10b) Resident Evil 4

How in bloody hell did I forget about Resident Evil 4 when I was coming up with my list of top ten games? This game really does belong in the top ten list. Not only was the game near-perfect in design and gameplay (we'll ignore the non-sensical story) but this game actually made me enjoy a franchise I had long ago given up for dead. Or would that be un-dead? There was no bigger RE hater than myself. The games controlled and played like absolute rubbish. Sure, they were pretty and scary, but the controls and camera perspective was enough to make one want to slice their wrists with the CD-ROM. But RE4 changed all that. Capcom listened to their critics and despite already having a license to print money with the franchise, totally re-invented the series with an all-new control and camera system. Normally I don't bother finishing games that I'm not writing the guidebook for but not only did I finish all 20+ hours of RE4, but I immediately emailed my editors requesting to be penciled in for RE5 whenever it should come out. Yeah, I did that almost two years ago and I'm still crossing my fingers.

*Favorite Moment: Probably the same as everyone else's. There's a scene where you're in a two-story farmhouse being swarmed by dozens and dozens of not-zombies (yes, they're zombies... but they're not) and you're running around desperately trying to barricade the doors and windows with furniture. And suddenly you realize they climbed a ladder into the second floor window so you run up the stairs, blast the not-zombie with a shotgun and tip over the ladder. By now other not-zombies have smashed through the door and pushed aside the furniture and are on their way up the stairs to attack. You and your companion stand back to back, shotguns in hand, and try like hell to defend yourself against the onslaught of not-zombie feasting. Not only was this the best moment of the game, it's one of the best moments in gaming. Period. On second thought, to hell with "10b". This game needs to be in the top 5.

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