25 Best Video Games Of The 2000s

15. Bioshock

The game that changed everything about how we consume the medium itself.

Why are you doing what you're doing? What does it mean to explore a world and go off down some secret path of your own accord? What roles do the mission-givers have, and how can that affect the experience? Bioshock tackled all these issues both overtly and in a meta-instance, a midpoint reveal being one of the most shocking, utterly unexpected and incredibly memorable of all time. If you've not actually got round to playing this inaugural instalment I'll not spoil the particulars.

Sufficed to say when things start kicking off, you'll immediately feel a sensation close to that of the end of Assassin's Creed II. For its base gameplay, sadly Bioshock just doesn't play as well as it needed to get it higher up the list, as fighting in the series has forever been something you trudge through to get more of the story or explore more of the area itself, rather than for enjoyment.

That said, Ken Levine's vision for an underwater breakaway utopia-gone-sour is one bursting with personality and dark agendas, some only the most intrepid of secret-hunting gamers will uncover, making it a masterclass in game design, despite the bolted-on combat.