The 100 Best Video Games of All TIme

The last of my great obsessions in life that I have yet to bring up here is: VIDEO GAMES. I'm already all over the food forum, I got my Packers up all over my truck & house, and beer is a work in progress as I dip my toes in with the home-brew crowd. The other item on my life pursuit list is the wasting of my brain and time playing games.

I've played most of the following list already, and while I can piss and moan about some individual inclusions or exclusions, it is overall a solid list. This is a great place for novice gamers to get home-run hit games and bypass the bargain-bin filler bullshit. This is an exhaustive list, disregarding age and whatnot for a pass/fail on "best evar". Every genre of games is represented. This list is as close to "Can't miss" as you can get.

Disclosure: I am in no way affiliated with PC Gamer magazine or any of its advertisers. I have no stake in any of them, and I don't work for anyone in the gaming industry either. This is just a rabid gamer passing along a decent list so that others may grok some awesome title they've never heard of and get some enjoyment. Since my scanner is FUBAR at the moment I'm transcribing the list by hand. Out of love. And I'm bored at work.


*Edited in late*
After typing out the entire list, I gotta say, the wave of nostalgia that washed over me with this is immense. I vow, now, that I will play every single game (again, if I have already or still have it) at some point in the not too distant future. Starting this weekend at #100 and up the list I will go.

Many of these games are available free or dirt cheap out on the 'net. Via the protocol-that-shall-not-be-named (i'm a big fan of demonoid.me) or awesome sites like abandonia (no affiliation) offer up links, manuals, cracks, saves, etc. Really, if you haven't played some of these, you're missing out. A computer with hardware of today's horsepower can handle 95 of these games without breaking a sweat....there's no reason to go about life without these awesome games.


PC Gamer's "The 100 Best Games Of All Time", March 2011 edition. I'm not including the reviews of each, cause frankly I ain't typing all that out. You should really stop by the magazine rack at the grocery store or B&N/Borders and check this one out though, the reviews are actually pretty good.

I should close now by using the hallowed rite of Editor's Pen of Doom and complaining that The Legacy: Realm of Terror (1993) and MechWarrior 2/3/4 + Expansions wasn't listed in the 100, and I'm hella pissed off about that fact.

Here we go!


