Author Topic: Top 25 Video Games Lists! v. CableX's "Worse Than My Top25 VG Music" (pg. 62)  (Read 231645 times)

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Offline Bolsters

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An undeniable classic. :tup Not only one of my favourite Mario games, but one of my all time favourite games aswell.

Also, the number on the file list isn't a percentage, it's the number of unique level goals you've run Mario through, and guess what? There's 96 of them. So you did 100% the game! :lol

Offline BlobVanDam

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Ah, finally a game I can get excited about! :tup (all FPS games are the same boring crap to me)

My favourite Mario game, and one of my favourites games of all time too, because there's so much in it, with the powerups and alternate level endings and hidden levels.
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Yep. I think the only party in the MP/DT situation that hasn't moved on is DTF.

Offline ThatOneGuy2112

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Stop killing me with nostalgia.

Seriously, this game is a true masterpiece, even outside of platformers. I can go back to it and it never gets old. Even with that said, it's still not my favorite Mario game. :biggrin:

Offline Outcrier

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Still play this masterpiece through emulators sometimes :tup
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Offline Lynxo

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Ah, finally a game I can get excited about! :tup (all FPS games are the same boring crap to me)

My favourite Mario game, and one of my favourites games of all time too, because there's so much in it, with the powerups and alternate level endings and hidden levels.
The funny thing about that is that Shigeru Miyamoto has said that he felt that the game development were rushed and many levels that he wanted in the game had to be cut. It is NOT AT ALL noticeable in the game itself, it's a timeless classic. :tup
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Offline BlobVanDam

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Ah, finally a game I can get excited about! :tup (all FPS games are the same boring crap to me)

My favourite Mario game, and one of my favourites games of all time too, because there's so much in it, with the powerups and alternate level endings and hidden levels.
The funny thing about that is that Shigeru Miyamoto has said that he felt that the game development were rushed and many levels that he wanted in the game had to be cut. It is NOT AT ALL noticeable in the game itself, it's a timeless classic. :tup

I never knew that, and I agree it's not noticeable at all. The final game is big and ambitious compared to previous Mario games, so I can only imagine what they originally had planned.
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Yep. I think the only party in the MP/DT situation that hasn't moved on is DTF.

Offline ariich

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YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAH!

Best Mario game.

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Offline The King in Crimson

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An undeniable classic. :tup Not only one of my favourite Mario games, but one of my all time favourite games aswell.

Also, the number on the file list isn't a percentage, it's the number of unique level goals you've run Mario through, and guess what? There's 96 of them. So you did 100% the game! :lol
Really? Goddamnit agonizing about what I'd missed in the game for years and I'd completed it oh so long ago.

Damn you Mario!

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Pretty much the best Mario game, yes.
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Offline cramx3

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Didnt own a SNES so ive only played that mario at friends houses and it never held a spot in my heart like Mario 3 and Mario 64... to me its a toss up between those two as for the best.

Offline black_biff_stadler

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The final game is big and ambitious compared to previous Mario games

I think SMB3 is about even with it or slightly better even.


SMW advantages:

1. More total levels.

2. Cape is better than raccoon (though Tanooki is just about even since the statue ability helps you kill additional enemies the cape can't like Roto Discs.)

3. Entire secret worlds like Star Road and Special.

4. Switch palaces' effect on gameplay.

5. Ability to replay levels.

6. Ability to revisit cleared worlds.

7. Stars making map screen transit a snap.


SMB3 advantages:

1. Powerups. Both games have mushroom, fire flower, and star. Beyond that, SMW only has the cape and that awkward P balloon. SMB3 has leaf, tanooki, P wing, frog, and hammer.

2. Bonus gimmicks. SMW is limited to the switch palaces, basically two versions of tic tac toe (the one you access after getting 100 stars at those end-of-level posts and the crappier one where you get five chances to hit coin blocks to try to get three "O"s in a row, and the one-off "Top Secret" powerup stash in Donut Plains. SMB3 has the (virtually unwinnable) thing where you line up the three sections of a picture, the memory game with flipping the cards, Hammer Brother showdowns, mushroom houses, the weird mushroom houses for when you fulfill coin quotas in selected stages and get rewarded with either a P wing or (ugh) anchor, and the coin ships.

3. Item inventory. Yeah yeah, the item window in SMW is awesome but damn sure not enough to compete with the ability to have not only every item in the game at your disposal but multiples of them as well since you could have as many as 28 items in your stash.


