The 50 best video games of the 21st century - MW

50
Singstar (2004)
Karaoke mixes can be relatively popular today, but in 2004, singing on the PlayStation was the closest thing we could get. Party classic singles have created the soundtrack for millions of student, hen and Friday week gatherings across Europe for over a decade. Like Just Dance, it harnesses the contagious joy of pop music in a way that everyone can play.

49
Katamari Damacy (2004)
An absurd absurd masterpiece that you start by scrolling through a pencil and an apple peel and finally absorbing buildings, trees and finally, most of the planet in your big sticky ball, because why not? From infectious soundtracks to crazy and crazy stories, it's a work of pure joy.

48
Journey (2012)

Journey is a short and comforting sharing experience that music, palettes evoke and simple gameplay come together when they are only possible in games, giving strong emotional effects. He is often chosen as an excellent example for games like art - including those in charge at V&A, where he is at the center of a recent exhibition.

47
Dead Space (2008)

Resident Evil meets Alien seems to be an incredibly clear game until 2008. In Dead Space, players become inferior engineers Isaac Clarke, who ends up investigating the ship Ishimura on a cracked planet after radio contact with a lost ship. The craft is of course infected with alien creatures - the Necromor - who use the corpse to revive the victim in a horrible way. It's a thrilling, dark and bloody thriller.

46

Limbo (2010)

The central figure here is a boy fleeing from death, or perhaps dead. One of the many games that started the rebirth of the 2010s, the monochromatic style of Limbo and its relatively short execution time, believing in the extraordinary effort and thoroughness that motivated its creation, clearly indicated it . Everything from the sinister movement of a giant spider to the exact physics of its puzzle power.

45
Papers, please (2013)

You are a border agent in a war-torn country where people are constantly trying to smuggle things through you: drugs, weapons, false IDs. But what about mothers and children using false passports to join the rest of their families? Or an undocumented refugee that you can refuse as a possible terrorist, but in fact who can be a desperate civilian? Papers, please be a solid illustration of how we can become accomplices to inhuman systems and the ways in which games can invite us to explore ethical dilemmas. complex.

44

Forza Horizon (2012)

By combining the structure of the open world with the energy of a music festival, Forza Horizon has once again made arcade-style racing games fun. Boasting a wide selection of innovative AI-compatible cars and multiplayer components, the game is simply designed for players to have fun no matter what they did or where they drove. Barn finds and destroys useful signals for exploration, while countless driving challenges provide structure and challenges. It is an accessible versatile racing treatment.

43
Missile League (2015)
Soccer, but with remote control cars, can be a playground for Rocket League, but who would have thought it would become one of the most ingenious and persistent multiplayer games released in decades. century? Rocket League is very elegant and agile: it will probably be played again for 20 years, at the show and in tournaments.

42
Burnout 3: Takedown (2004)

Guildford developer Criterion built his Burnout arcade driving game series around two principles: speed and style. Taking place in busy streets, the races reward players with risky moves, offering more time to shoot past opponents. The third title in the series completes the formula, adding functionality that eliminates the incentive program for players, encouraging players to crush opponents in the race. The detailed idle physics engine improves every hit on art.

41
Overwatch (2016)
After years of cruelty, military shooters filled with the nobility of machos, Overwatch stormed the online gaming village in 2016 like a giant robotic rabbit holding a bright pink grenade launcher. It is a game about strange hero characters, joining forces in team-condensed skirmishes. No level, no unlockable weapons; it's about combining different abilities - from fire master Mei Mei to healer Mercy - effectively. Favored for its innovative and super colorful aesthetic, Overwatch is the answer of generation Z for Counter-Strike.

40

Pinion of War 2 (2008)

Imagine a sci-fi war movie directed by the premiere Kathryn Bigelow. Now imagine it interacting. In essence, this is Gears of War, the third definitive explosion of the sea space - a very elaborate game, its machine gun with chainsaw. The second title in the series improved the cover system, added new weapons and bloody finishing moves, and brought the battle to the Locust alien invaders. It's very exciting, chaotic and beautiful, with the awesome Horde cooperative play mode he invented new ways to play online.

39
Tony Hawk stormed Pro Skater 2 (2000)

Anyone with a PlayStation in their dorm, this is probably the best skateboarding game and there has been a lot of competition since (perhaps due to the cultural presence of sport since the 1990s). It's a time capsule of energetic college rock, endless inline skate combos and compelling fun.

