Top 10 PC games of the decade

I've been reading many top 10/100 game list of the last decade recently and have read some shocking things lol.
So I decided to complie a small list of what I think are the top 10 games on PC of the last 10 years.
I would like to see what others would put in their top 10.

I'm not really putting these in any kind of order because good and bad points could be argued back and forth forever. But roughly listed from top to bottom, best being at bottom. This list could also change because I'm sure I've forgotten some truely epic games lol

Also note this list is not compliled with online gaming in thought, this is a list of games played as single player. Yes I play online games but I enjoy single player much more, I'm old school like that lol

Anyway, here goes.

10: Zoo Tycoon 2
While this isn't the prettiest game ever made it is incredibly addictive, has plenty of add-ons and so many ways to build your Zoo, IMO it also was the most playable of the Tycoon games, where many of the others had peeps screaming and moaning so so much they would throw you off track and your park/prison/whatever would end up a complete mess. It was also the most informative game, gave many snippets of info that teach much about different species and their needs/habbitats. Overall a very enjoyable and sleep depriving game.

9: Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising
Again this game is nothing special to look at but it stands as one of the very few games to offer some tiny form of realism in military tactics. If you like charging round with an AK and just blowing away anything that moves.....you WILL get owned by the AI, this game requires a lot of thought and planning to execute your mission successfully. Overall lots of fun but keeps you thinking all the time and one of the few games that forces you to feel concern for your AI team mates.

8: Civilization 4
Well the Civ games were always great, Civ 2 was an awesome game but Civ 4 just took it 1 step further, better looking, better UI and better AI. The add-on packs extended game life to phenominal levels. This is definitely another one you will loose sleep over.

7: Doom 3
Well it had to be in there didn't it, the story was basically the same but this one set a new standard for looks and sounds, not to mention the AI was awesome, creatures would actually react to your movments. If this game didn't make you jump then you are either deaf or made of steal. When you hear that "Sniff sniff" you KNOW something is about to leap out and tear you apart.

6: Command & Conquer : Generals
While I'm sure many will dissagree here, personally I thought this was the best of the C&C games, it just felt much more satisfying to march a huge number of troops over the enemy like a freight train. IF played well you could amass a huge base with inpenetrable defenses, but this is only if you can hold your base long enough with the onslaught of attacks from the 7 AI teams all set on hard....but if you can..

5: F.E.A.R
The gameplay in FEAR was fairly linier but what made it stand out was not just the awesome graphics but the brutality of it. This is the only other game with Doom that just made the shotgun feel right. Hit slow mo, jump over a box and blast your enemy with a shotty to see him turn to a red mist. Not only that but the story line was very unique and the addition of the Micheal Jackson lookalike little girl and the consistant feeling of dread when nothing was happening just made this game one of the crepiest ever made.

4: Sims 3
While it could be argued that the Sims was a more inovative game, Sims 3 added all those things we all thought were missing from the first 2 games. Gone were the horrendously long loading screens when you wanted to go to town and in come 5 billion things to do through your day, go fishing or read a book, plant some veggies or go to a learning centre, pop round to a nieghbours and cook them a meal, the list is endless and Sims 3 IMO just put all the best ideas from the first 2 together with a whole host of better ideas added into the mix.

3: Rome: Total War
The game that basically reinvented the RTS/TBS genre, which is it?.....It's both, massive campaigne with very indepth strategy play, building up towns and cities trying to keep your peeps happy was not easy, yet it was fun. Negotiations between factions and exploration were endless......add to that an RTS battle engine second to none, where else can you command armies of thousands in a strategic decimation of your chosen target city? Not to mention the ability to reinact historical battles.

2: Crysis
It has to be said, while the game itself was just "OK" it cannot be denied that Crysis has changed the graphical face of gaming. 3 years old and STILL the benchmark game on which systems are tested to the max and the game all others are messured by graphically. The physics engine is so realistic it almost takes away from your objective when you find yourself laughing maniacally while power throwing an enemy through a wall to see the building collapse on 3 other enemies. It's not without problems, a few minor glitches aside, Crysis is undoubtedly the best looking game ever made.

1: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
One word describes this game.......Epic.
Who would have thought an action game could be moulded with an RPG and come out smelling of roses. This game is truely massive, the main quest asside, you have an endless number of sides quest that never seem to get boring and the constant tactically challenging leveling system keeps you striving to better yourself. Not only all that but this is one of only a couple of games where you can play it any way you wish, your actions determine the outcome, make friends and be a hero or be bad and get a price on your head.
I could go on for hours about this game but needless to say it HAS to be in everyones top 10 games of the decade if not all time.


