100 Best PC Games of All Time

When an alien attack threatens Earth, it’s up to an elite military group to repel the attacks and save humanity from extinction.

X-COM marries realistic tactical battles with a fun sci-fi universe, and forces the player to take responsibility for their actions.

Throughout the campaign, you’ll engage in a variety of exciting missions that have you blowing up aliens in strategic gunfights.

If one of your team members dies, their death is permanent, forcing you to think before you act.

The colorful graphics and interesting take on the alien invasion cliché make X-COM a refreshing departure from the usual gritty warfare that the genre is known for.

Experience realistic NASCAR racing in this simulator that features the real-life tracks and professional racers from the 2003 season.

While some might complain that NASCAR is a bit boring, the true intrigue is found within crafting a powerful car and maintaining it.

NASCAR Racing 2003 Season gives players a plethora of customization options, allowing them to fine tune their car performance.

You can also create custom liveries, deck out your car with decals, or even create a fantasy driver.

A realistic physics engine also causes cars to react differently depending on the track, so you’ll have to use your automobile knowledge to avoid spinning out and crashing.

When a New York police officer’s family is murdered by drug dealers, he becomes a vigilante and pledges to avenge their deaths.

This game entices players with its gritty cop drama and exciting third person action.

Although the feature is pretty standard nowadays, Max Payne introduced the idea of “bullet time” to video games.

As you gun down drug dealers and miscreants with your dual pistols, you can hop through the air, slowing down time and allowing you to more accurately place your shots.

The dark and serious narrative lend a lot of weight to the combat, and the memorable protagonist Max makes for an enthralling experience.

A mercenary named Jack Carver must explore a tropical group of islands as he searches for a missing journalist.

Far Cry was mainly created to show off a new video game engine, and the power of that engine shows.

This game puts players in a tropical environment and lets them roam free, completing objectives and taking down military installations.

The whole focus of the game is to give player freedom of choice, allowing them to complete missions in a variety of ways.

The game’s world is dynamic, featuring a day and night cycle as well as tons of different environments.

Using your stealth and prowess of weaponry, you must dismantle an entire military organization piece by piece.

Race on a variety of real world tracks with over 25 realistic cars featured in the 2003 and 2004 FIA GT Championships.

This simulation racer contains six different game modes to test your skills.

Compete in single exhibition races, 24 hour races, time trials, a driving school, and more.

Each mode provides a different experience and highlights certain gameplay mechanics.

For instance, the 24 hour mode shows off dynamic day and night cycles.

With the hundreds of custom tracks created by the game’s community, GTR 2 provides countless hours of racing fun.

A talented thief named Garrett finds himself in the depths of a complex conspiracy while stealing precious items.

Thief was the first title that utilized noise and light in gameplay, tasking players with sticking to the shadows and trying to stay silent.

The game’s missions are loosely scripted, allowing players to find inventive and non-violent means to achieve their objectives.

Multiple difficulty levels provide new and harder objectives, offering plenty of replayability.

Set in the 16th century of feudal Japan, rival clans led by brutal leaders all fight for control of the territory.

This sequel brings back the series’ roots of Japan, while also dialing back some of the more excessive gameplay mechanics for a streamlined experience.

Players pick from one of nine factions and engage in large-scale battles, directing troops and units to their position.

You’re also responsible for engaging in political discussion, creating settlements, advancing your technology, and more.

Battles play out on ground and on water, and you’ll have to switch between commanding the army and participating in the battle yourself.

Team up with three other friends and take on horrifying campaigns that have you blasting hordes of fast-moving zombies.

This first person shooter is light on narrative but heavy on cooperation, tasking you and your crew with completing a handful of campaigns.

You choose one of four characters, and each one plays slightly different.

By sharing medicine, ammo, and a variety of other resources, you work your way through combat-heavy missions spread across numerous zones.

Specialty monsters like vomit-spewing “Boomers” and creepy “witches” challenge your team to work together and overcome their power.

It’s a great mixture of creeping horror and fast gunplay, creating a cooperative experience unlike any other.

Borrowing inspiration from films like Goodfellas, this third person action game tells a story about the criminal underworld in a fictional 1930’s universe.

Mafia is mainly a narrative-focused story, tasking players with working through the rough world of organized crime.

Throughout the game’s campaign, you’ll spend plenty of time driving through the city, carrying out various missions that are given to you.

From car bombs and robberies to deals with other gangs, Mafia puts you on the forefront of its criminal world and never lets up.

The game has been praised for its realistic physics, lifelike world, and consequences of player choice.

After inheriting a farm, you travel to the quaint town of Stardew Valley, where you mingle with locales and work on creating a profitable farm.

Besides cultivating and selling a variety of crops, Stardew Valley gives players agency over the world.

When you get bored of water plants and clearing farm space, you can visit the nearby town and interact with the locals.

There, you can form relationships, gift items to other characters, and build up the museum with artifacts you find in your adventures.

You can also explore a nearby cave system, engaging in combat with the creatures that lurk below.

This mixture of farm-building, interacting with townsfolk, and exploring the environment create an intoxicating and addictive game that is hard to put down.

Using your magical powers as a wizard, cast spells and summon creatures to defeat your opponent in this strategy experience.

Unlike other real time strategy games, Sacrifice does not limit your resources or force you to collect them.

Instead, you’re given an unlimited amount of mana to dole out spells and summoned monsters.

Your summons can fight with either ground, ranged, or air attacks, creating a “rock, paper, scissors”-like battle system.

Whether in the single player campaign or a multiplayer match, your objective is usually the same.

You’ll have to take over your opponent’s altar by sacrificing a friendly unit.

Instead of large scale battles, Sacrifice focuses on smaller skirmishes that require more strategy than you would’ve thought.

After creating a custom character and choosing your profession (of which there are ten choices), you must work on rebuilding a destroyed world.

