10 War Video Games You Must Play Before You Die

Just as it is in cinema, war is one of the most popular video game genres, given its potential to place players in the digital shoes of soldiers on the front-lines of conflicts both real and fictional.

Though the debate continues to rage about the ethics and tastefulness of most war-centric video games, there's no denying the craftsmanship that goes into creating the stronger entries into the genre - not to mention the intelligence and, occasionally, the emotion.

The very best war games don't just transport players to an explosion-strewn battlefield: they dare to create a more heightened emotional experience, asking players to become invested in the battle and consider the true harrowing cost of war.

These 10 classic war video games, ranging from more typical FPS romps to third-person indie puzzlers, strategy games, and even a flight simulator, represent the most diverse, creative, and even occasionally "fun" iterations of war the medium has to offer.

Though some of them aren't as pretty as they used to be and others have been endlessly imitated over the years and decades, each nevertheless set a new standard for the genre in one way or another...

It cannot be overstated just how ground-breaking and influential the Steven Spielberg-penned Medal of Honor: Allied Assault was when it hit stores back in 2002.

Though most fondly remembered for its Saving Private Ryan-esque Normandy landing level, the game as a whole raised the bar for cinematic FPS gameplay, and touted one of the most ludicrously addictive multiplayer suites the genre has ever seen.

Whuke the market quickly became over-saturated with me-too WWII games in the years that followed, almost two decades later Allied Assault stands tall as an important milestone, and despite its aged visuals and comparatively clunky gameplay it still plays rather well today.

It's so good, in fact, that the series never even got close to replicating this level of success ever again.