My Top 5 Favorite Video Games
To start, I just want to acknowledge the fact that as I’m getting older, I’m finding myself less and less interested in playing video games. Video games can have a generally negative stigma amongst the general population, and for obvious reasons. They can be overly violent, addictive, and in many cases just a straight up waste of time.
However, it is not very often that you hear people acknowledge the positive aspects of gaming. Video games are not only a form of entertainment, but a form of art. Playing a video game can be much more mentally stimulating than simply sitting and watching a TV show or a movie. They can incorporate methods of strategy and creativity, and in many cases, they can actually be pretty fun.
Let’s go ahead and take a look at my personal top 5 video games.
#5 Tony Hawk
The Tony Hawk games were very popular amongst early 2000s kids, and for obvious reasons. The soundtracks were sick, the storylines were interesting, the level designs were awesome, and the overall gameplay was a lot of fun. As a young skater, playing the Tony Hawk games just made me that much more excited about skateboarding. The Tony Hawk’s Underground games in particular were really cool, and American Wasteland was up there as well.
#4 Call of Duty
It would be pretty difficult to write a top 5 video games list without mentioning Call of Duty. Call of Duty is one of the biggest video game franchises in the world by far. It’s one of the OG franchises that has somehow managed to maintain relevancy for close to two decades, with some of the biggest releases to date. For me it started with Modern Warfare, and from there I continued to follow along through Modern Warfare 2, Black Ops, and even some of the Warzone add-ons more recently.
What made Call of Duty fun was its versatility. You could go full try hard, you could screw around and jump off of buildings, or you could play conservatively and as if it were realistic combat. It was a great game to gather a group of friends and take on a squad of other people. Trash talking, tea-bagging. It was all part of the fun.
#3 Elder Scrolls
I really love the Elder Scroll games, and would easily say they are my favorite RPG games of their kind. I was first introduced to the Elder Scrolls series years ago on a boat ride with family. My cousin’s husband at the time was a big gamer and genuinely cool dude, and he was telling me about it and recommending it to me. I went ahead and picked it up later that year, and it was one of those games that I kept coming back to throughout my teenage years.
Oblivion has such a big layout with so many quests and side missions that you could easily take your time and spend quite a while exploring. I first picked up the game in 2008 and didn’t fully finish it until late 2016. And then in late 2020 I ended up picking up Skyrim on a Black Friday deal and really fell in love with it. Skyrim is hands down the most relaxing game I have ever played. I really enjoyed rolling through the main questlines, and it made for a very relaxing and peaceful way to spend my evenings throughout late 2020 and 2021.
#2 Batman
I can easily say that the Batman games have the coolest storyline out of any of the games I’ve ever played. Similar to Skyrim, I picked up the Batman trilogy in late 2021 as part of a Black Friday deal. From there I proceeded rolling though them throughout 2022 and 2023, and I can honestly say that it was a blast. The storyline is not only incredibly interesting, but it is very easy to follow. Out of the 3, Arkham Knight was hands down my favorite.
#1 Halo
I first picked up Halo over 20 years ago as a young kid, and have been playing it ever since. Halo was one of those games that almost just jumped off the shelf to me at that age. Even before online gaming was a big thing, we would load up multiple controllers at the house and have a blast. Halo: CE was incredible. Halo 2 was even better. And Halo 3 was probably my favorite. With Xbox Live becoming more popular, Halo 3 was the go to game. The leveling system was challenging but rewarding. The map designs were intricate. And the gameplay itself was a ton of fun. Not to mention the fact that the game had probably the best community out of them all. Halo 3 is one of the only games that I’ve ever played that you could jump into a lobby solo and end up coordinating with teammates, giving callouts, and even just joking around and having regular conversation. To this day, I still occasionally hop on and play the MCC, and the games are still just as fun today as they were years ago. Halo definitively takes the cake for this one.
Honorable Mention: Gears of War
Despite the fact that the games have been notoriously buggy, glitchy, and laggy, the Gears of War games deserve at least a mention on this list. The storylines are really cool, the multiplayer is competitive but fun, and the Horde mode is cool as well. My friends and I spent a lot of nights together playing Gears of War, both in private lobbies and in online matches. Gears 2 was probably the best, but Gears 3 was pretty good as well. Gears 1 was cool to go back to, but by the time I got into it Gears 2 was already out and the lobbies were fairly empty. All in all, the Gears games were pretty enjoyable.
Appreciating The Fun
I will conclude by reiterating what I said up top. Video games can be a lot of fun, but they can also be a huge waste of time. However, that’s me saying that as a 28 year old adult. When you’re 14-15 and don’t have a driver’s license, playing video games isn’t quite as bad. In fact, I would say it can actually be a positive way to connect with friends, socialize, and do something competitive and mentally stimulating. As I’m getting older I find myself leaning more toward using that time to read a book, write my music, work on my site, or listen to a podcast. But, I still do hop on and play video games occasionally. Even if it’s not a nightly part of my life like it once was, I can still appreciate it for what it is, and appreciate the fun I had as a younger person.
I hope that you’ve enjoyed this article, and if you get the chance, feel free to share your own favorite video games in the comments. Thank you and see you on the next article.
