Three months left, what's your Game of the Decade?

[Strategia]

Favourite game of the decade, period? It'd have to be a tie between Europa Universalis III, Hearts of Iron 3 and StarTopia.

Europa Universalis III: I have nothing bad to say about this game. I love it to bits. As I've said once or twice before on this forum, it actually helped deepen my understanding of the time period depicted in the game for a university-level class. You can't get much better than that.
Hearts of Iron 3: It has some downsides IMO, it plays immensely slowly (a HoI3 hour (smallest unit of time) takes longer than an EUIII day (again, smallest unit of time), making the looong stretch of peacetime at the earliest start go by ever - so - sluggishly) and neutrality can be a ***** at times, but apart from that I love it ever so much. Researching separate upgrades for infantry small arms, infantry support weapons, infantry anti-tank weapons, medium tank gun, medium tank armour, medium tank engine, small aircraft airframe, small aircraft fuel tank, destroyer main guns, destroyer anti-air guns - aaaaah.
StarTopia: I found out about this game back in 1999 or 2000 or thereabouts, and I immediately loved it despite my only contact being a gaming magazine preview article. Now that I have it, I find it actually more fun than I imagined it would be.

Obvious runners-up: Half-Life 2, Space Empires V, Red Orchestra, Railroad Tycoon 3, GTA: Vice City, and several more. But the aforementioned three are my absolute favourites of the entire decade.

 

[AlphaOmega]

Year - Title (Runner Up)

2000 - Diablo 2 (The Sims)
2001 - Grand Theft Auto 3 (Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal)
2002 - Age of Mythology (Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos)
2003 - Advance Wars 2 (Beyond good and Evil)
2004 - Half Life 2 (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas)
2005 - World of Warcraft (Civilization IV)
2006 - Medieval 2: Total War (Dead Rising)
2007 - The Orange Box (No runner up needed, but WoW:TBC for form)
2008 - Mass Effect PC (Grand Theft Auto IV)
2009 - Plants vs Zombies expected: Dragon Age: Origins.

Overall Personal game of the decade is a tie between Age of Mythology and Half Life 2

 

[Leftnt Sharpe]

2000: Baldur's Gate 2 Shadows of Amn
2001: Halo Combat Evolved
2002: Medieval Total War
2003: Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic
2004: Rome Total War
2005: Star Wars Republic Commando
2006: The Elders Scrolls IV Oblivion
2007: Mass Effect
2008: The Witcher Enhanced Edition
2009: Dragon Age: Origins...........even though it has not actually been released yet.

 

[bradley348]

No Half-Life 2 on that list? Really?

Half-Life 2 came out in 2004. Rome: Total War is the greatest game of all-time, and also came out in 2004. Therefore...

Plus, as you can clearly see from my choices (and my username), I'm not into shooters.

I've played Rome, and didn't care for it too much- it was fun for a while, but I've always preferred Real Time Strategy to Turn Based. And to dismiss Half Life 2 (or Portal) as simply "shooters" is to do them a great dis-service.

people have dif preferences, this guy just doesnt like shooters as much as the total war series (very good games)

my game of the decade though....

that, sir, is a tough one.

i can't really say, there have been a lot of amazing games. i recently bought (*cough*) Mercenaries 2. that was loads of fun, and i didnt run into many of these glitches yahtzee talked about, so i was like

STALKER: SOC with OL mod get points for win

idk really, cant we just say they are all equal? (jks)

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

game of the decade WILL BE Dragon Age. It's not released yet, but I'm just that confident in it.

I can confirm this to be the truth!

 

[coldfrog]

Since I don't keep track of what years games come out and it's not important enough to me, I'll just mention the game that was the best for me of the decade. That, of course, would have to be Rock Band. No matter how many top notch games I looked at, none of them (not even WoW) could claim the time I spent with that game. And not because I sit at home all the time, but because it's got such a universal appeal that three of my friends have it as well, and whenever one of us visits another's house and we have nothing better to do, out comes Rock Band. It's the most social, most endlessly replayable game I've seen in forever, and I flat out have the most fun with it.

Barring that, however... Deus Ex came out in this decade, right? Probably have to go with that.

 

[Bloodeye]

2000: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask just beats Perfect Dark
2001: Silent Hill 2
2002: Metroid Prime
2003: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
2004: Pikmin 2
2005: Resident Evil 4 edges out Shadow of the Colossus
2006: Ôkami
2007: Super Mario Galaxy
2008: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
2009: Plants vs. Zombies

Well that was difficult but The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask is my game of the decade.

 

[oliveira8]

I think that Civ 4>Hearts of Iron 2 in your list. Civ4 made me play Civilization, which was very odd cause I disliked alot the series. HoI2 while an awesome game didn't add much from HoI.

I spent just about all of 2005 (when I wasn't playing Rome and its expansion) playing HoI2, but I am also pretty well-known as probably THE biggest Paradox fanboy on these forums, so take that for what it's worth. HoI2 comes in at #8 on my all-time best games list; Civ4 ranks 12th.

Well thats fair.

I'm still to play HoI3, but I overdosed on strategy recently on a marathon of playing Stainless Steel and Third Age:Total War.(all mods of ME2:TW. If only the actual game was half of what those mods are.) I guess I'll side step HoI3 for next year, and get around Batman:AA and L4D2.

