Cyrodiil, the Dark Brotherhood questline and Oblivion gates opening in a world that levels with you; Bethesda's 2006 breakthrough.
Vvardenfell, giant mushrooms and a world that explains nothing; the Elder Scrolls at its strangest.
The Nameless One wakes on a mortuary slab; "what can change the nature of a man?"
Minsc, Boo and Jon Irenicus; the Infinity Engine RPG at its biggest.
Four thousand years before the films, a Jedi with a secret; BioWare's Star Wars and the twist.
Finish the fight; the trilogy ends with Forge and theatre mode.
The Arbiter, dual wielding and Xbox Live multiplayer; the console shooter online.
Master Chief on the ring world, the warthog and the Flood; the Xbox is launched.
Donald Duck, Goofy and a boy with a giant key through Disney worlds; the crossover that worked.
Dante clears Mallet Island of demons while a meter grades every combo from Dull up to Stylish.
Sixteen giants, a horse and an empty land; nothing to do but the impossible.
A horned boy leads a girl by the hand out of a castle; Team Ico's minimalist masterpiece.
Two minutes to hit the goals, Superman by Goldfinger; the best-reviewed sports game ever.
The real driving simulator with licence tests; 140 cars on the PlayStation.
Lara Croft in Peru, the T. rex in the valley and a whole new kind of hero.
Nintendo's mascots fight on a GameCube; still played in tournaments twenty years on.
Leon in a Spanish village with a chainsaw man; the over-the-shoulder camera every game copied.
Leon and Claire in Raccoon City police station; the 2019 remake is also essential.
The mansion, the door animations and the dogs through the window; survival horror is named.
Naked Snake in a 1964 jungle, the Boss and the ladder; the series peak.
Raiden instead of Snake and a plot about information control that predicted the internet.
Solid Snake on Shadow Moses, Psycho Mantis reads your memory card; Kojima's cinematic stealth.
Bullet time, a graphic-novel story and a New York winter; Remedy's noir shooter.
Garrett in the shadows of the City; stealth as a whole game.
JC Denton, nano-augmentations and every conspiracy at once; the game that let you play it your way.
SHODAN on the Von Braun; the immersive sim that BioShock remade in the sea.
Instagib, Facing Worlds and the announcer; the arena shooter of 1999.
The Facility, the watch menu and four-player split-screen; the N64 shooter that changed consoles.
Strippers, pigs in cop uniforms and "it's time to kick ass"; the Build engine shooter.
The BFG, the imps and the shareware episode that ran on every office PC in 1993.
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