This MMO is notable for countless reasons; it was the first to provide MMO gameplay without a monthly subscription, it features cooperative or solo player versus environment quests, and a plethora of player versus player options.

The massive amount of playable space and numerous quests provide endless adventures to embark on, and exploring the decimated world is oddly enjoyable.

By yourself or with friends, take on challenging dungeons, exciting quests, mini-games, and world events.

This game started a fantastic trilogy that detailed a wondrous space epic between a memorable group of characters and an ancient alien race.

Playing as Commander Shepard on his ship the Normandy, you embark on quests throughout the Milky Way galaxy.

The game is full of moral choices that shape your character, allowing you to become a hero of legend or a scheming villain.

The mixture of third person shooting and roleplaying mechanics offer an expertly balanced system that feels both tactical and hectic.

The game is full of dialogue and interesting characters, and will have you traveling to far off planets.

Although many consider the sequel to be superior, the original Mass Effect made big waves in the sci-fi RPG scene.

Create your very own house from the ground up and populate it with virtual humans that you must take care of.

One of the most influential PC games of all time, The Sims was a worldwide phenomenon due to its simple concept that led to hilarious and exciting situations.

The game is pretty simple; you create your own house, building rooms and decorating them as you see fit.

Your house is occupied by Sims; human characters that must eat, sleep, go to work, and enjoy their free time.

It’s up to you to give the Sims directions and manage their everyday lives, ensuring their health and success.

An abundance of customization options makes building your home incredibly fun, and the wacky scenarios your Sims find themselves in provide plenty of humor and wit.

As a god with almighty power, you must defeat an evil god named Nemesis who wants to dominate the world.

As a god, it’s up to you to influence the events of the world under your control, gaining followers and shaping the land as you see fit.

The main objective of every stage is to completely control every village and territory, and this is done by creating new structures, performing miracles, and more.

Besides your godly powers, you can employ the help of one of three creatures, directing them to complete various tasks.

For how ambitious the game is, it pulls off most of its ideas fairly well, giving players an experience that was ahead of its time.

When a powerful undead Elder Dragon threatens the world as we know it, you must set out to find a long lost guild of powerful heroes that can overcome it.

Like the original game, Guild Wars 2 gives players a slew of quests, events, and player versus player options in a persistent online world.

You can link up with your friends and explore numerous zones, full of deadly creatures and engaging stories.

You create a custom character by picking one of the five available races and one of the nine available classes.

This sequel tightens up some of the original game’s issues, refining your ability to level up and allocate skills.

This sequel also gives players a much higher maximum skill level, allowing them to continuously gain power and become even more useful in combat.

Set in a fictional version of 2007, major countries like the US, China, and territories in the Middle East engage in all-out war.

Unlike past Battlefield titles, this sequel gives players control of modern weaponry and vehicles.

Accuracy and tactics play a decent role in surviving the fight, as the realistic combat is punishing to those who don’t plan ahead.

From a first person perspective, you’ll storm the battlefield on foot, in the air, or in a variety of other vehicles.

Apart from an excellent single player campaign, Battlefield 2 has one of the best online communities, full of exciting matches and custom game types.

Whether you’re looking for a riveting war story or a fun multiplayer experience, Battlefield 2 provides it in spades.

Somewhere on the planet of Pandora, a legendary vault of treasure is hidden.

You, along with three other friends, complete a variety of quests in search of untold riches.

The Borderlands series is well known for its obnoxious but hilarious attitude, excessive amount of weapons, and sharply written dialogue and quests.

Starting out in the middle of a snow storm, you quickly gain your bearings and explore the vast planet of Pandora, completing missions for characters that you meet along the way.

You’ll have to fend off a wide range of enemies, such as the drugged-out cannibalistic “psychos”, Mad Max style monstrosities, and terrifying creatures that seemingly have crawled out of Hell itself.

The wildly colorful visuals and varied classes and skills make Borderlands 2 an infinitely replayable mash up of the first person shooter and role playing genres.

A retired U.S. Navy Seal named Sam Fisher is brought into a newly formed task force called the “Third Echelon”, and is given a variety of stealth missions to complete.

Full of political intrigue and conspiracy, Splinter Cell focuses on Sam Fisher’s deadly stealth mastery and his ability to adapt.

Although you often start missions with at least one gun, the game encourages players to use stealth or non-lethal means to complete their objectives.

Sam Fisher is able to use his environment as he sees fit, crawling up railings, hanging from rooftops, and jumping through windows.

This combination of stressful stealth and amazing executions make players feel incredibly powerful, and the dark and tragic story of Sam Fisher adds a lot of emotion to the narrative.

Following a devastating attack in the previous game, protagonist Adam Jensen hunts down the men responsible for the death of his beloved.

Like Splinter Cell, this game gives players a huge amount of options in how they complete their mission.

The open-ended nature of the game allows players to complete objectives in numerous ways, either guns-a-blazing, stealthily, or by employing a number of cybernetic enhancements.

Deus Ex takes place in a future where humans have started augmenting their body, and Adam Jensen’s cybernetic augmentations allow his to accomplish some amazing things.

Picking up and throwing incredibly heavy objects, hacking into computer systems, and seeing through walls are all things that Jensen can do with ease.

As you complete quests and level up, it’s your choice on what enhancements to unlock, which ultimately shapes the kind of character you will become.

When an ancient alien structure is discovered hidden within a mountain, a war between the US and North Korea break out across the island, as each country attempts to gain control of the technology that is hidden within.

Crysis gives players exciting firefights with a task of futuristic abilities, allowing the player to become invisible, swap gun components on the fly, and more.

The game highlights the power of the Crytek engine, and was well known as being one of the most demanding games to run on a PC.

The high quality graphics lend themselves well to the mix of tropical yet technological environments.