So there you have it, my Top 10 PC games of the last 10 years. Remember these are my opinions and I don't expect everyone to agree, but I would like to see what others think of as their Top 10.

 

Thanks for participating

I was going to put COD4 in my list but didn't think the SP deserved it, only just but not quite. MP on the other hand I will say COD4 changed the face of online gaming forever. I have MW2 on the PS3 and it's good but I personally feel it's taken another step towards arcade shooter.
I was also going to add Half Life 2 but I prefered Doom 3 and really don't see much HL had different to Doom in terms of anything other than storyline. Great game list though, it's so hard pinning down 10 games like this lol

 

CoD Modern Warfare 2 All the way!!!

 

lol I was going to mention that but thought you left it out for a reason, I'm not a fan of the Halo games though. And thank you for clearing up the name - game link, I'm actually kind of glad, you seem far too intelligent to simply name yourself after a game lol

@Burrell....May I ask what MW2 has above the rest? As someone who played COD 4 religiously I must say I was a bit dissapointed with MW2, the SP was good if short but the online just seemed........I dunno, less rewarding, to get a 10-15 kill streak in COD4 was an achievment, I got that almost every match in MW2, just my opinion admittedly but it seemed to get pretty boring very quickly for me.

 

What???!???!??!!!??!??!

No Need For Speed Most Wanted?


FAIL


:-D

 

Whaaaaaat? No Witcher?!?!?

You all fail.

 

lol

@pappa.... NFS:MW undoubtably the best NFS and I loved it, may install that today actually lol, but it could never make my top 10, top 20 maybe, see the way I looked at it if I have forgotten about the game then it wasn't good enough otherwise I wouldn't have forgotten.

@Mimsy......Never heard of that one *ducks*

@Halo... Edit: I shouldn't force my opinion of a game on you lol, you answered the question. So lets just say the SP was great if a little short and the MW storyline is fantastic, not incredibly original but fantastic none the less with some great charaters with superb voice overs (stolen from Eastenders and the Bill no less lol)
Although it's all opinion, but MW2 has left a nasty taste with me because I loved MW so much and the sequal online has let me down

And Bubble Bobble? lol I remember that well, but this is last 10 years, not 50 years ago lol oh if I had to do a top 10 of all time, that would be hard, Bomb Jack, Street Fighter 2 Turbo, Kevin Keegan Atari Football (Basically the Atari 2600 with a picture of Kev on the box) :-D Sinclair Spectrum +2 with built in tape recorder , got one of those for my 10th birthday, I was so proud lol.... 128k you know

 

Why thank you good sir

And I know I'm kind of pulling off topic a little but I agree, the airport level would have sufficed as a cut sceen, it was an integral part of the story but no need to make it playable.
I didn't fire a single bullet until the police got there and I had no choice, but pretty much anyone under the age of 18 just let rip and they don't understand why it was bad. I guess it just boils down to morals, I always like to be the good guy, just me I guess lol

Have you tried Op Flashpoint? If you like realism that game is second to none, very hard though I warn you now.

 

Based on the games you posted I'd say you never noticed it, given it's an RPG. Heavily acclaimed and awarded various GoTY-titles, but still an RPG. I don't pay attention to the FPS genre at all, so I miss what's going on there pretty easily.

Here you go: Witcher Website Educate yourself.

 

@Mimsy... Thank you, I most certainly will. I've always enjoyed RPG's but on a limited basis, Oblivion is a big one for me along with a few of the Final Fantasies, especially 8 and 10, but I've played a few others too, but will definitely look into your suggestion.

@Halo... Absolutely worth a look, like I said it's pretty hard and requires you to think before you shoots, it also involves a lot of traveling on foot but I didn't find it too bad, some said it was the downfall but personally I thought it just added to the realism. The only drawback for me is that it's US military but thats not a big deal, I would just love to have that game as the SAS. GRAW 2 is an awesome game too, loved it but by comparison of OFR it's a fair bit easier. Not to mention OF has a map editor for you to create your own missions and even campaigns if you have the patience. I created a few missions, I love sniping so I put my targets 1.5km away from my O.P. and scored some incredible shots. Unlike COD or MOH you have to aim realistically. At the distance I was sniping I was aiming at the very bottom of my scope lol
Also another one worth a look if you enjoy sniping is Sniper Elite, looks pretty nasty but is a great game and largly missunderstood because of the low end graphics, but it's all about gameplay to me.

