[ALL] Leftwich's Top 100 Games of All Time

[Maestro]

Only thing that sucks about COD4 now is that there are modders everywhere and they ruin the game lobbies. They advertise their sites on the side of the screen and it sucks. But COD=best FPS of alltime.

 

[StealthShot]

COD4 is my favorite Xbox 360 game man spent so much time on that game it was glorious, it was the "good ol days" of Xbox live. Sad now that the game is filled with trolls and people that want to make youtube videos.

 

[Leftwich]

COD4 is my favorite Xbox 360 game man spent so much time on that game it was glorious, it was the "good ol days" of Xbox live. Sad now that the game is filled with trolls and people that want to make youtube videos.

I remember back at SportsGamer we would start a session at like 8pm and play till like 5am.

 

[Maynard]

berenstein bears...and you call us faggots

 

[Lleshlo]

Call of Duty 4 was such an awesome game. All the ones after have been sub-par at best.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

COD4 is definitely one of my favorites of all time. As much as I disliked their games after WaW, this game was boobs. I still have it on my game shelf and wouldn't be opposed to playing some MP again.

I have both, and am definitely OK with playing one of these nights if we can get a good group on.

 

[Maynard]

i love COD 4. i still have that game. best in the series imo. probably because it set the bar so high for any follow up games. it will never be topped on this gen of consoles

 

[Leftwich]

7

Metal Gear Solid

Platform: Playstation

I went ahead and re wrote some of this, why it took me all the way till late in the day to get it out. This is the moment you guys have all been waiting for. In reality a game got bumped down to 6 because of my recent fun with it and this caused Metal Gear Solid to fall back to 7…. Just a little preface for you guys. Metal Gear Solid is a game that if there were a video game hall of fame it would be a first ballot hall of famer. The game is that good and really introduced the United States to Solid Snake. Sure there was a Metal Gear game back for the NES but it wasn’t as impactful as MGS was. Strap yourselves in for this one, it’s gonna be good.

Alright before I say anything else, I am going to spoil the fuck out of this game. If you have never played it don’t read the spoiler tags, I’m doing this for the people who have played this game and want to relive the story. But first I will tell you about the normal stuff like gameplay, graphics and sound. The first thing I have to get out there is that this is not a game you can simply run through and shoot every enemy you see. You need to experience the atmosphere, the espionage and the story. Playing this game like your standard shooter will get you killed quick, which was my first problem when I played the demo of this game. I’ll admit it; I did not like this game the first time I played the demo. I tried to play it as a shooter and didn’t embrace the sneaking elements and the outsmarting your enemy tactics. After I gave it another chance and borrowing it from a friend did I realize that this was one of the greatest games I’ve ever played. You assume control of Solid Snake and your goal is to make it through the game with as little detection as possible. You will be detected by the enemy by getting in his line of vision or attacking him in anyway that isn’t lethal. Unlike many games before it, alerting one enemy will bring backup. In other shooters if you attacked an enemy you could beat him and be on your merry way but in this game if you do that you better hide for a while. If you are found you are put the enemy into a state of alert where they will break off of their routes and actively look for you, if you are seen they will attempt to suppress you. As time wears on and you successfully stay out of their site they will become less alert until ultimately they stop looking for you and reassume their routes. To stay invisible you must adapt to your environments and keep hidden any way you can. There is radar that shows the enemies line of vision so staying out of that is golden. There is gunplay in this game as well but it is secondary to the stealth. The controls work very well in this game, from crawling on the ground, swimming and combat. They’re tight but not too tight and are very responsive. Those developers at Konami did a very good job at making the gameplay very enjoyable and rarely, if ever, frustrating. Like I stated earlier this game is very story driven so there are plenty of cutscenes and codec sequences. The codec is basically your communication with Colonel Campbell, Snake’s former commanding officer who helps with gameplay if you get stuck. It is also used for other tips from other team members as well as saving the game.

My favorite trick in the game.

