Most exciting game you've ever played.

[The_root_of_all_evil]

No other game has given me the feeling of adventure the way Everquest did the first time I played it. I started playing about a month after it launched and I thought it was just amazing that I could adventure in this "world" with thousands of other people.

But then a few weeks later the magic died and I realized what a waste of time the game was.

See I never lost that magic. You go out into the Commonlands and watch the Spiders crawl slowly across the landscape as the sun sets behind the Oasis. Especially if it's with a loved character.

There's just something about that, that pushes all the teleporter gnomes, plat fishing, insane drops and moronic players back to the recesses of the mind.

Until some fuckwit yells "TRAIN TO ZONE!"

 

[Kompi]

_Thief_

No enemy in any game has ever unsettled me as much a the Haunts in Thief 1 and 2. (Though there's that level in Thief: Deadly Shadows..)

Following on ReepNeep's statement however, that's not really the only case or type. On pure singleplayer excitement, I know I had this moment after the last mission of Ground Control II where I leaned back in my chair, exhaled the last bit of tension and felt some kind of weary relief/acomplishment that it was over since of how intense it'd somehow felt. I've had a few simular moments in space combat sims (Tachyon: The Fringe, FreeSpace 2, TIE-Fighter, StarLancer etc) where I've felt much of the same thing after a mission, let go of the stick and felt almost shaking with adrenaline. It's difficult to recall exact moments now, but it's a fine line between frustration and excitement.

In multiplayer, I'd say any can do it as I have a habit of getting pretty tense in those. I have a fond memory of a session of DooM 3 deathmatch on the Lights Out map with a friend where we snuck around in the dark trying to catch sight of the other while remaining hidden.

 

[Lightbulb]

Counter-Strike - no other game has given me a palpable rush of adrenalin when playing a clan match. That said my first Guild Wars guild vs guild game (basically a clan match) was very exciting too. The fear of messing up and ruining it for my team and the buzz when we won was great.

 

[Zera]

The smash bros series. I remember discovering it at best buy. There was a crowd over the demo area and it had Fox fighting Kirby. I was like what?! So far the series has yet to bore me. Cant wait for Brawl

 

[laikenf]

I would say F zero X for the N64 (the most exiting, not the best). I remember it being the fastest thing these eyes have ever experienced, that is until F-Zero GX for the cube came along.

 

[L.B. Jeffries]

Resident Evil 4, first and last level respectively. Walking into the village with my little pistol and realizing that the game was very serious in its recommendation that I run like hell was quite a gaming shock. Countless moments throughout the game too but...the last level where they basically put you into a zombie WAR ZONE was a stunning ending. Helicopters, mini-guns, grenades flying, zombies (or infected marines, whatever)...gaming greatness man.