6. Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast - LucasArts ; 2002
Why the design team at Raven Software decided to make you slog through the opening level of Jedi Knight 2 without a lightsaber is anyone’s guess, but once you do, and that beautiful, elegant weapon gets in your hands, the game changed from being a run of the mill shooter set in the Star Wars universe to an incredibly fun lightsaber fueled symphony of destruction.
The mix of lightsaber combat and Force powers was a heady one indeed, allowing for the player, as Jedi Knight Kyle Katarn to lift up multiple opponents only to then take them out with a well aimed Force throw. Tweaking the various settings of the game, via the cheat console, not only allowed you to change your lightsaber color to groovy Mace Windu style purple, but also allowed you to turn on the ultra powerful mode, making your lightsaber all the more lethal.
Nothing like running into a crowd of stormtroopers only to see limbs a’ flying into huge bowl of dismemberment coleslaw. Jedi Knight 2 hit the right balance of satisfying lightsaber combat and Force powers that made you understand just what the big deal was with all those guys in the robes anyway.
5. Deus Ex - Eidos ; 2000
Trying to pin down just what Deus Ex was always proves a bit tricky. You could squeeze this into the RPG genre. Sure, you had guns, but you also had upgradeable, nanotechnology fueled super powers. You could shoot your way into places or you could hack your way in or sneak your way in or talk your way in. Even if you wanted to leave a trail of bodies in your wake, did you want to go in guns a blazing, sit back and pick people off or simply bludgeon them to death at super speed?
The strength of the gameplay alone elevates Deus Ex without getting into the fact that the narrative was so dense as to need a constant connection to Wikipedia. When the game stumbled, it did so because it was trying to carry so much, and allow for as many styles of play as there are players. It’s hard to find fault in that, and equally hard to find a game in recent memory that tried so hard to be everything to everyone.
