SomeKindaBlog

9. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 -

In 2002, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater was one of the few franchises released yearly that I would pick up immediately at launch. My anticipation for new levels, game mechanics, and goals was always high, and THPS4 was no different. In fact, for this particular release, my excitement was even higher. Why, you ask? This was the first game in the series to ditch the epic two-minute timer—suck a fat one Activision and Iron Galaxy—in favor of an open level format.

If you're unfamiliar, the first 3 games in the series featured levels with a number of goals for you to accomplish within a time limit. These would be broken up by competition levels where you had three one-minute runs you were judged on. THPS4 switched this up by having 16 goals per level along with 5 pro-difficulty goals that unlocked after completing the main career. This brought the total to 21 progressively harder challenges per level in the primary career mode. Along with this, you had your standard fare like collecting the letters S-K-A-T-E and C-O-M-B-O, high score challenges, and multiple competitions. Each level also consisted of goals that matched the theme of that particular stage. Those goals included knocking over frat jerks and jocks in College, wall-riding double-decker buses in London, freeing a prisoner on Alcatraz, and so on.

Aside from the amateur and pro-level difficulty goals, each skater on the roster has their own unique challenges to tackle after you complete the main campaign. Some of these are the most fun—and the most difficult—in the entire franchise (I'm looking at you, Bob Burnquist, and your stupid ass loop). In fact, for my money, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 is the most difficult game in the entire franchise and that's not a bad thing; it felt like a reward for getting good at the previous three games. This game assumed you played the previous ones and almost had a "have you tried sucking less?" attitude that I really appreciated. Across the seven main levels, two bonus levels, and skater-specific goals, there are 190 total objectives to complete. Not only was this the hardest entry in the series, but it was one of the most content-packed as well.

10. The Last of Us -

There are few times a video game has caused me to think, "Holy shit! I never thought games could do this." However, Naughty Dog provided that for me in 2013 with the release of The Last of Us. Never before had a video game made me feel so deeply, but before I get too far ahead of myself, let's set the scene.

Naughty Dog was coming off an insanely strong trilogy of games with the Uncharted series prior to the release of The Last of Us, using that foundation and morphing it into something completely different. It featured similar gameplay mechanics like stealth, shooting, and a cover system, but the similarities ended there. Story-wise, The Last of Us had an entirely different tonal shift, so let's get into some of the broad strokes of the plot.

You take control of Joel Miller twenty years after a deadly fungus destroys civilization by turning people into zombie-like creatures. After the tragic loss of his daughter during the initial outbreak, Joel turns to a life of smuggling. A group known as the Fireflies tasks him with escorting Ellie, an immune teenage girl, across the United States in hopes that she is the key to a cure. Along the way, Joel and Ellie must survive dangerous infected as well as hostile human survivors. This story delivers crazy twists, turns, and heart-wrenching moments—including a couple of utterly soul crushing ones occurring early in the game.

The first of which was alluded to above and occurs right at the beginning involving Joel's daughter, Sarah. While trying to escape with your brother, Tommy, Sarah is gunned down and dies in Joel's arms. This marked the first of three times that caused me to turn off the game and walk away.

The second moment was right near the end of the first section while escorting Ellie. Joel is joined by a companion named Tess, who ends up being bitten during a skirmish with the infected. After revealing her wound to Joel and Ellie, she urges them to go on, sacrificing herself to the military that is hunting them down. Already, within the first four hours of the game, I've now set my controller down twice. Now, let's get into the third.

A bit later in the game you meet Henry and Sam, two brothers on the run. Henry made a deal with a rival group to get leukemia medicine for his younger brother, Sam, and they have been hunted ever since. At some point, Sam gets bitten, and Henry is forced to end his brother's suffering before taking his own life. For the third time, I had to turn this game off—and if you think my torment ended there, you would be wrong, because then David comes into the picture.

Where do we even start with David? This guy is a real piece of work. David is the leader of a pseudo-religious group of survivors who, as you find out later, are cannibals. In this chapter, you take control of Ellie because Joel is injured pretty badly. While trying to gather food and medicine, you cross paths with David. At first, he seems to be on the up and up. You even strike a deal with him, offering a deer you just killed in exchange for medicine. While waiting for one of David's crew members to return with said medicine, you both are attacked by infected. With the threat out of the way, David unveiled that he knows who you are, revealing that you and Joel are responsible for the death of several of his men. The monologue he goes on is so well written and performed that it made me want to watch the credits to find out who did the voice acting and motion capture. I was shocked when I found out it was none other than the man behind Nathan Drake himself, Nolan North. Joel makes the save just as David is about to do some real nefarious shit to Ellie and you make your escape.

