Your most perfectly designed games

[sherbz]

Sure we all like certain games. And we love others. For instance, i love civ 4. It is very entertaining. However, its not "perfect". There are parts i dont like, like the Apostilic palace, the imbalance on an isolated start etc. So i would not call that game "perfect".

Having said this, i do think there are games i have played that are "perfect" and i wouldnt change anything in them. So i was curious as to what yours would be. Mine are:

Doom 1 & 2
I dont actually think level design has ever surpassed the majesty of these 2 games. Quite simply brilliant. The level designers should win an oscar. Its practically perfect in every single way.

Portal 1 & 2
Again, brilliant level design. I cannot honestly fault it (or the writing).

Grand theft auto 1
There is a reason i picked the first 1. It was simple and also quite low budget. But it also nailed 100% what it wanted to achieve.

Half life 1&2
Gaming perfection. Enough said.

Bioshock 1 & Infinite
I was massively impressed with these games. And there isnt a single thing i would change about them. I left out 2 as i didnt think it was good. The level design was uninspired.

Alien Isolation
Again, i was massively impressed. I think its practically the perfect tribute to an alien game you could ask for.

South Park the stick of truth
When i want to watch a good south park episode, i generally play this instead. Thats how good it is.

Syndicate
An oldy, but IMO one of the best games of the 90s. There was so much depth and attention in this it was unreal. The biggest shame about this game is that its sequels never lived up to the glory of its original creation.

X Wing
Faultless game design. And so much content. A superb game in every sense.

Day of the Tentacle
I think this is a timeless classic that can be enjoyed now and also in years to come. Brilliant writing, hilarious humour, and some of the best puzzles i have ever had the joy of playing through. My realisation that i could convince George Washington to chop down the cherry tree by painting the apricot tree red was a moment i shall never forget.

 

[coanda]

Bioshock was a perfectly designed game up through the meeting with Ryan. The conclusion after that was frankly disappointing.

Psychonauts was pretty damn amazing.

Definitely agree on Portal and Syndicate.

 

[civvver]

Dead Space, the first one. The combat isn't as smooth as the sequels, but it fits the game much better. It's insanely scary, story is well done. The production value is just so high on that game and I love how you never see or hear Issac until the very end. It really makes it feel like you are playing the game and then the ending is just awesome. Like a really well done horror movie.

The second and third one have slightly better gameplay but a much less immersive experience. They're still good, but for some reason I just wasn't as scared or drawn in. I think it really is cus Issac talks in the sequels a lot and you shoot guns a lot more and the environments are less claustrophobic.

Dragon age origins also is incredibly good, though a lot will disagree. It's not pure rpg enough for some or action enough for others, but I thought it walks the line very well, the scale of it is perfect. The only thing I don't like about it is some combat animations like dwarves using two handed weapons look ridiculous.

I also really love mass effect 2. I thought they nailed the story and presentation, the combat was very good too. The pacing of it is really well done whereas 3 feels too frantic to me.

The production value of the new Tomb Raider is really good and it's a fun game with a good story if you don't mind mystical elements, but there's nothing extremely memorable about it. Just well designed.

I also think Dota 2 is such a fantastic game, but the learning curve is very high and tough for some people to get into and appreciate the nuances of it.

FTL Faster than Light is very well designed, the mechanics of it are great and it creates a wonderful atmosphere. It just seems a little limited in scope after a while, and certain things seem overpowered compared to others, but there's a bunch of mods that fix that.

 

[sherbz]

Dragon age origins also is incredibly good, though a lot will disagree. It's not pure rpg enough for some or action enough for others, but I thought it walks the line very well, the scale of it is perfect. The only thing I don't like about it is some combat animations like dwarves using two handed weapons look ridiculous.

Thats a good shout on DAO. I think i would include that too. It has a touch of "epic" about it. And that dark spawn scene at ostagar is up there with the lord of the rings in scales of "Epic-ness".

 

[Maniacal]

If anything is uninspired about Bioshock it's the gunplay/combat. Lots of cool ideas that just fall flat in implementation, and one of the few games I didn't finish for the sole reason of getting extremely bored.

 

[ls612]

I'm with civver; Mass Effect 2 and 3 until the very end have very good action game mechanics, good gunplay, and have a space opera feel that hasn't been replicated in any other game I've seen.

 

[Thorgalaeg]

Atari's E.T.

Seriuosly, Grim Fandango, Monkey Island or some other Lucas Art adventures.

 

[Disgustipated]

Fallout: New Vegas and Dragon Age: Origins. Both games struck a perfect balance between modern games need for good combat action, but older game style role playing. Perfect balance. Games of the series since haven't achieved that balance.

Civ4. Like mentioned above, it's not perfect, but it's the closest Civ to perfection. I do miss the armies of Civ3, however.

X-com: UFO defense. The game has elements that the remake 15 years later couldn't achieve. It was ahead of its time.

