing its "new" charm and getting hate for it, and then the 3rd (infinite) becoming a pinata for elitists to bash on..... because apparently shooters aren't allowed to do a single thing wrong in a story to be good. However despite this people still adore the original. People are still buying and witnessing the magic of Rapture's original discovery. People still talk about the atmosphere, the ending, the horror themes, the politics, and some of the goofy quirks within its style. The game is held up as a classic, and really gets people talking of good times with it. It was also released long ago around the time Modern Warfare was getting hype and ready to go big, and despite that Bioshock's legacy still held through all the fads COD brought. Bioshock really will go down as a classic.

4) Journey

Journey is one of those that deserves not to just be considered a classic, but honestly one of the best games out there as it masters its own genre and I can't see anything beating it in that regard yet. It brought out strong hype, presented itself beautifully, had outstanding and innovative ideas, integrated multiplayer in a special way flawlessly, and delivered all we hoped for in a well constructed package worth replaying again and again to explore the rich adventure and collect everything. Oh yeah and there was a freakin' cheat code outfit to show off, how cool is that for an artsy indie game? It was widely and well received to the point where it was grabbing awards in typical events where it was usually triple A budget games, it got reviews and stories circulating high praise and amazing journeys all over the net, it stayed on top PSN sales months after it released, and it is still being talked about and replayed by the many fans to this day despite being just a 2 hour linear trip. This game is an honest classic and one of the biggest indie success stories I think we've seen in this generation where the scene exploded. You know what... I agree with every single high praise it gets, except maybe the music wasn't too special, but everything else about this game really made me melt with joy and I can agree with the masses on this one. I personally loved how it explored a spiritual theme, the anonymous co-op system that went in and out giving way to random but lovable assistants, the encouraged exploration despite a linear path, the emotional impact the ending had on me even after I beat it several times, the surprise threats and secrets behind the game, and just.... just... everything! The game is simply genius and put faith in the idea of these artsy walking adventures being solid gaming entertainment. It is an incredible game and experience for its short length and is every bit of a classic. 

3) Last of Us

Well I've sort of discussed my feelings about this game before. I think it is a tad bit overrated because its hype is a little too built up around a movie-toned story and people get carried away saying its the best thing they'll ever see. I will give it some credit for tying in the tense feeling into the gameplay though. However that wont stop it from being the top game ever to some people, getting tear jerking emotions pulled up, keeping people from seeing it in some glittered spotlight, and I've admitted before it still is a genius game that made it ok among the best PS3 games list even though I only rented it. It is a little early to go around saying for sure if this is a classic, but honestly to suggest that it wont be one is a bit.... well sheltered to put it lightly. The game has been getting nonstop love and praise everywhere and is being considered the highest point so far in a company that has always delivered massive hits, its sold a long lived and now slowly passing console, its holding its very high price point months after it released, and it honestly was a game that was crafted with true care and effort put into it in an age where publishers are bullying that out of our industry for the sake of money. This is a well crafted game with a massive spotlight and lots of love going for it, and honestly it beats Tomb Raider getting the praise over high budget movie stuff since this game actually has decent interaction and substance. I think that it will be looked back as one of the big final hits and possibly one of the biggest linear games out there as history goes on. Long campaign, high budget and focus on top performance all over the place, solid gameplay that stands out from the crowd and keeps you tense alongside the characters and brutal world, and to top it all off even if the story is heavily based on big performance stuff it really delivers strong and it is in part due to the game's general effectiveness as an interactive adventure. Oh yeah and that ending is just.... wow. I can truly see this becoming a massive classic, if not the "greatest game ever" to many.

2) Dark Souls

Even before I recently went on my still ongoing playthrough, I knew there was something different about this game that made it stood out and stand up a bit further than the average 2011 game. Some amazing games came out that year, but the only two that really endured the discussion, legacy, and community enthusiasm is Skyrim, and Dark Souls (maybe infamous 2). Clearly they were doing some good stuff. Sadly I do feel like Dark Souls wasn't exactly being held up as a classic for the right reason, and with time this kind of came to light. The original phase of people saying it was just a great difficult game was kind of silly as it was really more of the depth and execution that makes it such an amazing game. Yes it was difficult and stacked you in some poor odds, but it was because it expected a smart player that could learn from mistakes and use the system to its full advantage that it really held up as a fun game. The community that realized this is the one that stayed.... and then started leaving traces of the rewards across the internet. Cool tricks, interesting lore interpretations, parodies playing on the quirks that only really deep games have, interesting experiences and stories to tell from adventures, or simply spreading the world about various features. This is how it caught my attention in itself, as my rental time with it wasn't really the best showcase for it.

Like pretty much all the games on this list, The game doesn't do a lot that is new in itself, but its the way things are executed that make it stand out a good bit. You have different checkpoints distantly apart from each other that are also your main leveling stations, restores health and health potions, and can alter your condition a bit. Then you have strong combat and enemies that can do nearly everything you can... block, parry, heavy/light attacks, combos, and similar stuff and they can deal out high damage. Between the checkpoint walks, the limited health supply, and high damage they very basic enemies will keep you tense and on your guard while also fully enjoying and using the deep combat system. If you die though you drop all "souls" which just so happen to be the life driving RPG element here. Souls lets you level up, is the currency, and even gets you by a few other things like an NPC task, so dropping them is bad. However you can recover them if you make it back to your death spot. This whole set up creates a genius system of determination and drive that brilliantly pushes you forward and keeps the player motivated to learn from their mistakes in a way you simply don't see in another game. On top of that the player over time will likely learn to take advantage of the game in ways like finding a safe zone to shoot a boss's tail off to get a secret sword. Then there's a critical point on the Tarus demon boss. Moments like this and other quirks have been discovered from hardcore players that really are determined to get things done, all in a generation that has actually been about safe mechanics, bottling freedom and interaction, and emphasis on narrative over gameplay or Hollywood appeal over gamey appeal. Dark Souls not only calls upon older insticts to exploit, and delivers a very strong mechanic heavy tense experience with a good atmosphere, but it hits with a strong sense of discovery and meaningful moments that put it on par with games like Limbo and Last of Us's story telling acclaim while also being more of a game than most games are being. That is why people keep talking about Dark Souls. That is why its become a major hit without going mainstream. That is why its sequel has been begged for across all major platforms including even the Wii U. As a result.... I'm naming this as one of the more powerful classics we've seen come out of this generation, and it looks like its sticking to it until the closer ending as Dark Souls 2 has made it clear that there is no next generation release in the works yet.

1) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

Ok this one requires a good bit of explanation. I'm not happy with it, but I've got to say that modern warfare is a big hit classic and possibly the most obvious one to choose and thus possibly the biggest classic. It didn't innovate on anything itself, it didn't do anything too special on paper, however it not only qualifies itself as a classic in fame but it is also the most obvious thing that other developers have been constantly drawing upon throughout this whole generation and its fame still lasts. I also think that while it didn't innovate, it was executed in such a way that hasn't been seen before and brought in a brand new market to shooters and gave casuals a place among the genre. Personally I think this game is overrated. I'd also much rather go for deeper shooters that I can hardly find anymore and I think what it brought to the industry is one of the worst declines because it made it so that very few shooters or general action game could be deep and "successful" games by the new budgets. Still this has been this generation's Halo, counter-strike, and Unreal as a "competitive" (I use that word loosely) leading online game, it has been the big hit FPS that sticks with people and has had the internet talking about it to this day, it has been that game people share memories about sinking hours with their friends over, and it has been that shooter that again has gotten people playing follow the leader behind for years and years down the line of the longest console cycles out there. Even with the hate wagon at high for the series, they still look back at modern warfare as an outstanding achievement in FPS gaming. I don't even have to explain the game or what became popular about it, its just been talked about to death and its influence has impacted pretty much all of action gaming in some way by now ranging from skinner boxes to regenerating health.