 

Call Of Duty 2 , thats the stuff. I like the way the Game-engine has the smooth feeling (quake3), people say, it´s so easy to hit anything. Well i think you should move the way that you are not easy to hit. Forever classic, maybe not so good as public (the MP i mean)

 

Fair warning, it is nothing like the RPGs you mentioned, either game-play wise or story-wise.

The last time I saw a game flaunt its M-rating as openly and proudly as The Witcher does, was Fallout 2. Like in Fallout 2, The Witcher has prostitutes that will take you off to street corners (and actually give you discounts if you treat them well), it has slavery, corruption, drug abuse and supernatural evils all over the place. There's no real good in that world, only survival, and no right or wrong, only consequences of your actions.

It's a very dark maturity, that makes the Final Fantasy franchise look just like the fairy tales for kids that they are.

Ahem. I guess it's obvious what I prefer...?

 

@Calsu... COD 2 was an excellent game, never played the MP but have played the SP through many times. But once again it didn't make my list because although it was a great game, it just doesn't glow IMO the way the others on my list do.

@Mimsy... Sounds like my kind of game, I'm very open minded when it comes to games as I'm sure you are starting to understand. The FF series was very ... Disneyfied almost in the whole good and evil thing. Currently loving Fallout 3 and as far as pushing the M rating, well like you said, you're not much of a shooter fan but I could list off many games that push the boundries lol, and this comming from someone who is incredibly difficult to offend. You should see me play Crysis or FEAR, I'm not nice lol, I like to punish my enemies :-D

 

Bah. Fallout 3 was tame as far as M-rating goes. There wasn't a single corrupt priest or severely offensive political joke in it. They didn't even have NSFW wallpapers for the pipboy!

You should give The Witcher a chance. Sounds like you'll like it...

 

lol you're starting to scare me, I will be giving it a chance. A buddy of mine says he has it, well actually he said "Yeah, I have that, well I think I have it, it's probably here somewhere I'll try to find it"
Lets just say he's not very organized lol
So once he locates it I'm going to give it a whirl.

You've bigged it up now Mimsy, it better be brutally nasty and as dark as batmans posing pouch.

 

Well, this is the opening scene, one of the longer ones I've seen in a game. One of the better ones too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtrKfZqokl4

 

Can I have 14?:-D I couldn't round it down to 10,I've put them in order as best I cani just thought of virtual pool 3 so plonked it at the end but it deserves to go in the middle somewhere,its still today the best pool sim out for the PC.

1.GTA 3
2.Operation flashpoint and all the expansions,I've played practically every single player enthusiast created level.
3.Max payne 1,2 equally as good
4.Half life 2
5.Far cry
6.The operative:No one lives forever
7.Call of duty "all of them"
8.Chronicles of Riddick escape from butcher bay
9.Mafia
10.Medal of honor "all of them"
11.Freedom fighters
12.IL2 sturmovik "WW2 flight sim" I had to put it in here.
13.Crimson skies "alternate history/future flight sim"
14.Virtual pool 3

Playing both of those flight sims was great fun as I got one of the last Logitech wingman force feed backs just before they stopped making them and switched to a crappy flimsy version,it has a extremely powerful motors and tensile steel cables to supply the force feedback,it's still going strong to this day after about 8 years of abuse,what other force feed back peripheral can claim that?

I can't decide between my favourite multi player,battlefield 2 or call of duty united offensive,I used to play on CODUO base assault all night on the fifth waffen ss server.

I'm sure Crysis should be in there but I've yet to play it I stopped gaming just as it came out.

 

Pretty safe to say you like shooting stuff then? :-D
GTA3 top of those, suprising, can't deny though it change gaming as we know it in many ways.

And whats this "I stopped gaming"? WTH is that man? Get back to it!!

Thanks for the input

 

1 medal of honor (none of the expansions tho)
2 Call of duty (just cause it took the 1st person wwII shooter where MoH should have gone)
3 call of duty: united offensive (best expansion eva! )
4 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
5 Command & Conquer Generals: Zero Hour
6 World of Warcraft (i hate it, but it is what it is)
7 Max Payne
8 Mass Effect
9 The Sims
10 Age of Conan (also one of the worst ? )

 

Dragon Age: Origins should be on that list

 

You play AoC? I played it for awhile got a couple characters to 60 but it was just to broken and unbalanced so I quit. I have heard recently it has gotten better I may have to revisit it.

 

Ah yes, but I have yet to play it and from what I've seen it's very good, but I'm not sure worthy of a top 10 slot.

