Destructoid.com Top 50 Videogames of the Decade

[Eight Rooks]

Yeah. They're about as much the same series as Team Fortress 2 and Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines.

My point was this is a daft thing to say when Portal directly references Black Mesa and HL: Episode 2 has a significant scene in it explaining who Aperture Science Technologies are and what they were doing in Portal. No, Portal's not a FPS and I would agree it deserves to be considered for inclusion on anyone's list alongside Valve's other games. But the two games are very much connected.

[Guts]

(halo 2 was especially good)

LOL. Halo 2 is easily the worst game in the series. Horrible, horrible level design.

My point was this is a daft thing to say when Portal directly references Black Mesa and HL: Episode 2 has a significant scene in it explaining who Aperture Science Technologies are and what they were doing in Portal. No, Portal's not a FPS and I would agree it deserves to be considered for inclusion on anyone's list alongside Valve's other games. But the two games are very much connected.

Maybe the comparison was a bit off, but it's not named Half-Life: Portal. They're not the same series.

[Brats]

The list focuses very much on linear, narrative driven games, hence the lack of multiplayer focused games (there's only one game in the top ten with a focused multiplayer) and the large number of Japanese RPGs.

Games that don't focus on a linear narrative or it isn't their stength aren't heavily featured, hence no PSO, Halo, Crackdown, Oblivion and a complete lack of any driving or sports games.

It's the antithesis of what my list would be tbh. I love games that have amazing mechanics rather than story (which I can get in other mediums). For SOTC, I loved the setting, the characters and the design of the game, but the actual gameplay I found repetitive and dull. Same with a lot of the games on their list.

[rmoxon]

The list focuses very much on linear, narrative driven games, hence the lack of multiplayer focused games (there's only one game in the top ten with a focused multiplayer) and the large number of Japanese RPGs.

Games that don't focus on a linear narrative or it isn't their stength aren't heavily featured, hence no PSO, Halo, Crackdown, Oblivion and a complete lack of any driving or sports games.

It's the antithesis of what my list would be tbh. I love games that have amazing mechanics rather than story (which I can get in other mediums). For SOTC, I loved the setting, the characters and the design of the game, but the actual gameplay I found repetitive and dull. Same with a lot of the games on their list.

Im not really a fan of multiplayer focus games, and you rarely feel like youve acomplished anything with them. Completing SOTC was a wonderful feeling, you actualy felt like youd been on a spectacular and unique journey. They seem to have rated games on how satisfying an experience they are, I think every single game on the list is one people should play if they enjoy games at all becuase they are all packed with many special moments.

Looking back Halo didnt really have special moments, the level design isnt paticuarly impressive and the game is basicaly just waves of enemies comming at you. Likewise oblibion is basicaly, at its heart, just you going round slaying monsters and leveling up, as solid a game as it is it dosent consistently do things that impress all that much. I find it intresting that you found SOTC more repetative than these games, when the Gameplay in SOTC was actualy very varied. You actualy had to use your brain to work out the different ways to take down the Colossus'.

[Concrete donkey]

Im not really a fan of multiplayer focus games, and you rarely feel like youve acomplished anything with them. Completing SOTC was a wonderful feeling, you actualy felt like youd been on a spectacular and unique journey. They seem to have rated games on how satisfying an experience they are, I think every single game on the list is one people should play if they enjoy games at all becuase they are all packed with many special moments.

Looking back Halo didnt really have special moments, the level design isnt paticuarly impressive and the game is basicaly just waves of enemies comming at you. Likewise oblibion is basicaly, at its heart, just you going round slaying monsters and leveling up, as solid a game as it is it dosent consistently do things that impress all that much. I find it intresting that you found SOTC more repetative than these games, when the Gameplay in SOTC was actualy very varied. You actualy had to use your brain to work out the different ways to take down the Colossus'.

I disagree on the Oblivion front and as for Halo I remember being wow'd at the Beach landing scene. It probably doesn't stand up to a lot of games today, but back then it was breathtaking (for me at least)

As for Oblivion the experiences are your own and unique much of the time which is one of the biggest advantages computer games can offer over rival media. Everyone who played Final Fantasy VIII experienced the Garden battle scene for example which is not the case with what i experienced with this Oblivion hence why I consider it to be one of the better games of the decade. From a much older thread:

http://ntsc-uk.domino.org/showpost.php?p=1059141&postcount=63

[NW2013]

The original half-life wasn't released this decade so of course they're going to choose HL2.

[smouty]

I loaded up Deus Ex today as this thread reminded me how much I had loved it at the time. Even with the highres texture packs and updated renderers this has not aged well.
It was so groundbreaking at the time but 10 years in video games can in the case of 3d FPSs seem like much more.

[Brats]

Im not really a fan of multiplayer focus games, and you rarely feel like youve acomplished anything with them.