Thanks to this game, Call of Duty is about as well known as Mario and it doesn't even have nearly the amount of time or charm mario has had to get to that status. People remember this game for its addictive skinner box themed fast paced multiplayer, action packed campaign, and just feeling good and nailing the pacing and feeling to a wide audience. For those reasons I really do believe it deserves a spot on this list. Which spot? Well that was difficult to decide, but honestly it was the most blunt, copied, and still a very popular to discuss sort of game that has stood through time as a popular shooter that has been the standard of this generation.... for better and worst. I feel bitter about this, but Modern Warfare really does get the top spot on my list because it really is a big hit game that refuses to fade from time and brought on a heavy influence that lasts even through the "bash it like a pinata" phase the series is going through. Honestly I do have some respect for the game for doing its job and bringing in a casual flare to the genre, and I think it was a matter of very well executed use of older mechanics and ideas from other genres that brought in a strange but satisfying mix and finally brought the modern setting in before it was common. So well played Modern Warfare.... now FPS industry, please grow the hell up and respect your thought provoking and creative roots a bit more.

The power of pacing

I don't usually let someone cut out my work for me... but seriously watch this video. I couldn't believe how much I could relate to most of it.... save for the saints row bit as that game has plenty of potential "quiet time" in between missions. However nearly every type of game I ever loved (save for maybe R&C and some killzones) seems to have a big sense of this quiet time element, and I take full advantage of it when it shows up or even make my own quiet time in games like Killzone 2. Yet it is actually a little disturbing that it's a bit lacking in some of the very successful games. Not that the idea of breaking up the pace is completely removed, its just that its often replaced by higher action that could only be done with scripts or tightly controlled pieces.... like Killzone 3 taking you from run and gun to jepack joy riding or some rail piece space shooter, or Call of Duty giving you a rail piece predator missile toy and telling you to blow up a tank or an overly scripted stealth mission that ends in more explosions anyways. Now don't get me wrong, maybe there is some kind of audience out there that just wants nonstop mayhem.... and I know I sound odd going against that since nonstop mayhem sounds fun. However I really do like the topic at hand here and agree that having some more patience and some quieter moments makes a really strong difference. For starters it makes developers get a little more creative and shows some more talent or at least attempts to go beyond the core premise of any regular action game. It is also almost essential to building up a strong sense of atmosphere.

Quiet time is a weird way to celebrate player interaction in my eyes. It releases you from gunning, traps, or other threatening or thrilling experiences for a moment and puts you into a zone designed soley around a bit of a break. Sure you can play with ragdolls after a firefight you won, but walking down some lonely corridor of a ghost ship in shadow fall or step into a small town of culture trying to hide their fears in Metro and its an experience that is specially tailored for you to just sink some time into relaxing a bit more and soaking up some other form of interest the developer put out for you. Maybe there's even a secret, some hidden lore, an audio log revealing a background plot detail, or even a tiny game within itself out there waiting for you as well. As mediocre and obscure as a game like Alpha Prime is, I adore it for going with a gimmicky physics engine and a carry function that even extends to playing basketball right after a robot shoot out. I just love moments like this that let you sit back, relax, learn something about the world you're immersed in, and just watch the colorful skybox or some other peaceful event. I remember being so fascinated by skyboxes in Spyro to the point where I even saw a faded blue moon under a pale blue morning sky in game before I even knew such a thing could be seen on certain morning in real life.... consider that double the enchantment when I saw it in reality and then ran back into the game later that day to compare it. Fast forward to more modern times where with shadow fall I was discovering things left and right constantly on my 3rd time playing through level 5 where you infiltrated New Helghan for the first time. The developers just packed in so much content just for looking and hearing there.... but you could shoot it to if you really wanted to. Any game I have ever really loved.... well trust me I found some way to have my quiet time within it. I practically grew up on this element considering its that slow paced feeling and draw of the world that pulled me in with Spyro and similar games. Similarly it was the hooking factor for Skyrim, getting lost out in the woods and just having that fun of exploring and experimenting. This sort of thing in games like Spyro and Skyrim is honestly just magical. Then with older shooters... well there was just something always worth exploring, toying with, or cheat codes that altered the game for its more relaxed quiet time. It just felt good. Currently as I play Dark Souls I've realized I really take my time at certain spots. I check the skies, I check corners, I observe statues, and sometimes I just slowly walk and pan the camera around myself to check out my own armor detail or test the polish of the animations. I also truly try to stare down a monster's design before confronting it, fascinated with gargoyles, dragons, golems, and other cool creatures of that world. Its all an amazing feeling.

Likewise with quiet time and music discussed in the video, I actually feel like scripting itself works best in right amounts to create a big impact. I've come to realize that in a game like Resistance 3... so pure, raw, and fun in an old school sense it actually didn't bother me that I was scripted to kill an important character by following button prompts. It didn't bother me that the first 10 minutes of the game was tiptoeing around some forced stealth element hiding from "death squads". It didn't bother me that the ending was just an upside down rail segment that stuck you to your weakest gun. However why is that? I'm so fast to jump on Call of Duty's throat for it, or even worse... battlefield. Even with Killzone 3 I really disliked its direction compared to Killzone 2 due to the scripted events, but upon listening to some other guys discuss the games I've come to realize Killzone 2 shares quite a few scripted sequences to. Yet my feelings were genuine and still hold that one weaker than the other, but why? Well pacing and proper amounts is the only real visible factor. Killzone 2 has rail pieces, but they are down to a bare minimum in between levels full of raw gunplay and satisfying linear level designs and amazing aesthetics. Killzone 3 pumped up the gameplay mechanics and freedoms in a couple ways but gives you less time to enjoy them and more time shoving you into some script. Sure there might be about as much turret pieces, but then there's the heavy handed scripted stealth, the jetpack jumping through a tutorial style strict piece, a moment of just walking with a glitchy AI partner that later repeats itself again, and then you add that all on top of what Killzone 2 already did and its practically a little more than double the scripted events.... even if they're small. That goes without saying that the last 10 minutes of the game is done on a poorly executed space rail shooter that ends with one of the most abrupt, and poorly acted cut-scene endings I think I've ever seen leaving you especially disappointed and without closure to a game that actually had amazing core gameplay. This design combined with a market already full of similar ideas makes for a very predictable and strict experience where quiet time is thrown out the window for a sad attempt to amp up the excitement like some insecure team that doesn't believe in their work to be exciting in itself. However when scripts in other games are more apart and less predictable you got to actually enjoy the small break from the mundane and witnessed a unique event. Destroying legions of ships with a AA gun on a ship, being asked to command a tank and hold back an assault, and piloting a giant mech as the main scripted events spread far between a whole campaign offered up a solid experience that emphasize the right moments and make the game more accessible when you specifically want gameplay vs a certain "big" scripted moment. Not only that but it makes those events in themselves more exciting. You know those Resistance 3 scripts I brought up earlier? Well they were the only ones in the entire game and they were placed in the beginning, middle, and end with over an hour or two of raw fun gameplay and some quite time in between each. Ending on that sudden burst of adrenaline where you seen your guy hanging upside down with a revolver that had infinite ammo and a couple dozen aliens shooting at you from the ground was a thrilling and amazing experience of explosive bullet spam and fun action that put the campaign on a good closing note for a thrilling shooter. If I were pushed into that scripted sequence every level, or had to do some stupid prompt every 10 minutes, there would be no magic to that moment... it would be just another spectacle throwing me out of the game and into a quick time event marketed for the masses that need a gimmick to hold their attention... and ironically I'm the one who actually has ADD.

