The "Deepest Game" ever

[Nevar18]

?Prototype?

seriously, throughout the entire game you're trying to figure out what happened at Penn Station and why you woke up in a morgue. turns out that Alex Mercer had been dead since releasing the virus himself and the Main character is actually the virus as a sentient humanoid organism.

0.o
mindf*ck much?

That plot twist was so refreshing. Made me want to play the game again. Because it gave me a whole new respect for the writing and the character.

It put Infamous's bullshit 'twist' to shame. At least that one made me think.

HEER! HEER!!!

 

[SamuraiAndPig]

Depends on what you mean by "deep." If you mean well-written with characters that at least act and seem human, then yeah, Prince of Persia, Silent Hill, KOTOR, Eternal Dakrness, pretty much everything that's been mentioned. I'd like to add Link's Awakening (the old game boy one) to that list just because of the ending is a massive contradiction to the entire game.

As far as games making a statement that reveals some inner-truth about human nature or enlightens some fact about society, Grand Theft friggin Auto. It really states alot about us as a people how much we *would* enjoy the life of a car jacking, prostiture hiring mass murderer if there were no real consequences to it.

 

[Valiance]

Braid.

By far, without a doubt, Braid.

 

[Flying-Emu]

Motherfuckin' Tetris!

 

[Christemo]

?Prototype?

seriously, throughout the entire game you're trying to figure out what happened at Penn Station and why you woke up in a morgue. turns out that Alex Mercer had been dead since releasing the virus himself and the Main character is actually the virus as a sentient humanoid organism.

0.o
mindf*ck much?

thanks for ruining it, put that in a spoiler box next time.

 

[Christemo]

i really felt bombed by the artillery strike of awesome depth in Titan Quest. i really loved it.

 

[Christemo]

Call of Duty 4

Appart from the exceptional gameplay and (extreme) real to life character builds, you have to play as an erradiated marine slowly experiencing his own death. Perhaps not the deepest, but one that has stuck with me since.

true. Gaz, Price and Griggs were some of the most likeable characters in video game history, and im pretty sure i can say the same for Soap in MW2.

i almost cried when Zakhaev shot Gaz, GAZ IS TOO AWESOME TO DIE. when i unlocked infinite ammo (by getting all the intel), i played the final level again just to swiss-cheese Zakhaev with 30 bullets...

fuck you Zakhaev for being such a douche. hes almost as evil as Nu from Blazblue.

 

[SonicKoala]

I was personally blown the fuck away by Silent Hill 2's twist - there's just no way you could of seen that coming, it was amazing.

 

[Horticulture]

Ecco the Dolphin

Seriously. I was given that game as a kid, and didn't play it much. I played through it on a whim much later and it blew my mind. After Big Blue that game takes a turn for the completely crazy.

 

[Crystal Cuckoo]

Like someone else has said before me, playing as Sergeant Jackson dying due to radiation poisoning (while watching the remains of the mushroom cloud shimmer in bright red) was possibly one of the most jaw-dropping experiences I've ever felt in a game.

 

[IamQ]

Shouldn't this be on the game forums?

 

[Woem]

Planescape: Torment. Hammer and Sickle. Return to Krondor.

The last two, while short, offer a huge amount of tiny details, you really feel like you're just one small part in a huge world.

The first one, well, just play it. It's insane in its amount of detail. Absolutely insane.

I completely agree with your nomination of Planescape: Torment. Not only the level of detail is astounding but the game is also very philosophical and at times confronting. But it's definitely not a game for everyone though. Even if you create a dumb fighter you'll still have to go through tons of dialogue to get the story and to understand what's going on. My favorite experience was as a high-intelligence, wisdom and charisma character with all dialogue options unlocked. This game is pure brilliant.

 

[Kingsman]

I think BRAID is the closest you're going to get to the type of depth you're describing, but in terms of just sheer mind-bending wtf is going on plot, I'm pretty sure Metal Gear takes it, with Legacy of Kain as a distant second.

 

[SamuraiAndPig]

Not to be confrontational but I can't sleep and I've got nothing better to do...

What makes Braid so deep? Sure, it's well written but the concept is so general it can apply to anyone whose pissed off their girlfriend/mom/random girl. Maybe I'm missing the point but writing something decent but unclear and saying it's "open to interpretation" is like putting two lines on a sheet of paper and calling it avant-garde and saying you need to look passed the painting to grasp the real meaning.

Addition: House of Leaves is fan-fucking-tastic and will leave you pants-wettingly wonderful chills.

 

[GDW]

Really. not once in this thread have I seen any depth.

Sad, truthfully. Makes me wonder if there are any real "deep" games out there. Maybe the depth and complexity of story-arcs are drained in videogames by making the player go through the experience. I mean, I was surprised, but not blown away by some game twists... notmally there isn't anything you really can't get through to after a bit of p laying, and then there's nothing truly left to impress.

 

[sheic99]

Ecco the Dolphin

Seriously. I was given that game as a kid, and didn't play it much. I played through it on a whim much later and it blew my mind. After Big Blue that game takes a turn for the completely crazy.

It's the perfect response to this question. First, it's a horrible pun and secondly, the story goes batshit insane.

 

[FROGGEman2]

Okami had a very clever story depending on pretentious you are. If you view it in the way that one views Shakespeare, it is clever social commentary whilst also being a dark warning - we are replacing our natural beauties with technology and grey, bleak machines. Or not.