Graphics are different from the crop out there and that in itself makes it worth checking out. However, the gameplay doesn't thrill me as much. I am interested enough to check out the reviews before purchasing the game but I'm not pre-ordering it.

Without online matchmaking for the Firefight mode, ODST won't be as fondly remembered as Halo 3. Not to mention its full game price tag. I really wanted to buy this game but as the months went by, my interest waned and I'm just going to rent it for the single-player.

Perhaps I'll buy a copy if its 20 dollars cheaper.

Wow a 1...that's laughably bad. I wonder what goes through the heads of the developers/designers who create this crap.

1. Planescape Torment
My number 1 game and here's why (spoilers ahead).
When you finally meet Ravel and she poses unto you the question, what can change the nature of a man?, I had responded "nothing". The Nameless One was for me driven by his own will to change, undo the wrongs he committed and reverse his immortality. But as the game progressed, I realized more and more that it could be regret or perhaps belief that pushed the Nameless One forward. When I finally met the Transcendent One was I fully stunned by my actions so far; when I had asked him what can change the nature of a man, he casually replied nothing...I was left speechless for several minutes and simply sat there thinking over everything I had done.


2. Baldur's Gate Series (I, II, Throne of Bhaal)
I can't possibly separate them, they're integral to telling the whole story like any long-winded trilogy. As PCGamer once wrote, isn't it every D&D geek's dream to makeout with a Drow chick? Bioware was fortunate to have this time and resources to fit so much gameplay and story into an adventure that could easily pass the 100 hour mark. Most RPGs look vapid or empty as a result: a testament to Baldur's Gate legacy.

3. Final Fantasy VI SNES
I've played a few FFs but none can hold a candle to this version. It was the crescendo of the Final Fantasy series in pixel format...thereafter all the douchebags gravitated towards FFVII...I was never that enthusiastic about the Opera moment but I'll never forget Ultros, the Ghost Train sequence, the battle at Cyan's Castle.

4. Total Annihilation
Nothing like free for all on a 4v4 map. On the metal planet. Can you say Big Bertha Barrage?

5. Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
I loved the detail and depth of the game and while I rarely played it, I remember my older brother playing this endlessly. With the 250+ page manual, my brother would pore through strategies and unit configurations...nothing like sitting beside him and watching him deftly outmaneuver and outmatch the superior AI. Good times.

Ahaha, the goomba taking the shroom was priceless.