However do you want to know the ultimate irony in one of the best scripted events ever..... I'm going to give you another video for this one.... right here. Yes that's right, a call of duty game is not only one of the best examples I have of a limited and powerful use of a scripted sequence but I think it is among my favorites when it comes to game endings. I nearly got tears again from watching this, remembering how powerful it was to come across all the war torn battles, fight through the long struggle to get there, to hear Reznov cheer me on.... and suddenly as I'm about to raise the flat in patriotic triumph an accident I have no control over catches me like a surprise a real bullet wound would have. After we supposedly cleared the area with a strong but indirect bombing, That struggling man comes out of nowhere as an unexpected survivor and shoots me as I desperately wonder whether or not I'll make it to see the victory I played for while my screen fades out and things get blurry. Suddenly I see my pal and commander, who has been encouraging me to be a hero like he was some past mentor looking forward to seeing his student achieve greatness, leaps out and in a blind fury and chops and hacks at my attacker for vicious and brutal revenge before returning to his cheerful "you can do it hero!" tone helping me make that goal that felt so deserved. It happens.... I make it.... and I lived to see that ending together with my favorite character in the series as we smashed that flag of victory in to declare a great achievement. That was just brilliant, and every small detail just felt so good and perfect for grabbing the player in. There was no other moment even close to it through the whole game because 80% of it was you in control and you doing the battles and interacting in some way with the field. What other scripts either felt big in themselves or so small that it was fluid and natural. The game created big set pieces in the form of giant battles rather than tight scripts and you were truly a part of these big show downs, like defending a wave of banzai soldiers or ducking in and out of covers of several buildings as you try to approach a big machine gun nest that has been hosing down your reinforcements. It felt powerful to be a part of that and accomplish these tasks, but these small moments where control was taken away to show you something that went beyond the game mechanics... it was used wisely and creatively to create moments of great impact. I'm not that only one that feels the impact of these big pace changes done wisely either. My dad was in love with the tank level of World at War for how well polished and enjoyable it was compared to the different tone of the rest of the game, meanwhile it was just another boring routine set piece in something like Battlefield 3 that used tank commanding in addition to an absurd amount of other scripts. It wasn't that the level was bad, it let you control a tank and my dad loves the novelty of that alone, but it was just that there was nothing special about it when each level tossed you some silly gimmick like that to the point that there was no core game to just enjoy for itself and no sense of pacing.

Incredible moment due to the masterfully paced surprise

I'll admit I'm impressed with the awesome first person combat of the modern warfare endings, but none of them have ever come close to the powerful of an impact the russian World at War ending held. Nothing was this well executed, this suspenseful, this surprising. They just kept finding a way to make some shock value entertainment with controversial set pieces in between very typical and dull toy fiddling to jump around throughout your game or force you into some narrow direction. It becomes dull, easy, predictable, and after entry after entry of seeing the series do this the whole routine is stale enough that it finally caught up to battlefield and Medal of Honor as being damn amazing if you can even make yourself finish it. I honestly could not finish Ghosts..... and upon seeing a bit of footage I can tell there were some scripted set pieces I'm missing out and I have a good bit of ways to go. It just isn't worth it though. There is no substance to it. Similarly while I praise Shadow Fall for its use of quiet time, and its depth in small details under the right levels, it also tries to deploy every single other type of FPS trick to the point where it isn't so well paced in itself anymore either. It was great to have that platforming at the beginning, that tricky and unique level with the sentries, and again that ghost ship level was brilliant. However the game established quick time events every time someone important came up, every time you had a transition there was a script or some stupid linear rail piece for it, and every time you were about to engage in something great you likely had to wait on one of these problems or some other control jerking piece before the good came. It got annoying, and as much fun as I had the game is basking in a clumsy direction that just leaves you knowing it didn't hit the full potential. For every amazing piece, amazing reveal, or well planed moment of peace and deep interaction.... there is a lingering feeling that "Press X and O to continue" will pop up around the corner as an important plot character pops up to jerk control like someone did the last level completely breaking your immersion out of what could have been an amazing and unique industrial sci-fi world. So... you know what I actually take back what I said before about the nonstop mayhem having an audience. If you want the best impact, honestly its just healthier and better to use it sparingly. That's not to say every single second needs to be quiet time, but I'll go back to using World at War as a great example.... make big action the theme of your game and let the player always be a part of that. When you're truly ready for scripting, it can become a powerful and unexpected thing. Meanwhile the player gets to live in the brutal mayhem and experience the chaos of war for themselves in well designed and exciting events that unfold on a regular basis in gameplay.... but that would require good consistent level design and is asking for too much when people are willing to buy up that overscripted quick time carnival of gimmicks, right? Yeah ok I'm getting off track for a cynical jab, sorry about that. Seriously though, I wish people would just put that sort of effort back into their games again... its healthier for the market, and it brings the best out of both consumers and developers. Infinity ward didn't get that famous shocking Nuke event in Modern warfare by making a predictable game of rails and quick time events. Nope, it was a big surprise back then because scripting was often reserved for half-life grade events and games the player was expecting constant control and typical battle after battle. Suddenly that beastly unstoppable power on a scope outside most comprehension at that time made its mark not just on the player but made a powerful moment in FPS history. That is how you send the message, not by tiring it out and making it the generic standard that nobody gets any input in.

To summarize I really do believe these quiet time moments and well thought out pacing makes an amazing game. To parrot the video, I will also agree that well done music sets the tone as well and in addition to quiet time maybe quiet tunes help as well. I remember Tomb Raider (the old one!) is an amazing example of this, the atmosphere felt so empty.... and then..... well lets just say everyone remembers that T-rex and the music was certainly a part of that. Meanwhile having the time to explore the landscape, absorb the atmosphere, look for clues even if they may not be there to begin with, and to encourage both the developer and player to think a bit outside the box and outside of the quick time events.... its all a good thing and I think the very best of games will accomplish that sense of awesome pacing. As much as I talk about horrible use of scripting, some scripting is also better than none but either route is miles better than abusing it. The impact of a massive game breaking event on a scope and suspenseful surprise that the player cannot control can be an amazing thing. However making the game full of those just isn't smart or fun.... it just happens and then it ends and never holds any impact or memory on the player ever again. That's not what I want to walk away with after I played a game, and I'm sure after all those hours working on any kind of game that's not the immpresion you want to leave on players. So give your games some well placed spacing and time. Give it good thinking moments to let the adventure sink in. Give the player well composed and directed music that truly marks every moment as something different and special from the ordinary. And again.... give players that powerful scope experience out of their control every once in a while to swipe them off their feet, but remember not to do it too much or you might as well be carrying them rather than letting them play a game they paid $60 for. The work of quiet time is a beautiful thing.... now if you'll excuse me I have to go stare at the sun rays of anor-londo again.

Lets talk about games maturing

Well to set the record straight, I'm not talking about the rating or any level of violence. By talking about mature games I mean the ones that get all the evolutionary praise often based on how big of a deal the game makes out of mocap cut-scenes or hired writers filling out some "deep" narrative. I've been needing to get this type of discussion out of the way for a while. I'm a bit sour whenever someone brings up the idea of "how games are maturing" as people point to one or two oddly specific and overly cinematic examples for it. Some of these games people hype up as a step towards "maturing" are pretty deprived of either gameplay, replayable content, the content length itself, or just plain lacking in the general feeling or intention of fun as a result of the previous things adding up. Usually its a sacrifice made to ham fist in cinematic presentation with big budget scenes and a disconnected attempt at some story in between bits of gameplay segments, or its a super linear game with the purpose focused around a story but the hype and credit just gets overblown. I suppose its a bit subjective, but that sounds more like missing the point to gaming rather than upgrading it. Look contrary to whatever pretentious artsy directors are telling you, a game's goal really is to hit the mark as "fun" and anything else is a bonus. Here's an example of some of the "too cool for fun" games being fun.... Braid is fun to puzzle platformer guys, Last of Us is a fun linear survival shooter with a great plot, Dark Souls is an insanely deep RPG making it fun no matter how sadistic it can be, and Gone home was fun to explore and piece together. These games all strike many emotions and maybe you wouldn't think they were planned to be "fun" with things like the freakin' apocalypse, a lesbian family drama story, or a plot about kidnapping to be fun but the truth is they're all held up through fun mechanics that would appeal to someone somewhere as entertaining. If it didn't, it wouldn't sell. You can tell me Journey made you cry and felt sad about the death-like feeling towards the end, but honestly if you never had any sense of fun or enjoyment you would never reach that emotionally invested status because you would have thrown the controller down out of boredom. Its just like horror games, sure you can try and tell yourself you do it for fright more than fun but the truth is if you were really just a big chicken about it you would be outside of the horror fan niche. Horror fans get enjoyment and fun out of the fear inducing media, trying to tell me you can't enjoy that would be like trying to stop the romatic comedy genre from existing because you don't think such a thing could exist either.