You might think that, but I completely disagree. The feeling of accomplishment I got from beating L4D on expert or beating level 50 on Gear's horde mode far outstripped any feeling of accomplishment that I've had from any single player game. Plus you share the accomplishment with friends, which makes it all the more sweet.

Looking back Halo didnt really have special moments, the level design isnt paticuarly impressive and the game is basicaly just waves of enemies comming at you. Likewise oblibion is basicaly, at its heart, just you going round slaying monsters and leveling up, as solid a game as it is it dosent consistently do things that impress all that much. I find it intresting that you found SOTC more repetative than these games, when the Gameplay in SOTC was actualy very varied. You actualy had to use your brain to work out the different ways to take down the Colossus'.

Not much of your brain though, the 'puzzles' were hardly taxing.

I agree with Concrete donkey, Halo has loads of standout moments. What you've described is simply the Library which most people hate. Landing on Halo, boarding the Truth and Reconcilliation, the beach assault and the tank in Assault on the Control Room are all stand out moments, but the real stand outs are the ones you create yourself, the moments of brilliance that the sandbox gameplay allows you to create.

The brilliance of Oblivion is the way the player creates his own character and own narrative based on his actions. What you've described is the combat reduced to its simplest actions, like describing Mario simply as jumping on enemy's heads.

In my game of Oblivion, my character started pure of heart, became a mage and a fighter and the fought the horrors within the Oblivion gates. This journey saved the land, but scarred my character permanantly, so he became a rogue and later an assassin, fame turning to infamy and fear over time. That's a better story than SOTC can ever be because...it's mine.

This is something that a lot of games on their list lack. My greatest gaming moments are the ones that were completely unscripted and usually with other people. For me, there's no scripted moment yet written in any game that can compete with that.

[Spatial]

I loaded up Deus Ex today as this thread reminded me how much I had loved it at the time.

[rmoxon]

You might think that, but I completely disagree. The feeling of accomplishment I got from beating L4D on expert or beating level 50 on Gear's horde mode far outstripped any feeling of accomplishment that I've had from any single player game. Plus you share the accomplishment with friends, which makes it all the more sweet.



Not much of your brain though, the 'puzzles' were hardly taxing.

I agree with Concrete donkey, Halo has loads of standout moments. What you've described is simply the Library which most people hate. Landing on Halo, boarding the Truth and Reconcilliation, the beach assault and the tank in Assault on the Control Room are all stand out moments, but the real stand outs are the ones you create yourself, the moments of brilliance that the sandbox gameplay allows you to create.

The brilliance of Oblivion is the way the player creates his own character and own narrative based on his actions. What you've described is the combat reduced to its simplest actions, like describing Mario simply as jumping on enemy's heads.

In my game of Oblivion, my character started pure of heart, became a mage and a fighter and the fought the horrors within the Oblivion gates. This journey saved the land, but scarred my character permanantly, so he became a rogue and later an assassin, fame turning to infamy and fear over time. That's a better story than SOTC can ever be because...it's mine.

This is something that a lot of games on their list lack. My greatest gaming moments are the ones that were completely unscripted and usually with other people. For me, there's no scripted moment yet written in any game that can compete with that.

I get what you mean I suppose, but by the sounds of it its your own imagination simply working in favour of those games, Oblivion dosnet actualy have unscripted moments, its just multiple choice gameplay, whatever happens though, obviously the game is scripted to make it so. In truth there isnt actualy that big a difference other than the way you veiw the games.

I still maintain though (and the thing that DOES make a difference for me) that games like Shadow of the Collossus and Uncharted 2 are so brim full of "WOW" moments compared to any of the games you mentioned, and for me personaly at least, having a game wow me is the best thing one can do.

Oh yeah... and super mario bros is just about running and jumping on heads. Isnt it?

[smouty]

...and then promply uninstall it

[Decider-VT]

The original Half-Life is actualy one of the games that Destructoid had in a feature recently on games that havent aged well, so they obviously dont agree with that.

Though actualy a few of the games they chose for that list were odd choices, not just that one.

Good job I don't take Destructoid's collective opinion at all seriously! I played through HL1 almost directly after I finished HL2 and found the pacing of the first one to be far superior. Then again, I didn't hate the Xen levels either. HL2 was fun and I enjoyed the story but it didn't feel as "tight" as the first one. Choosing HL2 as one of the best games of the last decade is almost a foregone conclusion, though- it's still great.

[Charlie]

It's the antithesis of what my list would be tbh. I love games that have amazing mechanics rather than story (which I can get in other mediums).

Agreed. It's unfortunate so many designers today spend much of their their resources on story when it would be better put to use refining gameplay.

[Tig]

Agreed. It's unfortunate so many designers today spend much of their their resources on story when it would be better put to use refining gameplay.

ludologists, vs narratologists... perhaps this would be a good idea for a poll thread

[Charlie]

Haha, yeah. Don't get me wrong, the best games are those which manage to pull off both the gameplay and story (like the Half Life series for example) but without good gameplay it doesn't matter how brilliant a story is.