Graphically I’m a little torn. At the time I didn’t think the graphics were all that great, even when it was the hottest thing out, but the game is very big and with limited capabilities to make the game run well I’d take not so great graphics. The graphics weren’t bad at all and its not like you can’t tell what things are its just that other games that came out at the same time looked a lot better. As torn as I am about the graphics of this game, the sound….GOD DAMN! The voice acting in this game is just phenomenal. David Hayter, Voice actor of Solid Snake, is absolutely perfect for the character. He gives Snake that gritty, loner feeling. When you look at Snake, his voice is heard in your head instantly. For as long as I play video games I don’t think there will ever be a better voice actor for characters….maybe they guy who plays Kratos but I stills think Snake wins. Not only Snake but everyone in this game has a very authentic sound to their voice and it just sounds downright realistic. The sound effects in this game sound so damn real as well. It really felt like Konami went out of there way to make sure that Metal Gear Solid really drew in their players with the audio. Kudos to them.

As for the story click the spoiler:

 

The game really starts you out in the dark when you show up in Alaska. You’re swimming in a waterway as you’re chatting it up with Colonel Campbell and Naomi Hunter as you piece together what you’re doing there. Solid Snake had just retired before Colonel Campbell to stop the terrorist plot of FOXHOUND. Foxhound is a militia made up of genetically enhanced soldiers with a leader capable of nuclear warfare. Their demands? They want the body of Big Boss delivered to them or they will launch a nuclear strike on the United States, via Metal Gear Rex. I will go into Rex later. You start out learning the ropes of your stealth gameplay at the beginning and eventually through sneaking you will enter the Shadow Moses base. While inside the base, your mission is to rescue DARPA Chief Anderson and Arms Dealer Kenneth Anderson. Eventually you will break into the holding cell for Chief Anderson but not before you have to climb through an air duct by doing so you get to see Meryl before you know she is Meryl. Anyway, you talk with Chief Anderson and he tells you that he has the override codes to disable Metal Gear Rex from launching the nuclear warheads. But as fate would have it, he has a heart attack and dies. After this happens Meryl breaks out of her cell and helps Snake in a battle against guards. After the battle is over they chat for a bit and then she runs away and there is this scene of her ass that made no sense to me as a kid but thinking he was a pervert. After this battle Snake locates another prisoner who is all tied up. This prisoner is Kenneth Baker. As Snake makes the effort to rescue Baker, he is interrupted by Revolver Ocelot. Ocelot challenges him to a fight that was easy but cheesy. Kinda like Insta Mac and Cheese. The reason I hated this battle was because Ocelot’s God damn bullets bounce off the walls and on top of this you can’t touch the wires or Baker will die. Eventually you’ll beat him but it triggers a cutscene where some ninja chops Ocelot’s arm off. Ocelot runs away like the little bitch he is and Baker lets you in on the secrets of the Metal Gear Mission. But as a reoccurring theme happens, Baker dies of a heart attack and for those of you who don’t know why, its because Snake is a vector for the Foxdie virus and if you still think I’m talking French, look it up on Google. Before Baker dies he tells Snake to talk to Meryl. Snake does so and agrees to meet here along with a scientist named Hal Emmerich. Hal is an integral part of the Metal Gear Solid series so this game is where he got his start. As Snake is on his way to meet up with Meryl he gets a call on his Codec from “Deepthroat” this guy warns Snake of a battle he is about to run into. This is the first we meet of Vulcan Raven, a hulking brute of a son of a bitch. He is sitting in his tank as you stand in the middle of a snowy opening. This battle would seem hard but it’s actually not. As long as you have grenades to take out the gunners you should be fine. Even if you run out they have them scattered all over the place.