The single player campaign gives players a slew of fun weapons to use, ranging from experimental technology to more standard firearms like pistols and shotguns.

The game also features multiplayer offerings that support up to 32 players at once, battling it out in two different game modes spread across six maps.

Players control Stanley, an innocuous employee who works in an office building, pressing buttons without asking questions.

As a narrator explains about Stanley’s life, he is able to decide whether or not to follow the narrator’s advice or forge his own path.

While there is no fighting, action, or combat in The Stanley Parable, the game makes up for that by telling an extremely inventive story.

Players control Stanley from a first person perspective, listening to the narrator as he details Stanley’s life.

You can choose to follow the narrator’s instructions, or completely defy them, gaining your own free will.

The game is 100% focused on the narrative, and the gameplay revolves around finding new paths to explore.

As you find new places to go and different decisions to make, the game’s story adapts, giving players dozens of outcomes and endings.

It’s one of those surreal games that transcends the genre, giving players a highly interactive experience that feels personal.

Up in the clouds, a group of owl-human hybrids live in harmony.

When a group of pirates attack the owl’s village, a young Owlboy sets out to save it.

Owlboy is fantastic on a variety of levels, especially considering it was created by one single person over a 10 year span.

The game prides itself on the colorful and highly detailed world, smart and inventive puzzles, and a fairy tale story.

Although Owlboy cannot fight, he can pick up items and throw them at enemies, as well as using them to solve puzzles.

As you progress through the adventure, you’ll meet new characters that become allies, with each new ally providing a helpful ability or weapon.

All told, Owlboy isn’t incredibly complex, but you can see the hard work and dedication that went into making the game.

It’s beautiful, it’s fun to play, and it tells a heartwarming story that many indie games fail to match.

Set in a dark and desolate world with rich lore, this fantasy RPG tasks you, “The Nameless One”, with exploring numerous fantasy realms.

You’ll have to learn about the history of your character and the events of your past to remember your identity.

This exceptionally macabre RPG is well known for its interesting setting.

In the game, you set out on your journey and level up your skill and strength as you complete quests for numerous characters.

You’ll explore the areas of the game by clicking on the scenery, which in turn gains you items like potions and new gear.

Unlike other RPG’s, Planescape urges players to solve problems using dialogue choices rather than combat.

The amount of player choice in how to complete your adventure is one of the best aspects of the game, and is what propelled it to the cult classic that it is today.

Taking place in the fantasy world of Ferelden, you play as a young adventurer who joins up with the “Grey Wardens”.

These wardens are an elite team of soldiers tasked with repelling a demonic force known as the “Demonspawn”.

As they plan an attack on the city’s capital, it’s up to you and your party of companions to overthrow the evil force and save the day.

Dragon Age: Origins is developed by BioWare, a company that is well known for its deep narrative lore and exciting fantasy worlds.

Dragon Age: Origins is no exception, giving you a fully fleshed-out experience with countless numbers of characters and stories to complete.

The gameplay is a mixture of dialogue choices, exploring the fantasy world of Ferelden, and engaging in exciting real time battles.

You can play from a third person perspective or a top-down perspective that allows for more tatical choices.

Either way you play, its an exciting combat experience.

This game is the second episodic title that continues the story started in the original Half-Life 2.

It follows protagonist Gordon Freeman and his companion Alyx, as they attempt to overthrow the multidimensional beings known as the Combine.

When these military beings open up a giant portal that threatens all of mankind, it’s up to Gordon to right those wrongs.

The Half-Life series is known for being one of the forerunners in interjecting narrative storytelling into first person shooters.

The story of the original game was compelling and complex, giving players a sci-fi epic that rivals even the best offerings in television and movies.

The narrative intrigue comes back in the sequel, and the quality of gameplay matches with inventive combat and weapons.

For instance, you can use the “gravity gun”, a fun prototype weapon that allows you to propel large objects at your foes.

Fun secrets and a desire to fully understand the narrative make Half-Life 2: Episode Two a single player adventure with a surprising amount of replayability.

This sequel to the extraordinarily popular simulation game The Sims allows you to create your very own house or mansion, and manage the lives of the virtual humans that reside there.

The combination of creativity and unexpected antics make this a memorable title that has permeated pop culture worldwide.

In comparison to the original Sims game, The Sims 2 contains similar gameplay and objectives.

Unlike the first game though, there’s no final goal. This means you’re free to lead your Sims through the six stages of their lives.

Despite the open-ended nature of the game, you can experience a variety of story lines in the game’s pre-built neighborhoods.

Whether you’re exploring the spooky streets of “Strangeville” or crafting your own home, The Sims 2 contains enough new content to keep fans of the franchise returning for hundreds of hours.

The world has been ravaged by a nuclear attack, and you play as one of the sole survivors of a deep underground vault that protected you from the blast.

As you explore this new world, you’ll run into a slew of interesting characters with quests to give, all while searching for your father.

The most notable aspect of Fallout 3 is its deviation from the original games.

Whereas the first two games in the series played from an overhead view, Fallout 3 puts you behind the gun in a first person perspective.

The game tasks you with exploring a decimated Washington D.C., leading to incredibly long adventures full of intrigue and suspense.

You’ll have to fend off radiated ghouls, savage gangs, and some truly unspeakable horrors.

The world that Fallout 3 presents is enticing and interesting to explore, and results in a role playing experience that you won’t soon forget.

Set in a maximum security prison that houses the planet’s most violent criminals, you play as Riddick, a dangerous man with an extraordinary power.

As conditions in the prison worsen, you plan your escape.

This game is not only a thrilling and suspenseful prison break story, but it’s also one of the only video games based on a movie franchise to truly succeed expectations.

The game plays from a first person perspective, and has you navigating the prison and meeting various characters in an attempt to formulate your escape plan.

The combat is tough and brutal, as you’ll often only have rudimentary weapons like shivs to defend yourself with.