I tried to not let my SMB3 bias cloud my analysis here so hopefully I didn't miss anything major. I know SMW has slightly better control, graphics, and audio, but these are all things that have improved in every new installment in the series so it'd have to be a huge jump in any of these factors in order for it to constitute a real advantage.

Lastly, I realize I listed 7 advantages for SMW and only 3 for SMB3. This is a case of quality trumping quantity. More levels is definitely a good thing when you're talking about a good game but, unless you actually count them yourself or read the comparison somewhere, you really don't notice the difference. Yoshi's Island only has 5 levels (counting the castle) and Star Road/Special basically combine to be the 8th world (13 total levels is closer to one world than two) whereas SMB3 already has 8 worlds and they all are very full from the 2nd one forward.

The Cape thing is barely an advantage since there are three different flight powerups in SMB3. Points 5, 6, and 7 are all true but aren't nearly as big of a gameplay enhancement as any of SMB3's advantages.
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Offline Randaran

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I do not like this one quite as much as SMB3, but it is still a great game. I still consider Newer to be the best 2D Mario game, though.  :biggrin:
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Offline black_biff_stadler

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As in the "New Super Mario" line of games?
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Offline Randaran

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No, as in Newer Super Mario Bros Wii. It is not an official game, but is just as good.
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Offline ThatOneGuy2112

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That was good, but something about the way Mario controls in that one just isn't as satisfying as in Mario World. And the level design in Mario World is nearly untouchable.

Offline BlobVanDam

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The final game is big and ambitious compared to previous Mario games

I think SMB3 is about even with it or slightly better even.

SMB3 is also an excellent game, and technically the best of the NES era (it's hard to compare to the iconicness of the original), but for me SMW is the perfect Mario game.
You're right on your comparison, but I never liked a lot of the suit powerups all that much aside from the raccoon, the bonus levels aren't important to me, and SMW didn't feel like it needed the inventory as much with how it played. The combo of cape + Yoshi was hella fun, and I just generally preferred the levels, music, graphics and atmosphere. It had some levels much more big and complex than the NES Marios were capable of, and exploring the levels for the alternate paths was one of the big pluses for me.

That's not to put down SMB3 at all, I'm just splitting hairs on why I prefer SMW. I played through SMB3 again not too long ago, and it doesn't surprise me that many people consider it the best. It wouldn't surprise me for any Mario game to be considered the best. But for the elements I like the most in platforming, SMW is the better fit for me. :tup

And now I feel like replaying SMW/SMW2.
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Yep. I think the only party in the MP/DT situation that hasn't moved on is DTF.

Offline Bolsters

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It wouldn't surprise me for any Mario game to be considered the best.
Mario is Missing? :P

Offline BlobVanDam

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It wouldn't surprise me for any Mario game to be considered the best.
Mario is Missing? :P

I'd never even heard of that until just now. :lol
But I meant the main Mario series, not any game that has Mario in it. Mario's been in so many damn games, I'm sure there are a few clunkers along the way. :lol
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Yep. I think the only party in the MP/DT situation that hasn't moved on is DTF.

Offline Bolsters

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I'd never even heard of that until just now. :lol
Really? I thought you'd know all of them.

I remember renting Mario is Missing back in the early/mid 90's from the video store and being incredibly disappointed with it, because I had no idea what kind of game it actually was until I got it home.

Offline The King in Crimson

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The final game is big and ambitious compared to previous Mario games

I think SMB3 is about even with it or slightly better even.

SMB3 is also an excellent game, and technically the best of the NES era (it's hard to compare to the iconicness of the original), but for me SMW is the perfect Mario game.
You're right on your comparison, but I never liked a lot of the suit powerups all that much aside from the raccoon, the bonus levels aren't important to me, and SMW didn't feel like it needed the inventory as much with how it played. The combo of cape + Yoshi was hella fun, and I just generally preferred the levels, music, graphics and atmosphere. It had some levels much more big and complex than the NES Marios were capable of, and exploring the levels for the alternate paths was one of the big pluses for me.

That's not to put down SMB3 at all, I'm just splitting hairs on why I prefer SMW. I played through SMB3 again not too long ago, and it doesn't surprise me that many people consider it the best. It wouldn't surprise me for any Mario game to be considered the best. But for the elements I like the most in platforming, SMW is the better fit for me. :tup
Yep, totally agree. SMB3 is a great game but, to me, it's definitely a quantity over quality game. Lots of powerups, lots of levels, lots of worlds. SMW is just super refined and boiled down to pure, Mario excellence.

