Continuing the second and last part of Games That Would Have Gotten A 10. These games are in no particular order, and I highly suggest for anyone who hasn’t played them to do so because you are missing on pieces of gaming history.
Dead Space
The first time I saw a necromorph I nearly crapped my pants. I had never played such a scary or visceral and atmospheric game (horror wise) since the first Silent Hill. Just feeling the dread that something might pop out any minute or watching the few people who had survived kill themselves or listen to their mindless mumbling made you feel uneasy. The game was cinematic, had great controls, graphics, and the weapons were engineering tools which made the game play very differently. The de-limbing system was revolutionary and helped the game stay away from traditional shooting gallery problems. When I finished Dead Space it was one of the few that I played through more than once and still got a kick out of the entire experience.
Rock Band
I was used to Guitar Hero for years, but nothing prepared me for the show stopping gameplay that Rock Band brought to the table. It changed the rhythm genre with the addition of the drum set, and quickly became my favorite instrument. The game had deeper customization, more streamlined mulitplayer, and even featured a ton of great songs on the disc and had hundreds of DLC. I forgot about Guitar Hero for the longest time and was addicted to this bad boy. Even at the steep price range at the time it offered a unique experience that no other music rhythm game could offer.
Mass Effect
While the second game was great the first game introduced us to the beginning of choice based dialog that really made a difference. Mixing shooter elements with RPG was something that no one thought could be done right and BioWare nailed it. The memorable characters, amazing visuals, and the vast amount of lore and content put it at the top and helped pave the way for choice based games. I played through this game three times and found new things each time. The excellent voice acting and facial animations were out of this world and remains a classic in my library.
Okami
Okami was game that came out of left field with stunning visuals, and one of the most unusual game mechanics of all time: the Celestial Brush. It was so cool using the brush and making things reappear, using it in combat, and solving puzzles, plus the vast open world helped push the boundaries of the aging PS2. The memorable characters, charming story, and the devotion to ancient Japanese lore was mesmerizing as well as fun to watch. Okami was a one of a kind experience that you couldn’t get on any other console and should be played by any fan of games.
