Top 100 games of all time (Rllmuk 2015 edition) - Results now showing: No. 1

[The Grand Pursuivant]

Am I the only person who still plays Goldeneye with his mates? It's only a couple of times a year but every time we dig it out it's still amazing fun.

[Wiper]

I can't imagine not having something like Deus Ex in my top 10 or 20, despite the fact it'd be diabolical to play now. It was awesome and progressive at the time and is responsible for some of my favourite gaming memories.

I sort of wish it were diabolical to play now, but going back to it (my last time was last year) you realise that it's still among the upper echelon of games in terms of level design and freedom of choice, and in terms of meaningful decision making in its levelling system (still so many games feel the need to have every option available to the player at any time, rather than having you gradually, irreversibly shape your character - and thus your options - over the course of a game).

Even its mouse and keyboard controls mean it controls as well as it ever did, so it doesn't suffer the problems that early 3D console games do in that respect. The only real issues are the graphics - which are even less impressive now than at release - and the fact that the combat isn't great, but that was an issue even at the time.

It's certainly aged better than, say, Little Big Adventure 2 (to name another game from my list) or Goldeneye, seeing as that keeps coming up - unlike The Grand Pursuivant, some friends and I tried to play it last year. After half an hour of horror, we stuck Mario Kart 64 on instead). I'd put it in the same bracket as Halo or Day of the Tentacle, a game whose mechanics and design are strong enough to stand up to modern standards.

[womblingfree]

People should only be allowed to vote for games they've played in the last year, so if you want to vote for Goldeneye you have to boot it up and play it and you'll see if it still deserves it.

If I had any way of booting it up today I would. Instead I'll have to rely on the donkeys years I played it daily, including after Halo had been rinsed on Legendary but 00 Mode was still fucking impossible.

[Wiper]

You might want to address that to toythatkills, seeing as I was just quoting that as an explanation of Pob's post, as Mentazm seemed to have the wrong end of the stick.

[womblingfree]

Am I the only person who still plays Goldeneye with his mates? It's only a couple of times a year but every time we dig it out it's still amazing fun.

Might try and hunt down an NTSC N64 so I can do the same!

[Fry Crayola]

It all boils down to people who want an objective list vs people who made their votes subjectively. People who are dismissing others choices are failing to account for the fact that each persons memory of a game is based on the experiences they had when playing it, that's what separates games from other mediums, each person experiences games differently.

Yeah. You really can't have an objective list, as enjoyment isn't objective. Nor can you truly separate a person's nostalgic feelings for a game from the rest of their opinion - if they love a game despite its flaws, then so be it.

I replayed Metal Gear Solid last year, and despite the march of time I enjoyed it wholeheartedly, placing it sixth in my top 20 when we compiled this chart. How much of that is because it grabbed me 17 years ago? Almost certainly, it was a decisive factor, sat there enjoying the simple stealth mechanics and already overwrought cut-scenes but grinning ear to ear as I relived a period half a lifetime ago. It remains that if you stuck me in a room and asked what I'd want to play, I'd bloody well want to play it.

Because that's what favourite means, and when compiling a top 20, I'm going to be in favouritism overdrive. So in charts like these, we're always going to see old classics sit in the upper echelons, not because we scientifically believe nothing since has done it better, but because nothing since has made us feel the same way. And the day we stop considering how we actually feel is the day we should just give up playing.

[Nathan Wind]

I was banging my head against a brick wall tring to articulate that to a mate the other day.

[Benny]

I'm back from hols now so I should be able to update this soon. In the meantime I'm glad to see the top 10 has generated some feverish discussion. Even the brief mental prolapse over The Last of Us.

Also:

Am I the only person who still plays Goldeneye with his mates? It's only a couple of times a year but every time we dig it out it's still amazing fun.

I played Goldeneye relatively recently and blasted through on a lower difficulty - it was just as much fun as blasting through the original DOOM, feels similar played that way, and still rocks.

[fat flatulent git]

I'd have put Mario Maker in my top ten had I had it at the time.

Next time it will be up there, perhaps even top.

[Mentazm]

A game that's been out for what? 2 days?

[fat flatulent git]

Yep.

My top ten is never set in stone - it changes all the time. But from the time I've put into Super Mario Maker it's definitely up there, at the time of writing, at least.

[Miner Willy]

I can't imagine not having something like Deus Ex in my top 10 or 20, despite the fact it'd be diabolical to play now. It was awesome and progressive at the time and is responsible for some of my favourite gaming memories.

Um, I still think it's incredible. Playing it right now; just left Hell's Kitchen (first time) and am absolutely loving it. Sure, it looks horrible and the AI is awful, but there's so much to enjoy.

This, Planescape Torment and SWOS are my top three.