Actually its funny I should mention horror. We've reached a state in the market where they refuse to make them the triple A way now, yet they played on emotion far, far before any of these linear artsy indie games or big production cinema games hit the market.... but only now you guys want to recognize the media as "growing up". Seriously, just think about that a moment. Heck, why stop there? Ever here of a little game called Metal Gear Solid? Big cinematic title that managed to craft a game very heavily detailed in every single regard, ranging from easter eggs, small interesting details that brought in immersion and fun, a very strong practically genre defining sense of gameplay and tension unlike anything else before, and it also had a lengthy interesting dramatic story with a subtle nod towards anti-war and nuke morals. That was done over a decade ago, and then brought up even better by practically each release in the series while developers today still make and sell easy copies on games that do far less and get more of this "mature" praise. Tomb Raider reboot, I'm looking at you and your extremely disconnected story and minimal input gameplay that somehow "raised the bar" with critics and gamers. I just don't get that.

Nice story, now when does the game actually let you participate?

Honestly games are as mature as they should ever need to be. We've had our "strong female leads" in plenty of good casual PC games that get overlooked all the time. Yet that doesn't actually make a game better, so that's not a good focus point. Games like Journey, Dragon age, Dark Souls, and anything that uses the W40K license right use religious tones to a big part of their lore. We have games like Spec Ops, Metal Gear Solid, and arguably even Hotline Miami taking violence or military tones and puts out moral spins in some form. Way before Last of Us we've had well crafted emotional character driven stories before. Before you wonder where your story driven or "mature" games are and cry about the oversaturated FPS market for your scapegoat, how about stopping to look at what has been around you this whole time. We have plenty of interesting story, character, and thought provoking games produced for about as long as development for the media has existed, even if it was just in primitive point and click or text adventures at some time or another. Meanwhile I'm getting a bit sick of the overpraised holly-wood direction games are going in, and that is not even close to what the true point of maturity in the games should probably look like. Telling me the Last of Us is the only way to progress.... or uncharted, or even worse: Tomb Raider is the way just because it has some well done writing or some hired author is just a terrible influence on the media. Not that those games are bad, but its not the only way to progress or cheer on gaming and by trying to put those games on their flashy ivory towers you're neglecting the games that capitalize on amazing gameplay but didn't bother with the unnecessary fluff. Why is The Last of Us a better future than something deeper like Dark Souls? Why is Tomb Raider worth your attention more than something in need and a longer more interactive experience as Sly Cooper 4? Why is Limbo so much greater than the endless replay, better supported, content packed, wonderfully unique and deep, and heavily community driven game like Chivalry? You see what I'm saying here, the games as followed not only have you doing more and interacting more as a real player and gamer but all (except dark souls, though on a comparison basis it still fits perfectly) are miserably overshadowed in the media over some extra flash and in your face production value feeling. You don't need some mega hit story. You don't need to make a tear-jerker to sell a big budget title. You shouldn't have to jerk control away from the player or shoe horn in forced cut-scenes everywhere to call your game (which is supposed to be centered around actually playing it) mature or up to standards. We still need a casual fun game like Call of Duty or Peggle. We still need something intentionally silly and crazy like BulletStorm or Deadpool. We still need a game that just gives you a big sandbox world to tackle and paint over as a canvas of interactive fun like Gmod and Minecraft. These are games that do their job, please their fans, and provide a great thing to the media.... and it doesn't need stars, dramatic stories, nor does it even need to pay attention to feminist protesting (which has become a surprisingly hot topic lately) to do it right. At the end of the day these are video games. Its doesn't need to be presented in an epic, it just needs to be fun and interactive and enjoyable to its intended audience.

It doesn't need a "deep" or Hollywood level scope to fulfill its duty as a game

So what constitutes a mature or masterful game though? Well certainly not something that seeks to only copy other mediums. Honestly a  game that truly masters itself is one that wont force you through a ton of cut-scenes, or put the player through a window looking onto something... a game does its job right when it sucks you into it as a player and as someone interacting, and tells us a story through that. Games that focus too hard on a Hollywood appeal are missing the point, gaming isn't something that needs to look like Hollywood anymore than movies need books to them. Instead Journey is actually a bit more in the right direction, but yet don't you think its kind of lacking a bit... for something that masters the medium and its traits and uses that to convey powerful highs and lows all while keeping the player immersed and telling the story through gameplay, shouldn't it all be a bit.... well more? Well honestly not if it accomplishes its goals and uses its length well, but when people think of the ultimate game they want more content and that is pretty easily justified. If something like Journey was the sole icon and highest point of the medium, it would be pretty sad. That's why again I'll restate that this isn't something to get all worked up on about. Gaming is what it is, and there has been nothing wrong with the mindless fun of it and its silly attitudes because its been fantastic and well worth playing games like Unreal Tournament and mario bros. Gamers don't need Sonic, Mario, Spyro, Gex, and others to be pushed aside for something like Last of Us and I certainly hope they don't start attempting to copy it. Neither does Last of Us or Mario need to go chasing after Journey. Games deserve to be what they are: fun. I hope we continue seeing awesome games of all kinds, and I do not dare ever want some type to overshadow the other nor are any of them. Dark Souls, Journey, Metal Gear Solid, Spyro, and even Last of Us has impacted me big on their runs, but honestly that doesn't make Mario, Torchlight, or killzone any less of a game or a toddler experience. They were all an outstanding achievement in entertainment and made a great effort to give me some joy in their silly and fun ways. I don't need every game to strive for some odd level of "maturity" by chasing after big writers, stars, or even revolutionizing the gameplay experience. I just ask that a game is fun, everything else is a bonus.... and yes of course the best will be way more than that, but honestly there is no universal way to go about being the best. I will be very happy when the world of Game Journalism can agree upon that and they stop making these discussions over how Uncharted and whatnot should be the standard.... that's just not right and its because of drives to get things unified into one narrow minded direction that we have some of the messes we do today. I don't think narrative direction will ever be unified, but lets no encourage that sort of thing. I'd much rather have fun than see a market flooded in self-critical games with a surprising lack in gameplay and "experiences" only.

Nothing wrong with this co-existing with the deeper narratives

Yet another example on keeping the physical games around....

Ah, Duke Nukem Forever. Supposedly a savior in FPS coming along at a time where we needed that good 'ol feeling of alien bashing 90's shooter fun from a big team. Well it flopped hard with mixed responses trying to figure out why (hint it is broken and had poorly constructed use of mechanics and level design that were never meant to be together). However I'm not here to talk much about that situation today, I'm here to report I saw it go on a daily sale for $5 on the game client steam. At least I think, the steam store is honestly glitching on me and a refresh tore it off the screen and going into the specials it was still there on sale until I went into the game page where it just told me the regular price. Go figure, its one or the other and you wont get the joy of knowing if you got there on time until your about to check out. Yup, $5 marked down for $20. Its a steal right? Darn right it is, but not on the consumer side. I found a cluster of this game priced around that for a brand new copy at target, gamestop, and used at the same price as bestbuy over a year ago. A physical copy you could hold, feel, own, and get the box and artwork that came with it and nothing but the desperately needed patches required you to ever be connected to the internet to use it. Yet to cash in on even a little bit of this value on the overpraised digital market, you had to wait all this time or to a specific different time and buy it specifically before that little clock thing ran up. Then it was back to a laughable $20 that the game isn't nearly worth. Before suggesting I'm just nitpicking this little special scenerio, This is not even close to the first time its happened. Exact scenerio, except maybe a little worse, happened with rage.... I say a little worse because it took place during the glorified summer sale as a flash event and was just the ordinary copy when I got the fully functional special edition physical copy for the same $5 at Kmart (yeah store sucks but I still wind up there occasionally). Both examples were bought new, though in all honesty $5 isn't making it far to anyone on either market situation.

