9. Portal (Valve)
It may have started out small, but that didn't stop
Portal from becoming a powerhouse title. It's beauty lies in how effortlessly it blends the simple with the complex. You play a nameless test subject, awakened by an A.I. system named GLaDOS. and forced to undergo increasingly complicated tests involving a portal gun. As your successes continue to mount, GLaDOS's benign personality begins to fade, and she soon exhibits malevolent behavior. When the opportunity presents itself, you attempt to escape, but GLaDOS won't make that easy. As I said,
Portal tells a simple story, but that is what makes it so charming. The story is told entirely through your actions and GLaDOS's dialogue, all of which varies from wickedly funny to legitimately threatening. GLaDOS has since gone on to be considered one of gaming's greatest villains, and you'd be hard pressed to find any gamer who disagrees. The character is so well written and acted by Ellen McLain, and her gradual decent into madness handled so perfectly, that she stands alongside other great evil computers like HAL 9000. Puzzles are challenging and rewarding, but never frustrating, and never feel ostracized from the context of the setting and story. Gameplay and story serve each other equally, unlike most games, which often prioritize one or the other. By working with each other, they combine to create a work of video game art worthy of hanging in a museum.