After that battle is through with you will find Hal in his lab, he prefers the name Otacon but I think that name is stupid and it’s easier to type Hal. But before you can get Otacon to help you out you go into a battle with the ninja who cut off Ocelot’s hand. You can’t lose this battle so don’t fret. After the battle is over, Snake discovers that the ninja is actually an old friend and ally, Gray Fox. Again if that name doesn’t ring a bell, look it up. After this scene concludes you gain Hal’s assistance and continue on until you finally meet up with Meryl. Meryl and Snake talk for a bit and they agree to continue the mission together because more numbers equals more fun right? Meryl also gives Snake a card that will override the nuclear launch that she obtained from Baker. As they make their way for the underground base that contains Rex, they are met by the best villain in the whole game, Psycho Mantis. Mantis first possesses Meryl and forces you to non lethally incapacitate her. After this, if you’re playing on the PS1 and not emulating, he will read your mind. Your mind is your memory card and he will even say some names of games. The tip in this fight is to switch controllers so he can’t control your thoughts and predict your moves. After this fight is over Mantis tells Snake that Meryl has feelings for him after reading her mind. This sets up perfectly for the next part. After Meryl comes to, Her and Snake make their way to the underground facility but before they can do so, the most heartfelt scene happens. They prepare to walk down a long corridor Snake and Meryl are talking as Snake notices a laser on her. A sniper takes a shot and Meryl goes down. As a kid my heart sank when I watched a character who I kind of cared for get taken down. A very good job of sucking me into the game Konami. The battle is with Sniper Wolf, a sniper prodigy. You need to be the better sniper in this battle but you can’t get out in the open on her or you will lose a lot of health. Don’t worry about Meryl, she’s not dead but just laying there bleeding out. After the battle is over you jump into a cutscene where Snake is captured. Snake learns that the leader of Foxhound is his twin brother, who is also a clone of Big Boss just like Snake… very confusing. You awake tied up ready to be tortured by none other than Revolver Ocelot. You can either spam the hell out of the square button or give into the torture. Giving in will get you the stealth cloak for your next playthrough while making it through will get you the bandana which is infinite ammo for the next playthrough. Also choosing to give into torture will end up with Ocelot killing Meryl. If you survive it you will save her. As you return to your cell you see a decomposing body and learn that the Anderson you talked to really wasn’t Anderson but rather an enemy known as Decoy Octopus. Again, very confusing. After some more time you can escape your cell. Through a little exploring you will eventually meet up with your brother again but this time in a god damn helicopter. This is a somewhat hard battle but as long as you have a stinger and can evade the fire, you will win. As you make your way off of the tower that you just fought Liquid on you end up in an open snowy field. You once again have to battle Sniper Wolf but in a much harder battle. Before the battle Hal begs you not to kill Sniper Wolf because he “loves” her. Anyway after the battle is over, Hal bawls his eyes out because Snake killed his love. A normal person would tell Snake to Fuck Off but Hal continues to help him and this is the world famous switching of the discs via Hal’s codec message.

