Top 5s Created 10 years ago2014-06-16 08:23:18 UTC by Archie

Unreal: Return to Na Pali
Breaking the rules here a bit. The original expansion pack was very hit and miss, but the expanded, modder-made Ultimate Edition is a fantastic bit of work that rivals the original game.

Does Serious Sam: The Second Encounter count? They're considered episodes of the first chapter sorta! I'm using it anyway. Way more level variety, awesome new enemies and weapons, larger levels, better everything!

Opposing Force
Natch. I have a feeling this will appear on a lot of our lists.

Dissolution of Eternity and Scourge of Armagon
Breaking the rules again! Seperately they're sorta weak, together they give you a bunch of entertaining new levels, weapons and enemies. Alternative Quoth and Drake are great fan-made content packs for modders that add a tonne of new variety to the game.

Can't decide on a fifth, and it's been a long time since I've played some of these, so here's the rest:
Yuri's Revenge - Popular choice already. Udo Kier hamming it up.
The Stetchkov Syndicate - More SWAT 4 is something to appreciate.
Master Levels for Doom 2 - More Doom 2 is something to appreciate.
And of course: horse armour.

Should I recommend Look Around You?

This is one of those shows that just floors me laughing. Watch it with the right group of people and even jokes you've heard a hundred times before will have you doubled over, tears streaming down your face.

So watching this.

Tiberian Sun is a standalone game, unless you're talking about the Firestorm expansion.

Anyway, I can't add anything this round, I don't really play a lot of games that get noteworthy expansion content. I can't even think of one that is deserving of a place in a list, let alone five.

Awh, I was gonna do just Top 5 games, but I thought something a bit more left field would promote more interesting chat. Ach well.

I did not know SWAT 4 had an expansion pack! I loved that game

Yeah this is hard. Hard to remember what expansions really were fun and brought new life to the game. I'll try, some of my favorites have already been mentioned though.

1.Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge(2001)
2.Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon(2013)
3.Oblivion: The Shivering Isles(2007)
4.Blue Shift(2001)
5.Finding a final one was hard, but if unofficial content counts as Add-ons, then I'd like to mention Brutal Doom. Otherwise it's a tie between Fallout New Vegas:Old World Blues and Skyrim's Dragonborn DLC.

And I suppose I'll explain each like everyone else tried to.

So first up Red Alert 2:Yuri's Revenge. I love this game. I love Command and Conquer, but this will forever be my favorite CnC title/expansion. It brought new campaign branches and a whole slew of improvements from the base title. It was amazing. I still have my original discs of RA2 and YR. They will always have a place in my heart.

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. Standalone DLC(The best kind!), this was a kick ass twist on FC3's mechanics and just shows how awesome games can get. It was advertised as a retro 80's action flick styled game, and did it deliver. From the artistic styling to the music, it just reeks of old action sci-fi movies, somewhere between Rambo and Tron. One indestructible badass american versus and army of evil robots. And that theme song, THAT FREAKING THEME SONG. Just awesome.

The Shivering Isles, this one was interesting. A friend had shown me Oblivion just a few days prior, and I was in love, it was amazing, I immediately begged my mother to buy me the GOTY edition for my computer, it took a week or so but finally she said fine and I played that game day and night(thank god for summer). Finally coming upon the portal to the Shivering Isles, going through the portal just made the game feel different, gone were the forests of Cyrodiil, instead replaced by a bizarre landscape, with two different and unique sides. The creatures were odd and the main character of the expansion was hilarious. It was a really fun experience. I'm tempted to pick up the game on Steam if I can muster up enough funds to afford it. Although I fear it won't hold up to Skyrim and such. I still have the GOTY disc I got all those years ago.

Half-Life:Blue Shift. Yes! I loved this expansion, I, like the other games, still the original HL and BS discs. Opposing Force was fun, but Blue Shift really brought me in, being able to play as a security guard was just fun, it went from "Oh, fix an elevator? Well this is boring." to "HOLY FUCK ALIENS FUCK YOU I KNEW THIS WAS COMING WHY AM I SURPRISED?!?". Oh and Barney went to Xen, come on. the HD model pack also improved the experience a little I think. Was just a really fun expansion to the story of Half-Life.

I have 3 here in 5th, and one might not count, so this will be short. First off, if it counts, my number 5 is Brutal Doom, an add-on for Doom I and II. Basically makes the game a hell of a lot more fun and has way more gore than any game you've seen in the last few years. If that doesn't count. Old World Blues for FO:NV or Skyrim's Dragonborn. Old World Blues takes you to a cool research center and has you fighting robo-scorpions, fuuuun. And Dragonborn takes you to a cool new(or old I guess, if you've played Morrowind I think(I never played :p))island, and has new creatures to encounter, and new environments to discover. Seriously, that realm with all the books (Forgot it's name) was really cool at parts.

Something of note, Halo 3:ODST is a standalone game, but was planned as an expansion. ODST is my favorite Halo title personally, and would have definitely made it to the top 2nd/3rd place if it counted.

