Top 100 Games of the Noughties: 60-51

What a decade it’s been for gaming. The Noughties saw the release of no less than six new consoles, the rise of Microsoft as a serious industry player and the re-emergence of Nintendo as the dominant force. Yeah, it’s been an incredible ten years of gaming goodness. But what lights have shined the brightest? What video games are destined to join the pantheon of the immortals? Here, in the fifth part of VideoGamer.com’s mammoth Top 100 Games of the Noughties list, we tell you, counting down from 60 to 51. Like the best rollercoasters, there are peaks and troughs, nerve-shredding twists and turns, and a bit where you’re really high up and wish you’d never got on the bloody thing in the first place. But hold on tight, weary video gamer, because by the time this ride ends, you’ll know just how good the Noughties have been.

Games 70-61

Games 80-71

Games 90-81

Games 100-91

60. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 – Multiplatform, 2002

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 is the game we played the most in the series, but 4 is definitely the one that perfected the formula. Before the series became too slapstick for its own good, the Hawk games made skateboarding fun, even for people like us who could barely balance on a board. With a career mode that did away with the quite tedious system of previous entries, refined controls and online play, Pro Skater 4 had it all. Quite why it all went so pear-shaped from then on isn’t obvious, but when it was good it was really good. Anyone for a game of HORSE?

59. The Operative: No One Lives Forever – PC, 2000

The term “cult classic” is probably used far too frequently, often to describe a poorly received game that a tiny group of people really love. It should be reserved for games like The Operative: No One Lives Forever; games that were top of their class on release yet failed to make it into the hands of many gamers. Talk to any PC gamer who experienced a glut of quality releases in the early part of the Noughties and this Monolith-developed 1960’s espionage first-person shooter will always come up in conversation. It featured levels that could often be completed numerous ways, an array of gadgets that made you feel like a spy and level designs that have rarely been bettered since. Visually, it doesn’t hold up too well, but it has a soul you don’t see these days.

58. Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes – Dreamcast, 2000

The impact Capcom’s MvC2 has had on the fighting scene cannot be understated. After its release on the Dreamcast in 2000, it quickly became one of the most popular fighting games on the circuit. Its manic pace, three versus three combat, spectacular visuals and crazy super moves were tailor made for boisterous audiences, and its surprisingly technical fighting system meant experts had plenty to sink their teeth into. For many, it’s the greatest 2D fighting game of all time, better even than Darkstalkers, Guilty Gear, King of Fighters and Street Fighter. The success of the game’s recent re-release on Xbox LIVE and PSN came as no surprise. If Capcom was ever to announce a third game in the series, the internet, we imagine, would melt.

57. Company of Heroes – PC, 2006

The greatest real-time strategy game of the decade? Quite possibly. Certainly it’s the most innovative. Relic’s Company of Heroes grabbed the RTS genre by the scruff of the neck and shook it until all its cobwebs were blown away. Relic streamlined the traditional RTS control system, made its mechanics simple to grasp, and, shock horror, dropped resource gathering. It did not suffer as a result. Rather, it shone, and even managed to convert some of the genre’s sceptics into the fold with spectacular destruction and fast-paced missions. It is a game that honed to perfection the RTS mechanics that had held the genre in a vice-like grip for the best part of a decade. As we look forward to the next decade, we can only dribble with anticipation for what brilliance the hoped for sequel might bring.

56. Halo 2 – Xbox, 2004

Okay, the ending is rubbish and it wasn’t the game Bungie had promised, but has there ever been a more significant online console game? Halo 2’s multiplayer defined the online landscape for years to come, and the game still stands up as one of the best competitive shooters around. Who doesn’t remember sniping from up high on Lockout, the enclosed battles on Midship, and riding a warthog across the beach and into the main complex on Zanzibar? For many people Halo 2 was their first experience of online gaming, so it’s a good job it offered an unmatched multiplayer offering.

55. Call of Duty 2 – Xbox 360 and PC, 2005

Without a Halo game to launch the Xbox 360, Microsoft relied instead on Rare’s Perfect Dark Zero and Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty 2. Perfect Dark had the most hype, being the follow-up to one of the N64’s best games, but for many people it was CoD2 that made the console worth owning on day one. Back when Infinity Ward was still making World War II shooters, this silky smooth 60 frames per second beauty managed to lay the groundwork for the complete domination the series was to achieve in the following years. CoD2 didn’t include the same stunning online multiplayer mode we saw in CoD4 and beyond, but the game proved to be hugely popular among those who could see past its flaws. And yes, the PC version is slightly better because it allows you to lean around corners.

54. Metropolis Street Racer – Dreamcast, 2000

MSR paved the way for the Project Gotham Racing series and the current trend for style counting for something in racing games. Back in 2000 the game’s city-based tracks, real-time clock system (racing in London at 9pm would result in a night time race) and finely tuned arcade handling model made MSR an instant hit. Even today the gameplay holds up against many of the genre’s best. Let’s not forget the music, either. MSR had a soundtrack composed by the legendary Richard Jacques, spread across nine fictional radio stations – a feature later used by Rockstar in the Grand Theft Auto series. The Dreamcast had some brilliant games; Metropolis Street Racer was one of them.

53. F.E.A.R. – PC, 2005

2009’s sequel may have topped the original’s visuals, but the first game still wins out in terms of thrilling slow-mo action and scares. The Monolith-developed original, to put it bluntly, put the shivers up us. Never again will we look at a little girl in a red coat without instantly cowering behind the nearest large object. Alma, said red-coated girl, must go down as one of the creepiest video game creations ever, and her presence in F.E.A.R. is what makes the game. The combat is top notch, with the AI impressing as much today as it did back in 2005, but this wins a place over the sequel on scares. Play F.E.A.R. with the lights off and with headphones on and you won’t be able to move a few feet without quicksaving.

52. Max Payne – PC, PS2, Xbox, 2001

His name was a not-particularly-funny pun, and he constantly looked like he was constipated, but Maximilian Payne was a hero for his era. The Matrix may have invented the concept of bullet time, but it was Max (and Remedy Entertainment) who first gave us the video game version. Max’s tale was an ultra-bleak riff on classic pulp detective fiction – although admittedly most of the investigative work consisted of popping pills and shooting people in the face. Still, the atmosphere and comic book cutscenes were ace, and who can forget the joy of diving sideways in glorious slow-mo, an Uzi blazing in each hand? The sequel was pretty damn good, too.

51. Rallisport Challenge 2 – Xbox, 2004

We’d bet good money that Rallisport Challenge 3 would crop up on most racing game fan’s wishlists. Developed by now EA-owned DICE (yes, the Battlefield people), Rallisport 2 blew away the competition on the original Xbox. It was a truly breathtaking game, combining seat of your pants gameplay with some of the most impressive vistas outside of the real world. This was an arcade racer through and through, and few games can match the thrilling high-speed track and dirt racing it delivered. It also made use of the ill-fated XSN system. Remember that?

Check back on Saturday as the Top 100 Games of the Noughties countdown continues with 50 to 41.