The game mixes first person combat with a riveting narrative that breaks new ground, and it’s one of (if not the best) prison escape stories in all of gaming.

This expansion to the real time strategy game Warcraft 3 gives players a bunch of new character classes, campaigns to complete, and even shakes up the core formula in some modes.

It’s all set in a fantasy world that is rich with lore, giving fans of fantasy a deep trove of narrative.

Despite the numerous changes that this expansion brings, the main gameplay loop of Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne is very similar to the base game.

You pick a race of characters and embark on their campaign, collecting resources, crafting units and buildings, and employing your strategy in battle.

You fight it out in large and small scale warfare, trading magical spells and weapon bashes to take down opponents.

One of the new campaigns explores role playing elements more than the strategy gameplay, giving fans a new type of experience that still feels comfortable.

Consider that Warcraft 3 paved the way for popular games like League of Legends and DOTA 2, its influence is undeniable.

In the year 2052, humanity has encountered some tough times.

With the world taken over by criminals and a horrible plague, the planet could use some help.

You play as JC Denton, an anti-terrorist agent with superpowers, all thanks to advancements of technology.

Deus Ex mixes up first person shooting with a variety of other gameplay elements to create an experience that puts player choice at the forefront.

As you take on mission, you are free to complete objectives in a variety of ways, utilizing your character’s various skills and powers.

The futuristic world is rich with characters and seedy organizations that play in the shadows, and the way you go about eliminating them is purely up to you.

In many ways, Deus Ex was one of the first games to put such a great amount of freedom in the player’s hands.

This sequel continues the story of Cate Archer, a highly trained special agent who takes on a criminal organization known as H.A.R.M.

Using her deft stealth abilities and impressive arsenal of wacky weapons, you set out to settle tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Although the original game had a heavy focus on stealth, this sequel eases up on the sneaking, giving players a variety of ways to complete their objectives.

As you visit numerous exotic locations, you’ll use a combination of weaponry, gadgets, and stealth to take down the enemy at hand.

The varying environments and enemies keep the experience refreshing, delivering a somewhat cartoonish shooter that is tons of fun to play.

Live through historical military battles like the assault on Omaha Beach, rescue missions in France, and deadly recon missions in Germany.

With both a singleplayer campaign and multiplayer options, you can experience World War II the way you want.

This military shooter gives players the best of both worlds, with an exciting and historical single player campaign and a variety of modes for multiplayer matches.

The campaign takes you across the battlefronts of the globe, touching down in Africa, Germany, France, and more.

Each mission is full of action packed gunplay, and you’ll be mowing down enemies and dodging grenades more times than you can count.

This experience transfers over well into multiplayer, where you have four different modes to choose from.

Battle to the death in Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch, win more rounds than your opponent in Round-Based, or complete missions while defeating the enemy team in Objective mode.

Regardless of how you like to play, Medal of Honor: Allied Assault brings the battlefield to you.

Pick from an ever-growing cast of heroes and assemble your friends to compete in one of the most popular team-based shooters of all time.

The concept of Overwatch is generally pretty simple; you and your teammates pick from a roster of characters that all have unique powers, and engage in objective-based battles against an enemy team.

The true fun comes in learning and mastering each of the highly unique characters, as each character has their own role to play.

You can deal high damage with characters like Tracer and Widowmaker, heal your teammaters with the heavenly Mercy, or hunker down and defend with Reindhart.

The game is constantly updated to balance out the characters and encourage competitive play, and new characters are introduced occasionally.

Overwatch is also one of the leading games in the world of eSports, so mastering this game might just earn you some big bucks along the way.

The world is in political turmoil, with major nations at each other’s throats.

As Japan pushes the limit of post-war agreements, other countries move in to react.

As the incredibly stealthy and deadly special agent Sam Fisher, it’s up to you to covertly solve the crisis before it gets out of hand.

This entry in the Splinter Cell franchise is noticeably more violent than previous games, as Sam Fisher has been given more deadly abilities than ever before.

You can now choose from three different weapon kits, with each one providing a different way to engage your enemies.

Close quarters combat has also been introduced with the added combat knife, and Sam Fisher will have to get up close and personal when it counts.

Chaos Theory was also widely regarded as having one of the best cooperative experiences of the console generation, as it provided a unique cooperative campaign for two players to complete together.

Players can also take their skills online, competing in tense games of cat and mouse, avoiding and eliminating enemies from the shadows.

Cataclysm brings huge changes to the massive world of Azeroth, where millions of players complete quests and battle monsters in a persistent online world.

This expansion to the insanely popular MMO World of Warcraft was a divisive one, as it brought huge changes to both the gameplay and the world that players knew.

The majority of the landscape was changed to reflect the dark and brooding story line, throwing the world into disarray.

Over 3000 new quests were also introduced, ranging from low-level to high-level quests.

New raids and instances can be played with large groups of high-level characters, and provided a hefty challenge for those interested.

In addition to these major changes, a plethora of re-balancing was done, as well as the introduction of two new playable races.

Although the lands of World of Warcraft have since changed, Cataclysm still stands as one of the heftiest overhauls to the world’s most popular MMO.

This was the first expansion for World of Warcraft, and released at one of the game’s peak times of popularity.

Players must take on the “burning legion”, a group of demons that threaten the existence of Azeroth.

As it was the first major expansion, The Burning Crusade added a ton of new content for players to enjoy.

Firstly, the new planet named Outland was introduced, which provided players with a huge new world full of quests, characters, raids, and events to complete.

Two new races were also introduced, the Draenei and the Blood Elves.

The overall level cap got a boost from 60 to 70, allowing players to become more powerful than ever before.

A slew of new player-versus-player modes were also introduced, namely the new battleground called “The Eye of the Storm”.

Players could engage in team-based deathmatches, fighting in teams of 2, 3, and 5 players.