 

[teh_gunslinger]

It's almost that time again, time for decade retrospectives where some journalist with too many deadlines and not enough creativity drags out Shogun and Empire and says "look how gaming has changed from 2000 to 2009" or some such bullshit. But it does invite the question, what's the best game released in this first decade of the 21st century...and is there anything that could come out between now and December 31 to take away the Game of the Decade title from your current clubhouse leader?

I'll break down my list by Game of the Year for each year since 2000:

2000: Final Fantasy IX (the last time a console game was worthy of this award)
2001: Tropico
2002: The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
2003: Rise of Nations (in a close battle with SimCity 4)
2004: Rome: Total War
2005: Hearts of Iron 2 (barely edging out Civilization 4)
2006: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
2007: Europa Universalis III (it's my list, and Portal's not my style)
2008: Mount&Blade
2009 (so far): Empire: Total War.

Anyone who knows me knows this isn't much of a contest, with Rome taking my Game of the Decade award, and nothing conceivably poised to top it (Empire tried but came up well short). So what's the forum got?

You have en excellent tase in games sir. The highlighted games are indeed some of the best games of the decade. Rome in particular is great. Especially when you tire of vanilla and start looking into mods. HL2 is a great game but RTW is better in all ways. I have no idea how much time I've spent on it.
With regards to your list I think I would've added Medieval - Total War to it. It's almost as good as Rome and certainly way better than M2TW

 

[julesville]

The GAME of the Decade has to be Halo 3, wether you liked it or not!

No game had more build up, no game had more hype, no game has ever had as big a debut (except maybe E.T.). and no game is STILL played with as much ridiculous fervor. Best Selling game of 2007, the fastest pre-selling game to date, made $170 million in one day, and made every FPS since the 1st one try desperately to be a "Halo-killer", all failed!!!

Halo 3 and the Halo series defined the new era of gaming and defined the 2000s as the decade where gaming became an entertainment fixture.

 

[The Madman]

Picking one game for each year is brutal as there are some years that were a barren waste and others in which easily a dozen games spring to mind. In the end I just went with the games I played the most and continue to play today rather than my initial impressions at the time. Expansions not counted. Are these my all time favorites? Some of them, others are just the best I could find for that year. 2001 was a ***** to find anything for actually, not that the game I choose for that year was by any means bad, it's just not one I've played in years whereas all the others are ones I've enjoyed again fairly recently.

2000: Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn
2001: Stronghold
2002: Neverwinter Nights
2003: Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
2004: Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
2005: SWAT 4
2006: Galactic Civilizations 2
2007: The Witcher
2008: Mount & Blade
2009: Not done yet, we'll see!

If I had to pick my favorite the answer would be an easy Baldur's Gate 2. Hard to believe the game is that old really, I still play BG2 fairly regularly. A near flawless combination of the tactical gameplay I so love with the rpg mechanics I enjoy. Add in an excellent plot with some of the most memorable characters ever thrown into a game plus the thriving modding community which continues to turn out new high-quality content to this very day, and you've got my gaming perfection!

NWN I play regularly as well for the mods, however the gameplay I just don't find as enjoyable as I prefer squad combat. One of the reasons I'm among the minority that actually prefers NWN2 over the original. If I hadn't decided no expansions, NWN2: Mask of the Betrayer would have beaten The Witcher for 2007. However GalCiv2 is my favorite 4x TBS of all time so NWN2 doesn't even appear on this list, go figure!

 

[silasbufu]

No Half-Life 2 on that list? Really?

well it is his list.. make your own with your personal favourites and solve the problem


OT: anywho , my game of the decade battle is between gran turismo 3 and san andreas. dunno

 

[DrunkWithPower]

2000: Sims HM: Perfect Dark & FF IX
2001: Silent Hill 2 HM: GTA3 & Pikmin
2002: GTA: Vice City HM: TES:III & Kingdom Hearts
2003: Manhunt HM: Star Wars:KOTOR & Prince Of Persia
2004: Star Wars:Battlefront HM: Fable & Half Life 2
2005: Resident Evil 4 HM: Guitar Hero & Psychonauts
2006: TES:IV Oblivion HM: Gears Of War & Bully
2007: Bioshock HM: The Orange Box & CoD4
2008: Civilization Revolution HM: Left 4 Dead & Resistance 2

The 2009 prediction: Modern Warfare 2. Honorable Mentions being Boardlands and Batman: Arkham Asylum.

These are all IMO.

 

[Valkyira]

Batman: Arkham Asylum or the Warriors on xbox

 

[REvolve]

Savage: The Battle for Newerth is my vote.

 

[Nazulu]

2000 - Diablo 2
2001 - Super Smash Brothers Melee
2002 - Metroid Prime
2003 - Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
2004 - World of Warcraft
2005 - God of War
2006 - Titan Quest
2007 - Super Mario Galaxy
2008 - Left 4 Dead
2009 - Street Fighter IV

Melee is 1st for me, the replay value of that game is unmatched! I can say that because I still play it every week.

2nd place goes to Metroid Prime, and 3rd goes to World of Warcraft for becoming such a big deal and because an awesome South Park episode was made for it.

 

[Random Argument Man]

2000: I'm stuck between Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask and Final Fantasy 9.
2001: Halo CE
2002: Warcraft 3
2003: KOTOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2004: KOTOR 2
2005: Star Wars Republic Commando
2006: Jade Empire
2007: Mass effect or Guitar Hero 2 on the 360
2008: Super Smash brothers Brawl
2009: Probably will be : Brütal Legend

(Yes, I'm a Bioware fan).