This past decade has seen a lot of development in the gaming industry, and surely almost ten times as much debate over what holds which crown. What are your favorite games of this past decade, and what are your least favorite. In your opinion, tell me your number one favorite of the decade, tell me what you think was the best game (keep in mind, the two can be different), the most influential game (with regards to the industry or even the social impact), your least favorite game, and, while we're at it, what was the best console or new development of the decade in your mind, and what were you sad to see change? Tell us why, specifically.
Please, absolutely no flaming. I don't care how badly you may dislike a game, don't direct it at someone else for the sake of being confrontational. If you dislike a game, say so only if it is one of your least favorite. Otherwise, to each his own. I will go so far as to say I will report anyone who is flaming (if the mods don't forbid such vigilantism), because I really am interested to hear what people have to say.
Please, absolutely no flaming. I don't care how badly you may dislike a game, don't direct it at someone else for the sake of being confrontational. If you dislike a game, say so only if it is one of your least favorite. Otherwise, to each his own. I will go so far as to say I will report anyone who is flaming (if the mods don't forbid such vigilantism), because I really am interested to hear what people have to say.
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Since my days as an innocent youth playing the greatest game of our time, Ocarina of Time, on the Nintendo 64, I have been a hooked fan of the Zelda franchise. Frankly, I was never really very interested in Majora's Mask, though I believe what I have heard that it is a wonderful game, fit to sit beside Ocarina of Time in the Hall of Gaming Idols. I was, however, disappointed with the presentation of Wind Waker, which caught my attention being the first Zelda commercial I ever saw, which harked back to the story of "a boy who becomes a man." This reference to my all time, and still standing favorite sold me, but I never liked it, and to this day I have never had the will to beat Puppet Ganon.
It was another that seemed to call out to my inner gamer. In the summer between fourth and fifth grade, my friend showed me a video trailer, which I think was the first ever trailer of Twilight Princess. It ended with Link atop a wall, displaying Zelda with Ocarina of Time-esque art styles and graphical detail and quality I had never dreamed of in a Zelda game, and as Link performed his sword sheathing stunt, something which I believe is to become a Zelda staple just as much as the Master Sword itself, the screen flashed The Legend of Zelda. A name did not yet exist.
As far as I knew, the game was scheduled to come out in the November of my sixth grade year. As that day approached, something I had consciously waited for for two years, I convinced my father to preorder the GameCube version (though this was still before the Wii) on Amazon. He did, but November came and went, with delays pushing this game back more and more. It was pushed back another year, and Amazon actually canceled the order because it had stood unfulfilled too long. Instead, I set my sights on Christmas of seventh grade. November saw the birth of that which I had waited in difficult patience, and on Christmas morning, I saw the box upon my fireplace mantle.
I have thought for a few years now, being familiar with, though not having actually played all of them, every Zelda game in existence, that Nintendo puts out one truly out-of-the-park Zelda game once every five-ten years or so, with others being good games, but mediocre as Zelda games. Twilight Princess is one of those truly well done games, and wins its place in my mind as my favorite. Being a loyal fan of Zelda, I must also name this masterpiece the best of the decade, a true work from the mold set by A Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time before it.
Since my days as an innocent youth playing the greatest game of our time, Ocarina of Time, on the Nintendo 64, I have been a hooked fan of the Zelda franchise. Frankly, I was never really very interested in Majora's Mask, though I believe what I have heard that it is a wonderful game, fit to sit beside Ocarina of Time in the Hall of Gaming Idols. I was, however, disappointed with the presentation of Wind Waker, which caught my attention being the first Zelda commercial I ever saw, which harked back to the story of "a boy who becomes a man." This reference to my all time, and still standing favorite sold me, but I never liked it, and to this day I have never had the will to beat Puppet Ganon.
It was another that seemed to call out to my inner gamer. In the summer between fourth and fifth grade, my friend showed me a video trailer, which I think was the first ever trailer of Twilight Princess. It ended with Link atop a wall, displaying Zelda with Ocarina of Time-esque art styles and graphical detail and quality I had never dreamed of in a Zelda game, and as Link performed his sword sheathing stunt, something which I believe is to become a Zelda staple just as much as the Master Sword itself, the screen flashed The Legend of Zelda. A name did not yet exist.
As far as I knew, the game was scheduled to come out in the November of my sixth grade year. As that day approached, something I had consciously waited for for two years, I convinced my father to preorder the GameCube version (though this was still before the Wii) on Amazon. He did, but November came and went, with delays pushing this game back more and more. It was pushed back another year, and Amazon actually canceled the order because it had stood unfulfilled too long. Instead, I set my sights on Christmas of seventh grade. November saw the birth of that which I had waited in difficult patience, and on Christmas morning, I saw the box upon my fireplace mantle.
I have thought for a few years now, being familiar with, though not having actually played all of them, every Zelda game in existence, that Nintendo puts out one truly out-of-the-park Zelda game once every five-ten years or so, with others being good games, but mediocre as Zelda games. Twilight Princess is one of those truly well done games, and wins its place in my mind as my favorite. Being a loyal fan of Zelda, I must also name this masterpiece the best of the decade, a true work from the mold set by A Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time before it.