Now don't get me wrong, digital has plenty of amazing deals without even leaving home that come and go that the physical market may never catch up on. I've seen games like Mirror's edge, Far Cry 3, Dishonored, and plenty more go to low levels during sale period that shame pretty much every physical version save for maybe a lucky yard sale. I'm not asking steam to shut down or anything just because it wanted to give me something discounted a year and a half late (again). Read the article title, if anything this is more of a case of being a little on offense for the goal of defense. I'm just so tired of hearing people trying to rush an age of digital only when even the most popular use of it (in music) hasn't even been able to got that route yet, trying to push it up as the only way and thing relevant, or trying to spit venom about the physical market for daring to have the common practice of personal trading while acting like the digital world is perfect. The reality check is that each has their own faults, and they can each be pretty bad. I hate retailers like gamestop and bestbuy bullying pre-order junk into developers and hurting consumers, I despise how digital markets will never let themselves decrease their base value that much, and I cannot stand the DRM practices that come from both ends and try to step in the way of consumer fun for the sake of some extra assurance in getting each customer. However you know what... when one side gets so much worse than the other or another surprises me with an outstanding deal, I just get to cross over to the "right" side and get my enjoyment and fun over there. Contrary to what pro-digital guys are trying to push, there really isn't harm in giving consumers the freedom and fun of choice. The harm is coming from overdone budgets, poorly placed expectations, corporate bullying, and developers that don't want to think outside the box. There is hardly ever any one thing that has caused a big problem, and used games certainly aren't it. Gaming has lived for long periods of time just fine along with the physical market, and you know what else has.... pretty much everything that ever had an existence. To think of a world that cannot do yard sales unless someone sells some giant account that everything they bought was tied to, and where the companies regulate your every single purchase and keep their prices at whatever they choose, or a world where you technically own nothing as a company cannot legally guarantee you their servers and support for your items can always be supported, and a world where you cannot give the gift nor even let something be borrowed of something you cherished without repurchasing all as a "healthier" market environment is just plain weird. Games, books, movies, and music aren't any more special or deserving of a release from common market trades than anything else from your home decor to your collector items.

As I sit and debate with myself over the possibility of buying my first ever collectors edition with Dark Souls 2 along with the same day my mind is baffled that steam JUST NOW caught up to a sale (which I might have missed because I'm not checking steam every freakin' day so I miss certain 24 hour sales) I got over a year ago kind of caught me up to speed with how ridiculous again the notion of going all digital is. Oh and did I bring up that lovely event with marvel that happened not long ago? Thanks to their liscencing terms and style nobody wanted to renew their terms with the company and had to take down any trace of a living market place on digitally distributed stores. Yup you can't even get that stuff by their launch price, or even some super rare Ebay price if you wanted to. Games as recently releases as deadpool are just plain gone on their steam page and similar clients. However it wasn't that great of a game to begin with, so lets say you stopped playing it and wanted to let a friend borrow or even keep it... he/she is a really big deadpool fan who hasn't got in on the game yet (possibly waiting on it to hit its max discount or a special sale but because it had less than a year..... sorry that chance never came and its gone) and it would make a brilliant gift... but you can't because the game is locked in on your steam account and does not exist in the form of keys or something to buy as a gift. The game does not exist, unless you're counting on pirates to save you. Think about that, this is how bad things are going to be if times were digital only now. A pirate just became a freakin' hero somewhere out there because they are the only ones that can give you access to the now non-existent PC version of a game like DeadPool. Thankfully though the truth is it hit console markets, it hit store shelves, and you can buy it new or used both at lower prices than they once were. Sadly the same can't be said about the DLC on games like marvel vs capcom because that really was digital only on all platforms... sad isn't it? Digital Distribution is too regulated for its own good, and it cannot be the only source to the games you love. It has brought some good things to the table, indies are better off on that side of things, and there is yet more competitions for better prices for gamers to enjoy, but its not without its faults and it should not be the only way to do things.

Luckily this exists.

For the love and better enjoyment of gaming, can't we all just gather around and enjoy what we have rather than praying for the destruction of markets, jobs, and ownership? Personally I enjoy both a bit. I'm more of a physical copy guy, but you know what... I have still downloaded games on both PC and PS3, I've enjoy seeing the awesome deals both have presented me, and I love gaming as a whole and want to continue having a choice and competitively good deals from both sides rather than only looking through digital stores for deals if I'm lucky to keep in good connection. I want to continue collecting and playing games in both physical and digital forms, and I want to see a positive and healthy market through good use of both routes rather than one. I don't see why there is any need at all to call for the end of one or another or to try doubting or dating its existence even if we support it. As long as we support it, it should be around for a while, so lets continue that and may digital and physical gaming live long and well. You know what, screw the specifics I've got to say the same for books, movies, and music to. Anything I love a lot, I need to own the physical form of, but there is no hiding the strong benifits that digital or steaming presents. To be able to hold a whole library on a smart phone is incredible, and streaming from thousands of movies at the touch of a button is incredible, but so is having the special edition blu ray copy of your favorite movies or filling up an actual bookshelf full of amazing books to hold and turn the real pages to. Long live physical and digital media!

My favorite PC games

Spoiler: no half-life, sorry.

Look I'm going to tell you straight away, this list is kind of a lie because I have no real idea what my favorite is. I'm not a big PC gamer, but I've had quite a lot of time with it off and on in my gaming fun, but yet despite being more personally drawn toward Playstation and just the allure of general consoles I still find it ridiculously hard to pinpoint my favorites on a secondary platform that should be straight forward since I don't play as many games on it. I don't know if its because there were too many great moments, or because there wasn't a great enough moment that stood out that made X game rise above Y game, but numbering these amazing games was far more difficult than it was on PS3. So don't take it too seriously, but I gave it a try anyways and I'd like to give you my list. Some of these games have been modded (some need to be modded), some haven't been played in forever despite being amazing, and some that should be on this list will miss out because I have a low end card or haven't played my entire PC library yet. So overall this wont be a very competent list, but at the same time it was kind of fun to do it and I do have some sincere note to some of the positions these games have reached. Anyways without further intro, here is my attempt to name my top 15 favorite PC games.

15) Heretic: Shadows of the serpent Riders

One of the best oldest FPSs that I've played. This is just my favorite barebones 90's game, though I'll admit I haven't played doom modded yet so... yeah. Still once you have heretic up and running in Zdoom it is amazing. Great atmosphere and reskinned doom weapons, awesome power ups, great fantasy vibe, fun enemies, and secrets everywhere. I just had a lot of fun playing this and managing through all the resources and craziness. Oh and the speed... just wow, this was fast paced insanity. Full of secrets, fun, and chaos in one of the fastest pacings I've played an FPS campaign in... this game just rocks. I just couldn't get into its more RPG heavy sequels as easily, so the original remains the best in my book.

14) Dust: An Elysian Tail

It may be a combination of elements from genres I usually wouldn't bother with, but the result was just awesome. Dust is a 2D sidescrolling metroidvania hack 'n slash fighter with an RPG twist played out in between some anime scenes. I don't particularly care for any of those elements, but it all came together fantastically. I love the style and creative disney-like world (it'll be weird to see it turn anime in cut scenes), love the how fluid and smooth yet fast paced and graceful the combat feels, the super power charged extra attacks, the exploration between well set stages, and the inventory management and side quests that add more depth into something already pretty great. I guess the metroidvania bit didn't hook me so much, however it didn't bother me either as backtracking was hardly a thing and collectibles may one day push me to 100% this game. The challenge is actually surprising as the core combat and fighting is easy while the platforming is quite difficult, however I'm glad it went easy on me in the brawls as its not my thing and the platforming wasn't frequent enough to be annoying and it was all fair in its challenge. I also really enjoyed the story and humor that game had as well as the soundtrack whenever I was adventuring. The game had its share of issues, and its ok length was actually welcomed after it got a bit tiresome, however nothing stopped that game from really leaving a strong amount of fun value. I plan to go back and replay this again soon, but for now I'll just put it on the list as the ton of fun it gave me during my initial playthrough.

13) Area 51/Far Cry

Ok its a tie, and a bit of a cop out. Sue me. However both of these each held strongly as amazing corridor shooters with their own changes that accompanied their amazing and unique settings. Far Cry takes place on an island where you must destroy some made scientist before he unleashes insane and evil creatures on the world that he can hardly even control. You fight through mercs, aliens, and others as you push on through a lengthy and challenging but fair FPS. It had good weapons, an amazing and tense use of health system, amazing effects for its time and one of the few shooters to this day that actually has bullet hole textures in character models, and it was a blast. Some enemies are a little too bullet spongy though, but oh well its a great game anyways.