Dealing with all this dark shit throughout the game makes your final choice very easy. During their long journey, Joel begins to see Ellie as a surrogate daughter and becomes extremely protective of her. After making it to their destination, Joel learns that the surgery required for a potential cure will ultimately kill Ellie. Making your way through the hospital and into the operating room, you shoot the surgeon and take off with Ellie. Having already lost his daughter, Joel chooses to save her, sacrificing their shot at a vaccine and possibly dooming humanity. Shortly after this, Joel is confronted by the leader of the Fireflies who tries to stop Joel from taking away the world's last chance at survival. However, she gets the same treatment as the surgeon, leaving you and Ellie to continue your escape.

As Ellie begins to wake up, Joel tells her a bunch of bullshit, lying about there being more immune people and no cure. The final shot of the game has Ellie asking Joel if everything he said was true. Joel hesitates and replies "I Swear." Ellie flashes a knowing look that Joel is full of shit, but says, "Okay."

11. Rock Band 2 -

When Harmonix Music Systems announced Rock Band, I immediately jumped on the bandwagon sight unseen. I was already addicted to their previous series, Guitar Hero, but Rock Band took the genre to the next level, adding bass, vocals, and my new obsession, drums. The first Rock Band was a pretty solid package that—stop me if you've heard this one before—was improved upon by its sequel. So today, we'll be talking about Rock Band 2.

Rock Band 2 launched with 84 on-disc songs with 20 free songs that came later. I could sit here and list them all, but that would be ridiculous. What I will tell you is that Rock Band 2's setlist is my favorite in the franchise. Up to this point, video game sequels tended to stand on their own, never carrying content over from previous releases. Harmonix decided to change that. Not only did all your purchased DLC songs make the jump to the sequel, but you could also export nearly the entire setlist from the original game as well. That support encouraged players to keep investing in more songs and continued with subsequent sequels, even when the franchise jumped generations. I should know—I currently have 1,421 songs in my Rock Band song library, and I never grow tired of playing them.

The release of downloadable songs was at its peak in this era of Rock Band, with three to six tracks dropping weekly, and sometimes more. Couple that with the ability to purchase iconic full albums, and boy, was my wallet hurting. As noted above, I didn't feel any apprehension about buying so many songs; Harmonix had earned my trust by actually trying to treat these games like platforms and not just a yearly song list update.

Beyond the streamlined song transfer process and DLC, drum kits were much improved, becoming quieter and more resilient. Previously, I went through two kick pedals and cracked the red drum pad, forcing me to put my DIY hat on to create some crazy mods just to get the original kit to last. The online experience added the ability to play through World Tour mode in co-op as a full band. Finally, the addition of filters and a better UI helped you sort through your library of songs—a welcome change considering the massive number of tracks you now had at your disposal.

12. Assassin's Creed 2 -

Man, 2009 was a hell of a year for video games. Not only is this the third game on my list from that year, but at least five others could have easily been Game of the Year—Assassin's Creed 2 definitely was one of them. The trailer unveiled at E3 blew my mind. It introduced our new protagonist, emphasized crowd stealth, revealed vague plot points, and unveiled the use of a hidden pistol. As someone that loved the first game, these revelations sealed the deal and I was all in.

In Assassin's Creed 2, you play as two characters across separate eras: Renaissance Italy and the modern day. The meat of the narrative sees you in Italy playing as Ezio Auditore da Firenze, a very charismatic, carefree, and arrogant young man. After completing some mundane day-in-the-life missions, Ezio's Father uncovers a Templar conspiracy and is betrayed by a trusted ally. The betrayal led to the arrest and conviction of Ezio's father and two brothers for treason. Upon returning from his father's errands, Ezio learns of his family's conviction and that they face public execution. You rush to the town square just in time to witness the execution leaving Ezio a changed man—out for revenge and determined to clear his family's name.

The other, albeit much smaller story, has you controlling Desmond Miles in the present day. Desmond's tale picks up right where the previous game left off. You're in the middle of escaping Abstergo Industries and making your way to a hideout containing the Animus, the machine that allows Desmond to take control of his ancestors. He is looking for the Piece of Eden, an ancient artifact believed by the Assassins and Templars to grant absolute power along with special abilities like mind control, healing, and immortality. 