The beginning of the second disk has you going through a weapon manufacturing facility until you reach this super cold room. You pretty much realize what’s going to happen when ravens fly at you. The final fight with Vulcan Raven occurs and damn this is one intimidating boss battle. Vulcan Raven carries around a damn Gatling gun that he tore off a fighter jet. THE GUY TORE IT OFF A JET! The missile launcher is the international strategy for this fight because if you’re seen by him he will open fire but there is plenty of cover to make this a little easier. This battle will take you a little time but after a while he tells you what I told you earlier about Decoy Octopus but I got ahead of myself earlier. As Raven is dying he explains his gay love affair with ravens and the fact that Snake will have no peace for the rest of the days. Good foreshadowing of MGS2 and MGS4 by Konami yet again. At this point you’re realizing that you’re at about the end of the game and have the one goal of stopping the nuclear launch. Snake takes the PAL card from earlier and uses it to deactivate the launch of Rex. Unfortunately Snake has been double crossed. Earlier in the game, which I should have said earlier, Snake is contacted on his Codec by Master Miller. Master Miller was Snake’s drill instructor and survival coach from Metal Gear 2: Snake’s Revenge back on the NES. Why am I telling you all of this? Because Miller was really dead all along. Liquid Snake was impersonating him the whole time and reveals it to Snake after he has activated Metal Gear Rex. This is where the plot really goes nuts. The government had infected Snake with FOXDIE before the mission without his knowledge. Like I said before he was a vector for it and when he came in contact with FOXHOUND it would kill them. Why did the government do this? They wanted Rex for themselves. As a kid my mind was completely blown. What comes next was one of the hardest battles I had ever played. You have to fight a Liquid Snake piloted Metal Gear Rex. You feel incredibly small next to this thing and your best friend is your stinger. The Rex will shoot at you but when you figure out how to dodge his attacks it gets easier. After you think the battle is over that damn ninja comes back. This time he tells you he was deepthroat from earlier and is in fact Gray Fox. Gray Fox sacrifices himself to help snake take down Rex. It’s a very dramatic moment in the game but I didn’t give a shit about Gray Fox so watching him die was cool cause his arm got shot off. After that cutscene you have to fight Rex one more time and he is a bit harder. After using that stinger a few more times he will fall. After that fight you’re not even done yet. You have to fight Liquid in Hand to Hand combat. It’s not that hard at all and shouldn’t take much time. You’ll know its over when Liquid goes flying over the edge. Finally you will see Meryl if you survived the torture or Otacon if you did not. You are taken in a jeep but just like this game would, you are put into battle against Liquid one last time. Liquid is chasing you in another jeep and all you have to do is survive through the tunnel until the two jeeps crash and you enjoy yet another cutscene. This time Liquid gets up after the wreck and is about to kill Snake but Liquid dies from the FOXDIE. After this is all over Colonel Campbell tells the government that Snake died in action so he couldn’t be put into another one of these missions. The end. There is something after the credits but I won’t spoil it for you, I think you should play through the game to see for yourself if you haven’t already seen it.

There you have it guys. In retrospect I think I should have added more Metal Gear Solid games but maybe next year. Enjoy the video.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpG9XIfFkE0"]PSX Longplay [001] Metal Gear Solid (part 1 of 2) - YouTube[/ame]
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[Bomberooski]

Metal Gear Solid??? REALLY??? :shifty:

 

[EmpireWF]

My favorite game of all-time, MGS. Takes me back.

Story, the stealth aspect, the bosses, sniper wolf, fuck what a great game.

And like you lefty, I was first exposed to the game through the demo on one of those PSX club pack thingies. Loved the espionage part of it and then it would fade out as you were rising up in the elevator. I think I rented it from a local store and played through it until I eventually bought it. So much fun.

 

[Leftwich]

I had a little problem with the rest of my list and i have to do a few things to fix it. If i don't have something up tonight then expect two tomorrow.

 

[BigBucs]

Madden 2005 was still inferior to NCAA 2003. I have a feeling that no NCAA games will be in the top 10, yet most of those versions had superior gameplay to the Maddens. I thought Madden peaked in 2003, and from that point on the NCAA game was much better. Thats just my opinion, but I feel that Madden was so terrible after 2003 that I can't imagine 2005 being the 10th best game in history. That would be like saying Eli Manning is the 10th best QB in NFL history.

:yao:

 

[Senser81]

Metal Gear Solid was incredible. Especially when you consider it was for the Playstation. It was one of the few games I've ever played where there was not one thing I would change about it. The difficulty was just right. Challenging but not frustrating. And it was intense trying to avoid being seen by the enemy soldiers.

 

[Maynard]

Metal Gear Solid was incredible. Especially when you consider it was for the Playstation. It was one of the few games I've ever played where there was not one thing I would change about it. The difficulty was just right. Challenging but not frustrating. And it was intense trying to avoid being seen by the enemy soldiers.

agreed. the only one in the series i completed. I didnt play until 2 years after it was released

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

Madden 2005 was still inferior to NCAA 2003. I have a feeling that no NCAA games will be in the top 10, yet most of those versions had superior gameplay to the Maddens. I thought Madden peaked in 2003, and from that point on the NCAA game was much better. Thats just my opinion, but I feel that Madden was so terrible after 2003 that I can't imagine 2005 being the 10th best game in history. That would be like saying Eli Manning is the 10th best QB in NFL history.

