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Game of the year? Pfft – that’s been done to death. Guardian have been thinking “bigger picture” and allowed their readers – via the magic of online voting – the opportunity to decide what would be their “Game of the Decade”
The number of games released in the past 10 years is quite staggering, and picking just one to exemplify all that’s happened in videogames is quite a task. Before you hit the jump to see what nabbed the nod, see if you can guess what it is.
This is what Guardian had to say about its readers’ choice
“Half-Life 2 is the game of the decade, not just because it’s good, but because it encapsulates so much of what mainstream gaming has been trying to do for the last ten years; the aspiration to create believable, physically accurate worlds, then to make us a part of them. The narrative and technical achievements of this game and its episodic follow-ups have been equaled, perhaps, but not significantly bettered. We may see Half-Life’s usurper in the coming decade – we may witness the next quantum shift in the medium. It will be fun getting there. This is why we play videogames, after all.”
What say you – Agree? disagree? What would your single best game of the decade be?
I can see where they get this from, but they should have done this for each genre, because it is difficult to compare a game like half-life (FPS) to a game like Oblivion(Morrowind) (RPG). and Games like GT (Racing).
dont’ know if deserves Game of the decade, but certainly it belongs up there. HL2 was an insanely good game. It’s just a pity that Valve are taking their time with Ep3 now. Ep2 left it incomplete.
I definitely agree Ewie, however Half Life 2 is definitely not “Game of the Decade” material. Quite frankly, it was a linear snore fest, made even more tedious by everyone mumbling “Oh Dr Freeman.. you’re my hero”, and arguably one of the first “under 10 hour crapfests”. No thank you, as much as it was a pretty game, it was a hyped up pile of manure. Come to think of it, just like Halo 2, Halo 3 and Modern Warfare 2.
I’d say the gta series is the game(s) of the decade, its a game that affect how other games are now designed, it even affected other genres and 1 of the most cloned games in the decade. The free roam feature & mission structure are now overused due to GTA
Even though there were a few gameplay issues and for some unknown reason they made each of the side mission’s pretty much identical in terms of building layout etc, I think Mass Effect might take it for me.
The story was absolutely unbelievable and the cinematic way that tehy handled the dialogue etc was something that had never been done before. Plus the game just looked amazing!
It is, to date, the only game that has left me genuinely breathless at the end of it. I literally sat staring at the screen for the entire credits, stunned at what i had just finished.
I think Ico deserves game of the decade. The Universe and scope was astounding and one of the few games that crossed the boundary between gaming and cinema. It is and will always be a true gem.
I agree in fact. They’ve summed it up brilliantly. One problem is that it’s FPS specific, but still. HL2 = Groundbreaking. Not to mention it gave us the Source engine…
@Goose – Mass Effect was a nice game, but it was neither ground-breaking nor was it without fault. The vehicle missions were dull and exploring the galaxy was nowhere near as fun as it should have been.
@Bonk – If there was justice in this world, Ico would definitely be Game of the Century, but unfortunately, you and I were the only ones who played it. The rest of the world got fingered with Halo Combat Evolved.
@Fake Bobby Kotick: Sigh dude.. I mean really now? Apart from copying my awesome Bobby Kotick nick idea, the GTA games could definitely be considered Game of the Decade material, especially GTA San Andreas. GTA4 was fun, but they lost sight of what made the series so successful… COMEDY!
I also thought that this might go the way of GTA. Sure it’s not everyones cup of tea and the violence never helped its image but the truth is that it was the way forward for gaming, the “open-world” games that are all over the place today stem from GTA 3 in one way or another. I do believe that Half Life 1 was the pioneer of the passed “FPS” age that totally dominated the scene.
I would argue that – while not from the last decade – 1996′s Super Mario 64 was the breakthrough for the beginning of open world 3D games, superseding GTA’s influence.
In terms of public consciousness, that’s not even debatable, sure. The game to really bring the 3rd person action genre into the open “true sandbox” was another N64 game by the name of “Body Harvest”.
Probably the most prolific 3D GTA precursor, It was actually made by DMA design, who as you should know later changed their name to Rockstar. :P
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3:00 pm
December 17, 2009
3:35 pm
I would probably say Shadow of the Colossus or Uncharted 2.
