Upon being told we were writing “Top 10 of the Decade” articles, my first thought was “how generic”, and then “how easy”. Turns out it wasn’t, especially since many of my childhood favourites were played on a Dell purchased in 1999, with most of the games played on it even older than that, Tie Fighter anyone? In the end I decided to pick 5 of the best, because despite there being various good games this decade, I don’t think many of them deserve a place on a “best of decade” list. Either way, here goes:
5. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Bringing updated graphics to an already proven formula was always going to be popular, but with Metal Gear, Konami had to make it mean something. Possibly having one of the most confusing stories around, in true Japanese fashion, Metal Gear crosses time-lines, going back and forth to find out what’s happened, it all culminating in MGS4, so far. The reason the third instalment of the game makes it up here, is that it was quite literally perfect. Amazing stealth, forcing you to be tactical, yet amazingly exciting when you just -knew- you were going to be caught. But somehow weren’t seen, due to having picked just the right camouflage to use. Of course, the thing which makes a game for me usually, is a story, as you’ll see in my other picks, and this game had truckloads of it. MGS4 was too cutscene heavy for my liking, despite being just as good, this game let you play through the story completely, learning what was going on in the fictional cold war world as you went along. Oh, and you can hide in a box.
4. Team Fortress 2
This should technically be in with HL2 as “The Orange Box” – but the game has evolved so much from what it was then. A thriving competitive community has grown up around the game, which promises to continue for years to come, and Valve themselves just keep adding more stuff, for players to use, whine about, or add to their virtual head in an attempt to make sure they do not appear “poor and irish”. This game really put class based game-play on the map, bringing along with it various original game-modes never seen before, which are incredibly refreshing to play when all other games seem to offer is your standard death-match, capture the flag, and occasional bomb plant.
3. Dawn of War 2
Now, for me this was an amazing game, I have never been good at RTS games, and had always despised the idea of spending a good half hour building a base and micromanaging everything. DoW2 completely removed everything I hated about RTS games, especially the way you could be instantly destroyed with no hope of salvation. The game instead opts to dump you in a battle over control points, effectively, some giving you materials to build tanks and whatnot with, and others giving you the power required to build the damn things. The only micromanagement to be found here is making sure those god-damned Space Marines don’t kill your perfectly placed Lootas while you move some Sluggas round the back to cut off their heads. As you may be able to tell I play as the Orks in this one, the fact that I can drop a huge rock on a few “softie humies” amuses me greatly, and the Chaos Rising expansion soon to come looks set to improve the game even more.
2. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Hold on, a DS game? This is madness! Think again. Anyone who has played the Phoenix Wright games can tell you that they are not games, they are masterpieces of intrigue, telling epic stories of love, betrayal, murder, anything remotely related to crime, but tying it all together into one shattering blow which leaves the player reeling. They are plot twist heaven, but it’s never done badly, you never see it coming, until you work it out yourself, present the evidence, and get told the story. It is effectively a point and click, combined with a book, but with brilliant looking characters, who just so happen to be hilarious (who wouldn’t love Gumshoe the incompetent detective?), and expertly timed storytelling. Ace Attorney gets on the list for starting it all off.
1. Final Fantasy IX
The last of the “true” Final Fantasy games, created just before Squaresoft merged with Enix, FF9 was their final masterpiece. After pulling off the two most loved RPGs, possibly ever created, Squaresoft had to do something big, so it surprises me that FF9 doesn’t get more praise. The game was deep in terms of storyline, discussing the nature of humans in general, personality, politics, it has all the hallmarks of a great novel, but with something to look at, play along with. It allowed you to get into the characters heads, to understand why they would feel how they did. This isn’t just your average fairytale either, there are messages hidden behind it, you have to think about what’s going on to progress, which in turns gets you more understanding of the story. Besides, a game where the character is a living weapon sounds pretty amazing to me, assuming of course the story works. It did. If it weren’t for this game, I would never have got into FF, which even now, apart from the travesty (gasp) that was FF12, is an amazing series.
