Best Video Games of the Decade

So for the past month I have added my favorite movies, albums and such of the outgoing decade, but when it came for me to pick a favorite game I was stumped.  This decade has been so important to gaming with all the developments in technology that just picking one is near blasphemous in my opinion, instead I will give a Top 10 in some semblance of order; but not completely.

10. Tony Hawk Series- Say what you will, but I love this series…

9. Ghost Recon- Before they went onto the more single character storyline of the sequels, the original and the Island Thunder/Jungle Storm/Desert Siege add-on were awesome.  being able to control 3 characters and balance out an attack without the AI screwing it up was awesome.  Why they switched to the GH@ and GRAW format I will never know.

8. Bioshock- I hate FPS, they are boring, monotonous and repetitive.  This game took all that was good with RPG’s and stuffed it all into the shell of a FPS and made a masterpiece.

7. Fallout 3- Oh so much fun.

6. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed- Every kids dream.  Sadly the game is too short.

5. Dead Space- This game scared the piss out of me.  I would play for hours on the edge of my seat only to go to bed and have nightmares.  Pure genius.

4. Rainbow Six Vegas- Everything that Ghost Recon could have been, but set in Vegas.

3. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic series- Not as open and action oriented as the Force Unleashed game but 100s of hours of deep storylines make this game even better than the prequels.

2. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess- The only reason I own a Wii, and the only reason I continue to own a Wii.  Hopefully the series continues to produce as it always has in the past.  IMO the best yet, I know others will say Ocarnia in Time or Link to the Past, but the Wii really works well for this title and made gameplay fun.

1. Mass Effect- I am a major sci-fi geek, this new frontier of a story was everything that I watched as a kid.  I see lots of Star Wars, some Buck Rogers, a handful of BSG and even a touch of Saturn 3 (The Geth).  The designers are obvious enthusiasts and it shows… in a good way.  With Bioware having a clean slate to create what they want there is no limit to what can be done in the Mass Effect Universe having no cannon or “history” to commit to as in other franchises taken form movie lore.  The RPG is as deep as a novel and the graphics are that of a grainy budget scifi matinée on cable, though the elevator rides are a killer.  With Part 2 just over the horizon of the new decade I am sure it will have a spot in my future “Decade in Review” for the forthcoming 10 spot.