Empire's The 100 Greatest Video Games Of All Time

Empire writes: "You voted, we counted, and here they are: beat-'em-ups, shoot-'em-ups, RPGs, JRPGs, MMORPGs, RTSs, first-person shooters, platformers, sims and much more"

[DarkOcelet]

While i appreciate the hard work done to make this article , 100 pages is just a little too much for me.

[Ezz2013]

I think we can all agree that The Last Of Us is among the best games ever
But calling any game the BEST ever as a fact is very subjective
and every one will have different opinion on it

so that's why those top 100 games of all time lists are very pointless to me TBH

[mediate-this]

I still dont see why tlou is so crazy good, but thats the great thing abot opinion. Trying to finish the game just not into like other people are.

[goldwyncq]

You can't call any game the best ever unless you've played every game in existence, not even from a subjective point of view.

[BiggerBoss]

Yeah, while I consider TLOU a near perfect game, probably even the best of last gen, calling it the greatest game of all time just seems a tad off to me.

[Jaqen_Hghar]

yeah depending on which genre you like and what you grew up with (the reason for so many high Nintendo metas last gen) you will be biased and rank different games. Oh the meltdowns when people see Heavy Rain compared to Mario Galaxy 2 lol

[Concertoine]

I don't know how anyone could call TLOU the best game ever. Your favorite game ever, sure, but for something to be the best it would have to be innovative, ground-breaking, influential, a game that is so perfect in the way it is artistically crafted and so perfect in the way it makes the player feel when they play it. The Last of Us is fantastic, 9.5/10, but there is nothing it does on a gameplay basis that is influential or fresh. It is a typical formula that is finely crafted to fit the context of the game. Im sorry, but the medium of gaming is getting too far off track to deem a game "best of all time" a year after its out largely because of story. Also GTA 5 in the top 10 = immediate invalidation.

The truth is there can be no best game, games are made to elicit different reactions and experiences. Like Silent Hill 2 has very poor gameplay, but it immerses the player and explores its themes in a way that makes it successful. Meanwhile Metroid Prime offers an unrivaled feeling of discovery and the innovative idea of discovering a story by your own whim rather than having it spoon-fed to you.

[gootimes]

I think TLoU was the greatest game of last gen, but not the greatest of all time, I would have many above it... Just my opinion, but I respect his.

[gootimes]

@Concertoine

I actually haven't seen too many games that make you scavenge for parts and supplies and have you make things for yourself on the fly while in danger, planning is half the game. I would imagine many games will be influenced by it gameplay wise. The multiplayer is the same way, it changed the way multiplayer could be thought of, instead of just appear and run and gun, you take time to plan and gather supplies. I think gameplay felt fresh and new, honestly more so than a lot of games on that list.

Of course, I am not talking about basic looting and gathering, almost every game in existence does a form of it. You seriously don't know what I am referring to about TLoU? Have you played it? It is much different. And I am not claiming TLoU is the number one game of all time, or more influential. I was merely commenting on it's gameplay being much better and unique than people give it credit for.

Also I don't understand the argument that a game has to pioneer the genre in order to be the best... That is completely irrelevant to me in what determines the best game.

[Concertoine]

@gootimes

You've never played Bioshock? Or System Shock? A lot of games revolve around looting. Also i remember in Far Cry 2 where you had to pick bullets out of yourself on the fly. But looting and searching for supplies has been a classic of survival horror since day 1. TLOU took typical third person shooter formula, and fit into its own world with stealth and scavenging and did it in an excellent way. And TLOU's multiplayer was actually very interesting, but i'd be surprised if a game is influenced by it. Even if it was, how can that influence be compared to the likes of genre-creating influence spawned from Mario 64, Metroid, Resident Evil, Resident Evil 4, etc.

[Concertoine]

@gootimes

To be honest i have no idea what you're referring to. Are you talking about how you craft your own supplies? It's been a year since i beat the game, feel free to refresh me on this revolutionary looting mechanic i must've overlooked. And i never said the gameplay wasn't unique, I just credit its uniqueness the same way i do Deus Ex... it mashes together elements from different genres to create something sublime, and that is unique in a way.

I feel i went too far with that statement, the game doesn't have to pioneer the genre but i do feel it should do something new with it.

