MSNBC: 'Bioshock' creator picks his top 5 games

MSNBC writes: "Ken Levine is regarded as one of the most creative people in the game industry. He led the creation of the best-selling "Bioshock," one of 2007's most critically revered hits. But what does a creative guy play when he's not dreaming up his next game?

Here's Levine's list of his top 5 favorite games of all time. Have a look at his selections, in his own words:

5) 'Civilization IV' (Firaxis)

I love this game because it's entirely player driven and endlessly fascinating. Also the design simply refuses to get old, some fifteen years later."

[wow4u]

My top 5;

Halo Series
X-Com
Tetris
SimCity
Zelda

[Silellak]

X-Com!!

The world needs more squad-based strategy games with destructible environments and internet play.

[NO_PUDding]

His Top 5 shows you how unimaginative he is. Bioshock is as overrated as his Game Selection.

Beyond Good And EVil was innovative, and great, but how much money do i bet he player neither that nor Zelda. I would bet my student fees on it, but I already used them buying a night with the French bird from the Renault Clio advert.

[tony]

i don't think you understood bioshock, if you even played it. bioshock is a masterpiece, simple as that.
and another thing, i don't think the legend of zelda is over rated, actually is a great game for its time.

[m9105826]

I personally thought Bioshock was meh. I couldn't even force myself to finish it. I chalk it up to hype. I was so pumped for it, i went out and bought the limited edition PC version on day 1, played it for about a day and a half, and found it to be far too easy, and a little bland on the story side. The AI wasn't what it was promised to be, and the only think I really liked were the graphics, which really stretch what UE3 is capable of, and the Big Daddies.

[mariusmal]

oh X-COM. great franchise.

[NO_PUDding]

Tony, maybe you define masterpieces by[and not to sound like a fanboy here, but the 360 is for shooters, and it's great at that] the most clever and yet still rather shallow game available on the 360.

Call of Duty 4 brought things to an insane new level, but even it isn't a masterpiece, it's forced cut scenes are shockingly comparable and it is very much heading in the right direction. People rant about Bioshocks's art style, but all they did was art deco, underwater, not even technical art direction was challenged. Art deco underwater just feel cliched, it goes hand in hand with unimaginative concept artists. Subtly abstract games are masterpieces, and just because you were forced to watch one cut scene it's a masterpiece?

No, Bioshock was a good game, a mastepiece it was not.

[Skizelli]

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."
"One man's trash is another man's treasure."

All great sayings. I think this also applies to someone's definition of a masterpiece. If a game is perfect to the player through and through, then it has every right to be considered a masterpiece by that player. Especially in a sea of crappy games.

Art's really no different in that sense.

[Richdad]

Way to write man, Yeah and Bioshock was good COD4 is like a game that can be copied and I assure you the copy could be better. But if you play Bioshock you have to explore its world and it looks real good yeah some character look like stone but the art direction and especially the light
tracing was better than HL2:EPS 2 yeah it looked better than it overall and there is a setting in 360 version that can push your fps to @60 with a little drop in visual fidelity.
It was told like a novel and there were parts that radio generated messages cause you to hate Mr. Ryan and cause you to hate rapture love it the final boss was a little bizzard but overall it was good but only low point is that it had some hard gameplay feautres I mean in finding objects thats why it was for hardcore gamers. But still man it was really good to run along rapture and you can free roam and it was really fun there were side quest in every level but you have to take attention.

[poopface1]

there arnt many FPS where you can do anything other than shoot and throw gernades. Bioshock was pretty good at everything and the many different abilities you can get added to the experience for me. I never played system shock 1 or 2, but after Deus Ex FPS just have seemed to get more and more simple. Deus ex 2 was craptastic(or average to most people), IN the age of mostly crap or average FPS bioshock was pretty Different and way above average. You cant say been there done this like with just about every other FPS like halo3 call of duty 4 and especially 5. Killing aliens or the army, or the army of aliens. Now thinking back, most of my favorit FPS have all stayed strictly in the First person view and the story unfolds infront of you. No cutscenes or level jumping around, just one area to the next with loading inbetween. Bioshock got the formula for a great FPS down, just look at the best FPS there have ever been. Most of them do something new that the first time player wont say "been here done this." It didnt have multiplayer but honestly most people would just play cod4 or any other multi, but I played Bioshock a few times through and never finished COD4 single player(played multi and never went back, probaly the best part of single player is the bombing part anyways).