Quote
And now I feel like replaying SMW/SMW2.
Do it!

I'd never even heard of that until just now. :lol
Really? I thought you'd know all of them.

I remember renting Mario is Missing back in the early/mid 90's from the video store and being incredibly disappointed with it, because I had no idea what kind of game it actually was until I got it home.
Oh god yes, Mario is Missing was awful. I remember being really surprised that a new Mario game was out and then, upon playing it at a friend's house, I wasn't so surprised anymore, I was just disappointed.  :lol

Anyways, on with the list.

16. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (PC: 2002)
For the longest time, I hated this game. I felt it was inferior to its sequel, Oblivion. Oblivion had better combat and an actual fast-travel option. But, despite my declaration, I still found myself returning to the ash-covered environs of Morrowind over and over again. What was calling me back? It certainly wasn't the clunky combat or the fucking cliff racers, so what was it?

It was Vvardenfell, the island on which Morrowind takes place. Oblivion is set in the relatively typical fantasy land of Cyrodiil, which means lots of verdant, pastoral fields, expansive lakes, bustling towns, and lush forests. It's beautiful to look at, even pretty to explore, but ultimately it's a bit passé, a bit... hollow. Morrowind, on the other hand, takes place on the island of Vvardenfell, a realm of bubbling bogs, towering mushrooms, ash storms, clockwork dwarven ruins, and the alien architecture of the dark elves which all looks like its been cut and shaped from the hide of some massive, continent-sized beetle. It's utterly unlike anything else in a fantasy game.

The environment isn't the only notable aspect of the setting. In Vvardenfell, most of the citizens will treat you like the foreign mainlander that you are, with sneers of derision, condescension, and even outright contempt. The politics and beliefs of the characters of Morrowind play an important part in the game, far more important than anything in Oblivion or maybe even Skyrim. This gives the game world an actual personality, as you'll encounter tribal dark elves that want nothing to do with outlanders, Hlaalu slavers, ruthless Morag Tong assassins, and the casually racist Ordinator guards. This gray morality infuses even the non-dark elf groups and organizations. Even the 'best' of them have seedy underbellies that make it hard to root for one group over another. The dark elves may be a brutal, war-like people, but the Empire of Tamriel is hardly any better when you get right down to it.   

And it's not just the setting that brought me back. Morrowind has probably the most interesting plot and villain of any of the Elder Scrolls games. Most of the time, the main plots in the Elder Scrolls games are incidental, they exist merely to give you a setting to explore and loot, but in Morrowind it's actually kind of interesting. The plot concerns various prophecies and your place in them, an apocalyptic cult known as The Sixth House, and its sinister God, Dagoth Ur. It's all fairly epic stuff, as Elder Scrolls games, usually are, but it's well handled and involves a variety of different and unique quests.

But, even the best of Elder Scrolls games comes down to how much shit there is to do. And with Morrowind, there is a lot. You can customize your character in a multitude of ways (though the leveling system in Morrowind is fucking bonkers stupid at times). You can become a member of any of the three guilds, but unlike Oblivion or Skyrim, you can't become a master of the mage's guild with, say, only the dimmest of understanding of magic. You actually have to be a mage! The horror, the horror! You can even join up with one of three Noble Houses amongst a few other organizations. I'm actually not really sure about how much there is to do, because there is a lot of stuff in this game and despite how often I've played this game, I've only scratched the surface. Each organization has its own sprawling quest lines.

If joining a House or a Guild isn't to your style, you can just hoof it and explore the world. There are countless ruins, caves, temples, tombs, sewers, mines, and other places to discover and explore, some huge and sprawling and others only a few rooms in size. In these places, you'll encounter the bizarre fauna of Vvardenfell, undead guardians, vampires, Sixth House cultists, demonic daedra, and even groups of common bandits. You can take them head on, with sword and shield, shoot them from a distance with a bow, stealthily eviscerate them, or even blow them all up with magic. The choice is yours.

So, if you've played either Oblivion or Skyrim and thought they were the bee's knees, then give Morrowind a try. It may not be as polished, but it does an excellent job of transporting you to a dark and alien world full of magic, cliff racers, prophecies, more cliff racers, and cults.  Oh, did I mention cliff racers too? Seriously, there're a lot of cliff racers in this game.