1. Duke Nukem 3D: Killaton Edition
2. Half-Life: Opposing Force
3. Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge
4. Fallout New Vegas: Honest Hearts
5. Fallout 3: Point Lookout

Duke Nukem 3D: Killaton Edition
Duke Nukem 3D was probably my favourite game before Half-Life was released. The Killaton Edition came in a massive box full of concept artwork, posters and 3 Disks including the original side scroller games and every expansion for Duke Nukem 3D, including Life's a Beach (Caribbean Setting) and Nuclear Winter (Christmas edition). While the latter was something of a cheap reskin of existing maps and enemies, Life's a Beach added a load of new enemies, including reskins of originals and all the maps had a tropical theme, including a water park, theme park, cruise liner and a hotel. It was pretty amazing.

Half-Life: Opposing Force
Already covered by a couple of guys here. What is there to say? More Half-Life but from a different perspective and mapping that far surpasses the original.

Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge
Red Alert 2 is probably my favourite RTS game to this day, especially when concerning LAN games. When Yuri's Revenge came out, I shit my pants. It added new life to the series for me and really kicked up our LAN games a notch when the 3 of us could all play a different faction.

Fallout New Vegas: Honest Hearts
Moves away from the brown wastelands of Vegas and takes you to the orange wastelands of the Grand Canyon. Puts you in the middle of a war between two tribes and ultimately puts the fate of both in your hands. Also, features a burning spirit bear called Ghost of the She which you have to take down.

Fallout 3: Point Lookout
Familiar Lump of BrainYeah, got knocked out, got my head shaved and had chunk of brain removed. Had a very trippy dream which really kicked up Fallout's DARK sense of humour a few notches. Then, I found the guy who did it to me and beat him to death with a Fertilizer Shovel. Loved it.

This is a great round of lists, just to remind me of all the great games I haven't played! =)

I STILL haven't even played op4 or blueshift, tho of course I own them.. RA2/YR were the only games in the series I played, but were both fun.. Galactic Battlegrounds was a fun AOE II expansion, if that applies.

I got the Megaton edition of Duke Nukem 3D a while back on steam. Really fun games. Duke it out in DC(Or whatever it's name was) was really fun. That games great.

I wouldn't consider OP4 to be an expansion so much as it's own game?
But it is a fantastic piece of work nonetheless.
I have to agree with Archie on the Conquerors add-on for AOEII. The Mayans in that game are my favorite race next to the Celts. But only because of the addition of race-specific buffs.
The Brood War release of the original Starcraft is awesome. Another epic campaign with the addition of well balanced units and another boom on battle.net. It was a great game.
I liked portal's version of Peggle too. It was a very nice addition to my steam library.

Oh yeah TS:Firestorm, was a long time ago but i liked it.

I wouldn't consider OP4 to be an expansion so much as it's own game?

Today with Steam? Yes.

Back in the day, you needed HL1 installed to play it. Was the same with Blue-Shift

I STILL haven't even played op4 or blueshift

Mind = Blown. Seriously, you HAVE to play Opposing Force. It might not have the same impact nowadays, what with sooo many mods for HL1, but when I first played OF it blew my nuts off. Blue-Shift is essentially just a map pack for Half-Life. A bloody good map pack mind you, featuring Duke Nukem's voice actor Jon St. John.

Not sure about OP4 but I'm able to install BS without having HL1 installed. I just tried it out of being bored atm. Oddly enough it allows me to install OP4 too. Didn't even need the CD key on the case. What.

Back when i had GOTY edition, i had a separate CD for HL, OP4, and Blue Shift. Not saying you're wrong... But Idk. Im confused

Opposing Force is officially called "Half-Life: Opposing Force" and is listed as an expansion pack on wiki. Certainly the version I had initially required HL to be installed. There was an Anthology version released with Blue Shift, Ricochet and Counter-Strike that all installed as separate games, though. I think it's still officially an expansion pack, though.

I STILL haven't even played op4 or blueshift

Yeah, this isn't really OK. Op4 is so freakin' good. Blue Shift is a fun little distraction and, while I'd still recommend it, isn't all that important. Op4, though. Op4.

I forgot about Point Lookout, Urby. That shit was awesome. The Fallout series' Shivering Isles!

The following forum post is the personal opinion of myself. If you have not played Serious Sam: The Second Encounter and have any intention to in the future, please disregard this post, because it is worth playing.

Sorry, Strideh, but I really gotta disagree with you on the Serious Sam: TSE one. There was more variety in levels, yes, there's no denying that. I can easily see people getting sick of the Egypt theme in TFE. (Not myself, though, I liked all the levels. Except Luxor, that shit is a chore.) But what they then went and did with the levels was painful. Most of them were so... so... gimmicky. The amount of times the general level flow boiled down to "go to the left section, do a thing, then right, do the same thing, then go forwards" is painful. (And this is fresh in my memory. I've played it through a handful of times in the past, and did a quick run-through a week or two ago.) Then there's all those sections like the one where everything bounces back and forth between the room, or the cylindrical one with the outwards gravity (which turned into a washing machine in the HD version since they got rid of funky gravity :cry:). Those were mostly just painful rather than fun.
As for the weapons, mostly meh. The chainsaw is practical, yes yes, but it never struck me as as fun as the good ol' knife. Same goes for the flamethrower. The sniper rifle was good though. The Serious Bomb didn't click, for me; kinda scuttled the "fighting against a force always a little too big" feel from TFE. The powerups too.
I really liked how, if you never found the secrets in TFE, the game was actually by all appearances a perfectly (actually) serious game. The enemies looked tough and were going to kill you, and the levels were logical. Only if you found the secrets did you really get the impression that the game is not as serious as it might seem. On the other hand, TSE just let that silliness into the game itself. Hell, as far as the opening cutscene goes, it wouldn't exist if it didn't. The enemies aren't as imposing and the levels just get silly. The Citadel is case in point. I think I actually prefer BFE over TSE. (Still TFE over BFE though.)

