[General Discussion] Modern classics?

I was thinking about what games people would consider classics in ten years or so, and I figured I'd make a list of those games or series I personally consider modern classics. Feel free to tell what you think yours are! These can be games from the current (xbox360, ps3, wii) and last generation (ps2, xbox, gamecube, dreamcast). there can be pc games, of course.

Max Payne (Series): Ridiculous constipated stare aside, Max might as well be the single most depressing character in all of video gaming. Through his trilogy, we saw him fall down so deep and so hard, going through things that would turn black men white. Anyone in his situation would've given up way before the second game, and yet he soldiered on, throwing himself through stuff that ruined him further, guns blazing, out of sheer determination. He is the male Chell, minus the portal gun.

He was created at a time when most video game characters lacked personality, and some of the exceptions had personalities that were pure jokes (hi duke!). Same goes with the story, one of a man who fell from heaven and into hell, and who had to claw his way out of it throughout three games no matter what the cost would be. It also helped that the controls were simple and intuitive, and that the gameplay was almost pure bliss, regardless of how linear the games were.

Portal (Series): Let's make this clear right away: Glados is what Shodan would have become had she been created by brilliant incompetents. Now that it's out of the way, we have two games, two first person shooter games, where the only gun you have at your disposition cannot directly kill. That should have doomed it, and yet it's one of the most important series in a sea of shooters that were getting blander by the sequel. Just like what Dead Space did to the survival horror genre, Portal practically snaped the first person shooter genre out of its condescending coma with its gameplay, story and characters. out of all the games I listed here, these are the truest classics, hands down. Portal 2 even managed to be an even funnier game, and was filled with unforgettable characters, no matter how minor. ("I am different."; "SPAAAAAAAACE"). The ending also gave back the word Epic its meaning, but I wouldn't want to spoil it for you, so go play it.

Dead Space (1 and 2): It happened in 2008. Electronic Arts apologized for their sequels stagnation, ruining mythical companies they've bought, and generally being money-grubbing assholes. You can tell that the new big wigs at EA today didn't read that letter. Still, shortly after their apology, they announced two games: Dead Space, and Mirror's Edge. The first was to be a hardcore survival horror game and the second a first person shooter platformer, a parkour simulator. We were all skeptical, but at the same time, deep within our hearts, we were hopeful. Resident Evil had already started to veer off its roots, and Silent Hill had become something of a joke. When Dead Space came out, we all shat bricks as we realized that not only had EA made a genuinely great game, but that it also was the most important game in its genre since Silent Hill showed up and made us realize that you didn't need to put zombies in a game to scare us shitless. It was creepy, scary, twisted, and even fun! You weren't some space marine or superpowered action hero, you were literally an engineer, and your weapons were literal tools. Your enemies were even more grotesque than what Silent Hill could churn out, and the death scenes were downright cruel at times But how did it play? Delightfully. It quite was Resident Evil 4's controls with the scariness of the first and second Silent Hill games combined. It also was hard even at the easy difficulty, and it could genuinely scare you off your pants. Personally, I love playing horror games in the dark, and while these games aren't as scary as Amnesia: The dark descent, Dead Space 1 and 2 still are some of the only games to actually scare me into taking a break, or feeling my heart beat at 200km/h, or make me stare at the screen in disbelief (the good kind!). The bosses were trully intimidating, and I couldn't help but have a gigantic grin on my face when I finished off the final boss in dead space. Then my grin disappeared when I realized I'd have to go through the sequel. horror~

Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare: Admit it, you're sarcastically snickering as you read the title. How could a call of duty game possibly be a classic? Well I'll tell you what, It was one of the few games that had huge, massive balls the size of the sun. It was pretty common that you'd see supporting characters die in a video game, but what call of duty 4 did, killing off one of the MAIN characters mid-game in the most unfair, merciless ways possible, right after a huge victory, all the while you are still controlling that character. And unlike its sequels and spin-offs, it was a death that didn't seem pointless even if it came out of nowhere. While CoD4 Told you "Sometimes, things simply get out of your control and there's nothing you can really do about that", MW2 told you "We just threw a stupid, cheap gimmick at your face to rake in the dough". CoD4's story also felt more grounded in reality than the unrealistic mindfucks that Modern Warfare 2 and 3 forced down your throat. It was difficult, yet satisfying, and its multiplayer was pretty great too!

Half-Life 2 (and its episodes): Where Doom 3 tried to scare you with artificial limitations and graphics that seemed wonky even then, HL2 scared you with the mere fact that earth had been conquered in the span of NOT EVEN A FULL DAY, and you were gonna have to save it mostly by yourself. Also, Ravenholm. And while everyone in Doom 3 looked like toys that were zoomed-in, the people and monsters from Half-Life 2 looked and still look remarkably realistic even in an engine that is nearly 10 years old. Its story was good, and you actually cared about its characters. Also, the gravity gun is one of the most iconic weapons in videogaming as a whole. It's also pure bliss to use. The game was fun, memorable (even if some of its progression didn't make sense. Nova Prospekt, anyone?), and while the episodes aren't as good as Half Life 2, they're still great games on their own.

Mortal Kombat (9): Look guys, I learned to love Street Fighter games only last year, and while I really loved SF4, I'm not well-versed enough in the other games in the series to understand if it's a classic or not. Now, Mortal Kombat. The last few games in the series were jokes, and they weren't even funny. Deadly Alliance was a great fighting game with unique gameplay, but even Deception which was still great, had started to dumb down the combat, while Armageddon completely ruined it. MK Vs DC doesn't exist. also, ever since John Tobias had left for greener pastures, the characters had started to become blander. It wasn't so bad in Deadly Alliance where the characters still looked badass (DA Scorpion is still my favourite Scorpion of all the mk games), but it all culminated in Armageddon and MK Vs DC (which doesn't exist), where the characters looked vaguely interesting at best, and downright generic at worst, and the story had become a clusterfuck of fuck. Midway was ruining everything they touched in their last years, MK included, and when they went belly up and Warner Bros took hold of what is now known as Netherealm Studios, we feared for the worst... until we saw the game in action, even before it was released. For starters, they were given free reign in making the game as violent as they wanted, they listened to fans' complaints, and they even brought back Dan Forden for the game's music (which had become bland orchestral shit starting with Deception). They even managed to make the characters look great again. Then, the best part was revealed: It was a reboot of some sort, where Shao Kahn won in the events of Armageddon, and Raiden was forced to send a mental message THROUGH TIME, all the way back to MK1's Raiden so that he could try to avoid the same mistakes from being commited. It seemed wonky at first, But when you played the game and went through the lengthy story mode, it made more sense and did a ton of good to the storyline as a whole, even throwing in honest-to-god, legitimate twists, some caused by Raiden's own growing despair through the game. The fighting engine had changed once again, and this time it morphed into a beautiful combat butterfly. There was a whole lot of characters, and they all played somewhat differently. Speaking of the characters, They even managed to throw in two of the best exclusive characters in fighting game history: Freddy Krueger from A nightmare on Elm street, and Kratos from God of war, with Kratos being even more brutal and savage than most MK characters (you should see his fatalities!). It was a great game with a great story.

Jam it back in, in the dark.