I'll reuse the example of Metroid Prime, it took the exploration genre that Metroid invented and adapted it to the third dimension as well as experimented with an interesting way of storytelling.

This is apples to oranges but Mario Galaxy did the same thing with 3D platformers.

[nX]

They didn't even mention Demon's Souls or Gothic 2... and GTA5 doesn't belong in the Top10.
Can't agree with this list.

[sonarus]

Not the best game ever for me but i can see why there is so much praise around it. I actually really hated it for like the first 30% of the game. Stopped playing after 30% and went back to playing madden. However after much prodding from friends i gave it another shot and the game truly is a master piece. One of the defining games of last gen which kind of like the last truly great game for last gen, for ps3 anyways (not counting gta. but not a gta fan at all).

[DoomeDx]

Scroll to the bottom. Has the list of the top 100.

I think this article is very well done! Looks nice and doesnt force me to click through 100 pages of bullshit with uninspired writing

[affrogamer]

They have one page with everything listed, from 100 to 1

[nosferatuzodd]

take this from a Sony fan the last of us is good no its great but (zelda ocarina of time) is the greatest game ever don't care what anyone says that is the nu 1 game of all time to me

[greenlantern2814]

This list has a lot of really great games on it and I played almost all of them. But any greatest list of anything will be highly debatable.
But this was according to the article voted on by people who go to that site. Which is probably why TLOU is number 1 since it is arguably the best game to come out in recent history.

[Back-to-Back]

Dark Souls ranked higher than Demon's Souls? wow

Red Dead at no. 9 is a mistake.

San Andreas and Fallout 3 not being in the top 10 is fail. Swap GTA V and put in San Andreas atleast.

Uncharted 2 at 22 is fail. Should be higher
Re4 at 27 is fail. Should be higher.

Doom should be in the top 10 along with cod 4. The fps genre would be dead without those 2 titles.

Morrowind ranked higher than Oblivion? nonsense.

Chrono Trigger at 76 is blasphemous. One of the top 5 rpgs alltime.

I like the list, just not the order.

PS: TLOU is well deserved at #1.

[jcnba28]

TLoU greater than OOT? TLoU is a good game but I wouldn't even put it in my top 20.

[Metallox]

To me calling any of those games "the best" is unfair. I mean, Ocarina of Time (not actually the most solid Zelda game for me) focuses in exploration, solution of puzzles and combat, The Last of Us it's more linear, it's more a survival game and puts a lot of effort to immerse the player in the narrative.

The comparison is not fair, while both games are full of quality, they aim for different things, and putting anyone above or below of the other it's just stupid for me.

[gamerfan0909]

Objectively Ocarina of Time has a bigger impact on gaming and is better put together game. I don't think 20 years from now people will talk about TLOU like people talk about OOT. That's not a shot at the game itself, because I respect what ND was trying to do with it.

[TongkatAli]

Opinions, I always got bored watching my friend play OOT, really I'm not saying this to you to troll, that game bored me and made me yawn many times.

I respect what that game did for the action adventure games, but I rather play the games it influenced.

The soundtrack is the best thing about Oot to me, the rest meh. Majora's Mask, now that shit was a lot more interesting then Oot, that moon was creepy as fu..

[Quadraxis]

TLoU doesn't deserve to be in the top 20, putting it in first is just too much.

[JimmyDM90]

Greatest games? That's just asking for trouble. They should have just done a list of the 100 most important games and based it on the impact games have had on the industry. People would have still complained but at least the list would be slightly more objective.

[jimjam3442]

well i guess im not the only one underwhelmed by the last of us.

[ShaqSoda]

Can someone post the top ten? No way I'm clicking 100 times.

[Tedakin]

Click Full List in the top right on the site.

[HammadTheBeast]

The full list is right at the bottom.

[mediate-this]

Tlou should not be in the top 20, the game is linear, characters are cliche, story is cliche, instead of zombie take over its a ant spore with a twist. I play this game i cant even turn it on and stay playing it, sick of the cliche characters. The strong eonan type, apparently can pick joel up which makes zero sense.

Skyrim, zelda ocarina of time, gta V, all have more content with out dlc, despite skyrims bugs still miles better than tlou. Ocarina should have been number one, the depth in stpry to it, from kid to adult.

