2. Half-Life 2 – November 2004
Half-Life 2 might be one of the most important video games ever made. Its contributions to modding, game development, and fandom are too numerous to list. And what’s sometimes forgotten today is that HL2 is an amazing game on its own, divorced from its legacy. From start to (nearly the) finish, it’s great. Then you reach the final levels set in the big Combine Citadel and it starts to fall apart, but before that it’s amazing. Ravenholm. Highway 17. Striders. The gravity gun! The only reason Half-Life 2 isn’t number one on this list is that, well, Valve went and made an even better game after this.