The exceptional amount of content included in The Burning Crusade made it easily one of the best PC expansions ever made, and wowed fans around the world.

Experience various theaters of war in World War II, all from the eyes of infantry on the ground.

You’ll see this monumental war through the scopes of the American, Soviet, and British armies, all in their own respective campaigns.

Saying that Call of Duty is a popular franchise is a massive understatement, as it has redefined the FPS genre more times than I can count.

This is the game that started it all, and put players in the shoes of several military personnel during the horrifying second World War.

You’ll experience exhilarating missions that are based on real-life battles, all with a squad of AI-controlled teammates.

Call of Duty improved upon the gameplay of franchises like Medal of Honor, stepping out from the rest of the FPS pack and starting its dominance over the genre.

This expansion takes place after the events of the base game, and has Geralt solving a confusing murder in a new and beautiful environment.

Like the original Witcher 3, this expansion was praised for its hefty amount of content, excellent storytelling, and consistent quality.

In addition to a bunch of new quests and gear, Geralt can now become even more powerful than before, with new skills and abilities.

The main narrative is a fun take on the classic murder mystery, and leads to some outstanding creature battles.

In many ways, Blood and Wine feels more like it’s own game than a simple expansion, which speaks volumes for its quality.

This RTS takes place in the vivid world of the Roman Empire, where you control one of three Roman families.

Using your diplomacy and military power, you set out to conquer the fifty provinces around you.

Rome stands out in the RTS genre purely based on the amount of detail and control given to the player.

Although it might seem like a simple strategy game, Rome lets you tweak a large number of details, influencing the many inner workings of the game’s mechanics.

On a large scale level, you can control armies in turn-based battles.

On a smaller scale level, you manage your family, send agents out on special missions, handle situations with diplomacy, and much more.

The campaign takes you across three different continents, exploring a variety of locales.

In addition to the main campaign, there is also a bunch of historical battles to re-enact.

Set in the Middle Ages, you follow the story of five different army commanders, including legendary people like Joan of Arc, Genghis Khan, and more.

This is one of the earlier break out hits in the RTS genre, and provided players with a deep and enriched experience set in the Middle Ages.

Players choose from one of thirteen different civilizations, collecting resources and crafting new buildings and units.

Using your amassed armies and mountains of resources, you must survive throughout the four “ages”; The Dark, Feudal, High Middle, and Imperial Ages.

In addition to the standard game, there are five extensive single player campaigns that have specialized win conditions, putting you in control of vastly different armies.

Humanity has begun colonizing a new planet named Chiron.

Unbeknownst to them, alien lifeforms have been waiting for them, and upon landing, and attack sends the seven captains of the colonization squad to various parts of the massive planet.

This sci-fi epic strategy game uses some of the features from Sid Meier’s Civilization, but tweaks them to fit the setting.

The gameplay is a mixture of survival and civilization building, as you must create a sustainable environment for your human survivors.

As you explore the new alien world, you collect resources and build structures, decide on social issues and manage your population, and engage in combat.

You can terraform the surface of the planet as you wish, creating new structures and expanding your reach.

Your ultimate goal is to defeat any threats, colonize the planet, and do it in a way that fits your play style.

Set in the massive fantasy world of Azeroth, you create a custom character and set out on one of the largest and most epic quests in all of gaming history.

This MMO is set in the world of Azeroth, and features lore and characters from the RTS series Warcraft.

Players stat out by creating a custom character, choosing from one of the multiple races and specialized classes.

You either side with the heroic Alliance or the evil Horde, and start out on their respective continents.

As you work through the countless zones of each area, your character will grow in power by completing quests, slaying enemies, and much more.

The amount of playable content in World of Warcraft is absolutely astounding, with literally thousands of quests and huge public events that will take you years to complete.

At its peak point of popularity, the game saw millions of concurrent players in its persistent online world.

Even today, World of Warcraft remains one of the most played MMOs on the PC.

This entry in the Grand Theft Auto series follows CJ, an up-and-comer in the gang scene of San Andreas, a fictional region in the western United States.

Like most Grand Theft Auto titles, San Andreas simultaneously offers a riveting narrative and a huge playground to wreak havoc in.

When the game originally released, it was the largest GTA game yet, and featured a huge playable area for gamers to explore.

The narrative follows CJ, and sees his rise from a low-ranking gang associate to a major player in the scene.

You complete dozens of action packed missions that have you shooting, driving, and even flying across the huge map.

Numerous side missions and plenty of fun secrets keep Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas entertaining long after the credits have rolled.

In the year 2114, a starship has been ravaged by a genetic virus.

You play as a soldier aboard that ship, trying to survive and escape the outbreak.

System Shock 2 made huge leaps in narrative storytelling in the FPS genre by infusing its action with RPG mechanics.

As you explore the ruined but technologically advanced ship, you can do more than just shoot your weapon to complete objectives.

As you progress through the game, you ca unlock new skills such as the ability to hack machine or use psionic skills.

These new tools are often useful ways to solve problems, and open up a variety of paths to success.

The story tells a deep and interesting mystery that is an absolute treat for sci-fi fans, and its influence is easily seen in modern game franchises like Bioshock and Deus Ex.

This third entry in The Witcher franchise concludes the story of Geralt of Rivia, a monster slayer who travels across the countryside hunting beasts and searching for his missing daughter.

The Witcher 3 is heralded as one of the best RPGs of the modern generation, with an impressive narrative and extremely satisfying gameplay.

Geralt’s search for his daughter takes you to many mysterious and mystifying lands and cities, completing numerous quests for a large cast of interest characters.

Whether it’s the main quest or a simple side story, the writing is consistently compelling.

The monsters you’ll fight are all highly unique, and you’ll have to employ different tactics to conquer each one.

The experience is just as lengthy as it is good, giving gamers well over 300 hours of quality gameplay and storytelling.

