A Top 10 For All To See

It can bring utmost joy or terrible shame. In one way or another, it has been a part of human civilization since the beginning. It's something that I have been doing for years. And almost every guy does it and is self-conscious about it. Hey, even some girls too. No, I'm not talking about "THAT." I'm talking about gaming, so pull your mind out of the gutter and look at this list of my top ten games.

Now this is a pretty eclectic list.  I enjoy a lot of different genres and playing styles.  First Person Shooters, Role Playing Games, Flight Sims, Racing, Real-Time Strategy, MMORPG, Turn-Based Strategy, Rhythm, Mystery; I have played them all and had fantastic and terrible times in each.  This will also be from multiple consoles and systems.  Note: I don't have a PS3, cause I can't afford one, so there will probably be a lack of games from the PS3. I did have a PS2 however, it was our first DVD player.  Then we broke it.  Got it repaired.  Broke it again.  We were mean to that PS2.

So here is the top 10 after the jump.

#10

Star Wars: Rebellion / Star Wars: Empire At War

Now, in all fairness, I will say that some of these selections will be a series of games, instead of a specific one. This selection is the exception, however. When it came out in 1998, Star Wars Rebellion was a one of a kind game. I still cannot think of a more complicated gaming experience. You had to worry about military, technology, economy, politics, espionage, and even public opinion. The space combat system was interesting, but lackluster in many ways. The ground combat was nowhere to be seen, however.  One positive aspect of this game, however, was that it allowed for online matches over MSN's old gaming network. It lasted for a little while, but eventually died.

                Some Rebellion.                      And some Empire at War combat.

Fast forward eight years to 2006. Out comes Star Wars: Empire at War. Really a fresh breath into the space strategy genre, the game boasted a fantastic space combat system, economy, and ground combat. It was lacking in some areas, however. The game was purely military. You could not use diplomacy, the espionage was lackluster, and the space combat, while fun and interesting, needed some major tweaking. Even though you did not have direct pinpoint control of vessels in Rebellion, the game at least recognized that space is a 3-dimensional battle field. Empire at War forces you into a 2-dimensional plane that gives few combat option. As well the unit count is horribly small and somethings about the gameplay simply don't make sense. Most computers being used during Empire at War could handle more intense gameplay, yet the game was limited to make it run smoother. I understand the decision, but an update later could have solved the issue and allowed for a bigger unit count while in battle. And don't even get me started on the debacle of the Forces of Corruption update. It made the game no fun at all.

#9

Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, Mines of Moria, and Siege of Mirkwood

Now I am going to guess that most have never ever played this game. It is quite true that it lives in the shadow of World of Warcraft. But it has better graphics. It has almost no gold spamming. The customer service is unmatched from my experience. They regularly listen to the players and make adjustment and changes. The quests are interesting and interactive. The locations are spectacularly developed. The game has brought forth engaging legendary-weapons (weapons that you can level and gets attributes and modifiers on). The new skirmish mode ensures that you always have something to do that is on your level and helping you gain XP. The community is very knowledgeable. The instance, beginning and end game, are interesting, clever, and challenging. They leave tons of room for expansion into the Tolkien world. Oh, and it also tends to keep to Tolkien lore very well.

    Some Halberd action.                           And some nice scenery.

Suck on that WoW. As well the game is also going Free To Play in September. Soon the game will expand into Rohan, it would seem and the eventual update do Direct-X 11 looks like it will leave the graphics with some more jaw droppers. Now, in September it won't be completely free, but if you are just looking for something to do in your spare time, it sounds like a great deal. I mean, come on, it's free.

#8

EA Sports' NHL Series 

Sports games are an interesting breed. It is the only type of game where you see yearly installments that are full price and often don't add much to the game. Generally it is an attempt to rip you off. Most of the time EA Sports' NHL is no exception, but the recent batch has been adding a trove of new features. First it was NHL 07 with the skill stick. This was probably one of the most innovative uses of the right analog stick that I have seen by any game studio. It makes it much easier to control the puck and curl and drag through defenders. Then NHL 09 added the EASHL. This is a huge online league where you play on a team with other players and everyone controls their own individual. It is loads of fun to get together with some friends and climb up the worldwide rankings during the monthly seasons.

Back then.                                                  And now.                    

Yet, it can also be one of the most frustrating forms of gameplay known to man. That is thanks to glitches. Every sports game has them and NHL is one of the worst. The AI defense and goal-tending is also lackluster, but after playing the recent NHL 11 demo some of that seems to have improved. The replay capture system also need some work. In games like Halo and Madden, I can go back and see every part of a match and record. NHL should have the same functionality since, right now, you can only capture moments that occur at the end of the game.

#7

StarFox 64

Now, for a lot of you new generation gamers out there, you might have never heard of this game or even this series. This is a classic. I could not honestly make a top 10 list and leave this one out since it occupied so much of my time once I got an N64. In fact, this was the very first game that me and my brother got once we bought our 'state-of-the-art' Nintendo system back in the day. It almost felt like the N64 controller was made just for this game. It was quite natural.

       Falco: Master of the Obvious.       They also run a lot int he cutscenes

For it's time the graphics were decent and the gameplay was smooth. The levels were extremely linear, but it felt right for this game. As well, this game allowed you to go through different paths with the final showdown against Andross and even recognized if you saved an ally or not. Impressive stuff for a game that old. The game also featured some of the best lines ever in a video game. "Who are you guys?" "We're StarFox." Oh, that Fox McCloud. Such a badass.

#6

Mass Effect

Initially, I refused to play this game. I was very wary of the shooter-RPG hybrid. My friend had played it a lot and I got some glimpses of action by watching him play. Earlier this year, I finally decided to borrow my brother's copy and give it a spin. Man, I had definitely been missing something. The story is great, the gameplay is addictive, and the amount of choices the game allows you to make and puts into consideration in the game is phenomenal. There are very few boundaries in the game, besides walls and the map edges. Hell, you can even screw an alien in the game. No joke.

              Some Mako fun.                         And he chose the dick option!

Some of the most fun things to do are to always pick the renegade choices from the conversation menu. In short, it allow you to be the biggest dick in the universe, which is always fun. And I know I am of the minority here, but I loved the Mako missions. The next best thing about Mass Effect is that everything you did, every choice you made, and even your character transfer over to Mass Effect 2. Now I wasn't as fond of the second game (I miss my Mako!!!!), but it was still a solid addition to the series. I do hope that they go back to the original a little bit more for the third installment though.



So if this is a top 10 countdown, how come there are only five entries? Simple, check back later for #'s 5-1. Out.

Edit:  It's here now!!