I got a new graphics card so I'm playing everything I couldn't before lol

Currently playing :

Resi 5
Silent Hill: Homecoming
Fallout 3
Gears Of War
Devil May Cry 4
Crysis
Left For Dead
And started this morning on Mimsy's aproval.... The Witcher.

My list may get revised :-D

Had these games for a while except the witcher but never had the power to play them the way they deserve to be played.
Of course my son has played half of all of them lol

 

i played at launch for a couple of months, and just got fed up with all the broken things. i went back when they offered 2 free weeks for old memberships, but i won't pay for it again.

 

He's seen the light! He's seen the light! :celebrate

Let me know what you think about it. It's not for everyone... when you get to Abigail's village you'll see what I meant with it having dark and mature content above and beyond just violence and nudity. Which, of course, is as it should be.

 

lol Well I've made it to Abigail's and took her the skulls and am currently trying to get her to tell me about the lightbulb dogs. It's not bad actually, fairly clean looking. The interface is a little awkward but nothing major. Story is pretty strong so far and some nice kills. I could get into it, as with most RPG's it takes a while to get going. Just started Dragon Age too and still have Fallout 3 and Oblivion going lol.
Not noticed what you're talking about in abigail's village though, but then I havn't explored much yet. I'll get there, first impressions are good

 

Oh, you'll notice... for obvious reasons I don't want to post spoilers though. Did you meet the old priest yet?

Oh, before you go too far, you did get the enhanced edition, right?

The story is based on a bunch of novels and short stories by one of Poland's most popular fantasy writers. They brought him in to write the game story and make sure they stayed true to the character of Geralt. (I grew very fond of him )

 

I like shooting humans:-D Not into killing zombies,aliens or mutants,with real guns and bullets,no plasma,lasers or magic.

Blowing stuff up too,pretty much like real life.

I've only quit gaming on the PC,I've just finished every decent game on the PS2 and I'm working on the PS3 at present,might get a 360 in the near future too.

 

no F.E.A.R? :-D


And HL2 is awesome

 

Yeah FEAR was cool I should have added that I bought the original with the expansion box set,great combat system but weak story and very linear.

I forgot Stalker shadow of chernobyl that's probably in my top five just for shear amount of weaponry and pretty good story and atmosphere.

Prolly think of more,ten years is a long time,before the hair on the top of my head moved house to my chest and back,I take my shirt off and show it off to prove I can still grow hair but about two towns of people moved onto my gut.

 

@Mimsy... Yeah spoken to preist and gotta go help him out, done the candle thing. It's a little confusing sometimes lol, just cos I'm new in, I'll get it. I rarely give up on a game I started unless it's just lame, which clearly this isn't.

@PClover... FEAR was number 5 on my list

@Rikky.... Dude, you played PS2 and PS3, getting an Xbox will just ruin your perspective on games, DON'T DO IT!! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DON'T DO ITTTTTTT!!!!! lol

 

Spot me a Grand or so for a new gaming rig and I'm there That's the main problem with gaming on the PC for me,there's only 4-5 games a year that interest me the rest of the time the comp just sits there devaluating.

I'm about primed for a new gaming rig now though as there's two or so years of games I need to play.

 

I cant believe no one has mentioned Neverwinter Nights. I thought it was an amazing rpg. The game play was outstanding the graphics were good and it does a fantastic job of converting the dungeons and dragons rules into a video game. Definitely on my top ten of all time.

 

I pretty much agree with everyone's lists. All those are good games. One game sticks out for me the most. It's for the PSOne. Little game called Final Fantasy Tactics. OMG, I played over 80 hours of that game. So addicting.

 

Yeah there is no definitive top 10 of the "Best" games. It's only opinion unless you do one from statistics, like sales. But that doesn't show the "Best" game. COD MW2 has broken records in sales but it's far from the best game ever. But that depends on what games you like, if you don't like shooters then you certainly wont pick one as your top ten.

I could edit that list I put up and still be happy with it but I kind of based it on memory, I think if you remember something it's either because it was really good or really bad in your own opinion. Those games on my list were picked because I remeber very clearly playing all of them for many many hours and I remember replaying them many times. I still play all of them or at least have in the past 6 months.

 

it's a decent game, however, it has some pretty big faults, and if it wasn't for those, it would be in my top 5

 

Oh don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's bad, it is a great game, loved the SP.
The MP has now gotten a little too arcade like for my taste, COD4 just felt more rewarding when you done well, getting 25-5 in TDM on COD4 was something to be proud of, MW2 it happens every other game. Like you said, it also has some pretty major bugs.