38
Super Smash Bros Melee (2001)
The Ultimate 2018 game is indeed the ultimate expression of the tendency to maximize Smash Bros, with 74 characters and hundreds of references to the history of Nintendo. But Melee is the game that transformed Nintendo, everything that turned into a classic living room fight in a competitive game. It's still the most popular Smash game in the tournament, beautifully balanced and extremely fun.

37
Silent 2 (2001)
Konami's response to Resident Evil sent bumps of zombies into a horrible psychology. The second title in this series is the most disturbing. The game follows the broken-hearted man James Sunderland as he travels to the city of the same name in search of his allegedly deceased wife. What followed was the decline of Sunderland's sexual psychology, a nightmare filled with the bodies of immortal nurses, a false window animation, and a giant fetish monster, Pyramid Head. Playing with Japanese horror and exploitation films, it specifies all the players.

36

Spelunky (2008)

Derek Yuien's cave diving game is very interesting to play in every race, but it can take years before it ends. Each time, there are different arrangements of cave creatures, unfortunate crashes and hostile geographic routes to end your adventure abruptly, and only the extremely skilled and extreme are lucky enough to be deep. Even after years of playing, Spelunky still keeps his secrets.

35
Assassin of Creed 2 (2009)
Assassin Trick Creed originally promised a rich historical adventure with an interesting science fiction coating - Assassin Trick Creed 2 really raised it. Located close to the details of Italian luxury of the Renaissance, the fascinating tourist game Ezio Auditore da Firenze confronts shabby temples while striking Machiavelli and Leonardo da Vinci. The free structure of the game, its mission volume and its sub-objectives, as well as its range of abilities and objects, define plans for the design of modern games in the open world.

34

Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009)

With scripts by veteran Batman writer Paul Dini and all the important voiceover talents of the excellent animated series, Arkham Asylum shows the authenticity of each pixel. It's Frank Miller and Christopher Nolan's Batman - dark, twisted, and violent - and he fully recognizes this as a third-person action adventure. The fight went smoothly and powerfully, the silent abolitions were satisfied and the refugee scene was a marvelous Gothic monstrosity. A comic book lover in a dream.

33
Battlefield of 1942 (2002)
With the first game in the Battlefield series, the developer of Digital Illusions has brought large-scale combat and historic authenticity to the online shooter genre. Two teams of 32 players fought for dominance over the vast environment, taking checkpoints and commanding vehicles. Multifaceted battles require the player to take on an auxiliary role, some at a distance, from other snipers. The excitement of a well-organized attack pays off as something truly new.

32

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007)

Bringing intense vitality and explosive speed to the military shooter market, Call Call Duty 2003 offers epic weapon battles. But until Modern Warfare, the series had a big impact, by introducing an innovative online multiplayer mode that resulted in a progression of the characters in addition to the massive single-use attacks that could open. lock. Add to its dazzling animation and intense, sweltering maps, and it's no wonder this game defines the experience of a decade of online deathmatch.

31
God of War (2018)
God of War always sets the standard for the genre of spectacular, expansive and interactive storytelling. Guide a reformed violent god and his more sensitive son through scenes from Norse mythology, you will see things that take a breath: the corpse of a vast giant, freezing where it fell; Parallel realms of vicious goblins and endless lakes; Ruins in ruins to absent the gods. Thwock was delighted with the Kratos ax, when she stabbed the skull of the biggest mythological monsters in the Odyssey video game.

30
The shadow of a giant statue (2005)
In this meditative session of this sad and selfish nature, a young man begins to overthrow the giants of the mountain, in mourning and majestic in the hope of rekindling a lost love. Each giant statue is a puzzle; Gathering their mossy fur and stabbing a sword in their hiding places, we soon learn that this heroic quest is a game that resembles him. Delicate and deep, Shadow of the Colossus is disciplined in narration and art, with enough space to reflect in its dark and beautiful desert.

29
Deus Ex (2000)
Combining first-person shooters and action RPGs with real-world conspiracy theories and cyber myths, the science fiction adventure of the Ion Storm program was a literary event. chemistry. The player's character, JC Denton, is a nanoscale government official caught in a labyrinth, a global conspiracy of biological viruses and extraterrestrial technologies. There are dozens of routes throughout history, offering incredible freedom and inspiring a creative community of fantastic modders and writers.

