Killzone 2

"My people. Sons and Daughters of Helghan."

Source // MobyGames

There are an awful lot of components that go into a great game. Solid gameplay is an obvious bonus, but as technology has advanced, great stories, characters, and voice actors have made games shine, and film composers and orchestras have provided incredible soundscapes that can be recalled in an instant.

But there's another aspect that can make an otherwise excellent game fade over time if not done right, and that's worldbuilding and the aesthetics of what's on show. The reason I rate Front Mission 3 so highly is the look and feel of those big stompy mechs. I'm a fan of that aesthetic. Metal Gear Solid is also helped by its look and feel, but that game does have a whole load more going on besides them. Wipeout famously had a graphic design studio turn the game into the vibrant futuristic wonder that it is today.

However, in my opinion - though it's a tough call to make - there may well be no more aesthetically pleasing game, no better world to dive into, than the grungy, smoggy, near-future, WW2 analogy that is Killzone 2.

The first game of the series didn't grab my attention. That E3 teaser trailer and the subsequent gameplay footage that followed sure did. By the time you've played it, you too will know that Helghan belongs to the Helghast.

inFAMOUS

"Yes, I'd like to schedule a package for delivery. Would it be possible to request a specific courier?"

Source // PlayStation

Comic book heroes come in many shapes and sizes, and they don't all have to be part of the Marvel or DC universes, as third-person zap 'em up inFAMOUS can demonstrate.

Courier Cole MacGrath awakens at the epicentre of an explosion that sees the city turned into a containment zone along the lines of something like Escape from New York, and the innocent civilians that are now stuck here fight amongst themselves for what resources remain.

You can help them out, or you can show them who's in charge. They do blame you for their problems. After all, you were the only survivor from the blast, and now you've got superpowers...

Wipeout HD

Cannon.

Source // MobyGames

When last we saw Wipeout, I said it was awesome and it'd only get better. At the times, others might have argued that the series only appearing on the PlayStation Portable was a sign that it had run its course. Yes, it was technically impressive, but it was lost on a handheld that wasn't bought in huge numbers and showed little sign of life on the consoles it belonged on.

And then an HD blend of Pulse and Pure for the PlayStation 3 was announced, a cheap little download that promised improved visuals and buttery smooth gameplay, and as a fan, you know I bought Wipeout HD in an instant.

LittleBigPlanet

"An ethereal dreamscape of adventure and possibilities ... and you can go there now."

Source // Media Molecule

Some games are aimed at kids. Many more are aimed at adults. A few of them are aimed at big kids, and little kids, and weird kids, and creative kids, and LittleBigPlanet is one of those few. A platformer and a platform for, it gave the world the seemingly infinitely customizable Sackboy, a delightful avatar for all kinds of hand-crafted physics-based entertainment.

Surely I was too old for a game like this in 2008, right? Never.

Siren: Blood Curse

"Is this some kinda joke for TV?"

Source // PlayStation

Spooky horror games aren't my thing, but Siren: Blood Curse intrigued me for its approach to the genre. I've got this PlayStation 3 title through a PS Plus subscription, where it downloaded a whole bunch of episodes, rather than an individual game. Is this game a wannabe TV serial?

Set in a mysterious Japanese village where all kinds of 'not right' is taking place, Blood Curse follows the story of a few characters episode by episode, giving players plenty of perfect opportunities to take a breather and gather their wits once more, and the game itself an opportunity to stand out in bite-sized chunks.

Could this horror game actually win me over, simply because it is presented in an unusual way for a game? Let's find out.

Resistance 2

"They are calling to us. Can you hear them?"

Source // PlayStation

When the PlayStation 3 first came out, most players could only afford to play free demos on it. Thankfully, this was a time when demos actually did exist, and one of those demos I played a few times was for Resistance: Fall of Man, an alternate history/universe sci-fi Second World War first-person shooter pitting men against monstrous aliens up and down the United Kingdom.

I didn't end up purchasing Resistance, nor did I look into Resistance 2 when it came out, a sequel that no doubt improved on the original, but didn't catch my interest in any way.

The 1001 write up mentions how there are multiplayer matches that support up to 60 players, which was pretty much an anomaly in terms of player counts on the PS3. Wikipedia mentions how those servers' plugs were pulled in 2014, so I guess all we've got to enjoy these days is the story.

But what is that story? Who are these angry-looking fellas from another planet? What do they want with good ol' Blighty?

What's that? We're in America now?

MotorStorm: Pacific Rift

"The stage is set. The land braces itself. Welcome to MotorStorm."

Source // PlayStation

Nearly 100 games have gone by since I last saw MotorStorm. I ended that write up by saying "I'm not sure how people who didn't play it at launch will see it, though. Hopefully, with a smile at least."

I also mentioned in that write up that I hadn't played any of its sequels, and now that the time has come to play MotorStorm: Pacific Rift, where we're going to put that statement to the test. Will I see this sequel with a smile at least? Has MotorStorm's time in the sun long gone? Does anything hold up 13 years later?

Enough waffle, crank up the volume and let's get this festival rocking.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

"This is good... isn't it?"

Source // Konami

Not too long ago, I said when looking back to the Grand Theft Auto series, I'd want to go back and play GTA IV before any of the others. It's not that it is the 'best', but it is the title that called to me the most.

There's another long-running series with games that ought to be returned to more than once, and another game with a '4' stuck on the end, but this one, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots has a lot more going on.