Now with the major plot points out of the way, let's talk about other featured characters, including real-life historical figures like Leonardo da Vinci, Niccolò Machiavelli, and Rodrigo Borgia, who all play major roles. Vinci is Ezio's gadget man—much like Q is to James Bond—repairing your hidden blade and offering upgrades like a second hidden blade, a poison blade, and a hidden gun. Machiavelli gets you in to the Assassin's Guild, acting as a key strategist and mentor. Borgia is head of the Templars and responsible for the conspiracy and death of Ezio's family as well as other guild supporters. The way all three of these historical figures are woven into the story by Ubisoft is top-notch, taking known characteristics of each and shaping them to fit their narrative. 

Much of the modern day gameplay is purely optional, but the people surrounding Desmond are still handled with care. Lucy helps you escape from Abstergo, but is also your link to the modern-day assassins. Shaun is a very sarcastic and somewhat antagonistic character who handles all the information you're gathering as Ezio. Finally, Rebecca is a very eccentric engineer who built the Animus that Desmond uses to comb through Ezio's memories.

Overall, the characters in both eras are extremely well written and portrayed perfectly by their respective voice actors. Even the minor characters, minstrels, and  random citizens that beg Ezio for money have a great individuality about them that really help to immerse you in the time period. 

13. Batman: Arkham Asylum -

Two thoughts came to mind when I learned there was a new Batman game being developed by Rocksteady Studios. The first was dread because, back in 2008, licensed video games were—how do I put this?—raging dumpster fires. The second was, "Who in the hell is Rocksteady Studios?" At that time, Rocksteady only had one game to their credit and were not yet a proven commodity. With such a short resume, it baffled me that they were given the keys to such a large IP as Batman.

As details surfaced about the game—like the voice cast, detective vision, and awesome free-flow combat—my worries began to fade away. In the time between the official announcement and release, Batman: Arkham Asylum went from a game that I would probably skip to a launch day purchase.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is a third-person action game with some Metroidvania elements. The story begins with you escorting the Joker back to the asylum. However, during the booking process, the Joker manages to escape with the help of his faithful sidekick, Harley Quinn. He then locks down the asylum and sets free some key villains to stop the Dark Knight from recapturing him. Victor Zsasz, Poison Ivy, and Bane are among the short list of the rogues gallery you encounter. Throughout your journey, you experience several instances of torment from Scarecrow. During these sequences, the game goes from a stealthy detective adventure into a dark and very effective horror game. Those aspects of the story still give me chills. Your main goal is to stop the Joker from getting his hands on the Titan formula, which he wants to use to essentially create roided-out henchmen.

The actual gameplay has many elements that come together nicely to form this masterpiece. There's an awesome stealth system that has you grappling from perch to perch where you can initiate silent takedowns on the Joker's thugs. Eventually, he smartens up and rigs those perches to explode; that's when hand-to- hand combat really comes into play. It's a very intuitive block-and-counter system that also allows for the use of several of Batman's gadgets.

Some of the most fun and captivating things in this game are the Riddler challenges. You have to collect green question mark trophies, destroy chattering Joker teeth, and solve riddles. Those riddles lead to perspective-based environmental puzzles. You solve them by using detective vision to align picture pieces and form a complete image. There are few things more satisfying than finishing all of those challenges.

14. Halo 2 -

Halo is a franchise I didn't experience at launch. I didn't get an XBOX until April of 2004. Microsoft released a translucent green Halo-themed XBOX that included the first game. Plugging in that beautiful green machine, firing up Halo, and hearing that Gregorian-style monk chant was a hell of an experience. I proceeded to beat the entire campaign in one sitting, then I bumped up the difficulty and did it again. Despite having just played the game for the first time, I couldn't wait for the sequel to arrive in November of that same year. I suddenly felt the same anticipation that longtime fans had already been feeling for the past three years.

Halo 2 introduced gameplay changes that really shifted the pace of combat. Being able to dual wield smaller weapons, hijack enemy vehicles, and take control of the Covenant energy sword were all literal game changers. Using the energy sword is super satisfying. It has a lunge attack that will one-hit kill small and unshielded enemies while breaking the defenses of larger armored ones.

