Games that properly qualify as "Epic"?

[northeast rower]

Fairly simple question- what games do you believe to be truly "epic"? That word shouldn't just be used as an adjective for a game you like- use it for a game that truly feels like an epic journey on part with "The Odyssey" (though not necessarily on par with the storytelling, as you'll see by my choices)

Spoiler

Gears of War. Yeah, that's what I was talking about with the writing quality. That said, when viewed from a distance, Gears really is a globetrotting tale of the death of humanity.

Uncharted. Of course this had to go on here. Though it's a little too bombastic at times (lacks subtlety and this IS different from Gears of War in that Gears is about badass soldiers and Uncharted is about an average joe), the setpieces really do a lot for the story.

Red Dead Redemption. A McCarthy-esque trek across the American Southwest as an era dies. The story itself is well worth the price of admission.

Fallout: New Vegas. Strange choice? Not really- it's completely about your character and his/her choices and destiny, setting up a battle of good versus evil versus everything in between. "Lonesome Road" looks like it will take this and multiply it by a thousand, with your character taking a journey alone in a lifeless wasteland to find the man who has been pursuing and baiting him/her since the start.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution. You are at the heart of societal upheaval. As the world tears itself apart, it is up to you to fix your life. Pretty epic stuff.

EDIT: Wow, spoiler-tag fail.

 

[ChupathingyX]

Fallout: New Vegas. Strange choice? Not really- it's completely about your character and his/her choices and destiny, setting up a battle of good versus evil versus everything in between. "Lonesome Road" looks like it will take this and multiply it by a thousand, with your character taking a journey alone in a lifeless wasteland to find the man who has been pursuing and baiting him/her since the start.

Uhhhh, I wouldn't say New Vegas is a story about good vs evil, not at all.

The factions in the games all have their pros and cons, and many of the characters have disturbing pasts and conflicts in their lives due to past deeds that they regret. Some characters who come off as a good guys even have darker sides that are only presented in side quests.

Not to mention the endings which clearly show that no matter who wins in the end and who's left alive, there will always be someone who gets the short end of the stick, no matter how good they seem or what they did to help everyone.

 

[Ordinaryundone]

Halo. Mankind flirts with extinction against a xenocidal alien race while its last hero goes on a journey to use the lost technology of the galactic precursors to save them. Pretty cool stuff.

 

[xXGeckoXx]

MASS EFFECT. The scale of the battle is truly epic. You are fighting not only for humanity but for all organic life in the universe in a showdown against a timeless unbeatable enemy. All taking place is a quest of epic importance and scale taking you to exotic and deadly locations everywhere. And the finales for both games. Nuff said.

 

[CRRPGMykael]

Assassin's Creed II.It's epic in the way that it's an awesome game AND epic in the way that it has a great story,big open environments,etc,so it really FEELS like this "great journey" thing you've been talking about.

 

[Ralphfromdk]

Gears of War series and Unreal Tournament series.

They are both Epic game series.

..........................I'm doing it wrong, aren't I.

 

[TheJesus89]

Gears of War series and Unreal Tournament series.

They are both Epic game series.

..........................I'm doing it wrong, aren't I.

God damnit I thought I would be the first one to make that joke....

You win this time, Ralph.

 

[mrblargblarg]

the most epic game for me is doom, I had lots of fun killing hoards of demons

 

[Buzz Killington_v1legacy]

I'm cheating a little by including a whole series, but Baldur's Gate. I mean, you go from being an orphan in a library to becoming powerful enough to

Spoiler: Spoiler space for those who still want to play the game

...become the actual and literal God of Murder--or a good god, if that floats your boat.

 

[The Typical American]

I felt that the Way of the Samurai series in general, but especially the first installment, can be qualified as an epic game in a similar sense of Red Dead Redemtion.

An era is coming to an end and the main protagonist is a simple person that defends his morals or beliefs (because you have the choice to be as much of a samurai as you want) is caught in a setting representing a nation undergoing a grand scale change that is congested into a smaller scale represented by clans and those caught in the crossfire.

