12 Most Influential Video Games Of The 2000s

11. Gears Of War

Can you believe it's already been ten years since the original Gears of War was released? Yep, it was all the way back in 2006 that Xbox 360 gamers were graced with the ludicrously butch, heavily armoured Marcus Fenix and his Delta Squad buddies in their quest to save their planet from the Locust invasion.

It was gritty, industrial, and incredibly macho, but proved that you could have all these things and still feature an engaging story at the core. More importantly, it introduced 'stop n' pop' (or is it the other way round?) cover mechanics that made the action feel more dynamic and realistic than we'd ever seen in third-person shooters up to that point.

Suddenly, you weren't a bullet sponge (ok, with all that armour, you still were a bit), facing down your firing enemies in open areas and just unloading into each other until one of you went down. Like in real gunfights, you had to keep your head low, time your shots, and even blind-fire if need be, running from cover to cover while your buddies laid down suppressing fire.

It was a mechanical revolution, and to this day you'll rarely find a third-person shooter without that all-convenient 'cover' button.