One day in the peaceful land of goo, pipes start appearing, spurring on the blob-like inhabitants to check them out.

When the pipes start sucking up the gooey citizens and turning them into energy drinks, you must escape the manufacturing facility and explore unknown lands to ensure your safety.

This puzzle game uses physics and cute characters to provide a lighthearted experience that is an addictive and fun way to tease your brain.

You play the game in a linear manner, progression through five unique chapters and completing the levels therein.

Using a limited number of goo balls, you attempt to create structures that bridge the gap from one side of a level to the other.

The gameplay concept is pretty simple, but is made more complex by the fun physics engine.

As you stack balls of goo, their weight causes the structures to shift and bend, forcing you to think on the fly.

It’s a fun concept that’s easy to learn but hard to master, and the five chapters in the game introduce new variations on the base concept to keep things interesting.

It’s a puzzle game that’s great for anyone regardless of their skill level, and quickly brings a smile to your face.

In the year 2011, the assassination of a Middle Eastern president throws the world into turmoil, spurring on a massive civil war in Russia.

This entry in the prestigious Call of Duty franchise trades in the expected historical battles for a fictional modern conflict.

The game splits its focus between an impressive single player campaign and some hugely influential multiplayer modes.

The single player campaign sees you battling in action packed warfare across numerous countries, including the UK, Russia, the Middle East, and more.

You experience these battles through the eyes of a US Marine and a British SAS commando, each with their own respective squads and stories.

There’s a good variety of gameplay throughout the story mode, including exciting gunfights, fun vehicle sections, and intense stealth encounters.

The multiplayer offerings are plentiful and made a huge impact on FPS games upon release.

This is mostly due to its inventive and addictive progression system, which unlocked new weapons and gear as you completed matches.

This progression system has been used in countless modern shooters, and has quickly become the expected format for multiplayer progression.

In a galaxy far from our own, three species engage in military warfare for political and territorial dominance.

You assume the role of Jim Raynor, a hardened human commander who leads a small group of rebellion soldiers in fights against the two other races.

This real time strategy game builds on the quality gameplay of the original game by adding new features, a new campaign structure, better graphics, and more multiplayer options.

Unlike the original game, Starcraft II plays out in a non-linear fashion, allowing you to pick up missions and complete them as you see fit.

Missions have you collecting resources and building new structures and units, directing them into battle.

In addition to completing the many missions in the human campaign, you can battle other players in online competitive matches.

Due to the high amount of strategy and skill required, Starcraft II is one of the most popular e-sports games of all time.

This multiplayer focused shooter takes place in a world where gladiator battles have become a highly popular and deadly sport.

Various teams with long standing grudges battle it out in vicious gunfights, all hoping for a taste of glory.

Unreal Tournament 2004 is well known for its insane speed, plethora of levels, and violent and bloody combat.

There are over 100 different maps you can play on, with ten different modes of play to choose from.

This version of Unreal Tournament also introduces vehicles, which appear in both Onslaught and Assault game modes.

For the first time in the franchise, you can now run over your enemies or attack them from the sky, utilizing fun and destructive vehicles to gain an upper hand.

If you like fast-paced shooters with a competitive focus, this is definitely the game for you.

In the future, an alien race has approached the Earth and scared humanity into forming planetary defense systems.

Another alien race threatens to wipe out all species besides their own.

This sequel builds upon the success of the first game, providing players with a tactical but action-packed gameplay experience.

There are plenty of new features, including new ship parts, brand new graphics, and more.

Different species can now survive in different atmospheres, thanks to their terraforming abilities.

Your non-combat options have been opened up as well, allowing for espionage, spying, and new diplomatic techniques.

As you progress through the game, you’re able to slot upgrade points into an easy-to-understand skill tree, which gains you new skills.

A man searches for a missing girl in the giant floating city of Columbia.

The mysteries he uncovers there will shatter his perception of reality.

This entry in the Bioshock franchise moves away from the previous setting of Rapture, and sets its players down in Columbia, a massive floating city in the clouds.

Players progress through a linear world, searching for a missing girl in an attempt to wipe away a long standing debt.

Your journey takes you through multiple environments and timelines, interacting with different characters.

The story is full of psychological twists and turns, and by the ending, you’ll be absolutely astounded by the resolution.

A horde of undead Scourge have been unleashed on the massive land of Azeroth, led by the terrifying and deadly Lich King.

You must fight back against the impending destruction and save your land from the titular wrath.

This expansion is considered one of the best World of Warcraft expansions, as it introduces tons of new content and adds some quality features as well.

This expansion raises the overall level cap from 70 to 80, allowing players to gain more skills and powers.

You can now play as a “death knight”, the newest class of character.

Death knights also introduce “hero classes”; new character classes that begin your character beyond level 1.

The biggest addition is that of Northrend, a large continent full of frozen lands and icy tundras.

Northrend contains eight zones designed for high-level questing, player-versus-player combat, and cooperative raids and instances.

This expansion adds hundreds of hours of content, and gave the game a hefty boost in popularity.

Create your own story in your own world by collecting resources and building whatever your heart desires.

Minecraft took the world by storm when it first launched, thanks to its huge open-ended nature and encouragement of creativity.

Players start out in a randomly generated world, exploring and collecting resources.

You can use those resources to craft new items like shovels, pick axes, and more.

The game is very block-like in appearance, which works well for its Lego-esque building system.

Players simply stack blocks on top of each other to create anything they want.

Generally speaking, your imagination is the limit in Minecraft, and the game combines creativity with light survival elements to create a highly addictive experience.

In the fantasy world of Rivellon, a magical source of power has fallen, unleashing a terrifying creature.

You play as a warrior, held in a prison and being drained of your powers.

This RPG focuses on player choice, allowing them to complete missions in a variety of ways.

