Top 10 PC Games of 2005

2005 was a rather interesting year for games because of how the releases were spread during the year. There were some major titles during the first part of the year, but the summer months were pretty vacant of any big name titles, leaving the holiday season yet again to come out with some huge titles. As strange as it seems, compared to last year’s top ten, 2005 was a lot harder, because there were a couple of big name titles, but certainly nothing near the amounts of 2004. Because of this, the author, being myself, had to try out a larger amount of different games fully making sure which games would fill out the rest of the top ten. It is my belief that one has to spend quite a bit of time with the different games of the year to really evaluate what can be considered for the top ten, and so, it took a little longer than normal to release this list because of the amount of time I’ve spent with the games of 2005. If you have agreements or disagreements, let me know.

Civilization IV- Using an enhanced version of the same graphics engine that was used to Sid Meier’s Pirates!, Civilization IV takes all the great features of the previous installments, plus fixed almost all the problems and gave their fan community an all around great game. Civ games were never really known for their intense graphics, only their in-depth gameplay and Civilization IV definitely delivers. With using the Pirates! Engine, Firaxis give the Civ series a 3D enhancement with many different colors that just feels right as you decide to either nuke your opponents or deal with them peacefully. With so many ways to win each game, and the great multiplayer, Civilization IV was an easy choice for top pc game of 2005.

Guild Wars- Trying to pull away just a few of the millions of people playing World of Warcraft, Guild Wars gave the online gamer a different type of experience. Not truly considering a Massive Multiplayer Online Role-playing Game, Guild Wars has players instance into their own unique setting each time they leave a town setting, giving them to either group with other human players or take on NPCs as groups members. This feature, although seeming different than the norm for online games, really helps players who don’t want to wait for hours looking for a group for a certain mission during the game. And one can’t forget about the great graphics for the online world; each environment looks beautiful and unique in its own way with the artistic style that the developers chose to take. Plus, not having a monthly subscription also helps out with gaining new members, and the developers constantly keep updating and adding new content to this large scaled game.

Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones- A combination of the previous two installments in the series, taking the great combat style from Warrior Within, and the great environmental puzzles from The Sands of Time, this game can do nothing but please fans of the trilogy. Along with a decent storyline that will keep the player interested throughout the entire game, PoP: T2T ends the trilogy with a good note, having most of the questions from the previous games answered. Adding a new “quick kill” feature as an addition to the already great combat system, the developers really took some time to make everything in the combat flow from one attack to the next. Even with putting out a new installment every year, Ubisoft has definitely put their time into presenting the player with a great gameplay experience that will please most, if not all Prince of Persia fans.

Battlefield 2 – With all the new and added features since the last Battlefield game, this has to be one of the biggest overhauls from one game to the next in a series ever in game history. With the great graphics, and team-based style of gameplay, not to forget the intricate online tallying system for kills, etc, the developers definitely took their time in giving the player an awesome online experience in the modern era of combat. Being a mostly online game, and also one of the most popular online shooters, one has to think that the developers definitely know what they’re doing with Battlefield 2. With the ability to drive and fly different vehicles including tanks, jeeps, and airplanes, Battlefield 2 is definitely a game that will take over gamer’s lives for some time to come.

The Movies- From the well known creative developer Peter Molyneux who gave us great games like Black and White 1 and 2, The Movies gives players the ability to create their own blockbuster hits. With two different modes of play; one being the ‘campaign mode’ where you start movies in the early 20^th century in black and white without sound and go through winning awards and building you studio until you’re making full drawn out color movies with some special effects. The other style of play is a type of ‘sandbox mode’ where you’re able to start creating movies from the get go, but with limited technology if you haven’t completed the campaign mode already. Although the game doesn’t give the player the amount of control they first thought they would get, the game is definitely different from the norm and Mr. Molyneux has definitely tried to branch away from mainstream as much as he could, which is noble in today’s ways of sequels and spin-offs.

