Guns and Ammo

Game: Black
System: Playstation 2
Release date: February 28, 2006
Developed by: Criterion Games
Published by: Electronic Arts

For the developers behind Black, a no-nonsense FPS released for the PS2 and Xbox in 2006, the game was no doubt an ambitious undertaking. Black was intended to shift the focus in shooters to what Criterion Games considered its true stars: the guns. Each weapon in Black, some of which are modeled after guns used in Hollywood films, looks, sounds and fires exactly like its real-world counterpart. But realistic firearms are not enough to justify greatness; Black is too short and ultimately too forgettable to be a new classic.

Black takes place four days after a series of controversial black ops missions conducted by the game's protagonist Jack Kellar. As Kellar is interrogated by an unidentified man, the game jumps backwards in time allowing players to fight through each mission. The villain of Black is Seventh Wave, an arms smuggling and terrorist organization.

Players can choose from several difficulty levels; since Black is mission-based higher difficulty levels require each player to complete additional objectives, including recovering top-secret files, collecting blueprints and destroying parts of the environment.


The destructible items and architecture in Black, along with its real-world firearms, certainly separate it from the first-person shooter pack. With enough bullets and grenades, Kellar can set fire to cars, blow holes in walls, even bring down entire buildings. It's reminiscent of Red Faction's geo-mod (geometry modification) technology which allowed players to destroy bridges, walls, etc. The most original feature of Black, however, is the real-time blur that fills the screen each time a weapon in reloaded.

Black is by no means a poor shooter; it simply doesn't boast enough substance to compete with its contemporaries, on the PS2 and elsewhere. Its brevity and lack of multiplayer modes especially hurts its standing. With so many FPSs on the market today, each has to prove its excellence even more convincingly.

Score: 82/100

A Face in the Crowd

Game: Assassin's Creed
System: Xbox 360
Release date: November 14, 2007
Developed by: Ubisoft Montreal
Published by: Ubisoft

Stealth action games have been around for a long time, but usually players are tasked with avoiding detection from enemy soldiers and electronic monitoring equipment. In Assassin's Creed, Ubisoft has introduced into the sub-genre an innovative social element, requiring players to behave according to accepted social norms; strange and disruptive actions will draw unwanted attention and more often than not lead to violence.

Assassin's Creed is set in the Levant in 1191 during the Third Crusade. Players take control of Altair, a member of the Assassins, a brotherhood of highly skilled covert warriors devoted to destroying the architects of war in the Holy Land, including war profiteers. Altair travels from Acre to Damascus to Jerusalem, all the time trying to blend in with the local population. In each city, he must eavesdrop on conversations, pickpocket unsuspecting citizens and beat confessions out of collaborators. Information gathered from these activities will help Altair plan and carry out each high-profile assassination.


Unexpectedly, Assassin's Creed takes place not only in 1191; it also is set in modern times. Players actually control a modern-day assassin named Desmond who has been abducted by a mysterious corporation and forced to relive the genetically preserved memories of his distant relative Altair. Each assassination carried out by Altair is thus only a memory centuries old. Jumping between the Third Crusade and the present day is a bit jarring (and arguably unnecessary) but adds another dimension to the plot.

Although in each city the ultimate goal is to assassinate a high-profile individual, there are plenty of side-missions which Altair can complete. In the many districts of each city players can climb buildings (minarets, churches, mosques, guard towers) and survey the cityscape, rescue men and women from violent guards and collect flags hidden among bazaars, plazas and houses. These side-missions help break up some of the monotony that invariably accompanies the intelligence-gathering missions which precede each assassination.

Assassin's Creed is a promising start for a new franchise. The story can be somewhat predictable and the action redundant, but the stealth-action formula and the level design, which convincingly transplants players backwards in time 800 years, is definitely a success.

Score: 91/100

Greatest Hits

Game: Elite Beat Agents
System: Nintendo DS
Release date: November 6, 2006
Developed by: iNiS
Published by: Nintendo

There are many reasons the Nintendo DS outsells the PSP two to one, and games like Elite Beat Agents surely figure prominently in the consumer's decision to purchase a particular handheld system. In fact, because Elite Beat Agents relies so heavily on the touch screen and stylus it wouldnt make much sense on any other video game system, portable or otherwise.

Elite Beat Agents is a rhythm game, not unlike Guitar Hero, Donkey Konga or Dance Dance Revolution. Players must use the stylus to tap, drag and rotate objects on the touch-screen in rhythm with one of sixteen pop or rock songs. As the game progress, the difficulty level increases noticeably; the final two stages are a formidable challenge.

