Leveled Up 01.07.10: My Ten Best Games of the Decade

Posted by Joshua Richey on 01.07.2010

Due to the number of terrific games that have been released in the last decade, narrowing them down to my top ten was quite the task.



Best of the decade lists have been featured on every blog, message board, and publication for weeks now. You're all probably sick of them, but I've not chimed in on the topic yet. That's exactly what I'm going to do in this weeks Leveled Up column. I'm going to take a look back at my favorite ten games from the last ten years.

Now when I decided to write this piece, I sat down with a pen and paper and started thinking of games that I obsessed with this decade. I figured that I would have a hard time with a list like this, but thanks to the amount of great games that have been released since 2000, my list quickly filled up.

In narrowing down this list, I decided to stick with only the games that I personally loved. These are the games that I played, adored, and had a hard time putting down. You're going to notice that this list is missing games like Final Fantasy and World of Warcraft. It's not meant to be interpreted as disrespectful to those franchises. I understand that those games probably had a bigger impact on the gaming world than the ones that I list, It's just that those games didn't have the same effect on me as it did others.

So now that I've gotten that out of the way, let's start with some of the honorable mentions that didn't make my top ten.

Honorable Mentions:

Fable II (2008) - Peter Molyneux caught some heat for hyping the original Fable as "the greatest RPG of all-time". When it was released, it ultimately failed to live up to that billing. Fable II on the other hand makes a better case. It was an RPG that even a guy like me, a non-RPG guy, could pick up and quickly find himself spending hours and hours with.

Bioshock (2007) - Bioshock has got to have the best opening sequence of any game that I've ever played. The first 10-15 minutes as you explore Rapture for the first time were just fantastic. And how fast did your heart beat during your first battle with a Big Daddy?

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2007) - Infinity Ward knocked one out of the park with Modern Warfare. It had a single player experience that allowed you to fight in these epic firefights in these beautiful set pieces. It also featured an addictive multiplayer feature that has revolutionized online gaming.

Gears of War 2 (2008) - Gears of War was a game that I had a difficult time getting into. I played through the first level, but was really turned off by the overly-masculine look-and-feel of the game. I didn't pick it back up until Gears of War 2 was released, in which I had to force myself through it. Man, I'm so glad I did. Once I got through about half of Gears, I was hooked. Gears of War 2 basically just took everything that was awesome about that game and made it even more badass in every way.

God of War (2005) Being infatuated with Greek mythology as a kid, you can probably imagine how much I loved God of War when it was first released. I just wish I still loved quick time events in games now as much as I did back then.

Grand Theft Auto IV (2008) GTA IV is a game that I still play pretty frequently. The game has been out for nearly two years now, and every time I play it, I somehow find some new little detail that I hadn't noticed before. The game is massive. Perhaps even too massive.

10.) Portal (2007)


I never imagined myself enjoying Portal as much as I did. I remember thinking that it was going to be a decent little gimmick game and that was it. It turned into so much more than that. The first few levels of Portal made you think that this game was going to be a cakewalk (no pun intended), but by the end of the game I found myself plotting out the map for a good 20 minutes before getting so frustrated that I was reduced myself to trial and error. It's a terrific game that we'll hopefully see lots more of this next decade.



9.) Resident Evil 4 (2005)


Just when it looked like the Resident Evil franchise was dying, Resident Evil 4 comes along and completely reinvents itself. In addition to raising the bar as far as graphics are concerned, RE4 also popularized the over the shoulder camera that we see in so many games these days.



8.) Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002)


While I love me some Grand Theft Auto IV, Vice City is still my favorite game in the GTA franchise. Part of it has to do with the games 'Miami in the 80's' look-and-feel. Part of it is that I enjoyed not having these huge cities that requires a GPS to get around. But mainly it was the games amazing soundtrack. I mean, who could have guessed that a video game that included songs by Flock of Seagulls could be so damn awesome?



7.) Zelda: Wind Waker (2003)


I'm far from a Nintendo fanboy, but you had to be a pretty miserable person to not enjoy this game. In fact, Wind Waker was the only game that I owned for the Nintendo Gamecube. The game itself made the console worth the price.



6.) NFL 2K5 (2004)


Back in 2004, you were either a Madden guy or a 2K guy. Madden was the game that got all of the attention, but we 2K guys knew that our game was superior in nearly every way. NFL 2K5 was the culmination of greatness for this franchise. The games appearance, superb gameplay, it's $19.99 price tag, and its use of the ESPN license made it so that not even the most die-hard Madden fanboy could keep ignoring it. It all came to a tragic end shortly thereafter as EA, who didn't want anyone competing with Madden, gave a bajillion dollars to the NFL to agree to an exclusive deal. Without being able to use the NFL name, the 2K series died, and football fans were forced to accept mediocre games.



5.) Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001)


How excited was I for MGS2 before its release? I went out and bought Z.O.E for $50 just because it came with a demo of Metal Gear Solid 2. Pretty pathetic, huh? As good as this game was, I'll never forget my reaction when the game forces you to play as Raiden for the first time. (HINT: It wasn't a good reaction)



4.) Halo 2 (2004)


While I may be going through a severe case of Halo fatigue these days, that definitely wasn't the case back when Halo 2 was the be-all end-all of video games. I remember going to GameStop at midnight for its launch and being so excited to play it that I got pulled over on the way home for speeding. In addition to a fun single player campaign, Halo 2 was the game that got me hooked on online multiplayer.



3.) Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004)


I might be in the minority when I say this, but I like Metal Gear Solid 3 more than Metal Gear Solid 2. The game removed the sour taste that the previous game had left in my mouth. It told a much better story, had better boss fights, and featured 100% less Raiden.



2.) Mass Effect (2007)


My fascination with Mass Effect is a little surprising to me. It's typically a game that I wouldn't get into. As you can probably tell by this list, I'm not big on RPG's. Granted Mass Effect isn't your typical RPG, but I tend to get bored with games that involve leveling up your characters and balancing your inventory. That wasn't the case with Mass Effect. I've played through the game several times now, and am currently working on defeating it again in preparation for Mass Effect 2's release in a few weeks. There's no doubt that I've put more time into this game than any other that's been released in the past 10 years.



1.) Half-Life 2 (2004)


I think that you could make a very strong argument that no game had a bigger impact on gaming in the last 10 years than Half-Life 2. Without HL2, there would be no Team Fortress 2; there would be no Portal; there would be no Left 4 Dead. With Half-Life 2, Valve was able to make as close to a perfect game as I've ever seen. It had everything that you look for: innovation, great gameplay, a good story, and variety. Oh, and Headcrabs.



When you look back on all of those great games, it's just unbelievable. To see how much the industry has changed in ten years...just crazy. At the beginning of the decade the console battle was between the Sega Dreamcast and the newly released Sony Playstation 2. Now, ten years later, Sega's making software, and Sony's Playstation 3 is battling Microsoft for your hard earned money. It seems like the only thing that has remained the same is Nintendo's inability to get third party support on their console. Easy, fanboys, I'm just playing.

It was a great decade for this business. Here's hoping that the next ten are even better.

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