28

Wii Sports (2006)

Very few games have been played as widely as Wii Sports, from bowling to children who are keen to play tennis. Wii Sports is an introduction to the world of Wii and presents a whole generation of Nintendo Nintendo game design philosophy: accessible, comprehensive and very interesting.

27
Guitar Hero (2005)
Warm-blooded people never dreamed of launching a perfect guitar solo on stage, intoxicated by the adoration of a flying crowd? Anyone born after around 1995 has turned out. But Guitar Hero was a product of the time and served wonderfully in the imagination of the almost popular rock star, with the perfect soundtrack of the 1970s, 80s and 90s, tens of millions of people. holding plastic guitars in the living room for a couple of the year.

26
The other 4 people died (2008)
As a cooperative online zombie shooter with an AI system that coordinates enemy attacks based on player actions, Left 4 Dead has been ridiculous before the times. Valve built great mechanics around its cooperative game, encouraging high tactical teamwork and bringing the apocalyptic world to dazzling monsters, like Smoker sticking out his bizarre tongue and the witch. Scary lachrymosis. It will do great business in the YouTuber gaming world obsessed with many gamers.

25
Ico (2001)
Experimental designer Fumito Ueda built this silent and thoughtful adventure around the idea of ​​two people holding hands, which the protagonist of the same name and Princess Yorda must go to prison to do if they escape from their castle prison. Using all of the conventions of a third-person action game, Ico is really about fear, loneliness, and the ability to be awakened by physical contact with another person. A minimalist masterpiece.

24

The Last of Us (2013)

Well première vue, comme un objectif standard dans le jeu, le jeu d'apocalypse apocalyptique zombie étendu deviendra bientôt quelque chose de plus. Observant la relation entre Joel misérable et lancinante et des adolescents protecteurs mais optimistes, Ellie a prospéré en voyageant dans une Amérique dévastée, rudant à travers des cliqueurs de souris instables et face à Avec des collègues désespérés et violents, un jeu unographicalorable extrêmement ennuyeux.

23
La légende de Zelda: le masque de Majora (2000)
Peut-être le jeu le plus dérangeant de Nintendo, Majora Mask est également l'un de ses jeux les plus innovants, vous piégeant dans une boucle apocalyptique o la la lune se rapproche de la Terre. Malheureusement et ceux quy n nient ont peur. Ici, Link est un héros que personne ne connaît, avançant dans le temps pour détruire un mal qui a avalé le monde, avant de retourner dans son corps d'enfance et d'être abandonné par ses amis. compagnon unique. Sa structure en boucle temporelle et son atmosphère étrange sont encore moins imitantes.

22

Mario Kart 8 (2014)




We haven't yet met a person who doesn't love Mario Kart, and Mario Kart 8 is just as good: fun, free, with incredible scores, colorful characters and courses that constantly challenge those expectations. It was an interesting riot. One of the few modern games even better enjoyed with friends, family or strangers.

21
Mass effect 2 (2010)
The definition chapter of the BioWare space epic covers everything: race, genocide, romance and heroism, all in the context of the impending galaxy. It is stellar and fun to play, with futuristic pistols and biological prowess, and completely absorbed at the character level. To create something in this range which seems equally personal to each player is an important feat.

20
Fortnite (2017)

Launched as a forgotten zombie cooperative shooter in 2017, the developer of Epic Games witnessed the success of Player Unknown Battle Battlegrounds and decided to create his own battle royale mode, inviting 100 people to play on an island landing. , then fight it until only one survivor. Colorful, silly and brimming with stupid costumes and infectious dance moves, Fortnite has become a global phenomenon, attracting over 250 million players. It has been featured in everything from Fox News to Avengers: Endgame and is showing some signs of slowing down.

19
Grand Theft Auto IV (2008)
Niko Bellic came to New York to find a way out of the criminal life he led in Eastern Europe - but as in all Grand Theft Auto games, the American dream quickly became sour and the violence took over. failed. It turned out that the only currency Bellic could deal with in New York's GTA IV was such beautiful, detailed and energetic habitat that it was hard to believe it was provided by code.

18

Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018)




Only a developer with Rockstar, incredibly deep bags and passionate attention to detail can create something like this, an incredible reconstruction of 20th century America very similar. Her story about a group of outlaws trying to pass the time (and a growing list of enemies) is pretty impressive, but the world is happening - vast, picturesque, Full of people and people. strange that most players will probably never find - a veritable monument to interactive success.