But it doesn't deserve the hype it's getting, it's not THAT great IMO.

I feel myself slipping over to more tactical games now, COD4 feels old and MW2 is just.... I dunno this sounds so big headed but it's not meant to cos I'm not a MW god by any stretch but MW2 just seems too easy online.
Not to mention I was a COD4 Team Tac and Cage match player and now they are both 3rd person, god only knows why they did that.
It's a FPS, if I wanted to play 3rdPS I would play a 3rdPS.

 

10.Baldur's Gate 2
9.Fable 2
8.Fear 2
7.Gears of War 2
6.COD 4
5.Neverwinter Nights 2
4.Oblivion
3.Fallout 3
2.Dungeons and Dragons Online ---Big fan
1.WOW. (I don't play either, but it is what it is)


I know, I know, No Bioshock, no Resident evil... they were good, but not in the top 10

 

I agree with resident evil. one of the best on a console, but not pc

yeah, 3rd person isn't my cup of tea, but the lack of dedicated servers has my clan's panties in a bunch, and i was the only one to buy it. It's not nearly as much fun playing with a bunch of strangers. IMO it's much better playing multiplayer games with friends. Thats why we still play cod4 and WaW. but even those are getting old. I know battlefield bc2 is coming, but there's some hitches with the multiplayer in that as well, and, i've just never been a big fan of the battlefield series. we'll see when it comes out. The beta players have had some good things to say about it, but then again they pre ordered the game to get into the beta, and they are probably already fans of the series.

 

Fear 2 should be the in the top ten worst pc games lol

 

revivng a week old post but I gotta put my 2 cents in on this one! rolleyes

1) Morrowind
...less linear than Oblivion, more fascinating side quests, the fact that geographically the island is smaller than the heart of the Empire in Oblivion, and yet it feels much larger, and just so much more involved to me than any other rpg I've sat down with.

2) Civ IV
...re-playability and depth of strategy

3) The Witcher
...unique and beautiful in its gritty darkness, had me from the opening scenes.

4) Oblivion
... a bit too linear and confined feeling after having such high expectations from Morrowind, still an amazing game

5) KotoR
... best Star Wars game I've ever played, great storyline and better background world(s)

6) VtM Bloodlines
... took some modding to bring it in line with the p&p, but a great game all around, and the only video option for VtM fans

7) KotoR II
... not as good as its predecessor but still a great story

8) GTA San Andreas
... I've been a fan of the GTA series since the 2D overview days, beats out GTA IV in my book due to the aggravation of the whole windows live/rockstar social club crap and the complete lack of support for modern technology (read, SLI)

9) Wolfenstein ET
...ya so I'm reaching back the better part of the decade, but man this ate up so many late nights having good fun shooting my buddies! ;p

10) Team Fortress 2
...same reason W:ET is up there, just plain mindless fun lol

Mimsy, or others, any recommendations on games similar to The Witcher? I really was blown away when I discovered it, sad to say I didn't run across it untill very recently and am still working my way through the story. I've just gotten to Act IV and the game has already wowed me enough to rank it ahead of long time favorites.

 

I finished GTA san andreas on the PC,do you think it was better than GTA3 or Vice cities?

I thought Vice cities was miles better than San andreas but I love that seventies retro theme,in fact I would probably put it above GTA3 as THE best GTA game ever made if it wasn't for the simple fact that GTA3 was the first.

 

Gears of War 2 and Far Cry were pretty decent

 

I've yet to find a game that has the same atmosphere as it in the RPG genre. Dragon Age seems close, but I haven't had a chance to really play it yet, so can't be sure...

You did get the Enhanced Edition, right?

 

Ya I have the Enhanced Edition; thanks for replying Mimsy, I haven't seen too many people bring up The Witcher, or maybe I just haven't been paying attention untill recently. Dragon's Age is actually next on the list to play after I finish The Witcher, and I've read/heard enough good things about the Dreamfall games to want to take a look at them too (completely different atmosphere from The Witcher but...).

Rikky, I have played Vice City and GTA 3, and both were outstanding. I still keep Vice City installed for when I'm feeling retro ;p ... What sold me on San Andreas was the variety of things to fly, being able to customize the way my character looked in game by eating/working out/haircuts/etc, the expansive map that let you carouse around L.A., 'Frisco, Vegas, and all points in between, and also there were just so many fun mods for GTA:SA; it's just hard to beat flying down the Las Vegas strip with a rocket pack looking like Jules from Pulp Fiction ;p