Only a few things particularly redeem it, for me. Firstly, the first boss fight is, admittedly, pretty damn fun. Secondly, that secret with the miniature Great Pyramid level from TFE. And mostly, the Grand Cathedral is the most fun level of Serious Sam, full stop. Shit is amazing. The music from that level is the only thing I know how to play on a keyboard. (You done the Cathedral King achievement? I did. Took a fair few tries, lemme tell you >.>)

/rant

Speaking of SS:TSE, here's me playing the final level:

May contain spoilers.

Serious Sam HD - The Second Encounter - The Grand Cathedral + Ending (Part 1)
Serious Sam HD - The Second Encounter - The Grand Cathedral + Ending (Part 2)
Serious Sam HD - The Second Encounter - The Grand Cathedral + Ending (Part 3)

Should get everyone together for a Grand Cathedral Beast Hunt or somet'.

EDIT: I just thought of another one. I know it's technically a different game, but I'd say it's built off of the base enough to call it an expansion...

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate. Compared to Monster Hunter 3, this thing has so much more content. I mean, the standard single-player part from 3 is easily twice as long, not to mention the online multi-player half of the game (which, unlike 3, can be done in single-player), which adds probably another three more times length on top of that.
There's easily more than twice as many large monsters (about 2.5x as many, actually). Yes, some of them are reskins of others, but generally their abilities also change, enough to warrant a whole new monster.
MH3 had two "ranks" (basically halves of the game), while MH3U has another, without detracting from the other two. I mean... MH3U added a hell of a lot.

Sorry, Strideh, but I really gotta disagree with you on the Serious Sam: TSE one...

Wow, I never thought I'd meet a Sam fan who thought TSE was the weaker one! I've always thought that the level design across the series was gimmicky, really. It's not really good level design like the shooters of old, it's just sort of large, boxy arenas to blast dudes in, with some ridiculous trick rooms thrown in for a laugh. I liked that TSE embraced the stupidity of it more. If there's one thing Serious Sam shouldn't be doing, it's actually taking itself serious. That's BFE's greatest failure, I think. Logic be damned.

The chainsaw is possibly my favourite weapon of the bunch! Ant and I once spent way too long deforesting the opening level with it just because we could. Flamethrower too is surprisingly good crowd control, and makes for excellent rocket boots.

What do you think of Serious Sam 2?

If there's one thing Serious Sam shouldn't be doing, it's actually taking itself serious.

I won't argue with this, you're completely right. I just don't think it should be let to get too unserious, either. I guess I just think that TFE struck the balance between the two the best.
Despite all my negativity, I still like TSE. I just prefer TFE. Also, scratch that BFE>TSE comment earlier. That's bollocks.

Maybe I'm just looking at it all through the wrong glasses. I'll admit I've played a lot more SS on Serious by myself than other difficulties with others. (Hence why I've got both the Metropolis King and Cathedral King achievements.)

I don't think I should pass any judgement on SS2 yet. I've not played that far into it as of yet.

It always catches me off guard when Australians say "bollocks." I guess I'm just used to Americans not saying it.

What a wonderful word it is too.

Sorry, resume topic.

Top 5 Expansion Packs / DLC / Add-ons for Ghostie.

1. FSX - Orbx Vector Scenery Add-on
2. FSX - Iris Simulations Christen Eagle
3. FSX - FlyTampa Dubai
4. RealFlight G6.5 - Expansion Pack 8
5. Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator 2 - BBMF (Battle of Britain Memorial Flight) aircraft pack.

1- Orbx Vectore for FSX - Why? It's too awesome and dumb a question to ask, see for yourself what it does, super enhanced scenery, awesome graphics and upgrades, perfect for those Flight Fanatics out there!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7R6bVt07GI2- Iris Simulation's Christen Eagle - This Aircraft is hands down one of my favorites, The Christen Eagle and Christen Eagle II reproduced and made for FSX by Iris Simulations. They are known for their Kick ass models high in detail and with superb physics. I even made a custom scheme and design for my niece with it, and love it.3- FlyTampa Dubai Reloaded - Need I say more? An amazing addon with great and important details such as the Burj, Graphics, Palm Jumariah and much more, absolutely love the pack.The power of FSX is amazing.^this pic is from a user's screenie in FS 2004. NOT FSX.