[Benny]

I'm back! I always seem to be trying to update this when I've got a mental amount of things to sort out including in this case moving again, but here are the next four entries for your pleasure. I'm going to be updating the next 4, then 3, then 2, then of course number 1, just for fun and also because there is one on the list which I haven't actually played yet but I want to form my own opinion of before I write about it, just so I can have all the top 10 in my own words. Anyway, at long last here are the next four!

 

 

10. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

 

 

Original format: SNES. Released: 1991

(2007 Rllmuk top 100 position: 7. Number of votes: 15. Voted best game of all time by: nightwaxon and Hylian)

 

Link's Awakening may have its fans (now myself included), but A Link to the Past remains the daddy of all top-down Zelda titles.

Improving on the original Legend of Zelda in almost every way, and introducing gameplay elements so good that when the series transitioned to 3D Nintendo pretty much copied them or tried to adapt them wholly for 3D environments. The light and dark world mechanic has been copied in so many games since and probably still remains the best implemented example of this idea in any game.

Puzzles are much more difficult than in recent Zelda games, but never feel unfair, and the graphical style has still not ages in decades. The world map taken as a whole in particular is a thing of pixel art beauty, and shows an absolute mastery of level design that Nintendo have struggled to match in the series ever since, with a few notable exceptions.

The best action-adventure (or Zelda) game ever made? Almost.

 

 

 

9. Dark Souls

 

 

Original format:Playstation 3/Xbox 360. Released: 2011

(2007 Rllmuk top 100 position: N/A. Number of votes: 14. Voted best game of all time by: berties paw and Yasawas)

 

A new entry into the list, deservedly shooting right into the top 10, Dark Souls is a creation of absolute, staggering genius.

Taking the core gameplay mechanics from Demon’s Souls, with some subtle changes, Dark Souls expands upon that game with a world of startling interconnected beauty - areas are no longer separated into self contained levels, but weaved into each other in often surprising and fiendish ways.

The entire landscape of Lordran gets into your psyche and in some ways feels almost as real as actual real world landscapes and castles, as they have a background history that is woven into the very fabric of the game, from the creature design, items, descriptions, and vague hints from the many characters that you meet in your travels.

The combat mechanics are a thing of tactile brilliance, as every every parry, every blow, and every blocked attack has a real sensation of weight and presence. Your decisions made in developing your character from their clothes to their strengths in every aspect feel like more than simple statistics - every number and every item used to wear accounts for significant changes in how your character feels to play, and how your behaviour changes as you interact with the world. It goes beyond what is found in most RPGs and actually gives an unprecedented sense of being at one with your avatar.

The game’s difficulty can be punishing but only bolsters the sense of involvement, as each death hardens your resolve as it feels like the cruel tricks played on you are there to only increase your curiosity and determination to unravel every secret and hidden revelation.

Dark Souls is now already part of the collective gaming unconscious, and is informing the design of games developed ever since and, like so many on this list, will now be remembered for hopefully decades to come.

 

The greatest RPG ever made.

 

 

 

8. Fallout 3

 

 

Original format: PC/Playstation3/Xbox 360. Released: 2008

(2007 Rllmuk top 100 position: N/A. Number of votes: 17. Voted best game of all time by: GoneFishing, Ork1927 and tonymg)

 

Unlike Dark Souls, I have to admit this entry into the top 10 was a complete surprise! Not that it is a surprise that it has many fans however - Fallout 3 is a truly excellent lesson in RPG craftsmanship.

From the inspired opening section, where you live out your character’s childhood, to your first tentative forays into the burned out nuclear wasteland, everything you do feels weighted with consequence, and player freedom is given the respect it deserves.

As a first person RPG and shooter experience, this shames all pretenders such as Bioshock, with actually well thought out character progression systems and surprisingly intelligent and addictive combat with the pausable elements.

Above all though, Fallout 3 is perhaps most notable, like so many in the top 20, for the absorbing world it creates, and once you have entered the Vault, you will never go back...

Perhaps the greatest open world game ever made.

 

 

7. Goldeneye 007

 

 

Original format: Nintendo 64. Released: 1997

(2007 Rllmuk top 100 position: 5. Number of votes: 22. Voted best game of all time by: Nick R)

 

Some people have tried to argue that Goldeneye 007 has not stood the test of time, and that it does not arguably belong in any list of top games to play today. This is false.

The graphics may have aged terribly, but the remixed Bond theme soundtrack is still one of the finest ever made, and in the same way that DOOM is still fun to pick up for a quick blast through the corridors of hellspawn, and always will be, Goldeneye has the same spirit of fast, fun, and punchy gameplay, that is still not being demonstrated by so many of the bloated, cut-scene heavy, cover-based, bullet-sponge enemy filled First Person Shooters today.