Now for Area 51, I'll admit I haven't played this in a while, yet I'm kind of surprised no one talks about this game anymore. For its time it had a high production feeling, great gameplay, and a surprisingly solid story. Overall its one of the better examples of my favorite type of corridor shooter. Health packs, aliens, small moments of allied NPCs and strong enemy variety, solid gunplay and weapon selection, and a generally great ton that set up some memorable moments. I remember replaying the PS2 demo to death before eventually stumbling on the full thing on PC and ran it pretty well having a blast through the campaign. Oh yeah and then there's the twist that around the middle point you get to become an alien mutant yourself for limited bursts of time. I also got to say it lives up to what you'd expect from the name as well providing an awesome alien and conspiracy filled experience. Overall its a great shooter I had a blast with on PC and I'd feel bad if I left it off this list.

12) Garry's mod

The ultimate sandbox experience that I think has ever been made. Gmod is actually a great and stupidly straight forward name as it has its theme in it... its one big mod for more mods so you can mod them into whatever the heck you want. You basically throw yourself into a map with the source engine and let your creations and tools fly loose and command the world around you. Its a heavenly place for machinima, ragdoll foolery, or playing with insane user made weaponry, or just making your own out of basic props. You can end up making your own car out of a recliner glued to a bathtub with motorized saws attached to it. One of my favorite things with it though was NPC wars... setting up masses or specially scripted sets of enemies and allies trying to build your own wars or corridor shooter levels. On the down side the game was as buggy as you'd expect, updated could break stuff, and one of the most interesting things I find myself hating is that a full sandbox experience just isn't that interesting of a game in itself. As with my love of certain adventure games or corridor shooters, I love things that have been pre-set in a massive atmosphere with certain rules that make you think, discover, and work with them to interact with the world. A sandbox as open as Gmod is, is mostly about what you do yourself and how long you're entertained by it and... well that's just not my main form of gaming. Regardless I do get a lot of fun out of this game in between other games that come with that sort of developer made strengths,and I love the amount of freedom and playfulness that can be done in such a big canvas of a game as Gmod. It really shows the strength of the source engine and the PC modding community, and then hands over the reigns to the individual. I just can't let that sort of experience go unnoticed on this list, even if its in a broken and unplayable state for me right now.

11)Terraria

Now this is where creativity comes together with strong developer set mechanics. Some people like minecraft, some love ace of spades, and some like the other 3D minecraft-ish games, but I love the popular RPG sidescroller inspired form called terraria. I don't know why as I'm not an NES or sidescrolling RPG enthusiast and often prefer the extra dimension and freedom that comes with 3D games and sandboxes. However for some reason the minecraft formula just works best to me in this form and with a higher emphasis on progression and adventure. You start off with nothing and have to build some crappy log cabin to prepare for your own survival and end up conquering the world by fighting off corrupting darkness, bosses, and random chaotic events all while wielding anything from heavy metal medieval equipment to lightsabres and laser guns all while wearing traditional armor or a silly fox costume. Those are all very specific examples but you should get the fine point. Terraria takes the idea of collecting materials and building buildings and turns it into a grand adventure that I can really enjoy. I lost so many hours to this game when I first got it, and still haven't seen much more than half the things it has to offer. Apart from the weak melee combat, this game gets little complaints from me as it has a great sense of scale, depth, creativity and interactivity, discovery, a steep but fair learning curve and the courage to leave you discovering most of it yourself (which I deeply respect in games), on top of all that a good sense of humor and just good old gamey fun and sillyness.

10) Cortex Command

It was a tough call to figure out where to put this on the list. My first major involvement with an indie game ever, and it really showed in the best and worst of its kind. Putting aside all the lack of base content, the insane list of bugs, and the total lack of polish and poor care from the developer, I still got a massive amount of fun and joy from this game and it left me feeling inspired that I really hope I see its mechanics again some time. The game is basically one of the best war games out there giving you in control of any unit you order down, equiping them with insane loadouts and tools to help their survival and your goal, and every single piece of them and their gear is open to destruction and has some value to the field. Helmets, vests, and shoulder/knee pads can block bullets and degrade over time, troops can use their weight to smash lighter opponents, heavier weapons or armor mean heavier soldiers and less jetpack mobility, and your weapons and limbs can all be blown away leaving the soldier to bleed out unarmed on one leg if they just barely made it out of a firefight. That alone is amazing and worth a lot of your time, and I haven't even gotten into the details on terrain, vehicles, extra scripts, and most importantly the mods. The amount of mods and creativity added on top of this game's amazing engine and mechanics is just outright insane and worth a lot of time and investment for anyone who can put up with the game's faults and learning curve. An overall great game that has one of the most fantastic concepts and set up I've ever seen in a game, and if it had been handled better or brought into a 3D FPS it would have felt much more like it.

9) Might and Magic: Dark Messiah

Probably my first real play and source of enjoyment in an RPG game, and the only one I actually completed at a decent rate. Dark messiah took the imagination and adventure in a typical RPG and turned it into a perspective that draws inspiration from a corridor shooter with a strict linear path with a focused story and sets of enemies and perils, as well as attacks and fighting that took place in first person. You still had swords and spell casting, enchantment and pain of the elements, an inventory, and a level up system complete with stat building. So it was still an RPG, just one tried in a new perspective by an ambitious developer. And it paid off. Before there was a dragon's dogma or Kingdom of amalur or even a dark souls with good combat and skill or choice to sword swings, there was at least this. Most of the attacks were still a bit barebones and down to clicking, however the perspective and feeling to it really gave me the hope that this was progress to what I wanted and made the experience more enjoyable and playable to me in a perspective that was perfect for me. The game also used source meaning it ran well and used outstanding physics that were just a joy to play with. I had a lot of fun just kicking stuff around at people, pushing goblins off cliffs, or even giving ragdolls some sort of funeral. Oh yeah and source meant it had a command console full of cheats, so that's nice for replayability. Between the playful interaction, perfect change in perspective, cheesy and well made world, and the solid RPG gameplay I just had a lot of fun with this and enjoyed it the whole lengthy ride despite my usual distrust and poor reception for the genre. It was a step in the right direction and one of the most unforgettable gaming adventures I've had. Meanwhile the developer went on to make another one of my favorite games with Dishonored. Sadly Dark Messiah suffers from some glitchy aging, and ubisoft dictated some rather odd decisions ranging from the tacked on "Might and Magic" license to the lack of modding support which probably hurt the game's potential. Still it deserves good recognition as a PC favorite of mine.

8) Serious Sam

This is the ultimate old school FPS stereotype whether you stand on the opposing side that looks on and mocks it or adrenaline fueled fan side. Being a big FPS fan that knows it has more than what it looks like on the surface, I tend to be on the fan side. Serious Sam will plunge you into waves and waves of endless enemies of a ridiculous and insane caliber with just enough raw firepower to kill them all in between manly moments of attitude. Its cheesy, its gamey, its old school, its destructive, and its classic fun that will have you grinning big. However one thing bugs me about people that only see it for its loud and proud guns blazing attitude is that they only think of it as a mindless immature shooter... and these are probably the same people making the same overgeneralizations as pretending FPS is the only genre that is oversaturated or think that Mario is only for children. Games are around for more than their surface value, especially ones older back when they didn't mind pulling in a niche or used strong rules to make up for primitive tech. In the case of shooters you had to handle resources, platforming and precise movement, a sense of discovery with secrets and hidden bonuses, the creativity of the world or enemies to make up for the lack of story, and the depth in your obstacles and tools. A good shooter was just as much about strategy and intelligent planning as it was about explosions and reflex. Serious Sam is one of the best uses of every single one of these mechanics from 90's shooters adding them all together while being a bit unique in how it presents them to distance itself a bit from the common 90's shooter form. It has more open outdoor environments and enemy scale than something like doom or quake, while being more silly and better paced over the post-infant stage corridor shooters like half-life or halo. It was a genius use of some of the strongest FPS mechanics and provided them under the surface of the most cheesy and insane style it could possibly come up with. Now the drawback to the series is that it isn't so easy to tell one from the other as they mostly don't advance from its roots... and honestly it shouldn't either. It provides good atmosphere and creative settings with a couple weapon and power-up tweaks in between long waits from each sequel to a series that already mastered the roots of a good old school FPS, so it doesn't really need to change all that much. However this also means that I couldn't come up with one that was too greater than another and honestly I'm just going to have to slap the series name into this PC favorites spot.