Morrowind comes with a full 90 points in the Recommendation skill for those who are prophesized to actually finish an Elder Scrolls game, fans of aerial racers that live on cliffs, and people that proudly announce their character class when you talk to them.



Offline Dr. DTVT

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I love Morrowwind, as I do the entire Elder Scrolls.  Boots of Blinding speed are a must pick up item.
     

Offline ariich

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Nice, I haven't played Morrowind yet but I do have it on Steam. Oblivion and Skyrim are great though, so I'm looking forward to going back to that one.

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Offline Sacul

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Hey guys, I'm next on the list, but since I'll very busy next month, I don't think I'll be able to start and keep up with my list. I think jingle.boy will still be busy with his Led Zeppelin discog thread, won't he?

Offline Phoenix87x

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Out of all the elder scrolls games, I played morrowind the most and possibly even enjoyed it the most. Hours upon hours upon hours just sitting there playing that game. Man

Offline jingle.boy

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Hey guys, I'm next on the list, but since I'll very busy next month, I don't think I'll be able to start and keep up with my list. I think jingle.boy will still be busy with his Led Zeppelin discog thread, won't he?

Yeah, as good of an idea this sounded like at the time, I am nowhere near ready to do the writeups any justice.  I've got my list, but haven't done anything else.  Maybe in the new year for me, so if someone else is ready to go after the Crimson King, go for it.
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Offline The King in Crimson

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15. Final Fantasy VI (SNES: 1994)
I remember the very first time I heard about Final Fantasy VI. My friends had printed out this massive tome of paper from the depths of the then nascent interwebs. This tome made up of loose sheaves of thin copy paper was nothing more than an incredibly comprehensive guide and walkthrough for Final Fantasy VI. The game was a couple of years old at this point and not very easy to find. My friends were obsessed with discovering every hidden little secret, every item, every esper, and every character within the game. Listening to them, day after day, rattle off names, locations, and spells instilled in me a great desire to find and play this game. I knew absolutely nothing about this game, but I needed to have it. Eventually, after several months, my parents and I tracked down a copy of the game at one of the local Funcoland locations. Cars were started, miles were driven, money was paid, and I finally held in my hands the grey little box that contained all those names, spells, espers, and secrets that I had heard so much about. This is the story of how I spent that entire summer in front of a television set.

With that little bit of nostalgia out of the way, Final Fantasy VI is the sixth installment of the long, long, long running Japanese role-playing game series. Like most of the others in the series, FFVI features a massive world to explore, a sprawling cast of characters each of which is unique, the tried-and-true ATB battle system, random encounters, dungeons, towns, monsters to fight, items to find, magic to learn, and a great story to experience. What makes FFVI such a unique entry in the series is how the story takes such a surprising turn halfway through. The first half of the game is a typical Final Fantasy game, where you progress along a fairly linear path, following plot points like crumbs of bread in a maze. The world gradually opens up as you explore more and more of it, but the second half of the game is an almost open world RPG. You have vague directions on what to do, but the details are left up to you. Quests can be accomplished in almost any order, or skipped entirely. Characters can be rediscovered or ignored completely, if you wish. And there are lots and lots of secrets hiding out in the world, many of which are very, very hard to find unless you know exactly what you're looking for. I much prefer the more structured first half of the game, but I give FFVI a lot of credit for taking such a bold step with its storytelling.

I'm not going to get into any specifics with regards to characters, mostly because there're so many of them in this game and pretty much all of them are great, but I do want to mention just one in particular. When the topic of Final Fantasy villains comes up, normally its Sephiroth from FFVII that dominates the conversation, however, the primary antagonist of FFVI, Kefka, was one of my favorite villains for a long, long time. Not only does he get some of the coolest, quirkiest music in the game, he gets an awesome, totally 16-bit laugh too. The first half of the game portrays him as an almost inept, bumbling, psychotic force of nature, always ready and willing to fuck shit up, but hard to take very seriously.

Occasionally, I debate with myself whether I like FFVI or FFIV best out of the series. I love IV, don't get me wrong, but VI does so much right and offers a fairly unprecedented level of choice not normally seen in Final Fantasy games (or at least, not in the ones I've played). So, in the end, Final Fantasy VI gets the recommendation over Final Fantasy IV for any erstwhile magicite collectors, Ultros fanboys, and Locke and Celes shippers.


Offline ThatOneGuy2112

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One of the best RPG's there is. :hefdaddy A great SNES game in its already amazing catalog.