The story of Halo 2 deals with some pretty heavy stuff. Religious fanaticism, betrayal, and blind loyalty are a few key themes this sci-fi first-person shooter attempts to tackle. You control two characters, which was a huge surprise at the time, starting with Master Chief, the returning spartan super-soldier from the first game. After a few missions, you are introduced to the Arbiter, a shunned Covenant Elite Commander who you take control of in a mind-blowing reveal. Eventually, both characters cross paths and work together, but go on separate missions. The two ultimately stop the activation of Delta Halo and the credits roll.

The reception to the story wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. Many fans felt deceived by the marketing of the game, where you were promised to "finish the fight." Instead, it ends on a cliffhanger with Master Chief jumping on a Forerunner ship heading to Earth, vowing to finish said fight. This left a bad taste in player's mouths.

However, on the bright side, the online play was revolutionary. Through automated matchmaking, clan support, and voice chat via Xbox Live, it turned online console gaming into a viable option for us non-PC-owning dorks. There's nothing quite as satisfying as playing a round of Slayer or King of the Hill with energy swords only and completely cleaning house. Talk about a dopamine hit.

15. Borderlands 2 -

Released in 2012, Borderlands 2 was yet another sequel on this list that took the solid base built by its predecessor and improved upon it by leaps and bounds. Small quality of life changes such as removing fall damage, adding dedicated loot drops, and improving vehicles led to a greatly enhanced experience. One particular QOL change that I liked the most was being able to mark loot as junk in your inventory which allowed you to sell in bulk at vending machines. This was an important change because a lot of time is spent in your inventory doing what I like to call "Borderlands Math." The amount of time I've spent staring at two guns' attributes, comparing the numbers of each until ultimately deciding what to keep or sell should be studied. Being able to mark items as junk and bulk-sell heavily cut down the time spent in menus in a big way. These changes and updates helped to make a near perfect game.

Borderlands 2, and the series as a whole, has a very distinct cel-shaded art style. It's one of the most charming aspects of the game. Each area you go to has its own unique look and vibe. The ambient music has a very western-infused sound while major fire fights and boss encounters have a heavy electronic-influenced sound. Aside from the music, the weapon sounds, enemy chatter, and wildlife noise is top-notch and mixed well.

The story starts with you choosing one of four vault hunters, each featuring a three-pronged skill tree with unique passive and active perks. The vault hunters are ambushed by Handsome Jack, a psychopathic yet very charismatic villain. Jack is trying to open a vault to free an ancient monster called the Warrior to do his bidding. Meanwhile, all you're looking for is some sweet loot in the form of guns, grenade mods, shields, and class mods.

Jack's ambush made it personal and now you're out for revenge. You start taking missions from NPC's in order to build XP and use it to get points to fill your skill tree. Making your way through the story introduces you to a wild cast of characters that all have their own motivations for stopping Jack. There's a lot of twists and turns throughout the campaign and you eventually make it to the vault, fight the Warrior, and take out Handsome Jack.

The post-launch support for Borderlands 2 was insane, releasing four big story-based expansions and adding two new vault hunters. Later, they released smaller, story-based add-ons called Headhunter Packs that expanded upon the already deep lore of some of the game's characters. Additionally, multiplayer raids and a higher level cap were also added. As you can see, there's a lot to talk about when it comes to DLC, but I'd like to focus on one in particular.

Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep is a story about loss, grief, and letting go. In it, Tiny Tina has to come to terms with the loss of a major character from the main story. It does such a great job of hitting all the serious notes while still maintaining the humor of the base game. I'm not ashamed to say that any time I revisit this expansion, I shed several tears and downright ugly cry. During this time, Ashley Burch, Tiny Tina's voice actress, was going through some real-life trauma with the loss of a significant other and that grief really came through in her performance. It truly is some of the best storytelling in the medium.

As time has gone on, the writing of Borderlands 2 has taken a lot of criticism. The main critique most of its detractors have is that it leans too heavy on internet humor and meme culture. While that may be true today, in 2012 we weren't oversaturated with that stuff yet. It was there, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't excessive. I might be in the minority, but I enjoyed the writing then and still do to this day.

16. Portal -

Portal and it's development has an interesting story. It originally started as a project by a group of students attending DigiPen Institute of Technology. The team consisted of seven people and was discovered by Valve developer, Robin Walker, at a career fair. Walker was impressed by the foundation of the prototype and invited the students to Valve's headquarters to present their game. Gabe Newell watched the presentation and offered the entire team jobs. Valve added a few internal writers to help shape the game into a sci-fi story that takes place within the Half-Life universe. Even with these additions, the team still had fewer than 12 people on it.

