The game also raised the expectations of future Barker-inspired games like the terribly awful Jericho. We have yet to forgive Clive for this.

8. Aliens vs Predator 2 - FOX ; 2001

We’ve all seen some varied level design in our day, but until AvP 2 can you honestly say that you spent time in a level that ended with you not finding a key, but bursting out of the chest of your human host? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

With the ability to play as Marines, Aliens and Predators, AvP 2 created three distinct moods and player experiences in one game. As a Marine, you knew you were screwed from minute one as your tracker pulsed in the dark, alerting you to the various hordes of Aliens looking to turn your chest cavity into a nursery. As the Alien it was nothing but blinding speed and vicious up close attacks. As the Predator, you brought your entire arsenal to bear on humans and Aliens alike, showing that good firepower beats good jumping any day of the week.

Any game that has you replenishing health by biting your victim with your second alien head is OK in my book. If they could only make the movies as good as this game, they’d be on to something.

7. Descent - Interplay ; 1995

Descent was the first “shooter” that allowed for movement and aiming in all three dimensions. The game was released in 1995—after DOOM, and a year before the original Quake. If shooters were airplanes, Descent is the Vomit Comet as no other game has spawned as much of a need for air sickness bags since.

Descent placed you in the role of a nameless mercenary sent to various mining planets to destroy killer robots that had run amok and turned on their human masters. To halt the threat of infection you had to make your way to each planet’s reactor, blow it up and then get the heck out of there before being turned into slag. The twisting corridors turning into wide open spaces and varied enemies kept you constantly looking all around you to find the next enemy, and the next exit. Add an incredibly fun multiplayer mode and a robust map creating community (Descent 2 shipped with an extra cd of fan made maps) and you had one heck of a good time. Just don’t forget the Dramamine.