4- GreatPlane's Expansion Pack 8 (for RealFlight G5 and above) - Kick ass models, high in detail, prefect physics and UNIQUE aircrafts, great selections and just they type I'd love to fly in Real life.5- Just Flight BBMF (Battle of Britain Memorial Flight) aircraft pack (CFS2)- Why? For that time, it had the greatest looking models, and were, and still are known for the best of best products. Being from a family with a RAF history and basically a shit load of Military history, this pack really did it for me and got to fly what all my Grandpappy flew and some he never got to! Had a BLAST in all these aircrafts shooting down and dogfighting away with plenty of other fighters, this pack really made my day and to day, since when my dad got it from quite a while back, I still have that original CD along with the other 8+ addons he got me.

A/C list:
Avro Lancaster PA474
Douglas Dakota ZA947
Supermarine Spitfire Mk IIa P7350
Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vb AB910
Supermarine Spitfire Mk LFIXe MK356
Supermarine Spitfire Mk XIX PM631
Supermarine Spitfire Mk XIX PS915
Hawker Hurricane Mk II LF363
Hawker Hurricane Mk IIc PZ865
De Havilland Chipmunk WK518
De Havilland Chipmunk WG486

(Could have had better screenies)

Oh man, that reminds me. IL-2's 1946 expansion was phenomenal.

Talking about Forgotten Battles or? I'm right now flying 4.101M with UP3 RC4 and 4.12.2 with Mod Act 5.3 and Jet era...

Leading to this:Hijack complete, moving on and returning post to original state

I don't think anyone I know says "bollocks". I only started myself recently, and I manage to catch myself offguard sometimes

/offtopiccontinued

That's bollocks Scotch, you clearly aren't English enough.

/continueatwillpeeps

An expansion pack that I want to try is X-COM: Terror From The Deep. But I figure I should actually get around to finishing the original before I do that.

I noticed all the love for OpFor in this thread. Have you guys forgotten that I have a deathmatch and CTF server for it?

I knew. I prefer the single player aspect of the HL series

^ SP has been the games strongest point.

Inddedy. I only truly enjoy sven coop when it comes to HL online.

Can't wait until someone ports Sven-Coop to WebGL.
Shit would explode.

You can get the Serious Sam Complete Pack, 11 games for 85% off this week. Offer end ends friday at 10am Pacific Time.

http://store.steampowered.com/sub/17410/

Get-it get-it get-it!

^

Speaking of, I believe its new topic time. Will you introduce each one, Archie?

I don't have to, if you come up with a good idea at the end of the week then just go for it! :]

This one comes from Urby:

Top 5 Web Series

This is simultaneously way more open and way more restricted than the top 5 TV shows, but hey, if you like the sound of a recommendation, at least you can just click right through to watch it!

1. Bravest Warriors - Cartoon Hangover, (2012 - )
What started out as merely Adventure Time in space, Bravest Warriors has found its own niche and is currently the best sci-fi comedy series on the web in my opinion. It retains Pendleton's love for the wacky and unexplained but expands to, painstakingly slowly, reveal an epic overarching story that is both exciting and hilarious. Even touching in some moments. The characters are phenomenal and whether it's a story about Chris being in the friend zone or about planets being aligned to prevent the annihilation of a species, the intensity of the characters never ebbs. It's fantastic. Give it time to find its feet - season 1 is substantially weaker than what follows.

2. Freeman's Mind - Accursed Farms, (2013 - )
A playthrough of Half-Life with a twist, Freeman's Mind makes our beloved Gordon Freeman the most identifiable asshole you've ever heard. Consistently funny with only a few poor episodes, this is a properly well-written series with an emphasis on gag timing and poking fun at Half-Life's endearing flaws and plot holes.

3. Video Game High School - Rocket Jump, (2012 - 2014)
Does it still count as a web series when it's landed on Netflix? Hell yes it does! FreddieW, one of the founding fathers of Rocket Jump is the reason I got into VFX, and now it's my career. This is what he made with his Youtube success, and for the most part it's great. Full to bursting with references and a hilarious universe to experience. Fairly weak writing and a slightly irritating protagonist aren't enough to stop this being loads of fun to watch. The final season has been funded and will be out later this year.

4. Epic Rap Battles of History - Nice Peter & EpicLloyd, (2010 - )
It's fairly pointless even adding this to the list since everyone on the planet has seen each of these videos fifteen times. The success of this series is not an accident - the mix of hysterical writing, performances and cameos make it endlessly entertaining, despite being the same joke every time. Particular highlights are Frank Sinatra vs Freddie Mercury, Mozart vs Skrillex and Miley Cyrus vs Joan of Arc. Glorious.

5. Pure Pwnage - ROFLMAO Productions, (2004 - 2008)
You can't make a list about great web series without a tip of the hat to Pure Pwnage. It's raw as hell, the protagonist is insufferable and some episodes are unbearably awful, yet I still got the DVD, got the soundtrack and got the T-shirt. There's something inherently likeable about the whole thing, from the cheapness to the ham-acting. There's a little voice in the back of every gamer's mind and Pure Pwnage tickles it ferociously. Somehow one of my top 5 all time web series whilst still undermining just about everything I usually take into account with what makes a show good. It is good though, I just don't know why. Avoid the TV show and all the vlogging stuff, they're horrific. Stick to the original web series.