The heroes of Elite Beat Agents are a trio of top-secret agents who use music to solve the problems of everyday people. They dance, sing and rock out through each song, which is sung by a cover artist and which is split into three segments. Should a performance meter be yellow at each break, a video will appear showing the party in need making progress toward his or her goal; should the performance meter dip into the red "danger" zone, the video will show the party experiencing a setback. Each stage has three possible endings, wholly dependent on the players performance in the three segments.


Most of the stages in Elite Beat Agents are very, very funny. The crazy characters in need of help often find themselves in wacky, unlikely scenarios and choose to solve their problems in the most ridiculous or extravagant ways. There are a few exceptions, however, including the final stages which are more rousing and one tearjerker in the middle of the game which would make the toughest heart melt.

Games like Elite Beat Agents do not arrive very often, especially on handheld systems, typically the home of portable versions of console hits. Quirky, funny, imaginative and fun for all age groups, it represents the best the DS and third-party developers have to offer.

Score: 96/100

World War 2.0

Game: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
System: Xbox 360
Release date: November 6, 2007
Developed by: Infinity Ward
Published by: Activision

Every now and then a video game franchise will release a game which redefines the series and which sometimes is revolutionary enough to transcend an entire genre. Titles like Resident Evil 4 and Grand Theft Auto III naturally come to mind. Although Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare has done very little to change the momentum of the first-person shooter, it represents an important progression within the Call of Duty franchise. It is easily the best Call of Duty game and boasts the best story (and storytelling), atmosphere and multiplayer modes.

Since 2003 the Call of Duty games have dominated the pool of WWII first-person shooters, but in Call of Duty 4 developed Infinity Ward fast-forwarded the action into the not-too-distant future, when American marines and British Special Forces are pitched in a global battle against Russian ultranationalists and Middle Eastern radicals. Like many other Call of Duty games, players control soldiers from more than one unit.


Because of its emphasis on the rules of modern warfare, Call of Duty 4 introduces weapons and technology which never before appeared in previous installments: soldiers can fire high-powered sniper rifles, use night-vision goggles and call in air strikes on unsuspecting targets. The rules of engagement are noticably different in Call of Duty 4 also: special forces tactics replace the squad formations from Call of Duty 1-3.

The multiplayer modes in Call of Duty 4 are especially good, rivaling Halo 3 in terms of replay value and intensity. In each match, players can select one of several classes of soldier, each with its own weapons and “perks.” Perk effects include increased weapon damage, the ability to withstand enemy fire, and radar invisibility.

Although Call of Duty 4 represents a huge leap forward in terms of the Call of Duty franchise, it has done almost nothing to revolutionize the genre. This fact, combined with the brevity of its single-player campaign, keeps Call of Duty 4 from being the masterwork that some critics claim it to be.

Score: 94/100

1

1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

It should come as no surprise that the best video game ever made should come from the best video game franchise of all time and be supported by the console with arguably the best video game library. Granting Ocarina of Time the highest position on the Top 100 List might seem obvious (it is generally considered at the very least the best console game ever made), but competition has become increasingly stiff in the last few years, from first, second and third party developers; no longer is Ocarina simply the default number 1.

Released in 1998 (one of the all-time great years in the video game industry), Ocarina of Time was the fifth Zelda game. The franchise was 11 years old in North America and had already gone through several important innovations. The premier game, The Legend of Zelda, had revolutionized video games by including a save battery in the game cartridge so that players could recover their progress once the NES was turned off. Its sequel, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, changed the perspective from top-down to a side-view and flirted with RPG elements. Then came A Link to the Past, the greatest Zelda game after Ocarina, which might be the most important game in the franchise. A Link to the Past refined all the gameplay elements which had been established in its predecessors and would dominate the franchise going forward: a fantasy landscape filled with castles, towns, dungeons, mountains and rivers; challenges unrelated to the main arc of the story in the form of side-quests, upgradable weapons; brain teasing puzzles; mini-games; and an abundance of non-player characters (NPCs).

With the foundation built, the designers behind Ocarina of Time simply needed to make a few minor changes and release a repackaged but essentially familiar Zelda adventure. As the gaming industry knows now, they did much more than that.