17
Sims (2000)
One of the most successful and influential games ever, The Sims is an outlet for megalomania, crazy materialism or compassion - depending on the player. Controlling the lives of computer users, from their love and their careers to designing the houses in which they live, is so fascinating that it raises complex questions about human nature.

16
Uncharted 2: Among Thief (2009)

Indiana Jones style hero Nathan Drake has become himself in this spectacular cinematic sequel. Surrounded by spectacular action scenes, exotic locations and legendary legends, Among Thief has placed the Uncharted series at the forefront of designing a big budget storytelling game. From the sunken train to the grand finale between the ruins of the mythical kingdom of Shambhala, the tempo does not drop. While the exploding kids had nostalgic memories of the action movie theaters on Saturday morning, the millennials were Uncharted.

15
Resident Evil 4 (2005)
It's not an interesting horror story about a supercar saving the daughter of the president of a Spanish sect. With Resident Evil 4, the creator of Capcom's survival horror series, Shinji Mikami, completely changed the structure and style of the game, abandoning the slow tension of the original games to support the action. Rude movements during the transition (most of the time) of a third of the camera expression - the person to a point of view on the shoulder. The game has opened a whole new era of third-person shooters.

14
Super Mario Odyssey (2017)
After his galactic adventure in the Super Mario Galaxy games, Odyssey brought the happy plumber back to Earth. Well, not Earth, but a series of different closed planets that provide ample space for the wild imagination of Nintendo designers. Having Chain Chomp to surround in low gravity, chasing rabbits or horse racing, Odyssey could not resist.

13

World of Warcraft (2004)





Launched in 2004, Blizzard's multiplayer adventure was not the first entry in this complex genre (Ultima Online and Everquest went there earlier), but it complemented the key elements, From combat mechanics to the design of mission through legends, create a loyal obsession among fans with gadgets and updates. The game reached 100 million player accounts in 2014, but the real stories are much more personal - with an emphasis on close teamwork, WoW has organized weddings and funerals. real life, being part of the lives of players like families themselves.

12
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (2015)

Floating, idyllic and confusing in places, The Phantom Pain is the perfect pinnacle of Hideo Kojima's Gear Gear vision as it has evolved over the past 30 years. Big Boss wakes up from a coma and finds himself on secret missions during the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, rescuing civilians, kidnapping military leaders and managing his underwater base when absurd plots take place often occur. It was like nothing else, at least until Hideo Kojima's next game, Death Stranding, appeared.

11
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011)

For decades, games have aspired to create a fantasy world that caters to your tastes - and Skyrim comes closest. The dragon taste, largely imperceptible, is an extraordinary playground where magic, box, words and weapons can all be used against residents and monsters. live in a snowy northern kingdom, where murderers, vampires, lost plots and thousands more await curious gamers.

10
Bloodvert (2015)
A work of extraordinary horror, Bloodvert evokes a city in ruins where the inhabitants, instead of abandoning God, have become so obsessed with getting closer to their eldritch masters that they are sick. Track down the creatures of Yharnam, an exciting and sometimes painful endeavor, the player discovers an extremely complex novel, upsetting human blood, beating and madness. Bloodborne contains scenes and battles that no player can forget.

9
BioShock (2007)
Set in an incredible underwater scene, BioShock is part of a shooter, part of the role-playing game, part of a moral parable, pushing players through a haunting and vague mission to Escape to Rapture while discovering its terrible secrets. Famous for the villains of Big Daddy, gene editing, art deco architecture and designer exploring objective philosophy Ken Levine, this game is one of the most discussed and dissected century to date.

8
Portal 2 (2011)

Based on the solid foundation of its predecessor, the sequel to Valve, 2011 adds a story linked to ingenious physics puzzles, with the authoritative GLaDOS computer system offering immense discovery. Humorous and creative about people and arrogance. Here, Aperture Lab is a huge fun, almost Gothic building, strange laboratories and robotic production lines filled with light bridges and lasers. It was a combination of Red Dwarf, 2001 and Crystal Maze that no one knew they were waiting for.

7
Halo: fighting development (2001)
One of the first shooters where the aliens fight back. Playing Halo today, especially in the difficult context of Legends, it's amazing how frustrating alliances, chat, and settlement can be. Halo gave birth to a favorite universe of space shooters, but it was the first game - released at a time when the idea of ​​a first-person shooter on the console was laughable. - which had the greatest impact.