Format:
RANK
Release year


100
Grand Theft Auto 4
2008


99
Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45
2006

98
Ultima Underworld 2
1992

97
Max Payne
2001

96
Football Manager 2011
2010

95
Audiosurf
2008

94
The Last Express
1997

93
Splinter Cell: Chaos THeory
2005

92
Red Faction: Guerrilla
2009

91
Mount & Blade
2008

90
Mirror's Edge
2009

89
Gothic 2
2002

88
Dungeon Siege
2002

87
Call of Cthulu: Dark Corners of the Earth
2006

86
StarCraft
1998

85
Sins of a Solar Empire
2008

84
Silent HUnter 3
2005

83
The Curse of Monkey Island
1997

82
Mech Commander
1998

81
King's Quest 6: Heir TOday, Gone Tomorrow
1992

80
Grim Fandango
1998

79
Galactic Civilizations
2006

78
Crysis
2007

77
Command & Conquer
1996

76
Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn

75
Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
1999

74
Burnout Paradaise
2009

73
Zuma's Revenge
2009

72
Wing Commander 3: Heart of the Tiger
1994

71
Spelunky
2009

70
League of Legends
2009

69
Flight Simulator 2004
2003

68
Dwarf Fortress
2006

67
Anchorhead
1998

66
Torchlight
2009

65
Zeno Clash
2009

64
VVVVVV
2010

63
SimCity 2000
1993

62
Left 4 Dead 2
2009

61
Frontier: Elite 2
1993

60
Counter Strike: Source
2004

59
Anachronox
2001

58
Day of the Tentacle
1993

57
Dungeon Keeper
1997

56
Wurm Online
2006

55
Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory
2003

54
Thief 2: The Metal Age
2000

53
System Shock
1994

52
Star Control 2
1992

51
Quake 3 Arena
1999

50
Neptune's Tide
2010

49
Battle of Britian 2
1999

48
Battlefield 2
2005

47
Star Wars: TIE Fighter
1994

46
Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance
2007

45
The Sims 3
2009

44
Planetside
2003

43
Medal Of Honor: Allied Assault
2002

42
Mass Effect 2
2010

41
Doom
1993

40
Dragon Age
2009

39
The Longest Journey
2000

38
STALKER: Call of Pripyat
2009

37
Money Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge
1991

36
Fallout
1997

35
Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord
2000

34
BioShock
2007

33
Braid
2009

32
Homeworld
1999

31
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
2003

30
System Shock 2
1999

29
Supreme Commander 2
2010

28
Freesoace 2
1999

27
Fallout 3
2008

26
Age of Empires 2
1992

25
Mass Effect
2008

24
Unreal Tournament
1999

23
Starsiege: Tribes
1998

22
The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind
2002

21
Hitman: Blood Money
2006

20
Half Life 2: Episode 2
2007

19
Planescape: Torment
1999

18
Counter-Strike
1999

17
Minecraft
2011

16
Sid Meier's Covilization 4
2005

15
Left 4 Dead
2008

14
Half Life
1998

13
ArmA
2009

12
X-COM: UFO Defense
1994

11
Company of Heroes Online
2010

10
Ultima 7: The Black Gate
1992

9
StarCraft 2
2010

8
Portal
2007

7
Diablo 2
2000

6
Rome: Total War
2004

5
Half Life 2
2004

4
Team Fortress 2
2007

3
Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion
2006

2
World Of Warcraft
2004

1
Deus Ex
2000



Remember, this is not MY list, just one I'm sharing. Feel free to chime in.

(Yes, I know there are zero console titles on this list. Hence, it is from 'PC GAMER MAGAZINE. Sorry. If this deeply offends you on some personal level....tough shit. Make your own list and I'll whine about my Wii games there with you )

 

Of course everybody is going to have various opinions, but some items on here really make me scratch my head. Not one Call of Duty or Halo game made the list. Really. Left 4 Dead was a great game. I loved it. But #15? Above games like Fallout 3? Really.....

 

Weird that Final Fantasy 7, 8, nor 9 made it up there.

 

i thought that borderlands was awesome. Battlefield Bad Company 2 (for its online play) and Uncharted 3 was just amazing.

 

Bro! wheres ATV VS MX?

 

minecraft, #17? That game is a joke! I agree, whats up with not one call of duty or halo up there? Counter strike as number 60 makes me

 

That's pc gamer not console
I can agree with that list but id change up the order for sure

 

That's awesome, 1993 Doom is on there! I'm actually surprised how many older games (older being the 90's) are still on that list.

 

How is that lame pc games are the shit and are way better than console, you can mod the shit of them and do whatever you want and have better graphics than any console

 

Yea, gotta remember, its PC gamer, not console, so we may need to make another list.

That said, I was surprised at how many of these I had never even heard of. I'm 100% serious that I'm going to play my way through the whole damn list though. Some real head-scratchers.

 

Doom, Astroids, Tank Commander, Air War Europe

 

Duke Nukem 3D isn't on the list, so instant fail.
Quake 3 was so small compared to Quake 2
Civilization didn't make the list?
I was too young/wrong group to care, but I thought TSR gold box titles would make it
FF7 was a computer title as well
Day of Defeat?
Team Fortress?
Dungeon Siege was meh
Tie Fighter?

 

Another dead-tree publication I've taken a liking to, Maximum PC, also recently did something similar, called the "30 Must-Play Games of the Decade".

Again, no affiliation. Just another interesting viewpoint:

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/30_must-play_pc_games_decade

 

That list can eat my ass.
But it is from PC magazing and PCs have never been my system of choice.
Went atari 800, amiga/atari 2600, SNES, PS xbox, xbox 360 THEN recently got some steam going on my windows machine.
Still all buggy and pain in the assy.

 

How about Redneck Rampage that was sick Game.