Ocarina revolutionized video games, from the most superficial level to the core of its gameplay, many elements of which now seem unremarkable when featured in modern games. In many ways, Ocarina is the experience promised by Super Mario 64: a fully-realized three-dimensional world with living, breathing heroes, villains and everything in between; a virtual garden with unprecedented freedom; a game that was simultaneously familiar and intimidating. Ocarina was all of this and more.

Set before the events of the previous four Zelda games, Ocarina gave the player never-before-seen glimpses into the geography of Hyrule, the formation of the Triforce and the origins of Ganon, the franchise’s ultimate villain. Gameplay innovations include the realistic passage of time, time travel and the ability to catch fish, play an ocarina and ride a horse. It is these last three which point to what might be the greatest achievement of Ocarina, namely its unparalleled immersive qualities. Never before and never since has a game transplanted its players so convincingly from their couch into the game world. Everything in Ocarina captures the imagination and absorbs the mind: the grassy plains of Hyrule Field, the dusty alleyways of the Gerudo Fortress; the noxious air of Death Mountain. This, above all else, differentiates Ocarina from the pantheon of great games to which it belongs.

2-10

2. Halo: Combat Evolved

In the years following its release, Halo was subject to the same strange phenomenon that surrounded 1997 Best Picture Oscar winner Titanic. It received so much praise from critics and consumers that a negative backlash was inevitable. Yet despite its inclusion on some lists of the most overrated video games, Halo is nothing short of a masterpiece and today stands as the best first-person shooter (FPS) ever made. Everything in Halo marks a brave new world in the genre: the control scheme, the epic sci-fi storyline, the weapon inventory system, the militarism. Halo takes place in the far reaches of space, where humans are struggling against a fanatically religious confederation of alien races.

3. Resident Evil 4

Before Resident Evil 4, the Resident Evil franchise was famous for its sinister storylines, atmospheric and scary gameplay and challenging puzzles; on the other hand, it was infamous for its awkward and sometimes frustrating control scheme. Resident Evil 4 solved all that. Where earlier installments of the franchise placed an immovable camera at certain spots in each game environment, Resident Evil 4 features a camera which follows the hero wherever he goes, faithfully situated just above his right shoulder. Resident Evil 4 is the story of Leon S. Kennedy (one of the two heroes of Resident Evil 2) and his search for the missing daughter of the American President. His investigation brings him to a small rural village in Europe where a new evil has taken up residence.

4. Final Fantasy III

It’s rare that a game developer should become so identifiable with a particular video game genre, but that’s precisely the relationship between Square and role-playing games. Their most successful franchise is Final Fantasy; the greatest game among the franchise Final Fantasy III. Epic in size and in scope, Final Fantasy III (Final Fantasy VI in Japan) features over a dozen playable characters, all of whom carry significant emotional baggage and who endure trials which range from rafting across raging rapids to, quite literally, the end of the world. Final Fantasy III features several unique events, including an opera, a dinner party and a number of multi-party battles, which allow the player to divide his or her party into two or more battle groups in order to fight off a multi-party enemy.

5. Half-Life 2

In Half-Life 2 players resume to role of Gordon Freeman, whose heroics in the original Half-Life appear to have only temporarily forestalled an alien takeover of planet Earth. Once again Freeman must use his weapons and his wits to save mankind, in this instance from alien overlords and their human collaborators. Boasting an incredible physics system, in which objects and people obey the laws of gravity, friction and buoyancy, remarkably sophisticated artificial intelligence and superior graphics, Half-Life 2 is the very definition of next-generation. Half-Life 2 unfolds across several chapters, some of which involve the use of vehicles, some of which are heavy on problem-solving. Chapter VI, “We Don’t Go to Ravenholm,” is among the scariest episodes to date in any video game.

6. Super Mario 64

Among the small number of games which have had the greatest influence on the video game industry, Super Mario 64 stands alone as the most influential. The finest example of the great migration from two-dimensional sprites to three-dimensional polygons, Super Mario 64 gave the platform genre unprecedented freedom of movement. It also introduced a revolutionary camera system which allowed players to manipulate the camera angles in the game. Set once again in the Mushroom Kingdom, Super Mario 64 sets Mario on a path to a final confrontation with his arch-enemy Bowser, who has once more captured Princess Toadstool. Super Mario 64 features fifteen diverse game environments and several hidden areas.

7. Tomb Raider

Beginning in 1996, video game enthusiasts for the first time had a choice of consoles that not only represented cosmetic and hardware differences but which supported software with thematic differences. Those who gravitated toward the N64 had family-friendly games likes Super Mario 64 and Pilotwings; those who were developing a taste for more mature content found on the Playstation Resident Evil and, a few months later, Tomb Raider. With its action-packed globetrotting storyline, its fearsome enemies and its brash, brainy and buxom heroine, Tomb Raider was emblematic of a new generation of software which introduced more bullets, more blood and more breasts, but which retained all the best elements found in action-adventure games.