6

Grand Theft Auto V (2013)

In particular, the best-selling entertainment product of all time, Rockstar has worked hard to create a bizarre farce in southern California, examining the top three non-heroic decisions: a retired gangster. The family hated him, a young man from the city trying to escape an apparently predestined criminal life and a violent psychopath at home. Cleverly, these three characters also skillfully divide the personality that divides the GTA: modern American satirical bite, narration of films and chaos of scalar violence.

5
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015)
Many games offer a superficial choice between good and bad, but Witcher asks what happens when you enter a wave of history and politics that is beyond your control. Glem of Rivia is a hero; He was only an outcast, present at a time of upheaval in the history of his kingdom. It turns out that more interesting stories can be found when you don't mind a fragile goal of saving the world.

4

Half-life 2 (2004)

The video game has no history of alien invasion, but Half-Life 2 is great, it makes the concept look fresh and scary. Taking place a few years after the original, Gordon Freeman awoke to find an Earth completely subdued by the forces of the Combined - but a resistance movement was forming. Clever environmental puzzles and famous gravity pistols exploit complex physics to make this infernal world real. You really hate your enemies, you live every moment. One of the most incredible storytelling video games ever.

3
Black Soul (2011)
You are dead, with some benefits, but at least you can die again - it's not good anyway. Taking you into an endless vortex of death and rebirth in a world where there is almost nothing left to breathe, Dark Souls leaves you nothing and gives free rein to its dark imagination horror. Go outside while you are flying and fight to survive. Ruthless and influential, this is the revolutionary game from FromSoftware and visionary director Hidetaka Miyazaki. Even though there are two other Dark Souls games and a copy raft, there is nothing like it.

2
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017)
Making Half-Life 2 open for the first-person shooter, Breath of the Wild shed tears and threw everything that made exploring a chore - check list, mark it objective, the icons of the jungle - for a real adventure. Breath of the Wild is based on your curiosity, your intelligence, your determination and your ingenuity, offering you thousands of ways to apply them. Its exciting openness makes other games feel like a strange miniature train in comparison.

1

Minecraft (2009)

Swedish coder Markus “Notch” Persson didn’t invent the concept of the block-based building game – Minecraft arrived just after Zach Barth’s experimental title Infiniminer. However, the founder of Stockholm studio Mojang took the idea of a Lego-like construction game based in a procedurally generated environment and perfected it. Originally launched as a work in progress in the summer of 2009, word about this unusual blocky simulation quickly spread on PC gaming forums and a community of enthusiastic modders started to gather around the project, downloading Persson’s version but adding their own rules and graphics. From the very beginning Minecraft was a shared endeavour – a labour of love, shared between creator and fans.

By the time of its full release in November 2011, Minecraft already had 10 million registered players. Later came conversions from PC to Xbox, PlayStation and smartphones, bringing in new audiences. The game was split into two experiences: the Survival mode where players had to battle zombies and giant spiders while mining for resources, and the Creative mode where they were given an unlimited inventory of wooden, glass and stone blocks to concentrate on crafting their own ambitious projects.

This has always been the vital element of Minecraft’s success and importance: it is a dozen experiences in one. It’s about making models, but also exploration, combat and resource management. Participants can build alone or join friends, introducing a new form of online creative collaboration. Using the game’s red stone component, which allows objects in the world to be electrically powered, fans began to build complex machines including working calculators. Others constructed scale models of the USS Enterprise, Hogwarts and King’s Landing. Art galleries and museums began to take notice. The Tate Modern commissioned expert modellers to create versions of modernist artworks in the Minecraft world; the British Museum was officially recreated in the game, as was Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Over the past decade, Minecraft has become a hobby and a social space. Servers have been set up for people on the autistic spectrum, providing a vital means of meeting with and communicating with others. Hundreds of schools throughout the world use the Education edition of Minecraft to teach physics, geology, drama, art, electronics and sustainable farming. The cultural and educational reach of the game is enormous. Minecraft was vital in the rise of the celebrity gaming YouTuber – with names like StampyCat and DanTDM familiar to millions.


With more than 175m copies now sold on an array of devices from smartphones to virtual-reality headsets, Minecraft has transcended the idea of what games are and what they can achieve. When you load the game, what you do is up to you – it gives you the experience you want, and that is different for everyone. There has never been an interactive entertainment experience like it. Game makers truly believe that video games have the power – just like literature, cinema and art – to change lives. This one unquestionably, demonstrably has. Time and time again.

MW