17. GTA: Vice City (PC) - 2002I'd never really gotten into GTA before this time, but when I found out this was set in the 1980's, and included a soundtrack of '80s rock/metal, I was in. Nothing got me pumped like cranking Bark at the Moon on VROCK radio and driving as fast as possible down the highway. The open world was so much fun, with almost endless replay value. If I got bored, I could always use the Hunter helicopter to cause destruction, or try to steal a tank, or choose a nice spot and see how long I could hold off the cops with the minigun, or do some insane bike jumps, or mow down people on the beach using the most ridiculous vehicle possible, or go on a killing spree with a hammer, or rob a corner store. Just like real life! There was one of the final missions where I had to race my getaway driver and beat him, which was damn near impossible. So I just modded the game files so my car was faster.
Then I started modding the game in other ways, like making the baggage handler so insanely fast I could ramp jump across the entire map. Or making the tank even more OP. Then there were the cheats. Good times.....
Basically I played the hell out of this game. I only played through the whole game once, and then I'd just roam around finding something fun to do.
I've played the other GTA games, but none of them interested me much at all. Vice City just really hit the mark for me.
16. Goldeneye 64 (N64) - 1997Another game that needs no introduction, for many gamers at the time, this was
the console FPS game. The gameplay was fresh and involved, beyond just shooting your way through a game from start to finish, although it had plenty of that too. There were mission objectives, people to save, gadgets, and missions were often time critical. It did a great job of making you feel like James Bond, between the variety of locations, the weapons, the spy tactics, and the memorable soundtrack of Bond remixes. It also rewarded you for being a good shot, with the location of your shot making a big difference (remember, this was 1997). Also it was just plain fun to cover your enemy in blood spots from shots.
But even once you're done with the missions, there was the multiplayer. You could choose from various characters including classics such as Jaws and Oddjob. I was always Boris, because he was the nerd.
This game might not seem anything special now, and the controls leave a lot to be desired given the standard dual analog on modern FPS games, but at the time, this game was the shit.