Spot on, perfect post.

NCAA was a far superior game to Madden beyond 2003. Madden 2004 was step back, but still good, and 2005 was steaming shit. The game has been steaming shit ever since.

The problem, is with the PS3/360 gen, NCAA also became a steaming pile of shit. So even though Madden is a terrible game, NCAA has found a way to be even worse.

 

[Bomberooski]

Senser missed the joke...


MGS was awesome

 

[dope]

 

Before Baker dies he tells Snake to talk to Meryl.

 

I still remember you had to get her codec number from the back of the cd case for the game, which sucked cause i rented it the first time i played it, and had no idea how to contact her

 

[CrimsonGhost56]

why are people spoiler tagging a game that is 14 years old

 

<3 the MGS series...MGS1/3 are neck and neck for my favorite

 

[StealthShot]

why are people spoiler tagging a game that is 14 years old

 

<3 the MGS series...MGS1/3 are neck and neck for my favorite

I have yet to beat the game I remember play it when I was younger, but never really knowing what to do or where to go.

Sp please refine from the spoilage thank you!

 

[Leftwich]

6

Mass Effect

Platform: Xbox 360/PC/PS3

The Mass Effect Series is absolutely my favorite series of video games of all time but not necessarily my favorite games. Before you read any further, I have beaten Mass Effect 3 but this was written before Mass Effect 3 came out. The top ten might look a little bit different because of it but oh well, there is always next year. I digress, when Mass Effect first came out a lot of people weren’t really talking about it until a few weeks to month after its release. I got this game day one because I love Bioware and their work with Knights of the Old Republic, I was sure I would love this game. The first time I played this game I was in fucking awe. For all you Mass Effect nerds, this is for you.

Wow, I really don’t know where to begin. I could start by saying that I got this game still living with my dad and he made fun of me and called me a nerd for playing this game until I found him one night after I got home from work playing this game. He was deep into it to. Now just like me, he loves the series and as we played through the trilogy we have always talked about it even now via text or calling. Unfortunately this will be much shorter than Metal Gear Solid because it is a somewhat recent game and I would hate to spoil it for some of you still on the fence about diving into the series. What better way to start than to make you guys fap over the gameplay. Mass Effect at it’s core is an Action RPG. Instead of turn based battling and falling into battles like in Final Fantasy, you play the game in an over the shoulder perspective. You are Commander Shepard and the whole game revolves around you, you can switch out your teammates to make a more balanced squad. Some of us prefer certain squad mates to other but I’ll dive into that later. If you’ve ever played Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic than this feels very familiar to you. You have decisions to make that can be good or bad. Good meaning doing the right thing, the right way or saying whatever you need to so you get your way. The controls of shooting and using your biotic powers feels tight. There are 4 different weapons to choose from, Shotgun, Assault Rifle, Pistol and Sniper Rifle. The SMG wasn’t introduced yet. Aside from your firepower you can also bring up your power wheel. No not the cool electronic car from when you were a kid but a wheel that has all your biotic powers and your teammates powers. If you have stasis, throw, warp or any other powers you can use them there or set them to a quick key so you don’t always have to bring up your power wheel. You can also designate what powers your teammates can use as well. Both guns and powers have cool down periods too. If you spam your rifle it will overheat and if you use a power it needs time to recharge. This is done to keep balance and it works very, very well. Enemy AI is very well done too; they will take cover or rush you depending on the situation. Sometimes they’ll stand there and take a clip or two but its not that often. Since this is an RPG you can customize your character. At the beginning of the game you can change what your Commander Shepard looks like. You can be either a man or woman and facial structuring is surprisingly deep. With enough time and effort you can have your Shep looking just like you. Again running with the RPG elements you can level up your character as you collect XP through the game. The skill tree is robust and even completing the entire game won’t max your character out, hell two play throughs won’t do it either. Unfortunately the game does cap at level 60 I believe or it might be 70. Armor and weapons can be customized and you can find those two all around the galaxy.

