18 Essential Landmark Titles Every Gamer Must Play

2. Half-Life 2

Just about everything Valve turn their talented hands to turns to gold, but the statement is truer for nothing more so than Half-Life 2, the game which for many is the definitive first-person shooter. It's a game that builds slowly, but one that draws you in from the outset. The luscious environments are built to a standard that, even today, stands up as one of the most visually impressive games to date. At the heart of it is the ever-popular Source Engine, giving rise to the ground-breaking physics used to staggering effect throughout the game (and the following episodic instalments). Just about every person today who considers themselves to be a 'real gamer' will no doubt have played this game, whether eleven years ago at release or more recently. Regardless of when it's experienced it impresses and remains as one of the definitive "gamer's games". Wait a second, this is the seventeenth entry in the list... 17 - 14 = 3. Half-Life 3 confirmed?!