Both changed the way I think of gaming.
December 17, 2009
3:44 pm
Conkers: Bad fur day!
December 17, 2009
4:02 pm
I can see where they get this from, but they should have done this for each genre, because it is difficult to
compare a game like half-life (FPS) to a game like
Oblivion(Morrowind) (RPG). and Games like GT (Racing).
and a few others.
December 17, 2009
4:46 pm
dont’ know if deserves Game of the decade, but certainly it belongs up there. HL2 was an insanely good game. It’s just a pity that Valve are taking their time with Ep3 now. Ep2 left it incomplete.
December 17, 2009
8:11 pm
I definitely agree Ewie, however Half Life 2 is definitely not “Game of the Decade” material. Quite frankly, it was a linear snore fest, made even more tedious by everyone mumbling “Oh Dr Freeman.. you’re my hero”, and arguably one of the first “under 10 hour crapfests”. No thank you, as much as it was a pretty game, it was a hyped up pile of manure. Come to think of it, just like Halo 2, Halo 3 and Modern Warfare 2.
December 17, 2009
9:03 pm
Half-Life 2 was and well, still is, a pretty decent game but it’s DEFINITELY NOT game of the decade. Not even close.
December 18, 2009
2:36 am
I’d say the gta series is the game(s) of the decade, its a game that affect how other games are now designed, it even affected other genres and 1 of the most cloned games in the decade. The free roam feature & mission structure are now overused due to GTA
December 18, 2009
7:40 am
HL2 All the way.
Game really set the Bar a lot higher for all FPS’s
December 18, 2009
9:04 am
Even though there were a few gameplay issues and for some unknown reason they made each of the side mission’s pretty much identical in terms of building layout etc, I think Mass Effect might take it for me.
The story was absolutely unbelievable and the cinematic way that tehy handled the dialogue etc was something that had never been done before. Plus the game just looked amazing!
It is, to date, the only game that has left me genuinely breathless at the end of it. I literally sat staring at the screen for the entire credits, stunned at what i had just finished.
December 18, 2009
9:24 am
I think Ico deserves game of the decade. The Universe and scope was astounding and one of the few games that crossed the boundary between gaming and cinema. It is and will always be a true gem.
December 18, 2009
10:35 am
I agree in fact. They’ve summed it up brilliantly. One problem is that it’s FPS specific, but still. HL2 = Groundbreaking. Not to mention it gave us the Source engine…
December 18, 2009
10:47 am
@Goose – Mass Effect was a nice game, but it was neither ground-breaking nor was it without fault. The vehicle missions were dull and exploring the galaxy was nowhere near as fun as it should have been.
@Bonk – If there was justice in this world, Ico would definitely be Game of the Century, but unfortunately, you and I were the only ones who played it. The rest of the world got fingered with Halo Combat Evolved.
@Fake Bobby Kotick: Sigh dude.. I mean really now? Apart from copying my awesome Bobby Kotick nick idea, the GTA games could definitely be considered Game of the Decade material, especially GTA San Andreas. GTA4 was fun, but they lost sight of what made the series so successful… COMEDY!
December 18, 2009
12:12 pm
I also thought that this might go the way of GTA. Sure it’s not everyones cup of tea and the violence never helped its image but the truth is that it was the way forward for gaming, the “open-world” games that are all over the place today stem from GTA 3 in one way or another. I do believe that Half Life 1 was the pioneer of the passed “FPS” age that totally dominated the scene.
December 18, 2009
12:20 pm
I would argue that – while not from the last decade – 1996′s Super Mario 64 was the breakthrough for the beginning of open world 3D games, superseding GTA’s influence.
December 18, 2009
12:31 pm
I don’t know, I still think that GTA was the one that really moved the genre into the open
December 18, 2009
12:44 pm
In terms of public consciousness, that’s not even debatable, sure. The game to really bring the 3rd person action genre into the open “true sandbox” was another N64 game by the name of “Body Harvest”.
Probably the most prolific 3D GTA precursor, It was actually made by DMA design, who as you should know later changed their name to Rockstar. :P
December 26, 2009
1:03 pm
Pwned