Graphically the game looks great. Your customizable character doesn’t look out of place at all. For the most part the environment is very beautiful the occasional textures popping in and out is noticeable and although this really doesn’t go in graphics but sometimes you will get stuck in a wall or two. Just wanted to say that before I forgot. One last thing that I griped about, when you go do missions that aren’t main story related, they recycle the same underground tunnel over and over again just with different layouts of crates and stuff. It’s not a game killer but Bioware could have at the very least made things more diverse. All the characters in this game look stupendous. Detail all the way down ro the hairs on everyone’s head. The game does a very good job of making the universe5 look vast and 90% of the time everything looks good and runs smoothly. The other 10% is when there are multiple things to load and the game has a little hiccup. Voice acting in this game is incredible. The guy who plays Commander Shepard is perfect. Keith David as Anderson is fantastic just as Seth Green as Joker is just icing on the cake. The sounds of the ship taking off, gunfire and biotic powers sound very good and diverse and really adds to the game. All of that fails to meet the level of greatness the soundtrack achieves. The Mass Effect main theme is easily one of my favorite themes in not only gaming but any type of media. It’s so good that when I hear it in Mass Effect 2 and 3 it brings back great memories of this game. Bioware did a top notch job putting the soundtrack together for this game and I honestly don’t think any game will ever outdo this franchises soundtrack. Actually as I finished writing this I listened to the soundtrack.

Now for my favorite part, explaining to you guys why I love this story. First let me tell you that this is my absolute favorite story in the Mass Effect series. A lot of you fans are probably saying that the third is the best or the second but I’ll tell you why I think ME1 has the best story, at least in my opinion. From the minute you pop in Mass Effect for the first time you are in the dark. You don’t know what the mission is, what you’re doing or anything but after the journey to Eden Prime you slowly start to piece everything together. On the real, I would give a lot to play this game for the first time again. I remember very vividly my first playthrough. I was having a hard time piecing together the story at first but the sheer amount of OMG moments and twists that I didn’t expect can not be duplicated. If you go through a play now you know what to prepare for but for someone who is a first time player of the series will just be left breathless after the complete the game. The characters are great. Garrus is a fan favorite and also one of mine from the first game. I was ecstatic he was carried through all three games. Not only is Garrus a great teammate but Ashley, Kaiden (not really), Wrex, Liara and Tali really add to the game and you genuinely care for those squad members. Well I didn’t give a shit about Kaiden, he mostly stayed on the ship. The great thing about Mass Effect is the decisions you make really change everything. Sure the game has a static ending but the choices you can make up to that are often tough and will really shape how your character is seen from the outside. I’m obviously talking about going paragon or renegade. The game has romance, action, deceit and just about anything that makes a good game. You can tell the story is inspired by some of the great science fiction such as Star Wars, Star Trek and many more. Mass Effect really does a good job of separating the line between good and evil not only for your actions but pointing out whom are the villains and who are the good guys. Some parts of the plot can get kind of confusing but a second playthrough will help alleviate some of that confusion. I don’t know if I can really say if this is 100% my favorite story of all time but it did have a lasting impact on me and has a better plot than most science fiction novels and movies out there.

I know i didn't touch on a lot in this but i will save that for something later... lol like you guys didn't know Mass Effect 2 would be on this list somewhere. I can safely assume at least some of you have never played this game and it’s a damn shame really. Mass Effect is one of the best games of this console generation and it really should be in everyone’s game collection. If you haven’t played it I would highly recommend you do. This game will likely go down as one of the greatest ever, not just on my list but years down the road people will still be talking about this game. For those of you who need to see what this game is about before making your decision on playing it yet, watch the video BELOW!

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyWurWoxhuA"]Generic Mass Effect 1 Gameplay - YouTube[/ame]
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