I'd like to thank Archie for 2 things: 1) an awesome topic. 2) My 2 failing grades for my summer classes thanks to his top 5

(In no particular order)

1) RoadKill
What you get when 2 master car mechanics have a free weekend and some spending money. It's every American muscle-car guy's wet-dream: Having the money and the skills to do whatever you want to cars.
For instance: throwing a dart at a map, flying to that location, buying a shitty car, and making it back home... for $1,500

2) 8 bit theater
I read these strips religiously in high-school and while I can't say I've kept up on them, they're good for crude humor and they're a breeze to read.
The strips follow the adventures of the 4 main characters from Final Fantasy 1 and each of them is about as useless as the next. Except for white mage - who the male characters lust over and fruitless try to court.

3) Misfile
A well written, intelligent manga of a boy who got turned into a girl because of an angel's mistake - misfiling the boy's papers in the female drawer in heaven. He wakes up one day as a girl, having lived his entire life as a boy. By the way, he has a wicked crush on his next door neighbor, his dad is a gynecologist, and he's an amateur race car driver/mechanic.
Once he get's over the fact he has boobs, some real-life, intelligent, plot developments come about. A fantastic read.

4) Mighty Car Mods
Two Aussies try to trick out their cars for as cheap as possible. These guys just did what any novice tinkers do - buy crappy parts to make their crappy cars less crappy. But they're hilarious - eventually got sponsored, became the most popular Aussie car mod show, and they've released a industry respected electronic soundtrack for one of their movies.
If you don't watch the series, at least check out their movie: Kei to the City where they fly to japan, buy a cheap car, and take it drifting with a band of rag-tag wrenchers.

5) Gone with the Blastwave
A lost-gem i recently stumbled upon. It covers the mindless banter and antics of a group of forgotten soldiers battling a war for who knows which reason. They're also lost and can't find their way out of the city. They try to entertain themselves by finding hilarious ways to kill their enemies - and seeing who's bullet can stay in the air longer. Extremely well drawn (for a web comic), entertaining, and hilarious at times. One of my favorite comics.

I am one of the least web-surfy/youtube-watchy people I know of, so this one is going to be tough on me, in making a list and commenting on others. I certainly don't have enough I could even name to make a full list...
Fuck it, I'm just going to do my top 1, whether or not it even counts.

1. VGCW- Bazza87
(The recorded Youtube alternative to Twitch: link)
Oh, jeez, where to begin... VGCW is a livestream hosted by Bazza every Tuesday at 11pm London time (gets recorded and put up on Youtube as well). It's of WWE 2K14, and to quote the wiki: "VGCW is a 'dream match' style show where the greatest characters from video games, comic books, anime, and even real life face each other in the wrestling ring." (Mostly video games.) On it's own, that's already somewhat reason enough to watch it, but it's so much better than that makes it sound. Every part of the show - the entrances, the matches themselves, the intervening plot segments, all of it - it's all pure gold. It's all wrapped together with, of all things, the chat. The chorus of "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH"s when Waluigi shows up, the mocking calls of "WHIFF" and such whenever a wrestler screws up an easy shot, the aria of confusion and amusement whenever the game does something a bit glitchy (which is quite common, only makes the matches better). Over the seasons its developed a whole history and various inside jokes that the casual observer may not get without looking into said history.

Seriously, I can't do it justice with my shitty descriptive skills. It may take a while to get into the groove of, but it is very worth watching.

1. Freeman's Mind
I can't think of any reason why any fan of Half-Life shouldn't already be aware of and loving this series. It's hilarious. Gordon Freeman is awesome in that he is a blank slate and you can apply any personality you want to him. Ross Scott made him a back-talking ass hat who loathes stupidity and finds himself surrounded by it.

2. Battlefield Friends
A 4 man squad made up of the 4 Battlefield 3 classes play straight man (3 of them at least) to the growing insanity of glitches and gameplay bullshit that is Battlefield 3 and 4. You're likely to get more out of this if you actually play the battlefield games, which I do.

3. Zero Punctuation
I still watch ZP every Wednesday without fail, even if I'm not familiar with the game. Yahtzee is a dry, sarcastic bastard who simply cannot be pleased with any game even if he enjoys it. Basically a poor man's Charlie Brooker if Charlie Brooker did a weekly show about video games every week. (Not including Gameswipe by Charlie Brooker which is definitely worth a watch too by the way)

4. Bravest Warriors
Archie got me into this... THANK YOU ARCHIE! Seriously though, as he already mentioned, the first season was good but not great, and then towards the finale it got super deep. Season 2 blew me away in pretty much every episode.

5. Epic Rap Battles of History
Aaand... another one introduced to me by Archie. There are a load of other series out there that I watch on a regular basis but ERB is the only one I can think of that I actively wait for every couple of weeks and during the cripplingly long breaks between the half seasons.

I've been watching extra credits on repeat basically, also Lyssa and I got into Supernatural. Interesting show that actually has a mature outlook on the genre, it's refreshing.

I'm not convinced Supernatural makes it into the category of 'web series'

Retsupurae. Pretty much the only "webseries" that I'll actually sit down and watch.

Love ZP. How could I forget about Yahtzee?
every now and again, i'll binge watch the last 20 he puts out.
It's so easy to just say: "ONE MORE"

Oh, right, I forgot.