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

While not necessarily the greatest Zelda game ever developed, A Link to the Past is definitely the quintessential Zelda experience and the game most responsible for bridging the gap between the two-dimensional titles and the three-dimensional games that would appear later on Nintendo 64, Gamecube and Wii. Similar in perspective to the original The Legend of Zelda, A Link to the Past deviated from its predecessors by dividing Hyrule into two parallel worlds, one light and one dark, through which Link must travel to complete his quest. A Link to the Past also introduced several new items, including the hookshot, which has since appeared in several Zelda titles. Possessing terrific graphics, sound and game design, A Link to the Past is a must-own for any Zelda fan.

9. Metroid Prime

Of the big three Nintendo franchises, Metroid was the last to receive a three-dimensional treatment. Unlike Mario and Zelda however, which retained their tradition third-person perspective in the leap to three dimensions, Metroid adopted an entirely new first-person perspective in its remarkably smooth transition from 2D to 3D. The result: Metroid Prime, a game which featured the elements which made its predecessors so popular but which gave players new glimpses into the Metroid mythology. Crucial to success in Metroid Prime are its heads-up display (HUD), which features information vital to Samus, and a system of exchangeable visors though which she can pick up heat signatures, use x-rays and scan objects and enemies, collecting useful information from both.

10. Super Mario Bros. 3

It would be difficult to find a person, young or old, male or female, hardcore gamer or novice, who has played Super Mario Bros. 3 and didn’t enjoy it. Among the thousands of video games released over the past thirty years, it might be the single most popular. Although the Super Mario franchise had veered slightly off the road with Super Mario Bros. 2, it returned to form with Super Mario Bros. 3, the best NES game ever made. Designed with the same platform elements typical of its predecessors, Super Mario Bros. 3 introduced several additions, including mini-games, many new power-ups (e.g. Tanooki Suit) and an overland map which allows players to select which levels to play and which to bypass.

11-20

11. Super Metroid

Set immediately after the events of Metroid II, Super Metroid once again pits the galaxy’s best bounty hunter against the Space Pirates, her perennial enemy. Samus Aran returns to Zebes, her childhood home and the site of the first Metroid game, to reclaim the last larval Metroid from Ridley and the Space Pirates. Like so many of the 16-bit installments of Nintendo franchises begun on the NES, Super Metroid features gameplay essentially similar to its predecessors with several notable innovations. The password save function of the original Metroid was discarded in favor of remote save locations and Samus was given newer and more powerful power-ups than ever before. Enemies introduced in the first Metroid game return with a vengeance in Super Metroid.

12. Banjo-Kazooie

The impressive library of Nintendo 64 games would seem much less substantial without all the contributions from Rare (then Rareware), Nintendo’s second-party game developer. Microsoft bought the company in 2002, but Rare’s best game, Banjo-Kazooie, can still be booted up on Nintendo’s 64-bit system. Players control the bear-bird duo of Banjo and Kazooie as they explore Spiral Mountain in an effort to rescue Banjo’s kid sister from the evil clutches of the witch Gruntilda. Like most Rare games, Banjo-Kazooie excels in graphics, sound and a uniquely British sense of humor. Gameplay is largely derivative of Super Mario 64, but features notable stylistic and thematic differences. Banjo-Kazooie was followed two years later by Banjo-Tooie.

13. Ico

This Playstation 2 game is a real gem, an action-adventure game stripped down to the basics. Players take control of Ico, a young boy born with horns. The customs of Ico's village dictate that every child born with horns is a bad omen and must be escorted to an isolated castle and imprisoned there. Ico is fortunate enough to escape his cell and afterward wanders through the immense fortress, where he meets Yorda, a young girl also trapped in the castle. For the rest of the game, Ico explores the castle, solving its puzzles and protecting Yorda from enemy spirits who ceaselessly try to reclaim the young girl. Ico was designed and directed by Fumito Ueda, who created in his game a minimalist yet immersive experience, short on story, text and music, but long on emotion and ambiance.