Im still trying to figure out what the hype is about with tlou, if any can truly tell me it will be greatly appreciated, im not trying to troll. I just want incite

[ABeastNamedTariq]

You want to incite a reaction lol.

And, eonan?

[Tedakin]

Oh good god, The Last of Us is not the GREATEST GAME OF ALL TIME.

[Malphite]

You could say the same thing about every single game that has ever existed. This doesn't even mean that it's the best game of all time. It only means that more people have voted for it on this site.

[Corpser]

Most of the best games ever are from the last 5 years? Nah

[TimidPixel]

TLoU is an awesome game. I got the ps3 and ps4 edition just to support ND for a job well done.
Also a pretty good list.

[gamerfan0909]

I'm sorry, but I don't get the hype for TLOU. It's a great game and the voice acting is definitely ground breaking, but the everything else about it is merely ok to me. I'm not shitting on the game or saying it's bad, but I don't know why it's considered to be one of the greatest games of all time.

Maybe it's because I've seen that father loses daughter meets little girl and forms bond story a million times in books and movies. Or it could be that I just don't like stealth games to begin with. To me, if we're talking objectively, then Shadows of the Colasus, Mario 64, Ocarina of time, Halo CE, GTA 3, and RE, uncharted 2 have to be in the top 5 or 6 objectively. What they did for their genres is unmatched. Especially SOTC, because it's probably the most unique game ever made.

[gamerfan0909]

I also don't think in any way shape or form that Gears of war and Max Payne should be outside of the top 20. I'm sorry. Those games pioneered the genre and has mechanics that most third person shooters borrow from them today. Also Uncharted 2 should be top 10 shenmue, Goldeneye, and WOW. I don't think any of those games are of Uncharted 2's caliber. Especially not Goldeneye considering how badly it has aged. Oh yeah one more thing how the hell is Super Mario Galaxy so low in the list? Come on man what's the criteria on how you're grading these gamea. Because if you're not grading them on impact, innovation, and replayablity then I need to know what your grade system is.

[gootimes]

I agreed with a lot of what you said... except for Gears of War, so cliché overrated tough guy series. It didn't pioneer or invent anything, to me that wouldn't even be in the top 100... just my opinion of course.

[captainexplosion]

How the hell did Super Mario Bros 3 not make this list??? Amazing how you all want to complain about Ocarina of Time only being number 2 yet dont care about that. And on a personal note, where is Ratchet & Clank?

And I don't get the big deal with TLoU (or any ND games since the first Jak and Daxter). It wasn't bad but it felt almost broken at times. The AI was terrible. Ellie would literally walk into a enemy and it wouldn't notice her. And the level design had major problems. I don't like sneaking around trying to avoid the enemies to save ammo only to find out that I wasted a ton of time and you have to kill them to get to the next section. Why the *uck cant Ellie just give you a hint and tell you to kill them?

[MGSmarioPRO]

I didn't play TLOU so can't talk about it but after all those prizes don't surprise me a lot and you need to remember this is made of votes so this is the big fresh (remaster) game in every mind.
MGS, FFVII, WOW and OoT are on the top 5 so think this could even be a good reading. Super Mario Bros from 44 to 1 and the top 5 personally (not the order still) would be what i think that are the best 5.

[Spurg]

This is user voted so obviously TLOU would be number 1.

Resident Evil 4
Dark Souls
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Gears of war 2
Shadow of the Colossus
Castlevania: SOTN
Silent Hill

these games should be in the top 10 or top 20 at least. They are games that innovated and help shape gaming as we know it now...

[TheFallenAngel]

Look at all the hate towards TLOU. It's funny. And seriously no God of War?

[deafdani]

What hate? Most of the commenters in here actuakly say the game is good, even great, but not the best of all time. That's hardly hating.

Personally, I liked TLOU a lot because of its awesome narrative, which is second to none. I'm actually on my second playthrough on it right now, survivor difficulty. For me, it was one of the best games of last year, but not the best... and certainly isn't anywhere close to being the best game of all time.

Still a pretty damn good game by itself, though.

[Kingdomcome247]

I'm not going to go through 100 pages, but I hope that Bioshock 1 found a spot in at least the top 20. Edit: I just saw barb_wire post the list. I, think 14 is reasonable for Bioshock 1. It's my personal GOAT, but opinions are just that, an opinion. It's impossible to definitively rank them. If you go by accolades alone TlOU is definitely worthy of the ranking. I think the greatest game of all time should be awarded to a game that innovated, moved the industry forward, and transcended gaming.