The insanely small team built an absolute masterpiece, one I didn't experience myself until the release of The Orange Box on PS3 in 2007. The story begins with your character waking up in a small glass chamber and being tasked with solving some puzzles by a computer system named GLaDOS. The levels consist of you using a portal gun to escape test chambers. You shoot portals at different surfaces to avoid traps and advance to the next area. The rooms become more involved and difficult as you progress.

Eventually outliving your usefulness, GLaDOS attempts to kill you, but you escape and head through the forbidden areas of the Aperture Science Enrichment Center. As you attempt to shut down GLaDOS, she apologizes, offering cake and a party for how well you did on her tests. Refusing her offerings, you destroy all her personality cores, cause an explosion, and are blown to the surface. The credits roll and you are treated with the iconic song Still Alive. It's sung by GLaDOS and is essentially a post fight villain monologue. At this point, in 2026, it's way overplayed but it's still very charming and equally funny.

17. Blaster Master -

Some of my earliest video game memories are of Blaster Master. The other games that occupy that space are Super Mario Bros. and Double Dragon. I didn't own this game for awhile though. I played it at a friend's that lived 2 doors down from my grandparents. As a couple of 6-year-olds we fuckin' suuuuucked at this game. We had trouble getting out of the first boss fight. I eventually got a copy of my own and it left my NES only on the rarest of occasions.

The music and sound design is among the best the NES and video games in general has to offer. Naoki Kodaka, the composer for Blaster Master, is also responsible for other amazing soundtracks for games such as Spy Hunter, Batman, and Fester's Quest. Hats off to Kodaka and the rest of the audio team because the sounds of Blaster Master lives rent free in my head and always brings back fond memories.

Blaster Master treats you with a sweet intro that offers up some early plot points. With some ominous music playing, we meet Fred, your pet frog. Fred is seen jumping out of his jar and landing on a radioactive crate in the backyard which causes him to grow into a giant version of himself. Side note: What the fuck was that crate doing there? Anyway, big ass Fred then jumps down a massive hole with Jason (your character) following behind. Jason finds a tank-like vehicle with a space suit inside. He puts on the suit, jumps in the tank, and is off to rescue Fred. You hit the "start" button and the game picks up right where that intro left off. Now the music changes to a rocking ass tune and as it reaches a crescendo, the tank blasts off.

There's two separate styles of gameplay in Blaster Master. One has you exploring in the tank which you can upgrade throughout your quest. Those enhancements help with durability, mobility, and fire power. The other has top-down action areas where Jason walks around and takes out enemies and bosses. Upon beating said bosses, you get those tank upgrades alluded to above as well as some equipment for Jason.

Blaster Master has 8 distinct exploration areas with their own set of on-foot levels. As you make your way through them, you get closer to locating Fred. After reaching the final area and beating the main boss you are reunited with Fred back on the surface and live happily ever after.

18. Skate 2 -

In 2009, some huge gaming franchises released their second entries, blowing the originals out of the water. Games like Assassin's Creed 2 and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves took the fantastic base built by their initial offerings and improved on them in a major way. Skate 2 was no different.

EA Black Box built an incredible foundation with Skate that turned the skateboarding video game world upside down. By this point, the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series was in a death spiral and Skate took over as the number 1 series for fans of skateboarding and games based on it.

The game opens with a very Spike Jonze-esque opening cinematic with ELO's Showdown playing, setting the soundtrack mood perfectly. The way the game handles music is very original. Rather than playing at full blast the whole time, you hear it in the world ambiently. As you skate around the city, music plays that matches the vibe of your environment. It feels like you're there and experiencing the music as you would in real life. Alongside ELO, there's a wide variety of music stretching across a shitload of genres. It consists of artists like Black Sabbath, LL Cool J, Nas, Sly and the Family Stone, Black Tide, and Public Enemy. That's just a small taste of the variety the soundtrack has to offer.

Skate 2 takes place in New San Vanelona, a rebuilt and retooled city that was ravaged by massive earthquakes. That aspect of the lore is covered in Skate It, a Wii exclusive game that was released in 2008. Anyway, the city was reconstructed by the corporate douchebags over at MongoCorp. They littered the city with skate stoppers and security everywhere. Your character comes back to New San Van after spending 5 years in jail. In the story, your skater was arrested for trespassing while trying to land a trick down the city dam.