[Wildarmsjecht]

If we're allowed series, then the final fantasy one hands down

But single titles

FF3/6
FF7
Wild Arms
Super Street Fighter 2
Metal Gear Solid

[Bleucrunch]

Hmm Lets see....my top 5 would be:

Metal Gear
Final Fantasy
Resident Evil
Street Fighter
Age of Empires

We cant leave this list to just five because there are soo many more I can add to this list.

[Richdad]

I would say very selective list and Beyond Good and Evil was good but it didnt sold well. there should be HL2 there too. He made Bioshock a more like innovative shooter so.
My favourate are, I play near abt 5-6 games at one time:
1.)Resident Evil 4
2.) Half Life 2, EPS 2 (take it as whole Orange box)
3.) GOW2, NGB
4.) Gears
5.) Final Fantasy X or Bioshock (tie)

[Cyrus365]

He seemed to be very PC influenced with most of his selections with the exception of A link to the past.

[TheIneffableBob]

Well, he is a PC game developer.

[Silellak]

World of Warcraft? Boo! Boo, I say.

My personal All Time Top Five, in no particular order.

Ultima VII (both the original and Serpent Isle)
X-Com
Chrono Trigger
Final Fantasy 4
TIE Fighter (which really represents a lot of space sim games - Wing Commander, Free Space, etc. But TIE Fighter barely eeks them out.)

Damn, only five? Hardly seems enough...

[Fux4Bux]

My top:
Halo:CE (Halo2/3 are garbage)
GTA series
Hearts of Iron 2
Starcraft
Total War series

I used to love Civilization too but they really need to change the basic gameplay of it. I want even more complicated and they're moving towards casual garbage.

[NO_PUDding]

Mine are:

5 Assassins Creed
4 Abe's Odyssey
3 TES3: Morrowind
2 GTA III
1 Shadow of the Colossus

[BilI Gates]

WOW? Lulz.

I agree with Beyond Good & Evil though. That game was incredible.

- Your friendly neighborhood Bill

[ben hates you]

you're surprisingly annoying

the

- Your friendly neighborhood Bill

is just weird

[40cal]

5.Goldeneye - N64
4.Grand Theft Auto Vice City - PS2
3.God of War (whole series) PS2, PSP
2.Metal Gear (whole series) NES, PSone, PS2, PSP
1.Final Fantasy VII - PSone

[Diugu]

hehehe

Here it goes.
All time:

5- GTA Vice City
4- Half-Life (Series, but mostly the Counter Strike Mode)
3- God of War (Series)
2- Metal Gear Solid (Series)
1- Final Fantasy (Series, VI, VII and X are my favorites though)

Bubbles up!

[Bnet343]

I don't have a top 5. Too many games deserve to be in mines.

[tplarkin7]

Beyond Good & Evil was overrated. I beat the game, and I don't remember much from it. So much for "memorable".

I can't say much for his other choices, but none of these games are FPSs. Perhaps he's joking about that list?

[ScottEFresh]

Beyond good and Evil is THE only PS2 game I've played and beaten on my PS3. It's one of the best games of last gen and HIGHLY slept on.

[TurdStationPee]

Guess what, scotteboy, no one cares.

and lmao @ tplarkin, "cant say much for the rest"? Oh? what kind of n00b hasn't beaten a Zelda: a link to the past? LMFAO. now that's an embarrassment.

[Percy]

beyond good and evil is generaly accepted as one of the most underated games of all time. Do a google search you will come up with a lot more articles that say underated then over.

[tplarkin7]

I never played Zelda LTP. It's a 25 year-old game.

By "overrated" I meant that every reviewer gave it glowing scores and said that it was the Second Coming. I wasn't referring to the poor sales.

[Blademask]

Best selling .. what? Game in 2007? Best selling Bioshock game?

[bluegoblin]

but didn't bioshock brake the 2 million mark??? that some really good numbers....
Anyway since everyone is sharing.
5.Resident evil( all of them but specially 3-4)
4.Grand theft auto: San andreas.
3.God Of war.
2.Metal Gear solid series( specially sons of liberty cause i loved the story even though i still dont get it..;D)
1.The legend of Zelda:OCARINA OF TIME.
so yeah hope you agree...