Offline Sacul

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I have meant to play this game for a long, long time. But I seriously can't D:

Offline black_biff_stadler

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No hands, huh?
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No, I can use my controls fairly well with my feet; but the problem is that my sound card is broken, and 'cause the PC is kind of old, I'll just buy a new one any time soon.

Offline Phoenix87x

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Love VI  :hefdaddy

If I had played it at the time of its release, it would probably be my favorite FF, but that spot will always belong to VII. Ended up really getting into VI around 2001 and loved every minute of it.

Offline The King in Crimson

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Oops, well, I was going to do the update last night, but that didn't seem to happen so... heay look over there, an update!

14. Half-Life 2 (PC: 2004)
Half-Life 2 is the mega-successful sequel to the mega-successful original Half-Life. Like in the original, you play as the forever 'caught in the wrong place at the wrong time' scientist and bearded legend, Gordon Freedom. Instead of the rundown and overrun environs of the Black Mesa Research Facility, this time you're transported by the mysterious G-Man to the totalitarian and dystopian near future Earth, one conquered by a race of aliens known only as the Combine. What little of the Earth's surface that isn't overrun by horrid alien life is devoted instead to the 1984-esque Combine-run cities replete with propaganda-spewing loudspeakers, security-laden check points, and lots and lots of blue jumpsuits.

One of the best things about Half-Life 2 is that none of the above is ever infodumped to the player in some lengthy, cinematic expository scene. It's all stuff you have to glean from the environment, from the scattered comments of the various NPC's, to the very occasional moments when someone will directly address the player. This approach works incredibly well. For those gamers more able to piece together the clues scattered around the world, there's an incredible sense of accomplishment when you finally feel as if you've cracked the mystery of the backstory. For those more like myself, those comments and details that hint at what happened in the years between Half-Life and Half-Life 2 that might explain just how the world ended up as shitty as it is keep you salivating for an overt explanation that never comes.

But, enough about the story stuff. It's a game, not a novel, what really matters is the gameplay, right? Both Half-Life and Half-Life 2 represent not revolutionary gameplay but a honing and tightening of every gear, every wheel, and every widget that makes an FPS enjoyable. It plays just like every other FPS that existed before Call of Duty became a thing, it just plays really, really well. Now, Half-Life 2 does introduce a few more inspired moments of gameplay beyond the typical run-and-gun. These come in the forms of two, massive levels composed almost entirely of vehicular driving and the Gravity Gun. The vehicles sections are rather good and help break up the monotony. I really, really like the airboat section in Water Hazard, but the car section goes on a bit too long and doesn't really do anything new. It's still fun, but it gets a bit plodding after a while.

The Gravity Gun, on the other hand, is one of the greatest weapons ever invented for an FPS. It's a simple concept, it's a gun that lets you manipulate the physics effects in the game to a greater degree than what you would normally be able to. This allows you to fling saw blades, garbage cans, and other detritus at your enemies or even pick up a big piece of scrap and use it as a rudimentary shield. The Gravity Gun also makes one of the best levels in the game possible. What level could I be talking about? Any astute Half-Life 2 fanboy would know immediately which one I mean. Ravenholm.

Ravenholm is an abandoned city overrun by alien zombies. It's full of deadly traps, nasty environmental hazards, and it's extremely light on the ammo. This means that you're going to spend the majority of the level using your Gravity Gun to fling washing machines and motors at angry headcrab zombies while you desperately try to conserve what little ammo you have. It's brilliant in execution as it truly manages to accentuate just how limited your resources are. Add to that the groans, screams, and cries of the zombies inhabiting Ravenholm that pierce the night sky as the inexorably try to hunt you down before you manage to escape. It's tense stuff and it's probably one of the greatest FPS levels ever created.

So, for Ravenholm and the Gravity Gun, I give Half-Life 2 a physics-defying recommendation for those who were wondering just what happened to that security guard in Half-Life 1, fans of horned rimmed glasses and dorky beards, and anyone who likes to thoroughly poop themselves (Ravenholm is scary... don't judge me).


Offline Outcrier

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Played this classic again some months ago, it was a blast just like the old times  :tup
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Offline Lynxo

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Omg, two absolute classics! I recently bought The Orange Pack for the PS3, I'm definitly gonna do a playthrough of HL2. :tup It's absolutely insane how they managed to follow up one of my favorite games of all time with yet another classic!
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Offline Chino

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I still can't believe we haven't seen a HL3.