Upon returning, you take on missions from photographers and videographers that represent the Skateboard Mag and Thrasher Magazine. You also complete challenges from well-known pro skaters like Danny Way, Rob Dyrdek, and Marc Johnson.

Before moving forward, I'd like to say rest in peace Marc Johnson. You were an absolute legend and super influential to a lot of people. Now back to the missions.

The reason you take them on is to revive your skate career and become a skateboarding legend. It all leads you back to the SV Dam, where you finally get your trick and land the cover of Thrasher.

Aside from the main objectives and pro challenges, there's plenty of other activities to do. Death Races make a return. I know they are divisive at best and hated at worst, but I really enjoy them in this game. Games of S.K.A.T.E. which are equivalent to playing HORSE are also here. Street and Vert contests are pretty self explanatory. Get the highest score and you win. Own/Kill the Spot rewards creativity and degree of difficulty at specific locations throughout the city to get the best score.

The aspect of the game that saw the biggest overhaul was its online functionality. There are jams, spot battles, and games of S.K.A.T.E., but my favorite thing added was Free Skate Challenges. These take you and the people in your lobby on a set of multi-objective missions where you all have to complete certain tricks on specific obstacles. If you've ever played Burnout Paradise you understand that these are Skate 2's version of the awesome Freeburn Challenges. Unfortunately, one of the best aspects of this game is no longer accessible. The MongoCorp-like asshole executives at EA shut those servers down at the end of 2021.

19. The Messenger -

By the time 2018 rolled around, I'd had enough of pixel art. So many indie studios were using it that the space had become oversaturated. Whether it was 8, 16, or 32-bit I had hit my limit. Then, out of nowhere, The Messenger showed up and made me completely rethink my feelings.

At first, it presents as a 2D action platformer, but you very quickly learn about time portals that change the look and sound from 8 to 16-bit. When you meet the Shopkeeper the realization hits that there's far more depth here. You are hit with a skill tree that has three distinct upgrade paths. Using time shards (the game's currency), you can boost your mobility, combat, and survivability.

You play as a young ninja who is tasked with delivering an ancient scroll to a mountain top in hopes of saving humanity from the curse of the evil Demon King. It's pretty straightforward. You go from area to area defeating grunt enemies and big bosses. Once you get to "the end," you realize that this was just a test to prove you are the one that can take on the Demon King.

The game then shifts into a Metroidvania with all the previous levels and areas being linked together. The task this time is to collect 6 music notes that are part of an ancient melody that can break the curse of the Demon King. Without getting into heavy story spoilers, let's just say things go less than smooth. There's a major final battle, you come out on top, and save the world.

The writing in this game is very clever and genuinely funny. There's a lot of references, homages, and parodies of other video games. Some of the most entertaining parts are the rants the Shopkeeper will go on when you try and open his forbidden cabinet. Similar to the story, I don't want to spoil any of the banter or conversations you have with the Shopkeeper here. Hopefully my beating around the bush will entice you to pick this one up and give it a go.

20. Saints Row: The Third -

I'm very aware that I'm in the minority here, but I think Saints Row: The Third is the best in the franchise. I won't sit here and tell you why I think the other games aren't as good. Instead, I'll tell you why I love this one so much.

The tone of the story is a pretty big departure from the first two games in the series. Saints Row 1 and 2 definitely have more grounded and serious stories. There's still some ridiculousness in them though. Side activities like Sceptic Avenger and Insurance Fraud allow for some levity when the darker moments come around. The Third, however, opens with you robbing a bank wearing giant Johnny Gat mascot heads and it never backs down on the absurdity from that point on. 

Side activities are back again but this time they don't gatekeep story progression. If you want to level up your character, these diversions become priorities. The ones I like the most are Insurance Fraud, Mayhem, and Trail Blazing. Insurance Fraud has you rag doll around in oncoming traffic and cause as much damage to yourself as possible. In Mayhem, you are given specific weapons to do as much destruction as you can in a certain time limit. Trail Blazing are a series of checkpoint races throughout the city you have to complete before time expires. 

