Resident Evil 4

Original Release Date: January 11, 2005
Platforms: Wii, iPhone, PlayStation 2, GameCube
Publisher: Capcom

“Resident Evil 4” is the first video game I ever played (and beat!) that heavily involved zombies, and I may have spoiled myself – it’s visually stunning, incredibly challenging, and actually has a storyline that engages the player from start to finish, a feat that not many games can accomplish.

Its list of accolades is lengthy: Nintendo Power named it their 2005 Game of the Year, and ranked it number one on their list of the “Top 20 Best GameCube Games of All Time;” it was ranked number one on IGN’s “Top 99 Games of All Time” list; The Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine named it Game of the Year for the PlayStation 2; Game Informer magazine gave the game a perfect score, ranked it number one on their list of “Best GameCube Games of All Time,” and named it their 2005 Game of the Year; it was Famitsu’s 2005 Game of the Year; it was named Game of the Year at the 2005 Spike TV Video Game Awards; and the G4 Network’s TV show X-Play named it “the greatest game since the beginning of this TV series” (which began in 2003). An impressive list, to be sure.