2. Photoshop Phriday- Something Awful
I believe there's more behind it, but as far as you need to be concerned, people take Photoshop and a theme, and go nuts with it. These guys come up with some incredibly funny stuff. Some of it is less or more crude than other, and a lot of references to keep anyone who likes reference-y stuff happy (all depending on the theme of the week, of course).
IMO, the stuff this year hasn't been quite as high-quality as the past few, so I recommend browsing back to 2013/2012 and checking out some from back there if you want to get hooked.

Here's a personal favourite of mine. link

How's about plain ol' [i]Top 5 Games[/i]? I'll leave the details of what defines "top" to the individual.

Ah just was about to do top 5 songs. Maybe next round.

Alright.

1.Super Metroid
The visual graphics are amazing and the music composed by Kenji Yamamoto pull this game together as though it was forged from Godly forces and sent down to earth through lighting by Zeus. Metroid Prime was also a notable remake of the game for Gamecube and Wii.

2.Zelda, Ocarina of time
Very close to first, this game has it all. The best fishing I've ever experienced in a game along with a ridiculous amount of side journeys and secrets. Awesome enemies my favorite being the peahat. Not only do you play as a child but also an adult both of which wield different weapons!

3.Counterstrike 1.6
Some of the most enjoyable gameplay I can imagine. This game practically stole my child hood.

4.Banjo Kazooie
Grant Kirkhope is my hero with his amazing music he composed for this game. It used an interesting transition method where the music blended awesomely from area to area all reflecting the original toon.

5.Zelda, a link to the past
Dark world was really cool and the way link traveled to it and how the world became corrupt once Gannon took throne was epic.

Well then.

1. Quake II
My cousin introduced me to it when i was about 5yrs old and a few years later when i got an acceptable connection i used to play it non-stop, in my mind it beats the ridiculous movement and slow gameplay of hl. Fast paced awesomeness.

2. Warcraft3:TFT
Pretty much love this game just for the custom user created levels, Vampirism, Footies you name it. Props to Blizzard for such a flexible system.

3. StarCraft II
All of the above just in a nice Sci-Fi theme. Original SC was also great, but i didn't play it much.

4. TF2
The most fun you could have had online should be the new title for this crappy hatfest. But aside from Valves evil game ruining grip, it was a great game. The cartoony western theme really fits it well, characters are well designed and gameplay is smooth and fun.

5. Last of Us
Didn't play it myself, don't own a console. Great storyline, design, gameplay, level of realism is maintained throughout the entire game. Had a blast watching people play

Mentions:
Wolfenstein:New Order
Sick demented nazi killing sim, but we were missing these kind of simple run and gun shooters. I really hate when developers add skills and whatnots in a game that does not need them, this is an absolute delight to play if want to remember the good old simple days of fps. Id Tech 5 which doesn't suck anymore delivers great graphics too.

@zeeba-G: I'd love to do Top5 OSTs. I don't think Top5 songs is particularly interesting and it'd be great to keep it game-based.

IMO.

1. Metal Gear Solid 2

The whole style and feel of this game makes it beyond any experience I have had in a video game. Play through this game more than 12 times and other MGS games included it would count to over a hundred.

2. Timesplitters 2

A game I would call an FPS with taste. It's difficult and it's fun. Besides, I live next door to were the company went bust...got to support the home team, right?

3. Half-Life OR Team Fortress (Classic)

First game(s) I ever modded - That and why everyone else loves it.

4. BioShock Infinite

A huge throwback to Timesplitters for me in FPS feel and the whole play on time story. Had to play through it twice on a harder difficulty just to take it all in.

5. Silent Hill 2

I love horror games so I need one on the list. With horrific controls it still achieves atmospheric perfection and the pacing is ridiculously well timed.

As you can see, the PS2 was my favourite console.

1 - Mafia
Great story, great setting, something unique before the wannabes of later GTA-wateva took over.

2 - Deus Ex
Played it through 4 times from start to end and STILL find new things each time I play!

3 - Vietcong
For a nam Game it wasn't that bad, very underated.

4 - Morrowind
Havn't even played Skyrim - don't even need to bro.

5 - The Walking Dead
Great story and characters, one of the most recent games that actually held my attention, very well written.

(Special mentions I feel bad for leaving out: HL, Hidden and Dangerous 2, Doom 3, DNF, Farcry 2, Operation Flashpoint, Neverwinter Nights 2. Ok done!)

Top 5 games? I can contribute this time! I might have played one or two of these so-called "video games" in my time. It's always hard to take five from a longer list and say that you think they're the best of the lot. Let's give it a try...

1. Phoenix Wright - Ace Attorney (series, NDS)
This is my absolute favourite game series by a very, very long way. I replay through the whole set (currently 5 games + 2 spinoff games) probably 3-4 times a year and I never get bored of them. The games play as a point-and-click adventure, combined with a visual novel, combined with a courtroom drama. On paper it doesn't sound like much, but they're absolutely brilliant games and well worth playing if you have a DS/Wii/3DS/iOS device on hand.