There's three separate factions that you feud with in order to build your empire and take over the city of Steelport. The Morningstar are corporate assholes that control the guns and prostitution in the city. The Luchadores run around in wrestling masks and are in charge of the gambling and drugs. Then we have the Deckers who are cyber hacking digital anarchists. This group is responsible for one of my favorite missions in the game. It's called "http://deckers.die" and it's bonkers. You jack into a cyber world Matrix style and have to go through several different scenarios to beat the leader of that gang. It culminates with you having to outsmart said leader, Matt Miller, in a text adventure.

After you take out all three gangs and a fourth that shows up at the end, you take over Steelport, rebuild your empire, and become bigger celebrities than before. If you had done all that fun side shit, you could have some sweet perks like unlimited ammo, invincibility, and even run around Steelport as a fucking toilet.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! I spent at least 100 hours playing this game online with friends. Not only can you play through the entire story in co-op, you can also do free roam activities like vehicle thefts and assassinations. 

21. Days Gone -

I never understood the massive hate boner for Days Gone. I get that review copies went out without the day one patch. I'm also aware that without said patch it had its issues. Bend Studio should have never sent it out in that state. In a world where live service games get "ongoing" reviews, it baffles me that not one "journalist" who shit all over the pre-release build wouldn't go back and play it after the update came out.

I'll step down from my soap box now and talk about why I love this game so much. I'll also cover the one major design choice I still consider a miss. Even with that, this remains one of my favorite games of all time.

Let's get the negatives out of the way. The ONLY in-game thing that bothers me is the antiquated nature of going from gameplay to cutscenes. Fade to black, fade into cutscene, cinematic happens, fade to black, fade into gameplay. This is a very story-heavy game and sometimes it really fucks with the flow when cutscenes happen. Then there's the fact that this game sets up an amazing premise for a sequel and Sony squashed Bend Studio under their thumb and said, "Nah, do something else." That's it. Two things that bother me. One of those things the studio couldn't even help and the other was a strange choice that disrupted the flow of the game, but never became too much to look past.

Back before its release if you said, "Mike, there's a game in development right now that takes Sons of Anarchy, Uncharted, and The Last of Us and smashes them all together," I would have shit my pants with excitement. Those are three properties that I absolutely love, so getting a game that brings bits and pieces of each together into one package felt as if it was made specifically for me.

The TL;DR of the story is as follows: There's a zombie outbreak and you get separated from your wife during evac. She was stabbed and taken off in a medic helicopter. You are left in the shit with your good buddy and MC brother, Boozer. You've almost given up hope that she survived, but still spend your days looking for her or any trace of her survival.

As far as the gameplay goes, you play as Deacon St. John, a biker that hasn't let go of his MC roots. You complete missions for other groups to build up loyalty and earn currency to upgrade your abilities and Motorcycle. When riding around the map or even when using the fast travel option, you consume fuel. You have to be on the lookout for gas stations and gas cans to continually fill up your bike. This is one of my favorite aspects of the exploration, especially early on when the map has so much left to be uncovered. A mission will take you across the whole damn thing and you won't know when or where you'll be able to fill up.

Freakers, this games' goofy name for zombies/undead have different types and behaviors. There's Swarmers, which are dangerous in big groups. We also have Breakers who are your heavies that do massive damage. Screamers make loud noise and alert all the other types of freakers nearby. The last variant I want to talk about are Newts.

Newts are very disturbing because they're children. The first encounter I had with killing a Newt left me feeling gross. Afterwards, I had to stop playing for a bit and come down from that experience. It's very rare that a video game allows the killing of children or childlike stand-ins. I absolutely hated coming into contact with groups of Newts. Luckily, unless they are provoked or your health is low, they don't bother you.

Those are your main points of combat and conflict, so bringing enough equipment on your travels is always a must. There are various locations on the map where you encounter massive hoards of all types of freakers. You are tasked with taking out what can feel like thousands of them. In reality, it's probably a few hundred at most, but the game does a great job of making it feel like so many more than that. If you don't strategize properly you're a dead man. These sequences are some of the most impressive things about Days Gone.

The camp leaders have so much depth to them. There's a woman named Ada Tucker running a work camp that is more of a human trafficking/slavery camp. Mark Copeland runs a survivalist camp, but is also the conspiracy theorist. He spews his propaganda over an open radio frequency called Radio Free Oregon. Iron Mike is a father/mentor figure for Deacon. He's basically the only level-headed redeeming character in the entire game. Deacon eventually gets the boot from that crew for constantly going rogue and not listening to Iron Mike.

