The best video game stories ever told...
There’s an unfair stereotype that video games don’t have good stories. While this was mostly true in the early ‘80s, by the ‘90s, developers were already beefing up their efforts to tell strong, imaginative yarns that not only entertained, but also spoke to gamers on a more personal level.
Thanks to the advent of more powerful technology, the new millennium has seen developers supplementing their scriptwriting with great visuals and sound, giving rise to more well-rounded storytelling styles. This, in turn, has led to interactive experiences with some truly memorable tales – paving the way for the acceptance of the video game as a legitimate art form capable of stimulating the deepest of thoughts and emotions.
PC games started telling wonderful stories long before console games ever did. So we’ve decided to honor our favorite storytelling medium with a list of the 10 PC games with the best storylines.
So let's start with PC game #10...
10. Grim Fandango
The Grim Reaper never looked this suave
While console owners were stomping on goombas, computer game developers like LucasArts were making point-and-click adventure games for the PC, which, at the time, was the home of video game storytelling.
Released in 1998, when the craze for the adventure game genre was all but dead, Grim Fandango was a huge risk. Set in the afterlife’s Land of the Dead, players fill the shoes of Manny Calavera, a travel agent ferrying departed souls into the Ninth Underworld.
Thanks to its well-crafted, humorous story, fascinating visuals, and extraordinary characters, Grim Fandango defied all expectations, and now lives on in many a gamer’s heart as one of the best video game stories ever told.
Our rating – 5/5
9. To The Moon
Better get those tissues ready... this is going to be a real tear-jerker!
Indie games have been gaining ground, and for good reason.
In To the Moon’s poetically heartbreaking narrative, a dying old man makes a wish: to have an artificial memory of going to the moon implanted in his brain. For the procedure to be successful, scientists have to at first plunge into his real memories. In the process, they learn important and often touching lessons on love, death, and illness.
Despite its extreme brevity, the poignancy of To The Moon’s emotional impact is priceless, earning it a spot on our list of the best video game stories.
Our rating – 5/5
8. Assassin’s Creed II
Ezio Auditore da Firenze, dangerous and debonair
Considered the highlight of the series, Assassin’s Creed II wowed audiences with robust gameplay and an equally spectacular story.
The narrative follows Ezio’s transition from a carefree youth to a hardened, purposeful assassin. Set against the colorful backdrop of late fifteenth-century Italy, it blends conspiracy, mythology, and science fiction in one amazing package. The scope is made more epic by tying together fictional and real historical events with a hypothetical future threat. When we realize Ezio’s entire role is to convey a message to his modern day counterpart, we are reminded just how small man is in the grand scheme of things. A humbling message to learn from one of the best video game stories of all time.
Our rating – 5/5
7. Portal 2
Making Wall-E proud
What people expected was an intricate puzzler involving portals. What they got was one of the most recognizable villains in PC gaming, the cold-blooded artificial intelligence out for your hide in Portal 2.
Yes, Portal 2 is a stunning puzzle game, but equally delicious is the scriptwriting, often exhibited in the witty banter between unforgettable characters. It’s a story that’s rarely serious, but the charm of these characters is infectious, one that will have you smiling all the way to the end.
Our rating – 5/5
6. Silent Hill 2
“I’m starting with the man in the mirror!”
In Silent Hill 2, James Sunderland receives a letter from his wife telling him to go to the town of Silent Hill. There's only one teeny-tiny detail that complicates things:
She’s been dead a year.
But that doesn't stop James. So he enters the town hoping to find his wife. He ends up facing the truth about his sins.
James’ story unfolds through Silent Hill’s unsettling landscape, and its equally disconcerting denizens - which are twisted personifications of his most sinister secrets. A game thick with darkly beautiful metaphors, we have to applaud its courage for giving us as a main character like James - who is as much the game's protagonist as he is its villain. That alone earns it a place among the best video game stories ever.
Our rating – 5/5
5. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Show-off!
BioWare owes much of its current status as one of the industry's biggest developers to the success of the Baldur's Gate series, and of course, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. KotOR not only gave the Star Wars universe an immense, satisfying back story, it also introduced a mechanic that would become one of the RPG genre’s most vital features: player choice.