[otherZinc]

In order:
Halo 3
Halo 2
Halo 1
Ninja Gaiden
Ghost Recon AW:2

[Shankle]

lol

[Richdad]

I think any body can write their choices yeah Halo was good but I didnt say its best but then there are a lot of people who are crazy for that.so Its there personal choice.

[bootsielon]

Kingdom Hearts 2
God of War 2
Zelda 64
Dragon Quest 8
Final Fantasy 8

Runner-ups:
Street Fighter alpha 3, Killer Instinct, Mortal Kombat Trilogy

[Mandangoof]

I'll say any favourable comments on old Nintendo games are just naively nostalgic. They're old trash. Not different from Nintendo games nowadays that look like they were made 5-10 years ago.

I guess, like with Halo, people can like them, but it just means you have bad taste.

An unimpressive, complete let-down of a list from the Bioshock creator.

[lib9]

I cant pick 5 games, so here are my favorite sagas/franchises

5. God of war [PS2, PSP]
4. Metal Gear Solid [PS, PS1, PS2, soon PS3 (can't wait)]
3. Elder Scrolls [Xbox, PS3, 360 (Specially Morrowind]
2. Final Fantasy [PS, PS2, PSP, not including XI, my favorite is VIII]
1. Valve's FPS : Half Life, Half Life 2 [+ep1, ep2], Counter Strike, Team Fortress, I must have wasted more than 1000 hours of my life on these games, specially CS.

[TurdStationPee]

Other than ALTTP, all those games suck ass. Surprising such a god of gaming would have such a list. I am not amused.

[Whoooop]

or this guy looks like Steve Carell??

[BrianC6234]

What a boring list he has. I don't care about any of those games. That's his five top games?

[triarii85]

civ Iv is one of the greatest games ever, i completly respect that game in his top 5. anyone who says otherwise has eirther never played it, or stupid.(i know that argument is lame, but c'mon this game is a masterpiece). there is simply no game that will absorb your hours like a civ game. i normally only play games in like 1-2 hour intervals. i play civ for like 10 hours straight. THIS GAME IS DIGITAL CRACK!!!!!! my top 5 games
1. metal gear solid.
2. Civilization 4
3. Rome: total war (i love this &&^%&# game)
4. super smash Bros melee
5. god of war 2 tied with
5. counter stike 1.6

[Dark General]

Not a bad list he said, i wasn't expecting WoW though. My list looks like this though:

1:God of War
2:Deus Ex:The Conspiracy
3:Metal Gear Solid 3:Snake Eater
4:Sonic 2
5:Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver

[triarii85]

you people are idiots. civ 4 ftw

[aco]

The last game Beyond Good and Evil is also in my top 10 best game I ever played....

[The Closing]

Metal Gear Solid Series (mgs4 will make the list)
Resident Evil 4 (RE5 will make the list)
Gears of War (online)

[Gorgon]

In no particular order:

- X-com: Terror from the Deep
- Planescape: Torment
- Sid Meyer's Sword of the Samurai
- Hidden & Dangerous 2
- Operation Flashpoint
- Fallout series

and others I don't remember right now.

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

I love Thief, I wish there was some news on a new one.

[4cough]

Shenmue 1 (Dreamcast)
Shenmue 2 (Dreamcast)
Halo 2-MP (XBOX)
Goldeneye (N64)
Zelda TP (Gamecube)

[TheJBag]

my top 5

5. Oblivion- a newer game, but deserves this spot.

4. Timesplitters Fp- so many hours spent playing.

3. Half Life 2

2. (reserved for Metal Gear Solid 4)

1. Metal Gear Solid 3- everything a game should be. if you argue, im sorry you are wrong.

Other Gems- Full Throttle, Ico, Shadow of the collosus, Resident Evil 4, Okami, FFVII, Ratchet and Clank, Halo 1(no others), Uncharted, Supermario Bros 3, GTA III, Second Sight, Beyond Good And Evil, Monkey Island, Sam And Max, The MGS Franchise...... On and on and on

[Dark_Overlord]

Xcom
Dizzy
Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past
Monkey Island
Deus Ex
FF7

Yes its 6 but I couldn't leave any one of them out

[Matpan]

My list... won´t give a precise order... all great games for me, and obviously this is a totally personal and sentimentally biased list :)

-Monkey Island I (II and III could be placed here too, but I is just too special for me, made me decide to make my life as an illustrator.)