The mission based levels that introduce different objectives at different difficulty levels was a brilliant idea, similar to for example the bonus missions in Tie Fighter, and is something criminally underused today. On easier difficulties you could happily blast your way through levels at breakneck speed, which is superb fun, constrained only by your own ability to slaughter enemies. No Call of Duty style cut-scenes to disrupt the flow of play here…

And does the 4 player mode still hold up? Perhaps not as much as it did, owing to some particularly bas framerate issues (though not as bad as Perfect Dark), but to be honest, in today's world of very capable emulators, those issues can be ironed out to leave what remains as still a brilliant diversion.

Goldeneye might be nearly 20 years old, but it still has the power captivate even as just one quick session can turn into hours, and for that it should be recognised.

Still genius, still fun, still the greatest Rare game ever made.

The best FPS though? Stay tuned.

[Guest]

No chance. Halo hasn't been seen yet. Unless it's suddenly dropped out of the top 100.

[Down by Law]

It didn't make my top 20, but no one can deny just how fucking good multiplayer Goldeneye was back then. For console gamers with no internet access who missed the online doom phenomenon, Goldeneye Deathmatch was an absolute revelation. I remember a schoolmate bringing it round and we were just so giddy with excitement, the chance to shoot each other in a virtual space with us all having our own bit of 14" real estate.

[elmo]

Goldeneye has indeed aged badly mainly down to its control system but it has every right being in the top ten. It was a game changer when it came out and did so much that we hadn't seen before it. It was a wonderful game and time won't take that away.

[Qazimod]

#9 is still a commendable placing but I'm a little surprised to see Dark Souls appear so soon in the top ten, considering how many people go on about it, how many podcasts/speedruns/memes/streams/fan videos it's inspired and how much it's influenced other games since its release. Personally I didn't put it in my list because I haven't played much of it, but it's definitely created a hugely passionate following.

[Goose]

Same - I expected to see Dark Souls in the top three. Intrigued to see how this plays out even more now!

[strider]

Last of us for number one. Please, please, please!

[Grobbelboy]

I don't think GoldenEye's high position is just some nostalgia driven thing, it really is one of the greatest FPS's ever. Levels like Facility, Bunker, Archives and Aztec still are absolute masterclasses in level design, a bunch of brilliantly built, multi-layered and economical creations you could play over and over again. Complex ranks among my top 3 of best multiplayer FPS maps ever made. The animations of the soldiers were spectacular then and look great even now, providing valuable visual feedback on your actions in a brilliant way. The difficulty levels do not just ramp up the health bars but provide additional objectives and often expand the scope of the levels significantly, which is a concept that's underused to this day. Gameplay elements like reloading weapons or zooming in with a sniper rifle were completely new (or completely uncommon at least).

The fact that it belongs to such a rapidly evolving genre may be a bit of a disadvantage, but put it on a small CRT, adjust to the controls for a couple of minutes and it still shines and is a totally unique experience.

[Vorgot]

Goldeneye and Mario Kart defined how me and my mates played games. Goldeneye was the first real multiplayer shooter worth a crap for those of us who were console gamers. Plus the campaign was amazing for the time. The only other game I can compare it to in terms of using a license and completely nailing it is Arkham Asylum. I remember my mate asking why I bought it as it was bound to be shit, a week later he owned an N64.

It may have aged badly, but it was a game changer at the time.

[Timmo]

No chance. Halo hasn't been seen yet. Unless it's suddenly dropped out of the top 100.

It's almost as if the question was rhetorical.

[Guest]

Good deduction skills there, Timmo.

[Benny]

I still have to play one of the remaining games in the top 10 before I can update, which may take a little while, but in the meantime I'd like to point you all to Treble's Top 100 TV shows thread to get voting - picking 20 is going to be hard...

http://www.rllmukforum.com/index.php?/topic/288459-rllmuks-top-100-tv-shows-please-vote/#entry10580193

[Benny]

UPDATE INCOMING

In the meantime, just added another paragraph about the combat mechanics in Dark Souls, as I knew there was something I wanted to talk about in the write up and realised that was missing...

[Benny]

Enjoy.

 

6. The Last of Us

 

 

Original format: Playstation 3. Released: 2013

(2007 Rllmuk top 100 position: N/A. Number of votes: 23. Voted best game of all time by: Down by Law)

 

There are a few games on this list I decided specifically I had to play so I could give my own thoughts, and The Last of Us is one of them.

Does it live up to the hype? Well, not in all respects, but in some ways it actually exceeds it. It takes a while for the story to get going, but this is to the game’s advantage, as so few stories in games take the time to truly flesh out their characters or indulge in significant world building.

The sheer detail in every environment of the game from the abandoned cityscapes to the absolutely peerless sound design (this deserves special mention as it might be some of the most immersive sound work I’ve come across in a game), creates a world that feels tangibly real in a way that has only been reached a scant few times in the past, such as in the stark beauty of Half Life 2’s wastelands or Red Dead Redemption’s vast prairies.

