X35 Earthwalker has played games for years. Many years. Played many genres, many types, many environments and universes. Some of these games were awesome. Some of these games were not good. Some games were great. Now obviously some games stood out high above others. So now X35 decided to do his Top 5 greatest games he’s ever played. Off these are the greatest games played back then. Take note that this top 5 is X35’s personal list and he’ll handle this himself. Let’s begin. 

Number 5

Gears of war is number 5 in my Top 5 because it truly did amazed me. The story is quite dark. Humanity has to work together to fight the Locust and even when together they are still losing. There still is unity amongst the humans as there are some like the stranded who hate the COG. Gears of war 3 had the best multiplayer of all of them and so many are still playing it to this day. You can still find heated battles now. The characters are memorable and have their own stand out traits making it clear who your favourite character is. The lancer was a cool looking weapon, that when I was younger and didn’t have an Xbox 360 yet, I read the booklet many times and wondered how brutal and cool this weapon would be. The monsters are unique. They came from underground (why has no one discovered them all this time then) and they have terrified players. I had friends who told me that when they first played Gears of war 1 the game actually scared them. Fighting in the dark, kryll bats that kill you if you aren’t in the light and the loud horrible noises the enemies made all added to the fear. Let’s not forget about the berserkers who are the females of the Locust race (not sure who is brave enough to mate with one of those things), they are blind but huge, muscular and can smash through concrete. The graphics and sounds were excellent and Gears of war stood out amongst other games at it’s time. It’s one of the games that made people wish they had an Xbox. The story is shows humanities desperation, about sacrifices and how easy it is to die in the war. it’s more realistic than some games. On top of all this you know a game is really good when even your mother played the game after watching you play. I’m not lying. My mother played Gears of war 3 online, to this day. Matter of fact my whole immediate family played Gears of war, whether multiplayer or horde. Be honest guys, how many people you know who’s mum plays Gears of war? That’s how you know a game is amazing. It’s debatably one of my top 5 as there are some contenders who maybe could take Gears of wars place but it won’t be easy.

Number 4

Metroid Prime is number 4 in my Top 5 and was one of those games that blew me away when I was a kid. his game was honestly too big for me. It was the first huge world game I ever played. It wasn’t linear levels. You could go to these different biomes, explore and boy was there a lot to explore and discover. I remember finding different power ups like missile launchers, charge beam and the screw attack. The graphics were ahead of it’s time. Everything looked amazing and the game was so big. The four main locations were so different, bringing in new enemies, bosses and feels. Tallon Overworld was full of greens, all natural, had waterfalls and was peaceful. Chozo ruins was all design, technology, artefacts, ancient stuff and systems, giving that old feel but you knew this place was serious. Magmoor Caverns was… well… hot. Full of magma, closed spaces until you came to an open cave space where  there was even more magma and more danger. Player couldn’t even enter this place without a special suit to protect you from the heat. Phendrana drifts is like the Antartica with ice adapted monsters, cold pools, grand ice structures with statues and history. Even the music was so different. It was clear when you entered the different areas. You could be blind folded and still know when leaving or entering and which place it was. The bosses were huge, creative and a real problem. A giant rock boss called ‘Thardus’ rolled around and tried to crush you and you needed the thermal vision to beat him. This game was just big in everyday from areas, to graphics and bosses. Matter of fact I couldn’t complete the game when I was younger. I completed it when I was older. It was too cryptic for a child finding those Chozo keys. It was a real adventure. Getting more powerful with power ups, defeating creative creatures and even getting scared of the dark facility area in the Phendrana drifts and you could only see with the thermal vision and those stupid Metroid kept trying to latch onto your face and that was real creepy. Never forgetting that one. Metroid has so much going for it. Immense sense of progression, epic and huge boss fights, massive sized world filled with secrets and unique enemies, lots of creativity. Lots of lore and information to discover while looking good. The memories are real. Definitely one of my top 5 games.

Number 3

Pikmin is number 3 in my Top 5 and was one of the stranger but cuter games. At the time there was nothing like Pikmin. You played a character who couldn’t really do anything by themselves. Olimar had to rely on the Pikmin for everything including survival. These creatures are the highlight of the game. There were three types, red, yellow and blue. Red had a nose, yellow had ears and blue had a mouth. Red was fire proof, yellow was lighter and could be thrown higher while blue could go in water. The graphics were beautiful and some levels looked so calming and made you want to explore while one didn’t, the Forest Naval I mean. It’s very funny that Olimar is treating Earth as a weird planet. yes I know that he’s a alien and therefore earth would be strange to him but when we play, especially in Pikmin 2 where he deals with objects like cans, some fruits etc, he gives them creative strange names describing what they are. Olimar, it’s a strawberry, your are suppose to eat it. What’s cool is that they use their enemies (defeated one) to make more of them when you bring them back to the onion. It literally becomes a business management job as you need to expand your workforce, find ship parts, fight enemies, explore new areas, increase Pikmin strength, organise Pikmin into groups and even watch over them while they carry stuff. You are a manager at the end of this. (Maybe Richard Branson is hiring). Eventually you develop a connection to the Pikmin who are so loyal to you. Which leads to the most significant part of the game probably. You truly care for your Pikmin. So the worse thing ever is when you hear the wail or scream of your Pikmin who die. You feel so sad, guilty and like it’s your fault which it is because you are in total control, they won’t run from an enemy unless you call them away. I remember when I was a child, my sister and I would go to mum crying telling her that a giant monster ate almost all our Pikmin. Laugh if you want. I remember my most heated moment was when the final boss ate a lot of my Pikmin with it’s sticky tongue, I never knew what it could do as that’s my first time facing it. I was so sad but vowed revenge. I came back with hatred and rage, with an army of 90 red Pikmin and 10 yellow Pikmin who were carrying bomb rocks. We demolished that enemy and my rage was appeased with blood. Pikmin is the only game that has ever made me cry. No game or movie has ever done that. I didn’t cry when Dom died in Gears of war, I didn’t cry or feel anything when Cortana went bad but I did care when the Pikmin died. Without a doubt Pikmin is one of the greatest I’ve ever played. It moved me emotionally, built a connection with characters that cannot even talk and completely different style from others while looking beautiful and making earth a mystery.