2. Golden Sun / Golden Sun: The Lost Age (GBA)
Golden Sun is simply the greatest RPG I have ever played. I've played quite a lot of JRPGs (including the fantastic Chrono Trigger) and have yet to encounter one that I've enjoyed even half as much as Golden Sun. GS actually had so much content that the developers had to split the game into two halves to fit it on a GBA cartridge. The battle mechanics of GS are quite simple to learn, but they allow for a huge depth of move combinations and abilities. Certainly the greatest game that was ever released on the GBA.

This is where it gets a bit trickier...

3. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages/Oracle of Seasons (GBC)
I couldn't make a list like this without including the absolute best Zelda games in the entire series. The Oracles are separate games, but they have a link feature which lets you experience a little bit more story if you play both of them. These games were made by Capcom, and are (by a wide margin) my favourite Zelda games on any platform. They have the perfect combination of puzzles, action, and unique locations, and it all adds up to two fantastic games.

4. Ghost Trick - Phantom Detective (NDS)
The game my avatar's character is from. Ghost Trick is from the creator of the Ace Attorney series, and I like it almost equally as much. I've played it once every year since it released in 2011. It's an adventure game with a focus on story, with most of the gameplay being puzzle-based. The story, art, and animation are all top-notch making this a game that is definitely worth playing (available on DS and iOS).

5. Uhhh....

• Advance Wars (GBA/DS)
• The World Ends With You (DS)
• Chrono Trigger (SNES)
• Psychonauts
• Beyond Good & Evil
• Half-Life
• Myst
• System Shock 2

I love the idea of doing game OSTs next. Great suggestion!

Top 5 games is impossible, but here's a vague list:

1. Dota 2 - Valve
So sue me, it's a cash cow based on an existing idea with well established alternatives (read: LoL) already on the market.
But seriously. Has a game ever been this polished? Really? Has a Western company ever taken e-sports so seriously without removing the core element of fun from the game? Not a chance. This is the current pinnacle of competitive gaming. As entertaining to watch as it is to play, Dota 2 is almost flawless when it comes to hammering your heart and raising the hairs on your arm. Every game is thrilling, every play is important and every mistake has lasting consequences. It's a game that rarely rewards you for being the best player, but instead rewards you for being a good team mate. For being friendly.
The frustrating games are doubly so due to the intensely competitive nature of the recorded stats attached to your profile, but a win in Dota 2 feels like scoring your high school crush and acing your driving test rolled into one perfect moment.
You're pushed back to your tier threes, your Venge is feeding like an all-they-can-eat buffet but you're stubbornly not backing down. You step up to the plate, patiently allow them to five-stack mid as you sneak round the back. The team bares the brunt of it, and your enemy's ults go down. A last balls-to-the-wall attempt shines in its boldness as you approach from behind. Riki is stunned under the tower, you melt his hitpoints in an instant. Nature's Prophet hasn't noticed you yet, still focusing on the tanky Doom Bringer. You slice him into oblivion, leaving only one ability not on cooldown. It's your ult. The remaining foes have spotted you by now, but in the confused reaction to you, they've stopped focusing on your team and the few survivors rally to your call. You throw down your ult. It's a wipe. 5 enemies down, 2 friendlies down. No buybacks remain. You push back up mid and take the ancient. It's game. You won. You worked for it. You feel incredible.

2. Mass Effect 2 - Bioware
It might as well be a love letter to gamers everywhere. "So we've created an incredible universe and lovable characters in ME1? Fair enough. Now let's make the gameplay reach that standard as well."

and. they. did.

3. Half-Life - Valve
Go figure, an active member on a Half-Life mapping forum fucking loves Half-Life. And I do. I really do. I was about 12 when my uncle introduced me to it and my world FLIPPED. I'd only really played Age of Empires on the PC before then, content that games only needed to exist on the SNES and Megadrive. All of a sudden games could contain entire novels. Entire worlds. Who's the guy in the blue suit?! WHY ARE THE MILITARY SHOOTING THE SCIENTISTS?! HOLY SHIT WE WERE EXPERIMENTING ON THEM BEFORE THE DISASTER HAPPENED.
Narrative and pacing suddenly existed in my world of gaming.

4. Mariokart 8 - Nintendo 1st Party
This is very difficult, actually. This slot is heavily contested between all my favourite couch-em-ups, from the original Super Mariokart, through MK64, Smash Bros., Goldeneye, etc. But none has been so polished and so immediately accessible as Mariokart 8. This is not a series milked; this is a series refined.
Mariokart 8 is so universally fun it has legitimately gotten me laid. Drinks and a movie are all well and good, but when you need to break the ice, tickling someone over fourth place is a surprisingly effective move.
Also it still has Yoshi's Valley. Fuck yes, Yoshi's Valley.

5. Fallout 3 - Bethesda Softworks
I can't really make a list of games without putting this on it, purely by number of hours sunk. This is a world that was beautifully communicated to the player, despite very rarely pointing them in the 'correct' direction. Loads of games let you explore at your own pace, but few offer the freedom of Fallout. You find a note with an obscure reference. There is no marked quest; no objective on your map. But hey, it just so happens you recall someone mention something similar fifteen hours ago and all of a sudden a vague lead becomes hours of content that the developers had no guarantee you'd ever see.
It's rich in areas that most people would brush over, and for that alone I consider this to be a masterpiece. It's buggy, the facial animation is abominable and some of the expansions are laughable, but this is a world that I desperately want more of.