7) Worms 4 Mayhem

One of my favorite Strategy games ever made. Worms 4 was a gameplay upgrade over the brilliant worms 3D and played out the strengths unlike the fort spin-off that tried something totally different. As for the 2D games... they're good but not in my preference. Worms 4 unleashed a full fledged story driven campaign that was a nice fun to go through before setting you free into a massively customizable multiplayer masterpiece of turn based strategy. Worms 4 did take a couple steps back in a couple features, which would later be the downfall of the overmilked series, but in this case it added so much more options and fun ideas that thrilled my young imagination back then that I didn't really care too much if I lost the ability to choose the time of day on my map. You could edit massive amounts of weapons, the wind and other game defining mechanics, set values of each team, build your own weapons and team outfits, and destroy the competition with funny weapons or glide around the map in interesting challenging ways during gameplay. I used to love this series not only for its great strategy mechanics, but its customization lead to sort of build my own stories and tournaments with teams and items and their adventures across a ton of maps. And this game... this game did the series its best service if you ask me. Basically its the best worms game in my opinion, and considering how much time it sucked up and how much enjoyment worms was back in its older days, I can say this truly deserves a big spot on the list of my favorite PC games.

6) Duke Nukem 3D

Oh it was a tough time pondering whether or not this or serious sam should go ahead of each other. On one hand Duke nukem's later levels aren't all that great and its a far more linear experience set up in a feeling of less with its poor DOS visuals and awkward 90's style aiming. However on the other hand its just so much damn fun and a blast to play. This is honestly one of the best first person shooters to have existed in my opinion. It delivers on such a strong solid experience that pushed the genre forward a little bit with its style and level of interaction... and arguably its engine but that's kind of hard to say now and after quake hit. The weapons were just perfect, the secrets and set up were just brilliant, the enemy types were fun, duke was memorable for his attitude and for being a good blender of action hero cliches, and the game just delivered in every area for a 90's shooter and has been remade now to the extent of being accessible on nearly every ideal platform. However the best form is on the PC where you've got the extra levels, a ton of good mods and a stronger feeling of control. Overall I think It'd be a shame to leave this out of the list. I'm still not quite sure if I feel good about putting it over serious sam, but in the end I think I've toyed around and spent more time into duke's gameplay and its more linear and close up mayhem feels more satisfying to me compared to serious sam's masses of fields that result in a more repetitive feeling. I've got to give Duke nukem a credit over it and my favorite strategy game for now. Do PC FPSs really get much better than this?

5) Team Fortress 2

Oh yes there is a better shooter: my first and still one of my favorite true competitive multiplayer experiences ever. I love this game, even after all the changes and the giant span of time its endured it still holds up as an addictive masterpiece of a multiplayer experience that has only gotten bigger and better over time. Its a unique class heavy multiplayer experience with unique solid mechanics, undying and loving support, and so much style that combined with the community made machinima its practically its own cartoon show. It was an addictive blast to play even when it was just barebones plus mods. Experimenting with each of every 9 classes each with long list of pros and cons and then adjusting them to each and every map played while running into so many different situations as you could just as easily run into others playing with their own pros and cons. The game had such a powerful learning curve with its unique gameplay of class on class warfare with extremely unique abilities and advantages. However with time there was even more content with hat customization, a lot of different and interesting well balanced guns added, updates that added celebrations and bosses, and it all went up for free on an engine that can be ran on a wide range of PCs. Oh yeah and bot support was added, so there's that to but the game really shined with human intelligence or stupidity ruling the arenas. Despite the influenced and innovation this game brings out, no one has yet been capable of beating valve on TF2's terms over all these years. Its just such a unique and well cared for experience that it is one of its kind, possibly challenged only by the upcoming Plants vs zombies garden warfare which looks to try a super class based shooter and then there's the shameless Chinese rip-off. But lets face facts here, EA doesn't support or love its games the way valve does and TF2 is going to remain top filled with players and fun until it gets a sequel.... assuming even that could top it. I may sound a bit overly hyping this, especially since its only starting the "top 5's", but Team Fortress 2 deserves the praise as it is easily one of the best competitive designed shooters made.

4) Warhammer 40'000: Dawn of war

What more can I say than this is just my favorite RTS games set in my favorite fictional universe. I love RTS games for that feeling of being able to command the battlefield when I want a break from being one guy on it. It gives me a fun sandbox-like experience where I customize my army, configure what types of vehicles and weapons they use, and then get to play god on their strategies and turn them in other directions trying to conquor an opponent with the same ideas in mind. Being a strategy game this also opens and offers different fields of customization and deep mechanics that can be toyed with for your best experience. The genre has plenty of flaws though, but that's not what I'm here to talk about. I'm talking about being able to control armies in the Warhammer 40'000 universe across most of its factions, some of the most memorable and cheesy voice acting in video game history, a strong campaign that integrates tutorials and strategies through the space marine perspective well, and hours and hours of replayability even without mods. However after getting the full expansions and modding it all down with extra content between the codex mod and the extra endurance and customizations of the apocalypse mod, this game is just an absolute blast and is one of the best ways to represent the brutal universe of warhammer in.

3) Chivalry: Medieval Warfare

If you thought I was praising TF2 a little too much, you have no idea. Chivalry is not only an incredible game in itself that has great gameplay mechanics, smart unique class choices, and a solid amount of care and detail put into it, but it also has one of the easiest ways to sell me on a game.... deep melee combat. I adore deep melee combat in games! Being a sword swinging knight that actually has the choice to time and slice the way you want is just a great idea, and it saddens me the main RPG genre that had the best chance of making this happen is stuck trying to figure out numbers instead of fun combat. Dark messiah may have made steps to improve that, but Chivalry took it beyond the sky limits and punched an asteroid with it. Ok goofy metaphors aside, it just perfected the feeling to holding and using weapons in a brutal medieval set-up. You have stabs, verticle and horizontal sliced, can choose to swing from left or right sides, have a pull back and bash move, and a shield system full of its own weird little dynamic options mixed together with a heavy feeling that just feels good with it. On top of all this you have archery at your choice, classes react realistically to damage by armor types (blades and blunt have different effects on different classes), customization, and a few modes that seriously change up the pace. Modes range from changing objectives within a story-ish type of team objective move, then there's team deathmatch, round based TDM, king of the hill, capture the flag, my personal favorite free for all (its just soooo good to just fight anyone with the combat like this), and arguably the most interesting mode: Duel. Duel mode has you set up in special rounds where you sit in a room waiting for a free spot to challenge someone for 3 rounds in a small space. If all this sounds great just wait until you meet the community that uses it.

The community behind chivalry is an interesting one. Sure you have jerks and trolls, and they really can stink, but there are a ton of people that go around using the game's load of tools as a canvas for comedy or good sportsmanship. You'll have people running in and out of the tavern climbing all the way up the stairs to jump out the window while screaming "help me!" with in voice commands, boxing rings, people who dare to challenge your sword with their fist.... and sometimes win! There are people just spamming fire pots whenever they spawn with it just to set fire to stuff. Then you have people who actually try to establish their own chivalry code within the game. All this within a very brutal and brilliantly well done atmosphere with fun physics, deep and rich gameplay mechanics, and a really entertaining game overall. This is honestly going to be remembered as one of my favorite online games of all time. However with all that being said the last time I played this it was still buggy as hell despite plenty of patches, and bots are just plain awful in every way imaginable. So its not without its faults, but it is still a fantastic game and one of the greatest online games I've played... and one of the best PC games I've ever played for certain.