-Half Life series (1 and 2)

-Soul Calibur.. for Dreamcast (probably the best fighting game ever IMO...)

-Flashback for the Sega Genesis (and the previous game from the same creator, Out of this World) (again, for personal reasons... games that really inspired me visually)

-Mafia (really enjoyed playing that one.. a real jewel)

I am leaving out some games I trully appreciate: Starcraft, Warcraft Series (WOW included) Command and Conquer series (red Alert personal favourite), Counter Strike 1.5, of course :P, Sam and Max, The Dig, Space Quest series, Kings Quest series, Larry series (yes, I am an adverture fan... early 90s being a great time for me) Day of the Tentacle (and why not, Maniac Mansion. Bioshock (GREAT GAME), Halo 1, Doom 1 and 3... Quake 1, 2 and 4... ohhh and Duke Nukem!!! how to forget the long lan parties with my friends at home :)

[Matpan]

Oh gee!! How to forget Ultima VII!!!!

And FFVII too...

I wont go deep into 8 bit and 16 bit era... My list would be tooo long..
thanks Sonic for many great moments (tear) :)

[Lets-Game]

ill share too hehe,
1.counter strike
2.Heroes 2/3
3.Pro Evolution Soccer
4.Diablo 1/2
5.Rome: Total war

[Mcrmarcher]

I remember playing the demo version of beyond good and evil and i realy loved that game,sadly i never got around to buying it....

[thekingofMA]

but does anyone else think that ken levine looks a helluva lot like steve carell (if he had a beard of course)

whenever i see that picture of levine (is that the ONLY pic they have of them?) i always think its steve carell

yea...sorry to go off topic

[Jim Crowslaw]

5.Super Smash Brothers Brawl
4.Halo 2
3.GTA: San Andreas
2.Marvel vs Capcom 2
1.Crackdown

--go head laugh at my number 1...but never before in the history of me playin games have a had so much fun playing a game...and MVC2 is a very close runner up but im sry....Crackdown wit Co-op was sumthin else to me

[PSWarlord]

1) Final Fantasy 8 - (I preferred this more than FF8....No flaming plz)
2) Wild Arms 3 - (There needs to be a Nxt Gen Game)
3) Metal Gear Solid 2 - (Now this was a masterpiece cant wait 4 MGS4)
4) DMC....ummm cant decide between 3 or 4 - (Fuk it both)
5) Dragonquest 8 - (Amazing game)

[Jim Crowslaw]

i respect ur inclusion of the DMC (3,4) series in ur top....i almost put 3 but couldnt find a spot for it. Kudos for u...heres a bubble

[Mandangoof]

Neither are the more obvious point & click ones. It's just an interactive book.

[Azures]

Levine is a douche.

He kinda looks like David Duchovny though.

[demolitionX]

BIOSHOCK!!!what's that???

[poopface1]

!Half life- with the best mod ever for free.
Deus-Ex- made all other FPS seem DUMB
mario 64
RE2
Metal gear 1
super mario world
halo1
NG1

ohh yea and the only turn based RPG that Ill ever like probaly-

FINAL FANTSY 7- might be my favorit game ever, I just cant admit that I actually like a turn based RPG soooo much when I hated every other one that Ive ever played. I mean comon a story about an evil enery company that is killing the planet and a guy with a huge sword, whats not to like about that(and talking lion-dogs).
I dont really consider this gens games as possible favorites yet>

[poopface1]

many others but really mega man x was on of my favorite games ever too.

[Spydr07]

In no particular order:
Zelda: Ocarina
Metal Gear Solid 2/3
Final Fantasy 8/10/11
Tekken Tag/DRO
Twisted Metal 2

[gabro904]

in no particular order...

halo2
metal gear solid (ps2)...cant beat the new original
resident evil 4
zelda : ocarina of time
mario 64

i love games with a great story and gameplay to match...ok halo2 is the exception but it has great muliplayer...if it wasnt for that that game is just to damn goofy!