You play the game solo or with up to the three friends, either locally or online.

You choose from either one of the preset characters or create your own, and set out on an adventure to defeat the evil forces invading Rivellon.

You can control each member of your party independently, allowing for more complex attack formations, role playing opportunities, and tactics.

Completing missions and defeating enemies allows you to level up your powers, unlocking new and useful abilities.

If anything, Divinity: Original Sin II allows players a massive amount of freedom in how they experience their adventure.

In the Land of the Dead, wandering souls must make their way across the land towards their final destination of rest.

You play as Manny, a travel agent in the Land of the Dead, guiding souls on their journey.

Grim Fandango is both a narrative and puzzle focused experience, with tons of characters and brain-teasing riddles to solve.

You move around the beautiful and artistic environments, interacting with characters and collecting items.

You use items to complete puzzles and bypass barriers, all while exploring the mystical underworld.

The mysterious plot leads you on a four year journey throughout the Land of the Dead, full of intrigue and humor.

Four races battle to the death in large scale warfare, all attempting to gain ground in the fantasy world of Warcraft.

Like previous Warcraft titles, this game has you collecting resources on a playing field and building up your base, creating units and commanding them in battle.

The game is split up into five different campaigns; an optional prologue and one campaign for each race.

Players control either humans, orcs, the undead, or night elves.

Each campaign takes you through a variety of linear missions, with each ending in a massive large scale battle.

Players can also take their skills online, battling friends in highly strategic fights to the death.

A dark sith lord named Malak threatens all of the galaxy, launching an attack on the Republic.

You play as a lone Jedi, traveling from planet to planet in an attempt to eliminate Malak and save the galaxy.

This is one of the most acclaimed games based on the film series, Star Wars.

In it, players create a custom character and choose from one of three character classes.

You travel to a variety of planets, meeting characters and completing quests.

Combat plays out in rounds, with each party attack and reacting at the same time.

Players are given moral choices within dialogue and missions, which allow them to either grow more good or evil.

This affects the different skills and abilities you unlock, which makes replaying the game an absolute must.

The lengthy experience takes you to numerous fantasy worlds and tells countless amazing stories, and is truly a must-play for any fan of the Star Wars property.

The fantasy world of Cyrodill is thrown into disarray when giant gates to the demonic world of Oblivion are opened.

This RPG gives players a huge open world to explore, and allows them to complete missions at their leisure.

The main quest focuses on closing Oblivion gates; large portals into a hellish and demonic world.

Players can also pick up a huge amount of quests from secondary characters, including various guilds.

Combat is a mix of stealth, melee and ranged attacks, and magic abilities.

Players upgrade their powers as they see fit, learning new skills and growing in strength.

Whether you join the Assassin’s guild, save the world from the forces of Oblivion, or just enjoy a pleasant stroll through the forest, Oblivion is one of the most satisfying RPGs ever made.

Grow your own civilization from the ground up, starting in the 4000 BC.

You’ll have to use your military strategy, political tactics, and management skills to grow into a successful civilization.

Like other Civilization games, Civilization IV tasks players with leading their own civilization into the new era.

Players start with limited resources, and must build up their civilization by trading with nearby towns, conquering lands, and more.

You can win the game in one of five ways, opening up a variety of paths to success.

There are many layers of management within the game, as you’ll have to develop technologies for your population, choose religions, have political conversations with other civilizations, and more.

Generally speaking, Civ IV is a hugely fleshed-out simulator that allows you to play the way you want, growing in power until you take over the entire world.

You play as Claude, a criminal left for dead in the land of Liberty City.

By undertaking missions from a variety of crime bosses, you slowly rise up the ranks in the underworld of organized crime.

Grand Theft Auto III made headlines when it first released, thanks to its graphic violence and freedom given to players.

In the game, you are free to explore the land of Liberty City; a fictional version of New York City that is split into three main islands.

Players can steal vehicles and run over pedestrians, pick up weapons and unleash havoc, or follow the main story by completing missions.

GTA III paved the way for many modern video games, and without it, we wouldn’t have the same kind of open-world games that we know today.

As one of the most influential games of all time, GTA III easily earns its spot on this list.

Engage in an arena-style deathmatch in order to become the Grand Champion.

As you move up the ladder, you must eventually challenge Xan, the mysterious current champion.

This multiplayer focused game broke new ground in the first person shooter genre, giving players an insane amount of speed and fun, bloody combat.

Although multiplayer is the main focus, you can play through a solo campaign in matches against AI-controlled enemy teams.

There are six different modes of play which vary from standard deathmatch to objective-based modes.

Playing Unreal Tournament is like riding a never-ending rollercoaster, resulting in a breakneck experience unlike any other shooter.

Experience historical battles from the second World War in a tactical way, controlling either the armies of the Allies or Axis factions.

Lead your troops through six unique missions, collecting resources and building your army into an unstoppable machine.

This game takes the RTS mechanics of games like Warcraft and Starcraft and mixes them with the realistic warfare of World War II.

Players select their faction and army, moving around the map to collect resources and craft buildings and military units.

You then command those units into battle, forming strategic attack plans and defense formations.

You can also fight in multiplayer battles online, picking from one of two game modes.

The realistic action and tactical choices make this an addictive and brutal strategy game, and it became popular enough to spawn its own live-action movie.

In the Forgotten Realms, a fantasy world similar to Medieval earth, players explore the capital city of Athkalta.

With a party of heroes, you must set out into ruined temples, magical dungeons, and other interesting environments to complete quests.

This game continues the story started in the original Baldur’s Gate, and sees characters exploring a fantasy world full of quests and monsters.

The game plays from an isometric perspective as you lead your party of characters through the game’s world.

Players can create a custom character and choose from one of eleven character classes.

Each class opens up different skills and ways to complete quests, varying from mages and clerics to bards and warriors.