Halo: Combat Evolved
If there is one game that took the limits of its predecessors in Wolfenstein, DOOM, and GoldenEye, and completely changed our very image of them, that game is Halo, the game that brought Bungie to center stage and sparked the blockbuster trilogy following Spartan 117 from his fateful experiences on Installation 04 to the collapse of the Covenant and the return of peace to humanity, and his ultimate sacrifice to end to reign of the Flood. In addition, Halo set the foundation for a spinoff following a group of special forces in the human city of New Mombassa, as well as a series of books, a rather ill-executed RTS, by most accounts, and the latest, biggest, and some say best game of the series, Halo: Reach, following a different Spartan during the desperate battle and last stand which together make Stalingrad seem like a vacation in Costa Rica.
However, it was not Marathon that made these things possible, though it is clear that Halo was made clearly based on Marathon in several respects, but it was Combat Evolved, the story of the last surviving Spartan and humanity's last flicker of hope that set the stage for one of the most epic science fiction tales ever told.
From a gameplay perspective, Halo introduced several elements to mainstream shooters, some of which I am less fond of in so-called realistic shooters. Firstly, Master Chief's suit-generated shields, and the resulting health recharge system, paired with a traditional health-pack based system seen in traditional games, added a new layer to combat. Shields allowed for a touch of Rambo-style moves, but tactics were still forced by Master Chief's often solo combat missions.
Halo also introduced quick, single button command melee combat (I think), whereas previous games required the player to cycle through weapons to get the unarmed option. This made close-quarters combat more dynamic, and the high damage of each strike meant that players had to think about avoiding close encounters and behave more tactically.
If there is one game that took the limits of its predecessors in Wolfenstein, DOOM, and GoldenEye, and completely changed our very image of them, that game is Halo, the game that brought Bungie to center stage and sparked the blockbuster trilogy following Spartan 117 from his fateful experiences on Installation 04 to the collapse of the Covenant and the return of peace to humanity, and his ultimate sacrifice to end to reign of the Flood. In addition, Halo set the foundation for a spinoff following a group of special forces in the human city of New Mombassa, as well as a series of books, a rather ill-executed RTS, by most accounts, and the latest, biggest, and some say best game of the series, Halo: Reach, following a different Spartan during the desperate battle and last stand which together make Stalingrad seem like a vacation in Costa Rica.
However, it was not Marathon that made these things possible, though it is clear that Halo was made clearly based on Marathon in several respects, but it was Combat Evolved, the story of the last surviving Spartan and humanity's last flicker of hope that set the stage for one of the most epic science fiction tales ever told.
From a gameplay perspective, Halo introduced several elements to mainstream shooters, some of which I am less fond of in so-called realistic shooters. Firstly, Master Chief's suit-generated shields, and the resulting health recharge system, paired with a traditional health-pack based system seen in traditional games, added a new layer to combat. Shields allowed for a touch of Rambo-style moves, but tactics were still forced by Master Chief's often solo combat missions.
Halo also introduced quick, single button command melee combat (I think), whereas previous games required the player to cycle through weapons to get the unarmed option. This made close-quarters combat more dynamic, and the high damage of each strike meant that players had to think about avoiding close encounters and behave more tactically.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Two
Now, you may be expecting the usual complaints about how the online play is lag-prone, the players are noobs, etc. etc. No, I have nothing more to say than I feel that the Modern Warfare games are all liars, and hell, I'll even through in Black Ops because it does the same thing. I will be brief, because I do not actually hate these games enough to rant.
I am a massive military history/military science nerd, and that extends to knowing multitudes of guns, their real characteristics, and whatnot, plus the same thing for many other kinds of weapons of war, and what characteristics mean what, and how would one thing function one way, etc. etc. As a result, I can hardly stand when something claims to be realistic and makes it very obvious that it appears to have tried, and gets a lot wrong. I don't want to get too deep into details, but I will say that, for starters, the guns are almost all done wrong. Normally, I wouldn't care, but the fact that Call of Duty's last few installments have made such a point of being "realistic" that I can't play them without seeing them as being overly pretentious.
Now, you may be expecting the usual complaints about how the online play is lag-prone, the players are noobs, etc. etc. No, I have nothing more to say than I feel that the Modern Warfare games are all liars, and hell, I'll even through in Black Ops because it does the same thing. I will be brief, because I do not actually hate these games enough to rant.
I am a massive military history/military science nerd, and that extends to knowing multitudes of guns, their real characteristics, and whatnot, plus the same thing for many other kinds of weapons of war, and what characteristics mean what, and how would one thing function one way, etc. etc. As a result, I can hardly stand when something claims to be realistic and makes it very obvious that it appears to have tried, and gets a lot wrong. I don't want to get too deep into details, but I will say that, for starters, the guns are almost all done wrong. Normally, I wouldn't care, but the fact that Call of Duty's last few installments have made such a point of being "realistic" that I can't play them without seeing them as being overly pretentious.