But ultimately the antagonists of change, the clans that are prominent throughout the game, determine your fate, and I feel that the way this is done through the game gives you a sense of defending your beliefs like how we personally do everyday, just in a different filter. That is why I feel this game is qualified as epic.

 

[RuralGamer]

Halo. Mankind flirts with extinction against a xenocidal alien race while its last hero goes on a journey to use the lost technology of the galactic precursors to save them. Pretty cool stuff.

I'd agree with this; I didn't enjoy the Halo games as much as other, similar games, but I wouldn't argue they aren't epic; the first three certainly are without being too much spectacle; I really enjoyed 3, especially in Co-Op. ODST and Reach kinda let the series down methinks.

MASS EFFECT. The scale of the battle is truly epic. You are fighting not only for humanity but for all organic life in the universe in a showdown against a timeless unbeatable enemy. All taking place is a quest of epic importance and scale taking you to exotic and deadly locations everywhere. And the finales for both games. Nuff said.

This for the given reasons. Genuinely I can't really add much except I liked the way that humans weren't the all-knowing, all-powerful jerks they are in a lot of other sci-fi games; you are the representative of humans and have to try and make a good first impression.

OT:

Company of Heroes feels properly epic when you have a Tiger and a Sherman Firefly dueling it out on a Dutch polder as mortar fire churns up the earth around them and rain lashes the eniter battlefield. A battle on the Lyons (4v4) once spiralled out of my control and it took me an hour to push the Americans one street backwards.

KOTOR 1, when you're on the Star Forge and fighting hordes and hordes of Sith to reach the final fight and decide the fate of the galaxy.

Those are the ones I can think of just now.

 

[souper soup guy]

Shadow of the collosus, nothing says epic like killing 5 story monsters.
The total war games too, but they're epic in a "huge armies meeting and killing everybody since.

 

[Inkidu]

Battlefield: Bad Company 2. It reminded me a lot of Glenn Cook's The Black Company. A group of soldiers who don't really want to be there tasked with near-suicidal jobs, and when all is said and done, and even though they have the option to bug out, they still do the suicidal thing and come out the other side of the breech.

 

[Rathcoole]

For me it is Morrowind. Sure it had it's fault's but if you can look past them what you get is a truly epic game. You can be anything you want and go anywhere you please. As soon as you are off the boat at the beginning there is no pointless crap, no linear must do quest's. How many other games give you the option to permanently end the main storyline as soon as it start's? A epic game with true consequences, You kill the wrong guy and the entire prophecy is destroyed and gone. Add to that dozen's of side quests and dozen's of joinable faction's and you get a truly epic game.

 

[babinro]

God of War - First thing that came to my mind after reading the title. Surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet.

 

[ReservoirAngel]

Fable 3. *ducks vase* Hear me out!

Just listen to the basic premise:

1. You are a Prince/Princess
2. You travel the world gathering followers
3. You launch a full revolution, destroying the city as you go to overthrow a tyrannical king
4. You must defend your kingdom from a timeless evil threat

What the game lacks in execution it more than makes up for in how epic the story is.

 

[Rastrelly]

Really EPIC games?

> All TES series (espetially Daggerfall)
> Older Infinity titles: Baldur's Gate, Planescape: Torment
> All Fallout series (except for console shit "Brotherhood of Steel")
> All X series (X: Beyond the frontier, X-Tension, X2, etc.)
> All Total War games
> CIVILIZATION and clones

And, suddenly:
> Space rangers
> King's bounty (both original and remakes)
> Original Deus Ex (NOT HR - it's good, but far not EPIC)
> Wizardry 7


...

Can't remember any more epic titles.

 

[Wylade]

Planet side. MASSIVE battles, sometimes across the entire planet, involving hundreds of people. And Section 8, with its battles being decided by a squad of troopers FALLING FROM THE STARS. Epic.

 

[Saltyk]

God of War - First thing that came to my mind after reading the title. Surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet.

You're not alone. I thought that, too. The first one was about a powerful, but still very human warrior trying to beat a God to save a city. And, of course, there were some great and epic battle against many a mythical beast like a Hydra and Minotaur.

The other two might not have been quite as epic in terms of story, but the battles were huge and epic n their own right. Who didn't feel like a bad ass upon beating Hercules?