10. Freelancer
PC, 2003


Possibly the least "perfect" game in my top 20 or so, but it gets here because it is as fun as any game of this kind has been for me. I love space combat & trade simulators. I love them most when they are properly 3D, have the option of FPS or TPS, allow me to actually do things other than dogfight, allow me to land on worlds, allow me to explore said worlds, have good mining systems, good "research" systems and so forth. Licences! Co-op! And you know what? Freelancer has some of these things! More than any other game of it's kind that doesn't have a steep learning curve (Hi, X series) and can be played without a subscription (Lookin' at you, EVE Online), that's for sure.

Despite not having everything I really really really want, this game is awesomely replayable. I know, because I have been playing it over the past week or so. It's also great for modding, and I'm playing through a mod that does something like double the size of the game's universe, doubles the difficulty, doubles the storyline and doubles the amount of ships and gear you can deal with. And it's going great so far!

I so can't wait for Star Citizen. I'm seriously excited. I haven't been this excited about a game for quite some time, especially for a game that isn't Final Fantasy. I just hope it will meet those expectations! I am struggling to manage them. xD I mean... in an ideal world, EVE Online would have an offline option that doesn't requier a sub and it would have an epic storyline and obviously a more balanced (time-wise) skill tree given it's single player and has no sub. That kind of thing would be the perfect version of these kind of games to me. I'm not sure if it'll ever come out, but I live in hope. I really want to play EVE Online pretty much all the time, but I know that if I do then it's just boring because I have to wait days for each skill (after the initial burst of the smaller ones) and eventually it will extend to weeks and months and perhaps even longer if I play long enough. And that kind of grind isn't something I'm willing to invest in. I just wish I could play the game and experience it without that requirement.

Until then? Freelancer and (soon, I hope!) Star Citizen.