Survival horror meets psychological thriller in ED. An ancient tome has cursed generations of people, and you'll control each of them in their descent toward insanity. Neck and limb targeting makes even the little fights exhilarating, while endeavors to confound the player IRL often succeed.
2001
Ico's gothic setting and haunting ambience sets the stage for a truly unique game which breaks tradition by trading a health bar for a ghostly girl who must be protected at all costs.
2004
rip-roaring roller coaster of rapid-fire action!
2005
Psychonauts allows for freestyle platform progression with the use of psychic abilities. On top of spot-on control, the dialogue is sidesplitting and each level is a Tim Burton-esque masterpiece.
Some of the cleanest chunks of polygons you will ever see in your life
2002
There are 108 characters to recruit, most of which are party additions while the rest set up shops and games in your very own castle headquarters. The Suikoden series relies heavily on invoking emotions to draw players into compelling tales of tragedies and triumphs. S3 is played from the perspectives of three warriors (two opposing and one neutral) so that we can experience war from all sides.
SSBM is all that is Nintendo. The multiplayer fiascos will keep you entranced for hours on end, but the single player levels are just as addictive. Unlocking every trophy is something many players set out to do, but few ever accomplish.
THPS3 marked the pinnacle of the series with bigger, brighter, and goofier levels and the addition of the revert powerslide which linked together all forms of trick into potentially endless combos.
1995
Insanely crisp, mind-blowing polygon chunk
2013
Telltale Games has made a name for themselves by releasing episodic "choose your own" adventure games sprinkled with quick time events. From Back to the Future to The Walking Dead to The Wolf Among Us, the engine has remained the same, but the art style and writing has improved tremendously.
The Wolf Among Us is near perfection of this template. I jumped in wanting to give it a quick look, but found I couldn't pull myself away, not for a second. I felt this way about the previous Telltale series, too, but they really hit the nail on the head when it comes to the pacing of plot and action sequences in Wolf.
Telltale has a great record when selecting source material, and this time is no different. I'm a comic book guy who mostly sticks with Marvel Superheroes and Osamu Tezuka books. I've browsed through the Fables books that Wolf is based on only to put them down after discovering they weren't as purely fantastical as the title and sometimes deceptive covers would suggest. If I wanted grit, I would read Daredevil. After playing the first episode of Wolf, my folly in not acknowledging the brilliance of the Fables world was evident.
There is an excellent cast of heavily flawed characters that make this supernatural South Bronx community come alive. The protagonist, Bigby Wolf (Big B Wolf, get it?), is put through the wringer in this episode, and you can swing him into whichever direction you wish. Some of these malicious characters deserve a beating, and you play just the right guy to give it to them. A lot of gut decisions are made under short deadlines, but sometimes your gut is outrageous and you can only see clearly after committing to horrendous actions.
If you've never played an episode of a Telltale adventure game, you owe it to yourself to give this cinematic interactivity a try. At the least, it's the future of adventure games, and it may even be the future of television and comics.
The Wolf Among Us is near perfection of this template. I jumped in wanting to give it a quick look, but found I couldn't pull myself away, not for a second. I felt this way about the previous Telltale series, too, but they really hit the nail on the head when it comes to the pacing of plot and action sequences in Wolf.
Telltale has a great record when selecting source material, and this time is no different. I'm a comic book guy who mostly sticks with Marvel Superheroes and Osamu Tezuka books. I've browsed through the Fables books that Wolf is based on only to put them down after discovering they weren't as purely fantastical as the title and sometimes deceptive covers would suggest. If I wanted grit, I would read Daredevil. After playing the first episode of Wolf, my folly in not acknowledging the brilliance of the Fables world was evident.
There is an excellent cast of heavily flawed characters that make this supernatural South Bronx community come alive. The protagonist, Bigby Wolf (Big B Wolf, get it?), is put through the wringer in this episode, and you can swing him into whichever direction you wish. Some of these malicious characters deserve a beating, and you play just the right guy to give it to them. A lot of gut decisions are made under short deadlines, but sometimes your gut is outrageous and you can only see clearly after committing to horrendous actions.
If you've never played an episode of a Telltale adventure game, you owe it to yourself to give this cinematic interactivity a try. At the least, it's the future of adventure games, and it may even be the future of television and comics.
1985
this inaugural jump 'em up trains you subliminally for life
1991
Not only is it one of the greatest video games ever made, but it's also one of the best pieces of science fiction available in any format.
1992: I stayed home sick from school and asked my dad to rent Street Fighter II or Lost Vikings or something else I had already played a million times. He came home with Out of This World. I was not pleased, but was about to learn that I shouldn't have judged this epic masterpiece by its terrible SNES cover art.
I would like to thank my dad for bestowing the experience upon me that day. I would like to thank Eric Chahi for single-handedly raising my critical bar for video games and sci-fi alike for years still to come.
1992: I stayed home sick from school and asked my dad to rent Street Fighter II or Lost Vikings or something else I had already played a million times. He came home with Out of This World. I was not pleased, but was about to learn that I shouldn't have judged this epic masterpiece by its terrible SNES cover art.
I would like to thank my dad for bestowing the experience upon me that day. I would like to thank Eric Chahi for single-handedly raising my critical bar for video games and sci-fi alike for years still to come.
2001
the music is genius and this game may change your life a little bit
2004
maybe the best shooter ever made
2004
people were mad at molyneux for creating a charming and ultimately satisfying open world experience for us