The 20 Most Innovative Games Ever Made
- June 10, 2009 11:55 AM PST
- Email this!
#15: Warcraft: Orcs & Humans
Platform: PCYear: 1994
Original review score: Not Reviewed
Though Dune II technically set the modern real-time strategy (RTS) genre into motion, it was Blizzard Entertainment's Warcraft: Orcs & Humans that turned a fringe game style into an international sensation.
Why It Was Innovative:
Warcraft's original website says it best: "Set in the mythic kingdom of Azeroth, players are given the task of maintaining a thriving economy while building a war machine with which to destroy the enemy." Warcraft built upon this simple premise by embracing use of the mouse with an intuitive graphical user interface. Warcraft played a key role in popularizing the mouse, which was soon to become the signature controller of all PC games to come. Blizzard Entertainment capitalized on Warcraft's success with more trend-setting sequels and spinoffs, most notably 1998's seminal Starcraft. Though RTS games aren't quite a mainstream phenomenon in the United States, they enjoy an enormous international following, particularly in the Far East.
#14: Final Fantasy VII
Platform: PlayStation
Year: 1997
Original review score: 5 out of 5 Stars
Always a trailblazing series, Final Fantasy hit its creative and cultural peak with the deeply emotional, hugely popular Final Fantasy VII. FFVII is so influential that its name alone is instantly synonymous with the RPG genre, while its characters and gameplay set the standards and stereotypes for countless future games in the role-playing genre.
Why It Was Innovative:
It's more than just big swords and spiky hair. Final Fantasy VII was a rare game that pushed each of its separate components - music, story, graphics, and character building - to soaring new heights. The story was a multi-disc novel that touched on serious concepts such as death and rebirth, while the graphics stunned players with an elegant combination of 3D action and steampunk-inspired cityscapes. Top all that off with an unforgettable cast of characters, including one of the most famous villains in video game history, and you've got a classic that touched an entire genre of gaming....and an entire generation of gamers. Furthermore, there's a fair argument that Final Fantasy VII's status as an early PlayStation One exclusive gave Sony the edge it needed to compete in and eventually dominate the video game industry.
#13: The Sims
Platform: PCYear: 2000
Original review score: 5 out of 5 Stars
In The Sims, players ruled. More of an interactive dollhouse than a literal "game," The Sims tasked players with managing a virtual family. What you actually did with them, though, was completely up to you.
Why It Was Innovative:
In The Sims, you won't find a storyline, a goal, or a cast of characters. Instead, you'll find a landmark game that allows you to build a virtual world from the ground up and tend to (or torture, or misdirect, or ignore) the denizens living inside it. You could order your Sim to eat, exercise, and pay his bills in order to be happy and popular; conversely, you could simply let him rot in his own excrement and gleefully take screengrabs. This open-ended quality of the game transformed The Sims into a monstrous mainstream hit, partly driven by its success with female players - something almost unheard of in 2000. There was no real way to win at The Sims, but the satisfaction of being an omnipotent voyeur watching over a completely customized simulated life was yet another fascinating innovation from the mind of designer Will Wright.
#12: Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved
Platform: Xbox 360Year: 2005
Original review score: Not Reviewed
Sometimes the biggest movements begin in the smallest of ways. While a terrific retro-styled arcade shooter, Geometry Wars' gameplay itself isn't revolutionary. Its distribution method, however, is another story entirely.
Why It Was Innovative:
Originally released as a minigame in the Xbox 1 title Project Gotham Racing 2, developer Bizarre Creations later remade this spacey arcade shooter for the new Xbox 360 as Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved . The catch: the game was only available as a downloadable title through Microsoft's new Xbox Live Arcade service. With its low price and instantly gratifying gameplay, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved became one of the most-played games in Xbox history despite never showing up as a boxed game on store shelves. By eschewing a traditional retail sales strategy and delivering an addictive package at a tiny price, Geometry Wars was the first tentative step in a movement that will end in the eventual retirement of physical discs in favor of efficient, affordable, and accessible game downloads.
#11: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Platform: PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3Year: 2007
Original review score: 5 out of 5 Stars
Finally taking the series out of World War II-era Europe, Call of Duty 4 went for the throat with the most realistic combat situations possible in Modern Warfare. Immersive and intense, COD4 went on to become one of the best-selling and most respected shooters of all time, rivaling even Halo's earth-shaking impact.
Why It Was Innovative:
After countless invasions of Normandy, developer Infinity Ward finally brought Call of Duty to the modern era - a decision that was controversial at first. Modern Warfare fine-tuned the gameplay of the Call of Duty series to achieve near-perfection while simultaneously popularizing RPG elements (selectable skills, an experience meter) in its trend-setting online multiplayer mode. Even the single-player campaign stands out as a classic, with its genuinely surprising plot twists (yep, the A-bomb goes off) and subversive themes (the AC-130 gunship scenario remains a darkly humorous genre high point). Call of Duty 4's innovations are less splashy than other games on this list, but no less deserving of recognition. This is a damned fine game.
More Top GamePro Stories
Comments [32]
-
- Jump To Page:
- [ 1 ]
- 2
- 3
- 3
- 4
-
- Jun 09 2009 at 03:14:44:PM PST
-
Doom!!!!!!Wow!!Good for them:)Good choice Gamepro.When is the newest Doom game coming out for 360 and PS3?
- Vote:
- Down
- Up
- +0
- report user
Out of curiosity, wasn't Wolfenstein the first FPS? I always wondered why Doom got higher accolades then that. Only because Wolfenstein was the first creation of that genre so to speak.
- Vote:
- Down
- Up
- +0
- report user
DJKennethA wrote:
Out of curiosity, wasn't Wolfenstein the first FPS? I always wondered why Doom got higher accolades then that. Only because Wolfenstein was the first creation of that genre so to speak.
It was several years ahead of Doom. Also, Super Mario Bros for the NES should have been #1 on this list. The game created it's own genre (the side scrolling platformer, which influenced many games after it including Sonic, Metroid, Mega Man, Castlevania, etc.). It also almost single handedly resurrected the industry after the great game crash of '83.
- Vote:
- Down
- Up
- +6
- report user
Good point on Mario. Also kinda suprised to not see DMC on this list considering all the games that use those mechanics now
- Vote:
- Down
- Up
- +3
- report user
Why halo instead of goldeneye? Goldeneye got people hooked on fps on consoles way before halo.
- Vote:
- Down
- Up
- +4
- report user
No Zelda(the innovator of the entire action-adventure genre, or the creator of the Lock-On system)?!
Metal Gear Solid?!
Halo higher than Mario?!
Halo instead of GoldenEye?!
No Body Harvest?!
SM64 at #10?!
A FPS at #1?!
This list fails!
- Vote:
- Down
- Up
- +1
- report user
GoldenEye should've been on the list instead of Halo as it was the 1st great console FPS and EverQuest (formally known as EverCrack) pretty much set the standard for fantasy MMO games for 6 years before WoW came out and basically did everything EQ did (and a little bit more) but better.
- Vote:
- Down
- Up
- +1
- report user
I agree that the original Super Mario should be on the list somewhere.
Doom I think is a good choice for #1, I spent many hours of my life blasting demons and dodging fireballs. While Wolfenstein did it first, Doom did it so much better and added gameplay elements that really defined the FPS genre.
IMO Doom really invented the FPS genre and has been cloned and improved many times over to become arguably the most popular genre on consoles today.
- Vote:
- Down
- Up
- +0
- report user
