We apologize for the short break in between our countdown, but we just had to post about the huge video game releases last week! And yes we’ve been playing Dragon Age Inquisiton non-stop since then. We are now back and at ’em with #16 Greatest Video Game of All Time brought to you by the video game brain trust. If you aren’t familiar with this countdown, it’s basically a top 25 list of our most favorite video games! Check back to see the ones you’ve missed so far: #25, #24, #23, #22, #21, #20 #19, #18, and #17. As in Mario’s style, here we gOOooooo!
Kai – Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear- Rainbow Six is a tactical shooter FPS, a much more realistic FPS than games like Half-life or Doom. You play as the leader of a top-secret international anti-terrorism force. The first part of the mission is planning, where you decide exactly which of your personnel are joining you on your mission and how exactly they’ll be deployed and move during the mission. Then you (attempt to) execute your plan, where anything that can go wrong often will.
The gameplay is very rapid and dangerous, with one or two shots disabling or killing enemies or friendlies. The engine doesn’t really hold up to modern standards, but I had a great time sniping, clearing doors, and coordinating different teams to execute the mission plan. It’s one of the few games I’ve beat on multiple difficulty levels, although I haven’t tried any of the newer editions. I really enjoyed Rainbow Six’s realism and it still shines through today.
Po – Gunstar Heroes – Look no further for epic co-op action. Great for drinking. Great for hangovers. A collegiate classic.
Andrew- Fable (series) – Fable is kind of looked down on for not delivering as much as it promised, but it still succeeded in giving the illusion of free design. The original game touted the idea that you’d be able to watch any tree grow from a sapling into a beautiful full tree and that you’d be able to have children and have them aid you/possibly carry on the quest…some of those things (it was the tree one) was answered finally in the 3rd game when you were able to chose how to condemn or save certain areas. Regardless of that, the first game had the best feel to it and maintained an almost Legend of Zelda meets Quest 64 feel to it. The music for the entire series was stunning, the upgrade system was balanced, but there was no difficulty to the game at all. When it came out I had friends who were dying/struggling at certain parts and I just responded with “you can die?”. I haven’t played the newest Kinect equipped one on Xbox 360 and don’t intend on playing on future ones in the series because I think that co-op is too far a departure for the series and that it should go back to its roots. The 2nd and 3rd games were not necessarily anything special (great storylines – sacrifice being a general theme in the series) but they all utilized choice and passage of time to make the player feel like their choices had even bigger impacts than single lives.
Fit – Indiana Jones (LucasArts old series) — Ahh, the memories! You’re going to see many LucasArts games on my list (and already have), and this is one of them. LucasArts just has absolutely spot-on writing and is just so darn funny. I’m not talking about the newer series with nicer graphics, I’m talking old school. Again, the memories playing with my brother are what brings this game to #16 for me. It comes all down to a deep mind and a sharp eye with this game. These Indiana Jones games were not easy. However, they were full of humor (“Don’t ask”) that made us chuckle along with its awful graphics.
I think what made this game great for us was the depth of the game. You could play this game for hours and hours, trying to solve puzzles and mysteries in order to move the plot along. For such an old game, it was absolutely captivating and tons of fun. It was also great for the mind. You really had to put two and two together and be creative to make things work. I love that there were many different options, that you had the ability to put stuff in your inventory together, and that it wasn’t just a mindless computer game. I still look on to this game with a great fondness and I wonder if my brother would be down to do another play-through with me like old times.
Hungry- Dragon Age: Origins (PC) – What perfect timing! Dragon Age Inquisition was just released, I’m a solid twenty hours into it, and Origins jumps onto the list. I already know that I won’t like Inquisition as much as 2, which I didn’t like as much as Origins. It was the first game in the series, but the most complete for me. The story was amazing, the characters were extremely well-developed, it had tons of choices but kept you focused on your quests, and the controls were more than adequate. The Hero of Ferelden, the Gray Warden Commander, will always be Thedas’ greatest hero in my book. The DLCs were great and created MY perfect ending, while leaving a HUGE sequel opportunity open. I can’t say enough about this game and I liked it so much more than the others, which I also really enjoy (top 50 for sure), that it made my enter it on the list as a non-series entry, but rather by the lone game. Those characters, those romances, all those options!
That brings us to #15 for next time! I can’t believe we are ten down already. I’m always interested to see what everyone puts down and also what you guys think as well! Feel free to comment below. As always…stay hungry and fit!
Fit – Call of Duty (1 and 2)– 