Swat 4 – As this series has become older, the gameplay of each one has been more defined and better with each installment. Styled as a first person shooter, Swat 4 can only be considered so much more. You play through different missions consisting of kidnappings, burglaries, and murder, but different from regular fist person shooters, the point of each mission is not to go in with guns blazing, but with diplomatic, nonlethal weapons such as hollow shell bullets coming out of shotguns, stun guns, and tear gas grenades. You’re graded each mission and the more force you use, the less points you’ll receive out of 100. The squad based combat presented to the player throughout the different missions is extremely fun being able to control different members of the squad and just planning out your attack throughout the missions. The fan community has definitely come alive with this game with modders making different levels for others to download and play after they’ve finished the single player campaign. And each time you play a mission, everyone, including the victims and enemies with be located in different positions so the replay value is definitely high.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – Say what you will about the Grand Theft Auto series, but Rockstar games definitely know they’re doing when creating new games. Given more advertisement by the famous “coffee mod,” San Andreas yet again gave the player the ability to do almost anything in a huge world that was free of loading points. Taking everything that was great about the previous two games in the series, San Andreas adds more quests consisting of a large variety, different from just the regular “mailman” quests that have plagued most games in this same genre. If you’re not offended by strong language or any sort of racism and want a game that will fill up your time for quite awhile, giving you the ability to live an alternate life in a huge world, then Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a good choice for you. Even though it may not seem like Rockstar Games are not taking a lot of initiative with the Grand Theft Auto series, San Andreas proves yet again that you can make a sequel that is above and beyond what the previous installments were.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted – Yet another installment in the Need for Speed series, but it’s not just another NFS game, it’s so much more. It takes the series into the next generation with amazing graphics and detail to the different aspects of the game. With a plotline that’s siliery than it’s supposed to be(or at least I’m assuming), Most Wanted sets the player in the role of a true street racer who must win his way up to the top of the Black List to get recognition from the other drivers in the circuit. Story of the game aside, the different aspects of the game really bring this new installment to life starting with the amazing graphics, the ability to enhance your car, and the tons of extra races and circuits you’re allowed to play to win money to enhance your car really give Most Wanted a lot of hours of playtime for anyone.

Dungeons and Dragons: Dragonshard – A different and unique real-time strategy game that was released in 2005 really shines as something that tries to put many different aspects into the RTS genre, and Dragonshard succeeds. With a decent enough storyline that will keep player’s interest throughout the single-player campaign, the ability to control hero type characters, the good soundtrack included, and the graphics really make this title one of the top ten of 2005. Coming from Liquid Entertainment, Dragonshard gives players a breath of fresh air adding different elements into the RTS genre including the ability to have battles above and below ground, and also having influence of the Dungeons and Dragons ruleset in the newest DnD realm.

FEAR – Because of technological achievements this game made, it deserves to be on the top ten. The graphics in this game and also the artificial intelligence displayed by your enemies with the different levels really sets this game apart from the everyday normal first person shooter. Having the ability to slow down time is not unknown to the gaming world, stemming from Max Payne and Matrix games, but FEAR, being a first person shooter really gives it a twist giving the ability of hand to hand combat to the player with dealing with his foes. Although there are not that many different enemy types in FEAR’s single player campaign, their artificial intelligence really makes up for that. Your enemies will find ways to surround you or flush you out of different places. You’ll actually have to keep track of where they’re all at all the time, unless you want to reload. The graphics are a step above most of the FPS’s this year, and because of it, you’re going to need a huge system to get the full affect. The storyline, to me, wasn’t the best, taking many elements from recent Japanese horror films, but it will keep your interest throughout the entire game.

Some notable entries that nearly made the above list of ten were…

Call of Duty 2 – An awesome follow-up to a great game, this game again takes the player through three different campaigns consisting of the Americans, the British, and the Russians as they try to push back and take over the Nazi invasions of Europe. Although the story of World War II has been told so many times, COD2, like its predecessor makes the player feel like they’re actually there with all the intense gameplay. Although the graphics have been dramatically updated, the graphic engine was really optimized like it should have been before release and the lack of follow-up patches by the developer has plagued the online play for this game.

Black and White 2 – A great addition to the Black and White series, this second game adds amazing graphics compared to its predecessor, and also a more real-time strategy style of gameplay giving the player the ability to choose between taking over other tribes peacefully or using more aggressive ways in terms of war. Although the graphics may look amazing, and the storyline is decent enough to keep the interest of the player, the extremely dumb artificial intelligence and the repetitive gameplay throughout each mission really plague this sequel.

Boiling Point - Road to Hell - A huge diverse game that can be considered both a first person shooter and a role-playing game, Boiling Point takes players through a huge landscape of dense forests, uninhabited settlements, and good size villages. Considered as a more in-depth Grand Theft Auto game with more ambition by the developers, players will complete different and unique quests as they progress through the main storyline of your player character finding out what happened to his journalist daughter in the depths of the drug lords and forest warlods. Marred by an immense amount of bugs on release, it seems like the developers bit off more than they could chew with this title. If this title would have been released with only a quarter amount of the bugs at release, it would have easily fit on the top 10.

Age of Empires III – The third installment in one of the most popular real-time strategy series, Age of Empires, developed by Ensemble Series, added new features to the genre with the town center playing a larger role in the player’s game because of game cards and different abilities he could take advantage of while playing. Having amazing graphics, and a decent enough campaign, one of this game’s only cons is the huge interface that takes up almost half the screen. Now this may seem like a petty issue, but dealing with more and more RTS games of the recent years, more and more developers seem to be trying to minimize the interface and toolbar instead of enlarge it, and Ensemble’s interface is huge.