Number 2

Catherine is number 2 in my Top 5. Many haven’t heard of this game and that’s a shame. As I can confidently say there is not another game like this one. Literally. This game has so much going on that it deserves more attention. The story is the best thing about it. Everyone who has ever reviewed it has praised the story. It is unique, you want to find out what happens next, multiple mysteries, plot twists and what makes it most engaging is that it centers around problems and things in real life like relationships, marriage, cheating, lies, choices etc. It has well done cut scenes and anime styled cutscenes as well with the right balance. The game is split into two types. One half of the game is like a more social talk to characters, interact kind of stuff like a thriller/horror while the other half is straight up puzzle solving action. The puzzles are difficult and meant to test all who play. Many have even stated that normal difficulty is basically hard in disguise while hard is meant for masters. The game knew it would be hard so they allowed players to change difficulty in game. I never found it that hard. Honestly normal difficulty isn’t hard if you think and apply what the game teaches you. there are 8 different endings meaning there is a lot of replay value and the things you unlock are worth it. You can unlock two player mode where you face another player in 1v1, racing to the top or kill your opponent. Those can get intense at times. This game came out in 2011 and at that time, the graphics were great and the details were there. The music was excellent, each level had their own tune from classical to something with a beat. Favourite tune has to be the quadrangle level and second would be the Emporium. No two areas are similar or alike. If you was a master, you would take on Babel which has the most difficult mountains to climb. I have beaten Axis Mundi and saw the big secret at the end but there are still some things left unanswered. Matter of fact I did a livestream on Thursday and everyone saw one of the most clutch and intense moments ever. The third boss almost had me, about to crush me but I brought it back and won getting a gold prize in return. I was literally close to sweating. Even now in 2018 I have never encountered a game like Catherine. Story, gameplay, characters, intenseness and more are all things Catherine did with excellence. Definitely one of my top 5 games ever played.   

Number 1

Some weren’t surprised by this one. Halo was that game that truly amazed me when I first discovered it back when I was way younger. Halo was the top of the list in terms of creativity. It was set in the future, large space ships and carriers, A.I’s, advanced aliens, enhanced suits, regenerating shields and with a whole lot of story, lore, and stuff going on. There was things like plasma grenades that stuck to you and if you stuck an enemy they panic and ran. The aliens, the covenant were an interesting and new enemy. Each one was so different and brought a new threat to the table. The grunts were a joke, especially when you see them running for their lives and screaming. The elites were the real threat and fought like soldiers. Jackals prevent you from speeding through fights as you need to be specific with your aim. Hunters were like mini boss battles, especially in harder difficulties. Halo in Legendary difficulty was legendary indeed. Matter of fact beating this game in Legendary solo when I was very young was one of my biggest gaming achievements. it was strange to see a human hug an elite for the first time. So many silly co-op moments of my sister accidentally killing me either through her mad bombings, running to me for help when an invisible elite who has a sword chases her for me to turn around to get sliced up in my back and way more wacky ways. Oh the memories (practically endless). There was no game like this at the time. It was all creativity. Games like call of duty were army games that didn’t take creativity to come up with as it’s humans with gun faces humans with guns, kind of like what’s in the news paper. Halo was something completely different. Other games like mass effect all were inspired by Halo. Halo even set the bar and made online multiplayer what it is today. It’s the game with many accomplishments and revolutionised gaming. Remember using the warthog for the first time? Yep. No game has given me more memories. To think back then I thought grunts were little alien midgets like 3ft tall saying why not just kick them out your way, only to find out that those little grunts were actually 5ft tall, meaning they were bigger than me at the time and could easily kick me out of their way. That was hillarious. Without a doubt Halo is one of my top 5 greatest games and sits firmly as the greatest game I have ever played. Not only is it the greatest game I have ever played but it’s also my favourite game too. 

So we hope you enjoyed my top 5 list. Gears of war, Metroid Prime, Pikmin, Catherine and Halo are my top 5 greatest games. There are other great games and maybe if I sit down longer and think about it, something else could take spot 5 but the other 4 stay where they are. I have made content on some of these games so check out my channel to see some action using the button below. Now these games are the greatest but none of them are greater than… the ‘Earth Walk!’