Honourable Mentions, in no particular order:

Dungeon Keeper 2
Evil Genius
Civ 5
Worms Armageddon
F1 2013
Portal 2
Arkham Asylum
Hitman: Blood Money
Jedi Academy

Half-Life
I shouldn't need to explain why Half-Life is a great game should I? Well, for the hell of it, this is where gaming turned serious for me. I played quake and quake 2, bit of doom from time to time, Duke Nukem 3D. Yeah yeah yeah.

Then... what's this? Training? But... but... I don't start with a gun in my hand? The environment can harm me? I have FRIENDS!? HOLY SHIT!

Blew my mind when I was 14. Continues to today with the devoted community. I play tested a new upcoming mod for HL1 not one hour ago and I was blown away for what must be the billionth time by this old little engine.

DOTA 2
Online game of choice at the moment. This spot would have been taken by Battlefield 4 or some shit but I think I've clocked more hours in DOTA than I have in every BF game combined.

I'm not the smartest player and I do really stupid shit most of the time. However, with Archie's leadership and Digi's occasional flare in support, this game can make me grin like an utter moron as I ruin 5 other people's games.

It's also, more recently, put me back in touch with an old colleague who has been in the majority of my games since.

Fallout: New Vegas
Open world post apocalyptia. This game is absolutely dripping with lore and atmosphere. The gameplay is rarely fast paced but that's only because exploration and interaction are just as rewarding as the combat. This is one of the few games where the addition of ironsight aiming was actually beneficial.

Taking all the good elements from Fallout 3 and adding in factions, meaning for every friend you gain, you become an enemy to someone else. Some settlements will turn you away because you run with the wrong kind. Others will welcome you. I have only done one full playthrough of this game so far, which means there are probably thousands of different stories and locations I am yet to find.

You create your hero, you walk your own path. I've annihilated an entire race of tribal warriors. I sent a cultist group of ghouls into space. I tracked a group of brutish roman-esque legionaries to their camp and freed their prisoners. Instead, I could have saved the tribe, launched the ghouls into the ground and joined the legion. Or, I could have done something else entirely!

However, it's been dumbed down for the console generation. Just playing with the editor tools for a few minutes makes you realise just how much potential the game had.

Mass Effect series
Bioware. You beautiful bastards. Commander Urby Shepard is one hell of a guy. And he looks just like me! And he handles things the way I would if I were a Spectre (special agent) for the Citadel Council (government) on the brink of total extinction (OH FUCK!)

The story, characters and atmosphere are the stars in this series. I've lost count of how many times I've had to sit back and say: "Oh fuck"

Just when you're starting to come to terms with a massive plot twist, you get hit with another one right between the eyes. One particular moment in ME2 had me feeling genuinely uneasy. The music was eery, the location was dark and haunting, then suddenly, you learn something about the enemy that you've been fighting for the last few hours and you shit an entire towns worth in bricks.

Mind blowing.

Final Fantasy VII
Again, I'm a sucker for RPG games with massive story lines and God damn if this isn't the longest storyline in any game I've ever played. Seemingly much less choice on how you tackle situations and you can only name the characters and chose their weapon and armour. No face / hair customisation here. However, you soon notice that choices you made WAAAAY back at the start of the game have consequences you don't actually encounter until hours, days, months or years later.

Turn based JRPG combat isn't one of my favourite things to do, but you got a damn sight more options back in 1997 than you do these days.

I've never finished it, but not because I don't want to. This game gets tricky as all hell later on.

I play tested a new upcoming mod for HL1 not one hour ago and I was blown away for what must be the billionth time by this old little engine.

Was its name by any chance The Core?

Some of these were already mentioned above.
Minecraft: The complete freedom to explore, survive, dig tunnels or build things that weren't preset in the game world other than the one basic building block and so few arbitrary limitations, it's about everything I ever wanted from a game since I knew games existed.

Commandos 2: Men of Courage: My favourite from the Commandos series. The most finely tuned of them all, despite the sprites-based graphics, it has an excellent gameplay that allows for wildly different strategies, and despite favouring the stealth element you could still run in screaming and flailing a machine gun. I don't remember how long it is, but I'm sure it wouldn't matter how long it was, it would always feel short. It even has a multiplayer mode, which I always wanted to try but never had someone to play with.

Hitman: Blood Money: My computer can't run Absolution so I haven't played it, but it can't be better. Blood Money has the best gameplay of all the Hitman games, all of the good qualities and about none of the bad. Despite some odd architectural decisions everything has been carefully designed to allow lots of different strategies. Excellent game from beginning to end, and my only complaint is that despite all the money you earn, you can never buy a third syringe.

The Sims: My first ventures into the world of Architecture. Pretty limited in some aspects but it didn't stop me from sinking countless hours into the houses. Having the family live in the houses later didn't matter that much though

Wolfenstein 3D: An unbelievably three-dimensional game for its time, and my point of entry to the world of modding. Played a lot and used the level editor even more. Found bugs and maxed out the sprite limits plenty of times.

Special mentions:

• Antichamber
• Amnesia: The Dark Descent
• Sim City 4
• Fallout 3
• Castle Master