Atari's E.T.

What about Custer's revenge?

 

[Lemon Merchant]

Bioshock Infinite for me. Great story and great game play. And I want to date Elizabeth.

 

[Theov]

Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge.

 

[Maniacal]

Bioshock Infinite ... great game play.

I don't know how anyone could describe BI's gameplay as "great" with a straight face. Obviously what people will enjoy is subjective regardless of how good it is, but BI's combat is some of the least challenging and uninspired I've ever seen in a game. I don't know what they could have done to make it less interesting without breaking something.

 

[Lemon Merchant]

I don't know how anyone could describe BI's gameplay as "great" with a straight face. Obviously what people will enjoy is subjective regardless of how good it is, but BI's combat is some of the least challenging and uninspired I've ever seen in a game. I don't know what they could have done to make it less interesting without breaking something.

From the perspective of someone who doesn't play a lot of first person shooters (that's me), I guess I could be faulted for not knowing what a supposedly better game would be. However, I did enjoy the game. My bad.

 

[Colon]

Of all games I know I think Civ4 is the one that has gotten closest to perfection. I like this thread because it has given me another opportunity to say that.

 

[Quintillus]

Civ 3 and 4 are probably the closest for me. They're different, but in both cases the only thing I'd really change is removing technical limitations of them - modding related in the case of Civ3 (and I have removed a few of those, though others are there to stay), and performance related in Civ4 (such as the 32-bit RAM limitations). Probably slight nod to Civ3, since IMO it has more perfect gameplay without mods, even in Vanilla. It's not the design of Civ4 per se that I find not as perfect, and in some ways such as flexibility it's superior, but the default game rules, pacing, balance, and scale that are ever so slightly better in Civ3 - but combined, enough that if I'm going to play an unmodded Civ game by myself, it's going to be Civ3 80+% of the time.

Completely different genre, but Rocket League also does what it sets out to do perfectly. Unique gameplay but very finely tuned and immersive as a result. Definitely wouldn't change anything about the design and in some ways have misgivings about the new modes being added, since equaling the first couple is such a tall order.

I don't know how anyone could describe BI's gameplay as "great" with a straight face. Obviously what people will enjoy is subjective regardless of how good it is, but BI's combat is some of the least challenging and uninspired I've ever seen in a game. I don't know what they could have done to make it less interesting without breaking something.

It's subjective, though. What one person may view as essential to good design (such as gunplay) may not be that important to the other so long as it does not interfere with the rest. As another person who doesn't play very many shooters, particularly in the past 5 years or so, that wouldn't likely be a big distinguishing factor for me either, and fantastic gunplay alone would not make a game for me these days. A really well designed story, progression, character development, etc. could be, however.

 

[civvver]

The first of rocksteady batman games, Batman Arkham Asylum, was really, really good. Well designed, semi open as far as how much you wanted to explore arkham anyway. Not really like an open world. Level ups but not crazy rpg. Excellent combat, you really felt like you are batman throwing different combos out. Good story, great bad guys.

 

[Maniacal]

It's subjective, though. What one person may view as essential to good design (such as gunplay) may not be that important to the other so long as it does not interfere with the rest. As another person who doesn't play very many shooters, particularly in the past 5 years or so, that wouldn't likely be a big distinguishing factor for me either, and fantastic gunplay alone would not make a game for me these days. A really well designed story, progression, character development, etc. could be, however.

From the perspective of someone who doesn't play a lot of first person shooters (that's me), I guess I could be faulted for not knowing what a supposedly better game would be. However, I did enjoy the game. My bad.

I didn't say you couldn't still enjoy it What someone ends up finding fun or enjoyable can have surprisingly little to do with how good it actually is.

 

[sherbz]

I didn't say you couldn't still enjoy it What someone ends up finding fun or enjoyable can have surprisingly little to do with how good it actually is.

Yea i agree with Maniacal here. Enjoyable is not the same as perfect. In fact, there have been many imperfect games i have enjoyed more than perfect ones.

 

[RobS]

The original Combat Mission trilogy, from 20 years ago: https://www.battlefront.com/index.php?p=home
Can't vouch for the newer ones, as I haven't played them, but the three originals were absolutely killer.
Edit: Hmm, doesn't look like they're selling them anymore.
Edit: GoG has them, right now for $3.59 each. Barbarossa to Berlin and Afrika Korps have improved graphics and UI's over the original Beyond Overlord, but all three are worth having. Grab one and try it, just don't blame me for a new addiction.

"...from the other side of the ridge comes the clanking thunder and ominous dust-cloud that heralds the arrival of an onrushing wave of deadly steel: German armored columns on the attack.
...Russian tank commanders slam shut the hatches of their dreaded T-34's...gun crews prime their weapons and infantrymen hug the earth...
...and there, topping the rise!...a glint of dawn reflecting off the muzzle of the first German tank...
COMBAT MISSION is about to begin!"