3. Heavy Rain
French game developer Quantic Dream, with their founder and longtime writer/director David Cage at the helm, have carved out a niche for themselves in the video game world by producing interactive and character driven gaming experiences that are in equal measures narratively rich, stunningly detailed and massively re-playable. Nestled between their first releases Omikron, followed by Fahrenheit (known as The Indigo Prophecy in North America to avoid confusion with the Oscar winning documentary Fahrenheit 9/11) and most recent installment Beyond: Two Souls, Heavy Rain throws the player into a dark thriller storyline, one that would be much more common in the medium of a film noir than of the fast paced action heavy gaming industry. From there, the story unfolds through the choices the player makes and how these affect the narrative. Each decision can be made from a number of different perspectives, with each unfolding into a different conclusion. The ability to revisit this engrossing story in a new way with each play through had gamers journeying into Cage's twisted vision time and time again, and has cemented Quantic Dream as the current gold standard in producing cinematic gaming events.