This list is in descending order; starting with the best game I've played on this list before proceeding down to least best, but still generally good games.
Please keep in mind that this list is of my personal opinion.
Status: WIP, list is in order but I have yet to write down my thoughts on each game.
This also includes Episodes 1 & 2.
While I highly respect the original game, Half-Life 2 completely pushed the boundaries when it comes to gameplay, visuals and story.
Mute theoretical physicist and all-around badass Gordon Freeman wakes up from a 20-year long stasis to find that Earth has been claimed by a mysterious galactic empire called the Combine. Soon after rejoining with old friends and meeting new acquaintances, Freeman becomes a pariah to the Combine and spearheads a resistance movement against them - with aide from a seemingly neutral yet unusual contact known simply as the G-Man.
This also includes The Lost and Damned / Ballad of Gay Tony DLC packs.
I absolutely adore this game, and I doubt that anything will ever change that for me. Everything from the gameplay, story, music and graphics is just remarkable for the time it came out - and has aged like a fine wine 15 years later. Not to mention, GTA IV still has some of the most impressive ragdoll physics that look both eerily real and comically hilarious.
Niko Bellic's ardent journey through the tough streets of Liberty City was strongly compelling, and was tied together perfectly with Johnny Klebitz's fledgling rule over the Lost MC as well as Luis Lopez's triumphant rise to stardom within the slick city nightclub scene. I can also gladly say that TLAD and TBoGT are probably my favourite DLCs in gaming period.
I understand that this game might not be for everyone, especially when it comes to the high expectations set by GTA San Andreas' diverse map, detailed gameplay mechanics and customization at the time. But you can't deny that GTA IV did the story much better than any previous game in the series, and even later games like GTA V.
Set during the final years of the Old West, outlaw gunslinger John Marston is forced into tracking down and eliminating his old partners-in-crime after fedaral agents kidnap Martson's wife and son. His journey takes him across a fictionalized depiction of Texas (known as New Austin), parts of Mexico, and the rapidly urbanized territory of West Elizabeth.
The game's story is predominantly told in medias res, and follows clone killer Agent 47, who takes on several contracts for the ICA. Throughout the course of the game, 47 tracked down by a rival secret organization who are against any sort of cloning programs and want him dead.