Darth Malak’s machinations have embroiled the Republic in war. To defeat him, you must embark on a quest – one that entails forming alliances and making many tough decisions. These choices affect your character’s morality, which in turn has serious consequences on the ending.
Aside from the player’s direct influence on how the story ends, KotOR’s twist – which we won't spoil for you – was seen as a radical departure from the typical, safer storylines of its day.
Our rating – 5/5
4. The Walking Dead
Stay strong, Clem…
For an emotionally harrowing story of survival and sacrifice, play Telltale’s The Walking Dead.
The dead have risen to feed on the living. Running for his life, escaped prisoner Lee Everett stumbles upon the child Clementine, who has been left home alone to fend for herself. Lee promises to reunite her with her parents, who have gone to Savannah.
En route to Savannah, they pick up stragglers as desperate as they are to put as much distance between themselves and the zombie menace. Some of these realistic, well-written characters you’ll love. Others you’ll curse to your dying day. But all of them, one way or another, will end up paying for living in a world ruled by the dead.
The game’s exceptional character development is key to its success, and the gruesome events that befall them will haunt you long after the credits have rolled. For all these reasons, it deserves to be on this list of the best video game stories.
Our rating – 5/5
3. BioShock: Infinite
Columbia - beautiful, deadly
Disney princess
Buried in debt, Booker DeWitt’s ticket to freedom is Elizabeth – a vulnerable yet strong-willed young woman whom he’s charged with kidnapping. Problem is, she’s on a vast, floating city called Columbia.
DeWitt and Elizabeth become embroiled in a series of bloody events, not least of which is a rebellion threatening to destroy Columbia. But things get even weirder. Just as the science of genetics is explored in the original BioShock, BioShock: Infinite plays with the theory of parallel dimensions.
Infinite touches on several social issues, from racism to the perverted, chauvinistic patriotism behind every evil in the otherwise picturesque Columbia. For its social awareness, clever science fiction, and Elizabeth – who is the most likeable non-Disney Disney princess ever created – we give it spot number three on our list of the best video game stories.
Our rating – 5/5
2. Mass Effect
Not a hampy camper
She's got the look
So you’ve got an army of sentient automatons bent on conquering all other intelligent species in the galaxy… what else could go wrong, right?
The insanely popular Mass Effect pits you as Commander Shepard against Saren, the guy who wants to sic the Geth on everybody. Only problem, there’s something much worse out there called the Reapers.
The Reapers basically want to destroy all life in the galaxy. In fact, they’ve been doing this celestial cleaning house every 50,000 years for eons. How’s that for an apocalyptic scenario?
Mass Effect rocks because it’s quality science fiction where the stakes take on cosmic proportions. It also has an eclectic roster of wonderful characters, each with their own personal tale you can delve into. Lastly, there are lots of difficult moral choices to make, so it’s as mentally and emotionally engaging as it is thrilling to play.
Our rating – 5/5
1. BioShock
Big Daddy and Little Sister
Someone really hates their dentist
The first-person shooter has evolved. BioShock demonstrates that the genre can weave a disturbing web of sociopolitical intrigue while simultaneously giving us countless bad guys to pulverize.
After surviving a plane wreck at sea, Jack finds himself descending into the underwater city of Rapture. Built by the wealthy visionary Andrew Ryan, Rapture has deteriorated into a dystopian madhouse, where the ideals of freedom and industry have been subverted by hedonism, greed, and utter depravity. A lesson in the pitfalls of extreme capitalism and objectivism, the story of Rapture’s downfall remains a favorite among critics and fans alike, with Andrew Ryan being hailed as one of gaming’s most complex fictional politicians and villains.
But it’s not all politics and philosophy. Rapture is a veritable house of horrors, and roaming its blood-spattered corridors is one of the most suspenseful experiences in the first-person shooter genre. Rapture’s history, from its promising beginnings to its dismal end, are chronicled in audio-logs created by the city’s inhabitants. Listening to these shorter, personal stories is chilling, adding generous helpings of the macabre to an atmosphere already thick with dread. Truly, BioShock deserves top spot on our list of best video game stories.
Our rating – 5/5
So, did your favorites make it to this list? What do you think are the best PC games stories ever told, and why?
