I've been thinking a little about my computer gaming habits and have come up with a couple realizations to which some gamers may relate.
For me, games that I will play repetitively and continually must have a few particular characteristics. First, it must create for the player a seemingly “open world.” By this, I mean that the game shouldn't forcibly shepherd the player towards any one particular mission or goal, but present a large space in which the player may explore and exploit the landscape, and potentially even get lost in it's depth. Next, the game must present the player with numerous ways in which to interact with that large, unrestricted world. This may include, but not necessarily be limited to, the ability to combine items to create other items, to move things or alter their condition in the environment, or to destroy things altogether. Additionally, characters with which the player will talk, trade, and/or fight must be reasonably well-developed, having a purpose for being there, not merely existing. I must feel the compulsion to save an ally's life or to maim that bad guy for whatever the reason may be.
All of the above factors contribute heavily to my interest in continued play, and in most cases, add a great deal of re-playability to the game before other considerations are even involved. So after the above is reasonably well-satisfied, what is next?
Most of the games that live on my “Favorite Games of All Time” list allow the player numerous ways to achieve the end-goal of the game, and in some cases, even different endings depending on how the player chose to go about it. What this means is that a creative, compelling story is a must, of course.
So lets just put it this way: Each of the games I will write about below has consumed not just hours of play-time, but days. If I had to declare an average, I'd say between 4-5 days of my life has been spent enjoying each game, and some much more. I still play some of these games, although some with lesser regularity than others, and they are not necessarily listed in any particular order unless specified otherwise – most are simply listed in the order in which I thought of them.
When I was younger, for instance the Ultima Underworld games (the first released in 1992, second in 1993) were two of my absolute favorites. These games are credited by some as being the first first-person perspective roll playing games. At the time, these games were pretty heavy handed on computer hardware, but today's computers have reversed the tide and essentially rendered them unplayable without a DOS emulator, something many people simply can't be bothered to learn to use. That said, I have dabbled with these games numerous times since winning them in my teen years, and I find their story just as compelling as I did then.
There is an effort in progress to “remake” the Underworld games, but it seems stalled by the fear of legal action from Origin. This is sad, really, considering it has been 18 years, but litigation seems to be one of the world's most popular ways to make money these days...
Another series of games I have often played is Civilization. From the first release in 1991 to the fifth in 2010, I have played and enjoyed every PC release of the game. As far as turn-based strategic / diplomatic games go, I have met none that even compare with Civ. That, and I think I can speak for almost everyone when I say that I kinda enjoy trying to conquer the entire world.
Another game I really enjoyed was Fable, first released in 2004. This Xbox to PC game was probably my first intentional foray into the world of games that play on multiple platforms, and is also the first game that I ever played that, for a while, consumed so much of my free time that my wife complained. I learned a little about personal time management as a result of playing Fable, so I guess these games can be educational.
Fable's story was also the first I've seen where the player character starts off as a child and the tutorial segment of the game basically brings you ought of childhood. This hour-long tutorial does, unfortunately, negatively impact replayability, as you kinda have to go through a lot of repetitive things just to get back into the game, and there really aren't any choices to make as you go through it. I guess what I'm saying is that this game captivated me for a long while because of it's initial depth but nearly all of the game's depth can be explored in two playthroughs (and possibly one, if given enough time and forethought). That said, I thought of it when I considered my favorite games and so it makes the list.
For whatever it is worth, I probably would have gotten into Fable II when it came out in 2008 if it weren't for Microsoft's decision to not port the game to PC. Sorry folks, but I'm not buying an Xbox 360 just for one game.
Another game that consumed mass hours of my time was Arx Fatalis, released in 2002. Until Fable's release for the PC, this was pretty much “my game” due to it's enveloping world and characters. Pretty much everything in the game can be manipulated, and the player can mostly do whatever he wants through a significant portion of the game, making it feel as if it would have made a great set up for an Underworld III title. Oddly, my research suggests that the developers had wanted to do that very thing but could not obtain license from Origin to do so. Go figure.
My main gripes with the game were related to the linear main quest, which had to be done in a particular sequence and could not be completed at all if you had slain pivotal characters in a rampage early in the game, and the bugginess of the end-game, during which I experienced repeated crashes (more-so after installing the game's final patch).
So, while the game's story isn't as open-ended as with some of the other titles, the game's amazing story and world make up for it's shortfalls.
My absolute favorite game of all time (at least so far) is, predictably, Fallout 3. New Vegas comes in a close second-place, but Fallout 3's game environment is simply more believable (to me, anyway) than that of New Vegas. That, and I guess I enjoy the added lawlessness and lesser developed society of the Capital Wasteland vs. the semi-organized Mojave. Between the two, I've probably spent a solid 15 or 16 days (so far) in-game, a number only bested by the Underworld titles.
But seriously, nothing beats a good post-apocalyptic story based on a fictional, almost-believable, but not not quite identical, Earth.
So one might notice that there are very few games making this list, and yet I do own and play other games from time to time. There is something to be said for the fact that a lot of games are fun but don't rank highly for various reasons. SimCity 4, for instance, while I enjoy playing it for short stints when I don't have time to get deeply entrenched in another game (or maybe can't play another game because of adult content that my son really shouldn't see), I find the game just doesn't captivate me the same way a story-based game might. I can build cities right fine, but nothing compels me to do anything more than that, and thus I simply never go any further.
Doom 3 is another game that I enjoyed for a time, but is at it's core a “shoot everything” game. I kinda grew out of that genre a decade ago. The game pretty much pushes you along the story, and honestly, I only ever got so deep into the first two Doom games as the result of the multiplayer features. Something about killing your friends in deathmatch mode just made the game a lot more fun!
Racing games also really lost my attention a long time ago... I mean, how much more linear can you get? I've played them on occasion, but usually don't get into them for long periods of time.
Well, I guess that is sort of an overview of some of my favorite games. I guess the problem now is that not very many developers want to make the games I like – or maybe they don't have the skill required? In any event, I guess it is a good thing that these games are have such high replay value for me, because I know I'll be waiting a while before the next “favorite” comes along.