Then there's Sarah Whitaker, the mild mannered botanist and research scientist. She inevitably falls in love with our main protagonist Deacon. Throughout the game there are several flashback cutscenes that show you how smart, tough, and resourceful Sarah is. All of that stuff ends up seeming like small potatoes when you eventually learn more about her towards the end of the game.

22. Katamari Damacy -

Picture this... you get completely shit faced and go on a Miracles rant, ICP style. Not only do you not know how fucking magnets work, you also can't figure out how all the beautiful stars exist in the sky. While admiring the stars and the moon, you accidentally destroy them. Sounds like you're out on a bender with the King of all Cosmos.

If none of this makes any sense to you, don't worry. We were all baffled too. This is the start of the story that sends you out on a mission to remake all the stars and the moon. You play as The Prince and you roll a giant ball (Katamari) around a bunch of different levels to collect enough earthly objects to satisfy the King's requirements. These specific stipulations can be things like making the Katamari a certain size or collecting a certain amount of a particular object.

Katamari Damacy is one of those games that I like to say is really chill and then it suddenly isn't. What I mean by that is that you can just relax, roll the big ass ball around, and collect things. Then as the timer runs down you start to get frantic, lose all momentum, and completely shit the bed. That might sound frustrating, but it's not. This game is ridiculously replayable and restarting a level because you fucked up is part of the fun.

23. Super Mario Bros. 3 - 

There's only one game on NES I played more than this and that's further up the list. This was a hard choice to make because I have an arbitrary "one per franchise" rule. I am in the minority and enjoy Super Mario Bros. 3 more than world, hell I like Super Mario Bros. 2 (USA) better than Mario World. Again, I know I'm in the minority, but fuck 'em this is my list 

From Giant Land, to the Fortresses, to the Airships, every level in every land is perfectly designed. There's nice diversions like card games and the damn sliding picture toad rooms that are the source of my childhood anxiety. I'll never forget the adrenaline rush I got the first time I got the star to match up in that room to get 5 fuckin' free lives, absolutely exhilarating. 

Getting the Tanooki Suit and Kuribo's Shoe for the first time was fucking mind blowing. Those power ups were amazing additions to an already stacked list of cool shit you could get to help you through the harder sections of levels.

Hearing about how to get the first warp whistle on the playground as a 8 year old kid was crazy. "Crouch on this random white block on level 3 of world 1" sounded like some "my uncle works at Nintendo" shit and was super hard to believe. I went home and tried it and promptly shit my pants when Mario fell behind the block and I couldn't keep running to the right. Shit like that doesn't happen anymore because of how ubiquitous the internet is. I miss those days of bullshitting with friends on the playground, telling stories that sounded like lies, and proving each other right or wrong the next day. Super Mario Bros. 3 holds a special place in my heart because of moments like that.

24. WWF No Mercy -

What can be said about the AKI engine wrestling games that hasn't already been said numerous times by a shit load of people. Actually, probably nothing, but here it goes. 

When us plebs on N64 finally got a good WWF wrestling game it was fucking glorious. There was no way it could get better than WrestleMania 2000, right? In steps WWF No Mercy and completely crushes it.

No Mercy added so much to an already amazing base. Backstage fighting, a championship mode with branching paths, bigger roster, and so many other improvements. One of those was the creation suite. I spent countless hours creating wresters that weren't in the game or even in the WWF. Creating a moveset was probably the most time consuming, but it was always worth it. Getting that stuff right is just as important as getting the appearance locked in.

25. Crush -

Crush was one of those games that I bought on a whim. I was at Game Crazy killing time and saw the box art and thought "this looks cool." I had become friendly with the people that worked there and asked about it. One of the guys had played it and loved it. He proceeded to explain what type of game it was to me and I knew it was right up my alley.

Crush is a puzzle platformer that plays with perspective and dimension. It also has a very interesting story. It's about a guy named Danny who is a chronic insomniac and is basically on the verge of a mental breakdown. He's in a psychiatric hospital and uses a machine called C. R. U. S. H. to recover some memories and figure out what is actually causing his issues.

Each puzzle has a set amount of orbs to collect to open the exit. It also has jigsaw puzzle pieces and trophies to collect. Figuring out some of the earliest puzzles can be really challenging. The game doesn't really have a difficulty curve so much as it has a fucking cliff you fall off of right after the tutorial.