by Duncan Blaxter

Created on: January 29, 2009

In most cases, the word 'best' indicates opinions will be divided. One mans trash is another mans treasure, as they say. With that in mind I have tried to omit games that only I like for the purposes of accuracy. Another factor to consider is the different games consoles available and how some games are only available on a single platform and therefore can never be as popular as the multi-platform equivalent. The listed games below are what the facts and figures and my own gut instinct tell me are the best video games ever.

As a modern, up-to-date first person shooter that is easy to get into and has excellent gameplay, I recommend Far Cry 2 by Ubisoft. The graphics are stunning and the storyline is well-executed. The non-linear, free-roam world the game takes place in allows for a degree of tactics I have seen in no other game - take out the guards of a bandit camp using a sniper rifle and a stealthy approach, or simply march in there with a shotgun, it's your choice. Alternatively you could use a grenade laucher to obliterate the camp from range, or even use incendiaries to set the place alight and burn the guards to death - or a combination of all of those strategies. The possible scenarios in the game are virtually infinite in their variety and amusingness and for that reason this game strikes me as one of the best video games ever.

Another modern game is X3: Terran Conflict by Egosoft. It is one of the few remaining games in the space simulation genre, and encompasses a massive range of gameplay experiences, from running away from space pirates in a tiny one man fighter, to trading in goods with a freighter to increase one's bank account. After countless hours of trading and fighting, you will end up the owner of a corporate empire, and a fleet of ships ranging from tiny 2-gun scouts all the way up to gargantuan 48 gun destroyers. The scope of the game is immense, and the gameplay can stay entertaining for much longer than the equivalent first person shooter simply becase of the game's incredible depth, and the sense of achievement when you look out the bridge of your flagship destroyer that you spent days to afford, you look along the mile long hull, and think: that's mine.

In the real time strategy genre I see two main candidates - Command And Conquer 95 and Total Annihilation. Command and Conquer 95 had a thrilling plot, great music, and excellent factions to play as. It was one of the very first RTS games to be properly successful and had anything that

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