[WeAreLegion]

Click "Full List".

[HanzoHattori]

Some people aren't reading the article, just like some who are criticizing TLOU and have never actually played it.

[Kingdomcome247]

I admittedly didn't read it. I saw the first comment mention it being 100 links so I didn't bother. Somone posted the list, I got the gist of the article. I, hope you didn't take my comment as a dig at TLOU. It's a masterpiece, and one of my top ten games hands down.

[incendy35]

Lists are so pointless but fun haha

[TongkatAli]

^
I agree with you and people always argue about what is number 1

[AsunaYuukiTheFlash]

Call of Juarez...... Seriously?

[WeAreLegion]

Call of Juarez?
Halo: Reach?
Twilight Princess?
Championship Manager?

I feel like some trolling occurred here.

[affrogamer]

I know right? And not a single God of War game, which is even more crazier!

[JDW]

Never underestimate the addictive, social life destroying qualities of Championship Manager (now Football Manager).

[deafdani]

Twilight Princess is an amazing game, although it may be ranked way too damn high in the list, in my opinion.

Anyway, this list is highly subjective, and I don't agree with A LOT of stuff on that list (for example, Mario Galaxy 2 is criminally low there)... but hey, it isn't MY list.

Anyway, I think we can all agree that most of the games in that list are amazing games, regardless of their ranking... right?

:)

[LightDiego]

The Last of Us is great, i don't think it's an absurd to be considered by some people the best game ever.

[Fanci]

I agree, the last of us is a good movie (great story and graphics) but the rest of what makes a game a "game" (gameplay, multiplier etc) it definitely isn't the best. Best story of any game does not equal best game, however a lot of people think it does.

[Rebel_Scum]

Not enough 8/16/32-bit games on this list for my liking. But it is what it is.

[Gamer777]

While I don't agree with the list's ranking; I have played and like a lot of games on it. However; I also haven't played a lot of the ranked games. Personally I don't think there is a greatest game of all time, but everyone has a right to there own personal greatest of all time list.

[Dawknight316]

I Agree for the most part. I just would have had God of War II on there.

[zsquaresoff]

Agree with the list and the No.1 choice but I think...

Mass Effect 2.
Arkham City.
God Of War 2.
MGS 3

And

GTA: San Andreas should be in the Top 10.

[Dinoegg_96]

I see lots of overrated games...

[matrixman92]

Ride to Hell Retribution is the best game ever...true story

[Gamer777]

Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing

[PiNkFaIrYbOi]

Is this list like a joke or something?

[Abdiam24]

GTAV is way to high on that list

[young7yang]

Shenmue should have been in the top twenty

[BBBQ_BYOBB]

It is!

[young7yang]

I meant part 2

[slappy508]

I agree with TLOU actually. It would be a toss up between that and Metal Gear solid, just thinking about how much I got into the game.

[slappy508]

I'm surprised Contra is not on that list. It was one of the funnest couch multiplayer experiences

[lonelyplayer]

Actually this is a pretty good list.

[Johnsonparts23]

Not gonna disagree with #1 but metal gear solid would be 2 or 3 above world of Warcraft! Sheesh.

[Phoenix76]

Personally I would of had Elite much higher up the list as it was truely a benchmark game. Set many 1st's within the gaming industry.

[BBBQ_BYOBB]

I think it's a pretty well considered list. I'm never going to play WOW though.

[Rimeskeem]

I always hated these lists. You can't put games that may focus on totally different aspects and mechanics in game against each other because it just simply would not be fair.

[TheMapleNerd]

I guess every list would be different than one and another..
Since last of us wont be at my list since i never played it :P

[lefty]

Lmao is this a joke? Have to be a joke.
.

[Xbot1214]

LMAOOOOOOOOOOOO OVER ZELDA:OT?????????
AHHAAHAHAHHAHAHA
\AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
AGHAGGAGAGAGAHAHAHAHAH]

PS FANBOY ALERT

[TRGMatt]

Hmm...not a bad list. Even covered some classics that I forgot about.

[tommygunzII]

Not the worst list but I don't agree with WoW at #3. It is popular I'll give it that but that's about the only thing its great at.