14. Super Mario World

Bundled with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991, Super Mario World was proof of the advanced processing power of the newest Nintendo console system and an important check to the growing power and influence of Sega’s 16-bit project. Like its immediate predecessors on the NES, Super Mario World is a platform game which demands its players jump, run, duck and swim to survive hazards and enemies in each level. It retains the overland map of Super Mario Bros. 3, but makes the game world and the levels within that world much larger, more graphically detailed and more diverse: ghost houses, fortresses and castles dot the landscape. Super Mario World marks the first appearance of Yoshi, who would become one of Nintendo’s most famous mascots.

15. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask

Perhaps forever destined to be overshadowed by its N64 counterpart, Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask is a masterwork in its own right, one which actually improves upon its predecessor in several ways. Majora’s Mask is set in Termina, a region threatened with destruction by a giant foreboding moon. Link has 72 game hours to search dungeons, find artifacts and recover masks before the moon destroys Termina; when the 72 hours near completion, Link can play the Song of Time and return to 6 a.m. on the first day. Players repeat this three-day cycle until all the game’s objectives are complete. Where masks were largely secondary in Ocarina of Time, they are essential to progress in Majora’s Mask. Using masks, Link can transform into a Deku Scrub, a Goron and a Zora.

16. Metal Gear Solid

Before the blurring of the line between video games and movies was a fait accompli, Metal Gear Solid arrived on the scene and revolutionized the industry by presenting itself in an unparalleled cinematic way. Metal Gear Solid unfolds like a billion dollar blockbuster, with first-rate voice acting and masterful camera work. Set in a remote nuclear facility in Alaska, Metal Gear Solid follows the adventures of elite soldier Solid Snake, lured out of retirement and asked to liberate the facility from members of his former squad. Apart from its ground-breaking cinematography, Metal Gear Solid effectively invented the modern stealth action game, which has become a popular sub-genre. Its descendents include Splinter Cell and Hitman.

17. BioShock

Designed with elements of survival-horror games and role-playing games, BioShock is a first-person shooter which truly transcends its genre. Players control Jack, an unlucky man whose passenger plane crashes over the Atlantic Ocean. In a nearby submarine bay he discovers passage to Rapture, a hidden city beneath the waves. Once there, Jack encounters the twisted and gruesome inhabitants of Rapture, who stop at nothing to eliminate him. Jack can interact with almost everything in the underwater metropolis, including enemies, containers, machines and audio diaries, scattered throughout the city. In Rapture, players can upgrade weapons and create custom ammunition; they can also alter Jack’s very genetic code, infusing superhuman powers into his body in the process.

18. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Unfairly criticized for its cartoonish appearance, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker features some of the most memorable and vibrant graphics of any Zelda adventure and boasts, without a doubt, the most visually expressive Link of any franchise game. Set far in the future, after Hyrule has been replaced by a great sea, The Wind Waker is the story of Link’s quest to rescue his captured sister. Unlike other Zelda games, in which Link travelled by foot or on horseback, The Wind Waker asks its players to navigate across the vast ocean in a small sailboat. Aside from its gorgeous graphics, The Wind Waker boasts a terrific soundtrack and a deep, sometimes unpredictable story complete with several mid-game revelations and a truly shocking ending.

19. Super Mario Galaxy

Over the years Mario has accumulated a long and impressive resume: plumber, tennis star, golfer, go-kart driver, doctor. Now you can add astronaut. In Super Mario Galaxy, Mario for the first time has an extraterrestrial adventure, a jaunt among the stars which owes a lot to Super Mario 64, but which dwarfs it in size and scope. Super Mario Galaxy introduces an innovative physics system to accompany its spherical platform engine, whereby Mario can circumnavigate small planetoids, all the while a gravitational pull keeping him from flying off into space. The Wii remote and nunchuk are employed conservatively in Super Mario Galaxy, used mainly to perform a spin attack or to remotely collect “star bits,” colorful star-shaped gems used to defeat enemies or bypass obstacles.

20. Soul Calibur

Many people consider Soul Calibur to be the greatest fighting game ever made. It's difficult to argue with them. Soul Calibur is the continuation of the Soul series, which debuted in arcades as Soul Edge and found a home on the Playstation console renamed as Soul Blade. Like its predecessor, Soul Calibur is a 3D weapons-based fighter. Each colorful character uses a distinct weapon and employs a specialized fighting style. Unlike its predecessor and unlike every 3D fighter to come before it, Soul Calibur introduced a revolutionary 8-way run, where fighters could move freely in three dimensions. Soul Calibur also features a “mission mode,” in which players can complete mission objectives to gain points, which can be used to purchase costumes and artwork.