2) Torchlight 2

While I don't think I actually got around to posting it, this got my personal pick of game of the year in the same year as Dragon's Dogma, Dishonored, and Journey... all of those on the top PS3 game list, and two damn near the very top. While I wont say that makes it a better game, it was certainly saying a big message about how fantastic this game is and honestly that hasn't changed over time. Torchlight 2 is a reminder of why I play games though oddly in a genre I usually don't enjoy... freedom, interaction, player choice, depth in mechanics, interesting worlds, and a feeling of just raw joy and fun without interruption. That leads it to being a pure joy to play again and again. I kept coming back experimenting with builds, toying with brilliant mechanics, trying to look for fun quirky little easter eggs, or discover any traits I could about the world's monsters. The intense and deep character building leads to a lot of interesting direction you can take the 4 main classes in, and it didn't place any locked content over your head dictating your playstyle over some silly artificial barrier most RPG games will make up to force a feeling of "difference" over your classes. Screw that, you make the differences here. This all lead to a game that was never stale, never too hard, never too easy, and always fun and enjoyable. The adventure was long, the story just entertaining enough, the sound design and music were quite interesting and had an edge of mystery and magic to them, and I just adore the steampunk influences over a colorful mystical fantasy world. Oh and this game has one of the most epic dragon fights I've probably ever seen in gaming. I just freakin' loved this game, and it had me hooked and addicted until I hit that 44 hour mark.... and then I came back to sink more time in until I hit around 80. This is all without mentioning mods of course, but it gets even better there. I guess I could complain about the 90% mouse control feel to it, the lacking feel of the lore, and some nitpicks on things like how shotguns feel like the got the short end, but overall none of that comes close to taking away the value and pure raw fun I got out of this game. Torchlight 2 is a PC favorite of mine, possibly my favorite indie game of all time, and a true masterpiece.

1) Unreal Tournament 2004

In my opinion this is one of the best first person shooters of all time. Not certain on what would truly be #1, but this comes close. Its like a fast paced tricky open source fun gorey sandbox shooter with a 90's sci-fi twist with an extra slice of cheese. Out of my giant description I'd like to pull out the world sandbox. After you grab the popular ballistic weapons mod you can customize twice as much in a game already insanely customizable. You can even tweak things down to you core damage/health set-up. On top of insane amounts of customization (crosshairs, team highlight variables, weapon effects), modes, and maps, and putting aside other mods, you still have one of the strongest arena shooter offerings out there with tight controls, solid gameplay, and a perfect sense of pacing and weapon selection done with balance that just feels perfect. Oh yeah and vehicles. Then there's the tournament mode that actually plays out like a progressing tournament where you pay to maintain your team and earn money facing off opponents and doing your challenges. On top of all that it personally clicks a bit more with me as someone who grew up in the 90's and loves gothic medieval stuff in addition to cheesy 90's sci-fi. It has the silly over the top and weird voice acting like an adult version of what I'd expect in a saturday morning cartoon, the sci-fi atmosphere fits perfectly and grabs my attention in between the well handled shooting, the music fits perfectly, and on top of that they manage to throw in weird but cool dark gothic bits in regardless of the mostly Sci-fi tone the game has. Apart from that I really can't say too much, its just a game you play and get sucked into for all the freedom it gives you in such amazing ground mechanics. Its practically a sandbox FPS with near unlimited replay value in solid, tight gameplay, and looks great on my low end PC. Its solid, it is content packed, its customizable, its moddable, and its just very creative and atmospherically pleasing. I guess I'm not certain if its really my favorite PC game, but it comes so close its what I've determined gets the spot on a list like this.

Dear Dark Souls: I apologize, now please stop killing me.

I messed up. I rented Dark Souls back when it came out and didn't get a lot out of it. I played, I was having fun, I liked the controls and feeling, I loved that first encounter with the asylum demon where I ran around laughing as he shattered the pots (I even beat him up a little bit) before finding the exit, and then I got stuck shortly after around those 2 grunts and the archer. It just felt cheap to me, I died to little to no hits, and there was a guy shooting me while other cornered and stabbed me. I gave it some tries, came close when I exploited the AI, but never really made it passed them. I also unfairly never went back, I think I was busy playing some other games at the time and didn't give the game any try but that one play through. Well I've been bugged by my conscience and upon repeatedly seeing the game brought up, and now I've decided to dive back into it and got it yesterday evening. Glad I made that choice. I have no idea what I was doing wrong before, but I got by that stuck part instantly and I've been making my way through bosses, and gaurds, and have learned and understand the game for what it is. I also don't think I've played anything ever quite like it before. Sure it has a ton of familiar elements, but the way its executed is something entirely different... its kind of like a reverse COD in where that took a bunch of familiar elements and crafted possibly the first (and still one of the best) casual FPS, Dark Souls takes a lot of familiar elements and makes it into a brick wall you need to punch down with your bare hands. However its the possibly one of the first brutally hard games that is fair and fun for the most part.

First off let me tell you what I'm used to by "hard" games.... its sort of like what I was saying about past older games compared to today's difficulty. Games haven't always been getting "easier" its just that a lot of the "hard" ones are mostly obsolete and were never hard in a fair way. Many were down to 2D and sidescrolling or beat 'em up style gameplay that boiled down to getting your reflexes and memory on par to the game's enemy or projectile spam count. Oh and very few buttons. So yeah it basically came down to luck or be perfect or die type gameplay. With RPGs it was probably ridiculous stat based difficulty. Dark Souls is fair and consistent in its idea of making everything pretty tough, but also giving the player a ton of true control and options. You have a say in how your character fights with alternating swings and stances, and how you block or dodge, all while your common enemy has pretty much the exact same thing. The game puts you in a situation where you have to learn the enemy types and their common tactics, you have to manage your equipment, and you have to outwit and overcome them with better timing and use of your tactics and equipment. Considering they can mostly do what you can, every enemy can put you in a tense situation and poses a threat, but you can bypass most quickly when you see their AI goofing up. Often you'll find yourself exploiting enemy triggers, or even the environment to win your fights easier... though honestly if you don't, you wont get far as eventually your even put into situations where the developers really expect you to exploit your opponents. Its a game that challenges you fairly, but also makes you think outside the box in this way.

Now where it gets really tough to a point where I'm not sure I love or hate it is the whole resource catch. You collect souls along the way which is pretty much XP and cash at the same time. Very valuable and a must for leveling up or maintaining items. Well you lose it all during your inevitable deaths. If you can get back to the same spot as before, you get it all back. However die before you can get back and you lose it all for good and get stuck with whatever dramatically lower count you died with then. Between this, and the very limited use of checkpoints with bonfires... its really a stretch to make it count and get far in a game like this, and if you die you can't simply level up to get better with the XP you earned... you need to go through hell again to get your XP back! The bonfire checkpoints also have a clever knack to restore you health at the cost of resetting enemies, so its not like you can exploit a path and checkpoint save it.... that just restocks you and makes you do it all again. Oh! Lets not forget that the primary health potion is something that also only restocks at the bonfire. So pretty much every.... single..... injury you take is a brutal reminder that you might not be able to make your journey this round. This entire combination is pretty brutal, and borderlines on something a bit too punishing. Personally I wouldn't mind an "easy" mode that halves this penalty system a bit, because beyond that the game would still be challenging and fun but with less wasted time. Its a little too time consuming and you wind up making little progress along long spans of time because of this soul system. However its not a game breaker, and might even be the strength and provides a will to keep on trying to make that push and take that risk to get back to your souls. Again, the game is also pretty fair for the most part. I suppose one hit kill bosses and occasional enemy hic-ups make for some unfair bits, but most of the game is designed around tight suspense, fair combat, and a feeling of true accomplishment whenever you do make it to the next shortcut piece that makes your time between bonfires that much easier.

Overall I've got to give this game a lot of credit, and I've only talked about and explained the difficulty and its basics. I haven't explained how awesome it is that the world sort of resonates with me in its earthy and gothic medieval tones, or how its lore is set up so interestingly, or just the creative premise of it all. Its a brilliantly designed game, and despite its punishing penalty and strong tension, I'm really enjoy making those pushes to the next big. I'm staying determined, and I'm not getting mad unless I hit an unfair bit, but honestly the souls are just a number I keep getting back and losing but its just a number in a game... its not worth any anger and because of how deep the game's mechanics and interactions go it is a totally enjoyable experience that makes getting through it fun. I made a mistake to reject this game, I just wish I could progress faster now. So... sorry dark souls, now let me live darn it!