If GTA IV is something I want to go back to and relive, MGS4 is something I'm not sure I do want to go back to - not sure to the point of having spent the last few days watching some 7 hours of YouTube video essays on the game instead of actually putting it into my PS3 for the first time in years.

Metal Gear Solid has been my top-rated game on this 1001 list since its appearance and is unlikely to be moved. MGS2 and MGS3 are up there too, the latter still sitting in the top ten. MGS4... well, MGS4 has a lot to unbox and I'm not sure where to begin.

Buzz!: Quiz TV

Question number one...

Source // PlayStation

Who doesn't love a good quiz? Me. It's got to be a good quiz, mind you. None of this Mensa application rubbish, or intellectual nonsense that only strokes the quiz-masters ego, no. I like my quizzes to be sensible for the most part, and humourous for the rest.

Your first question then: What is Buzz!: Quiz TV?

Afrika

Bless the rains.

Source // PlayStation

The closest I've ever come to an African Safari is whatever the BBC Natural History Unit decides is worth sitting in the blistering heat for years on end with an HD camera to capture and preserve for Sir David Attenborough to narrate over.

Wildlife you've never heard of performing extraordinary feats of survival in some of the harshest conditions for life there is on this planet. Wildlife you have heard of, personified and made relatable. Wildlife, out in the wilderness, minding its own business while we marvel at it all.

From my computer desk, I can glance out of the window and see the wilderness of a weed-covered patio, the odd bird hopping around P2's elaborate feeder, now overgrown with neglect because it's bloody cold out there this time of year. I could never see one animal hunt another unless the cats get lucky. I can't see anything big or bouncy or goofy looking, unless, again, the odd fat cat wanders through.

What I need is a digital safari. A hunt where the only shooting you'll do is through your camera, and where the playground is an entire continent. I need Afrika.

Warhawk

Now land it.

Source // PlayStation

The 1001 book contains a lot of pictures, and it usually brings out a chuckle when I find that the imagery chosen was one of the first you could find with a basic image search. What puzzles me from time to time, though, is imagery that doesn't quite represent the game that it's attached to.

You see, I'm lead to believe that Warhawk is about flying a fancy looking futuristic jet fighter through the skies as war rages below you. At least that's what the box art shows me. And doesn't 'hawk' lend itself to aircraft more than tanks?

A multiplayer exclusive game for the PlayStation 3, whose single-player content was supposedly cut for lack of quality. Ooh. This is going to be tricky.

Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction

"Teleporter cannons always make my sprockets tingle."

Source // PlayStation

I have just said that while I consider myself a Ratchet & Clank fan, I trailed off during the PlayStation 3 games. Perhaps I had seen it all before, or found entertainment elsewhere and had just moved on. Well, after playing Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction I can confirm that I didn't trail off during the PlayStation 3 games - I never touched them in the first place.

After finding great success on the PlayStation 2 and seeing some spin-offs hit the PlayStation Portable, the HD era came calling. Can you imagine what a Ratchet & Clank title would look like in HD? How Pixar-movie-like it might feel? Can you honestly say you weren't expecting what you saw when it was time to see what the future held?

Tools of Destruction kicks off the Future series, a not quite soft reboot, not quite next chapter in the adventures of Ratchet and Clank, and it makes sure to shower players will all the graphics.

Pain

Shake the controller to charge up your Super Ooch...

Source // PlayStation

Underlying a great many video games is the Havok physics engine, without which everything would fall a bit flat. With it, though, characters and objects fall over, bounce off each other, break apart, explode, trigger chain reactions of somewhat predictable interactions with yet more objects... Can you make a game around that?

Of course you can. Throwing a ragdoll into an explosive crate or through a cinder block wall is the first thing you do to see what the Havok physics engine can offer your game, and it only takes one person to wonder what would happen if you made a giant slingshot to propel characters through an explosive environment ready to fall apart at a moments notice.

Here comes the Pain.

Heavenly Sword

"There's something about that man I don't entirely trust."

Source // PlayStation

Are you a fan of God of War? Would you prefer Kratos to be a slim woman, with lots more hair? Are you desperate for a motion-controlled game of twing-twang?

No, I don't know what that is either, but I know all this can be found in Heavenly Sword, the action-adventure hack and slash title for the PlayStation 3 that showed what a mix of Hollywood and video games could result in - mixed reactions, obviously.

Clear your afternoon, because Nariko is about the clean house.

MotorStorm

"But tonight, on this small planet, we're going to rock civilization."

Source // MobyGames

Monument Valley. Iconic sandstone buttes towering above dusty, sun-soaked plains. Don't you just want to hold an over-the-top motorsport music festival right there, with loosely defined tracks around - and on top, and through - the mesas, designed for spectacle, rather than safety?

If the answer is yes - and the answer really ought to be yes - then the PlayStation 3 has you covered with MotorStorm, a chaotic, muddy thrill ride that tears through the landscape to the sounds of rock, metal, and metal colliding with rocks.

It was thoroughly enjoyable back in 2007. What about now?

Everybody's Golf 5: World Tour

a.k.a. Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds

Source // MobyGames

Do golfers find it concerning that the 1001 list has recommended cartoony iterations of the sport over realistic ones? It pointed us towards Golden Tee Live, yes, but also Mario Golf and even Wii Sports. It seems golf games are better when they're not so serious, as wonderfully demonstrated by Everybody's Golf 5: World Tour.

Chunky little cartoon bobbleheads, rainbow-coloured ball trails, even video footage of swimming dolphins.

Wait, what?