#14 Greatest Video Game of All Time

Yet, again, there has been a big gap between this series! We apologize, as sometimes it takes a bit to get everyone’s entries in. If you are new to this countdown, it’s just a top 25 list of our most favorite video games!  These are the ones you’ve missed so  far: #25, #24,#23, #22, #21, #20 #19, #18, #17, #16, and #15. Let’s dive into #14!

Kai – X-COM – I’ve played three versions of X-COM: The original, X-COM UFO Defense, the third version X-COM Apocalypse, and the latest offering from Firaxis XCOM: Enemy Unknown/Within.  The original was revolutionary in scope, with everything from morale to technology research, and still holds up very well today.  

X-Com is half real-time strategic base management and half turn-based top-down tactical squad management.  The basic story is that aliens are real and are terrorizing human cities.  You’re put in charge of defending earth from this alien threat.

During the base management phase, you train/recruit soldiers, build weapons/vehicles, dispatch people on missions, and research alien artifacts to get new technology.  When a mission happens, it switches to the tactical mode, where you explore alien wrecks, kill/capture alien soldiers, and rescue civilians.

The games are difficult but addictive, enticing you to complete just one more mission with your squad of veteran troops.  You care deeply about your veteran soldiers as you’ve played with them for multiple hours and it’s very painful to lose one (or a whole shipful).  The theme is well-integrated and the gameplay is very tight, where every action you take is meaningful and possibly dangerous.  If you’re looking to blow an afternoon tracking down aliens and defending earth, I highly recommend picking up something from the X-COM series.

Po – Mega Man X – Amazing gameplay with ingenious design. Once you realize the strategy behind the boss battles the game becomes far easier to manage, but if you go in blindly, this game proves to be a monster in difficulty.

Andrew – Star Wars: The Force Unleashed – A lot of people didn’t like this game because they thought the protagonist was “too strong”. Game didn’t actually let you make any decisions other than the final outcome of the game but it was fun. It gave you insight into other Jedi’s during the time of the Empire. It had a great love story, great abilities, and dual wielding of lightsabers. Sure, it pales in comparison to some other games appearing higher on the list but it was fun. This, like Battlefront, needed a third game. The first game here was great, DLC was fantastic. I finished the 2^nd game in 4 hours and thought I was hitting the halfway point…so not really sure what happened there. Anyways, great story and visuals. Great job of filling a void that KoToR left.

Fit – World of Warcraft – Oh, WoW. The amount of hours spent in your endless world. The addiction to just keep going and leveling and getting more PvP points. One of the most successful games ever, period. Most people don’t even need an introduction to World of Warcraft. Even non-gamers know what it is. Blizzard somehow made an insane formula to hook people and never let them off. Although my main character was a Druid, my greatest memories of this game is playing with my brother, he a hunter, I a rogue, dominating the world and PvP. I can remember the tedious replayment of certain dungeons and the fact that Stranglethorn was such gank-city for the Alliance that I quit for a time. I don’t believe another MMORPG has ever been as successful as WoW. I could easily pick it up again, but I know too many hours would go to protecting the mine in Arathi Basin. 

Hungry – Pokemon Yellow – September 28, 1998. Pokemon Blue and Red are released in North America. My brother gets Red and I get Blue. We play the HELL out of it, to the point of breaking a jaw, get all 151, and live, breath, and dream Pokemon through the television show and trading card game… until a year later when Yellow is released. Same Pokemon, except Pikachu follows you around. Naturally, it was a “mom I need this” and to this day, I still get each new Pokemon the day it is released and beat it by the week’s end. I’m putting Yellow on the list because it was really the affirmation I needed to solidify my love for the series. It represents the series as a whole making it on this list. It wasn’t the best game but it was during the best time. Pokemon Snap, Stadium, Pinball, etc were all around this time. The movies were released, Burger King had their promotions. It was everything I thought of day in and day out. As for the game, if you’ve played a Pokemon you know how they are such a grand yet straightforward adventure. You can beat the game in no time, but that’s never the case… you gotta catch em all! 

So, there you have #14! We are getting dangerously close to the top ten and I’m thrilled to see what’s going to make it in the cut. Do you like any of the games we picked? Share below! And as always, stay hungry and fit!

BONUS PUPPY PIC