It is perhaps a shining example of both how far games have come and yet how far they have yet to go. Borrowing gameplay and set piece elements from other genre milestones such as Resident Evil 4, Manhunt, and the Uncharted series, it is often a game that struggles to match it’s extremely solid and satisfying gameplay mechanics up to the requirements of its own world immersion, as characters that have been given so much flesh and blood and feeling outside of gunfights become invisible ghosts ignored by enemies when trying to sneak past them. It is a compromise made to remove potential gameplay frustrations, though in practice the gulf between interactivity and narrative conceits is made that much more stark, especially when you enter some new areas and see so many chest high objects strewn around in ways that seem especially forced - which admittedly is only a problem for those used to the ubiquity of these mechanics - and at odds with the organic nature of nearly everything else in the environment design.

It is in some ways because of these small niggles that The Last of Us is shown to be such a staggering achievement, as they are the only blemishes on what is otherwise something so truly out of this world in its overall execution that it has set a high bar in gaming experiences for both what is possible in story driven gameplay experiences, what should be possible, and what should be built upon.

Above all else, The Last of Us is about going on a long unforgettable journey, with companions you come to care about, and what better way to tell such a story than by being able to make that journey with them.

The greatest interactive movie game ever made.

 

 

 

5. Halo: Combat Evolved

 

 

Original format: Xbox. Released: 2001

(2007 Rllmuk top 100 position: 2. Number of votes: 22. Voted best game of all time by: Jon and APM)

 

Ah Halo. Though I didn’t get into the sequels much, I think that was partly down to the fact that the campaign mode in the original Halo did everything so well, and felt so absolutely right, that none of the other entries in the series have ever matched it since.

Even ignoring the many gameplay elements it used that have been copied endlessly since: recharging shields, two weapon restriction, co-op campaign play, Halo managed to somehow just get every element of the whole game working so deliciously and perfectly together that it was one of the most addictive games ever made, even in single player.

The way the enemies interacted with the player was something that had never been done to such an incredibly emergent extent before, and it’s still possible to play the game today and be surprised at how they interact and respond to various threats and situation. Every single combat encounter would unfold in new and surprising ways, often no matter how many times you restarted a section or played through the game again.

And play through it again and again you would, because the sheer unbelievable brilliance of levels like The Silent Cartographer was enough to keep you coming back to it, and the desire to become a god at combat despite the unpredictable nature of every firefight was a strongly addictive brew that made the game seem to posses some sort of diabolical infinite longevity, such were the imagined possibilities.

And it didn’t stop there - the multiplayer mode allowed for 4 player fps gaming on consoles with a compulsion not seen since Goldeneye, and while subsequent entries in the Halo series may have improved upon this aspect (while losing perhaps a lot of the single player appeal), no-one can forget their matches in the original game. These were battles fought with the skill acquired through hundreds of campaign mode hours, which could only have happened due to the sheer quality oozing from every pore of the package.

The greatest First Person Shoot-em-up ever made.

 

 

 

4. Super Mario World

 

 

Original format: SNES. Released: 1990

(2007 Rllmuk top 100 position: 6. Number of votes: 23. Voted best game of all time by: suzzopher, sith, Fuddle and Fry Crayola)

 

I never played Super Mario World until quite late, as I was a Megadrive kid back in the day. But owing to the wonders of the Gameboy Advance, this tragedy was soon put right…

If Super Mario Bros 3 hinted at the potential Shigeru Miyamoto had to be one of the single greatest designers in the history of the gaming medium, Super Mario World is the game to alleviate all doubts.

There are many games which could be described as clever, genius even, but Super Mario World has so many levels of pure fun, frustration, curiosity and delight that it’s almost absurd.

There is just something utterly magical about the way every level is so different and yet perfect a creation and yet fits in so brilliantly among all the others, with ideas and little touches overlapping throughout in new and interesting ways.

The design of the characters has not aged one bit, and there is a subtle humour in every single sprite and interaction throughout that even Nintendo themselves have yet to match.

The joy of discovery is one of the most powerful feelings that videogames can evoke, above all others, and Super Mario World is one of the finest examples in games of this one concept being at the forefront of its design ethos, if not perhaps the finest.

The greatest 2D platformer ever made.

[Goose]

Ohhh, now two of those I expected to see in the top 3.

RE4 for number one, don't let me down

[Wiper]

TLOU out of the top 5, Halo nudged to its periphery. You win some, you lose some.

[Qazimod]

RE4, Ocarina and Mario 64 then? One day I might actually play a Resident Evil or Zelda game for more than ten minutes.

[Wiper]

One day I might actually play a Resident Evil or Zelda game for more than ten minutes.

Don't bother, it's not worth it.