Madden NFL 10

Uhm, hike? Hut? Hgghhh?

Source // PlayStation

There was a time, brief though it may have been, where I was actually interested in American Football. I'm not sure where it came from, but I suspect it had something to do with the Super Bowl being on the BBC and a demo of Madden NFL 11 for the PlayStation 3.

My trophy list would suggest I played it for at least a week in late 2010, but that's a little too late for this 1001 list. We need to go back just one yearly instalment to Madden NFL 10, which changed the game of videogame Handegg like nothing else.

Well, I mean, I guess. I've no idea what goes on in the world of American Football, even having briefly followed it, and you know what sports games are like - when was the defensive AI feature introduced, what changes did the career mode get, what was the game-breaking exploit in this one. I don't know, let's just hit the field and see what happens.

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.

Left 4 Dead 2

Dude, haven't we been here before?

Less than a year after Left 4 Dead came Left 4 Dead 2, and there's probably some pun we could make about dealing with one group of zombies only to turn around and walk right into another, or that the dead aren't easy to kill, or that's always more where that came from.

I have a history of not liking it when this 1001 list says we need to play what are essentially identical games, especially sequels. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty is a sequel to Metal Gear Solid, but despite their similarities, you can find a whole bunch of reasons to put both forward as must-play titles. Halo 3 is a sequel to Halo 2, but we've got a harder time of things now, though 'finishing the fight' might be enough to sway it. Left 4 Dead 2 is a sequel to Left 4 Dead and it has, let's see... daylight, melee weapons, a few new monsters.

So who should we leave behind, this game or the first one?

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...

IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey

It is a plane, blimey. I definitely need to shoot at it.

Source // PlayStation

It's a name you can't really forget, IL-2 Sturmovik. Who names a flight sim after a Soviet fighter plane anyway? Worked, though, I suppose. What better name could there be for a hardcore military simulator set in the skies of the Second World War than the harsh sounds of 'Sturmovik'?

A couple of years since I played IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946 for this 1001 list (where I saw absolutely nothing of interest across multiple missions, then usually crashed), we've been told that the consoles also have a historic hardcore flight simulator worth checking out in the form of IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey.

Even that sounds friendlier and more welcoming, doesn't it? Birds of Prey. We like birds. Will we manage to fly them, though? Will we actually see some action?

Halo Wars

"You got Halo in my RTS." "You got RTS in my Halo..."

Source // Xbox

The second Halo spin-off the 1001 list throws our way is a real-time strategy game that aims to work on the consoles as well as Halo made first-person shooters work on them. That is to say, it's going to be dumbed down a little and fiddly to control precisely, but Halo Wars will nonetheless give you an action-packed time as you command the UNSC forces against all-comers from your birds-eye vantage point in the sky.

RTS games can be hit and miss, but I'd be lying if I wasn't looking forward to seeing what this one was about in detail. I'd heard of it, but that was about it. Now it's time to hear some more.

Machinarium

¯\_d[o_0]b_/¯

Source // Steam

Long, long ago, coincidentally around the time of this next game's release, I owned a MacBook. I then owned a MacBook Pro. One of those two devices, for a short time, had a copy of Machinarium on it, a point and click game about a little robot looking for love.

I have absolutely no idea how I came to have Machinarium. None whatsoever. I didn't like point and click adventures, and gaming on a Mac just hadn't taken off, outside of iOS devices at least, though I do remember getting Steam when it launched on the platform...

Anyway, what is immediately obvious about Machinarium is that it doesn't look like any other game you've played, does it? You might even think it was made for the Mac, but it wasn't, because it's on everything nowadays, and it's still as challenging.

Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes

"By the trees! Demons sneaking through our woods unnoticed?"

The Might & Magic series is completely alien to me. I can guess what it's about, of course - fantasy, magic, probably competed with Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest and untold numbers of other RPGs that have far more entries in the series than is sensible, but I've always viewed it as 'cheap', as though it were a store-brand version of those more successful series.

One handheld spinoff, first emerging on the Nintendo DS and then sweeping over to iOS and Android and then consoles and computers, serves as the sole Might & Magic entry on the 1001 list, a puzzle RPG by the name of Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes.

Is this an entry point to the series, or merely an entertaining off-shoot to occupy your hands on a commute?

Halo 3: ODST

"You know the music, time to dance."

Source // MobyGames

Given the sheer dominance of the IP, it was an inevitability that there would be some sort of spin-off set in the Halo universe. As it happens, there are a couple, and we'll get to the second in a very short while, but up first is the spin-off that retains the first-person shooting you're familiar with, and a story you very much aren't.

Halo 3: ODST grew too big and bold to be a Halo 3 DLC, and I'm informed that it is set during the events of Halo 2, so good luck trying to work out where any of this fits if, like me, you're not a huge Halo fan and haven't completed any of the main games.

Still, the fact that it doesn't follow ol' Chief again allows the formula to be shaken up and made into something different. Something worth playing? Let's stop waffling and start finding out.

Guitar Hero: Metallica

Off to Never-Never land.

Source // Nintendo

I couldn't tell you a single song that Metallica has written. Well, there's Enter Sandman, but I only know that from ECW, and wouldn't have been able to tell you that it was a Metallica track until I looked it up just now.

I am, quite simply, not the target audience for Guitar Hero: Metallica, though it does have the odd offering from much more recognizable bands should you require a change of... musicians?

Look, you know the drill. I don't have the kit, I don't have the desire, I'm not going to be saying a whole lot about this game, and I'm probably going to slag off Metallica, so let's all just ignore this one and move on.