Combat plays out in real time, but can be paused for a tactical break.

The lengthy story and multitude of quests will take players hundreds of hours to complete, providing an extensive and enjoyable RPG experience.

In a scientific facility in the middle of New Mexico, an experiment has gone horribly wrong.

You play as Gordon Freeman, a theoretical physicist who has survived the accident and must escape from the dangerous lab.

Half-Life is a first person shooter, but focuses on telling a narrative story using scripted sequences instead of cutscenes.

This storytelling mechanic was an instant hit, and shaped the way that modern first person shooters tell their stories.

The game mixes action with some horror elements, forcing players through a scary and dangerous research facility.

After a horrible experiment goes wrong, the lab is filled with otherworldly beings, all intent on killing as many humans as possible.

Using his handy crowbar, pistol, and many other weapons, Gordon must blast his way to safety while uncovering the mysteries contained within the secretive lab.

This wacky and humorous adventure follows the main character, who finds themselves in a fantasy world full of interesting characters and monsters.

They must find a safe way home or risk being trapped forever.

Undertale is a wholly unique experience, combining multiple mechanics from a variety of genres to create a masterfully crafted tale.

Combat is non-essential, meaning you can talk your way out of every encounter.

Most of the game is spent chatting with fun and hilarious characters and completing small quests and tasks for them.

There are multiple endings depending on how you play, and most players will find themselves compelled to play through the game multiple times.

It might not be the most graphically impressive game, but Undertale tells an exciting and unique story through fun and often subversive gameplay.

You play as Tommy Vercetti, a young but hopeful up-and-comer in the world of organized crime.

After being released from prison, you work your way up the ladder of organized crime by completing missions and carrying out tasks for crime bosses.

Vice City builds on the success of Grand Theft Auto III by utilizing the same game engine, but switching up the environment and style.

The game plays out in a fictional version of Miami, set in the late 80’s.

Missions revolve around everything that made the 80’s so wild; drug culture, fast vehicles, and a whole lot of style.

You work your way up from a bottom feeder to a mansion owner, carrying out missions across an expansive map.

For fans of the 80’s and absolute chaos, Vice City is an instant classic.

After being raised from the dead, Commander Shepard must explore the Milky Way galaxy to find an ancient race of beings who threaten the existence of mankind.

This RPG series allows players to explore multiple planets and a massive capital city, picking up quests and interacting with characters.

As the player, you have a choice in whether or not Shepard is a kind leader or an evil one, depending on the dialogue and moral choices you make.

Combat plays out like a third person shooter with some tactical options for your teammates.

As you complete quests and progress through the story, you can upgrade yourself and your party members via large and varied skill trees.

The story is quite epic, with huge battles and intimidating antagonistic forces.

More importantly, the experience feels personal and tailored to the player, resulting in one of the most satisfying RPGs of all time.

Deep under the sea, a city named named Rapture exists.

It’s a place where you are free from the judgment and morality of the surface world.

After it falls into ruins and you travel there by accident, you must find a way to escape.

BioShock is well known for its fun and exciting shooter gameplay and inventive and original storytelling.

Besides using pistols, machine guns, and shotguns, players can utilize the power of plasmids.

These potent potions allow you to unlock literal superpowers, like shooting lightning out of your hands or burning things to a crisp by snapping your fingers.

The linear story leads you through a ruined fantasy city, overtaken by drug-fueled citizens who have lost their mind.

The story is known for having one of the most surprising twists in all of gaming history, and is sure to throw your mind through a loop.

Carry out huge heists and complete various criminal missions across the huge region of San Andreas.

You’ll follow the story of three unique characters as they rise to the top of their respective criminal gangs.

This entry in the Grand Theft Auto franchise features the biggest map yet, with multiple playable characters and several huge areas to explore.

From the desert in the north to the highly populated city in the south, the land of San Andreas is full of variety and unique locales.

You’ll guide three characters through the main story; Michael, Trevor, and Franklin.

Each character possesses unique skills, and you can improve their ability to drive, shooting, fly, and more.

You can switch between the characters at any time, taking on unique missions or participating in a wide variety of side activities.

This, combined with the expansive offerings of the multiplayer mode GTA: Online, makes Grand Theft Auto V one of the most content-filled action games available.

Escape from a huge laboratory full of puzzle rooms by using a portal gun.

This sequel adds cooperative gameplay to the popular portal-shooting experience, as well as a brand new story campaign.

Players guide the main character through countless puzzle rooms, using their portal gun to traverse the dangerous areas.

Many of the puzzles will force you to bend your brain, and the inclusion of new “gel” surfaces change up gameplay considerably.

You can also play a separate cooperative campaign with a friend locally or online, which considerably changes up the strategy and puzzle-solving dynamic.

After breaking out of Black Mesa, the ruined research facility, Gordon Freeman must fight against the oppressive group known as the Combine.

This sequel continues the tale of Gordon Freeman, the crowbar-wielding scientist who uses his intellect to save the world.

After a horrible failed experiment, the world is now populated with alien beings who destroy and corrupt humanity.

We get introduced to several new characters, including Alyx, an endearing and caring companion.

The gameplay remains highly enjoyable, with frantic first person shooting sequences.

New weapons spice up the experience, namely the “gravity gun” that allows you to shoot objects at unsuspecting foes.

Experience a collection of some of the greatest games ever made, including Half-Life 2, Portal, and the multiplayer-centric Team Fortress 2.

Few games deliver the kind of excellent deal that The Orange Box does.

This compilation contains Half-Life 2 and both of its episodic expansions, as well as the puzzle focused Portal and the multiplayer shooter Team Fortress 2.

Each game provides a different kind of experience, but the quality is always excellent.

Whether you’re saving the world as Gordon Freeman, escaping a laboratory with a portal device, or battling to the death in class-based battles, The Orange Box contains a gaming experience for every kind of player.