Gaming
Games
What are some of the most innovative video games?
These are the innovative video games that changed everything that came after.
Games are always pushing the limits of what’s possible; in creativity, in technology and (sometimes) our patience as we get spawn camped for the third round straight. With the excitement of a new console generation on the horizon, gamers are eager to see what kinds of new experiences they’ll be bonding over on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. But without innovative games of the past four decades, we wouldn’t have nearly as many amazing memories to already look back on. Here’s what we consider to be the most innovative video games ever made.
Half-Life
These days we might know Valve more as the owner of one of the largest game distribution platforms on PC, but before they got busy with Steam and an economy based entirely on hats (more on that in a bit) they made genre-defining games. When Half-Life released in 1998, shooters were still following the example of Doom from five years earlier, delivering story in pages of text or the occasional cutscene. Half-Life broke the mold by using scripted sequences to have the action happening right in front of the player. Along with some basic physics, AI companions and gameplay that broke up firefights with puzzle solving and platforming, Half-Life set a new formula for the next two decades of FPS gaming. It also spawned Counter-Strike and laid the groundwork for tactical multiplayer shooters as well. And as evidenced by Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and the recently remastered Black Mesa re-release of the original Half-Life, the formula still holds up with a little polish.
Metal Gear Solid
Kojima’s stealth-action franchise may be fondly (or infuriatingly) remembered more for the cinematic length of its cutscenes and baffling timeline. But his dedication to creating a spy game has resulted in many of the features we consider standard today. Guards being attracted to noise, the alert system, vision cones, all Metal Gear Solid originals. But it’s the tiny, almost insignificant touches that make the MGS games stand out. Footsteps appearing inside if you’re still wet from being in the snow outside. NPCs reacting to you if you stare at them for too long. And, a true innovation, in the tanker in MGS2 there’s a bucket of ice that you can knock over by shooting it. Kojima had someone program code for how fast the ice cubes melt depending on how close they are to other ice cubes. This is the only time it is ever used. Now that’s what we call progress.
Assassin’s Creed
From one stealth game to another, but this time it’s less about Kojima’s unwavering commitment to realism. While Assassin’s Creed does make use of a lot of the same detection and stealth mechanics, it’s the game’s movement technology that changed the next generation of open world action. Back in the heady days of 2007, Parkour was sweeping and leaping across the globe. The free-running trend made on-foot chase scenes in movies much more exciting while turning every set of handrails in our cities into a playground. Plenty of games tried to capture the excitement of vaulting over obstacles fluidly, but it wasn’t until we hopped and rolled across the roof of the Souk al-Silaah in Damascus that we saw the future of locomotion. Since Assassin’s Creed plenty of other games have added vaulting and climbing to their heroes’ skill sets, including Mirror’s Edge, Prince of Persia, Watch Dogs and Titanfall. That fluidity also shone through in the combat, with huge brawls requiring only a few button taps to counter or block or attack any enemy surrounding you. This simplified fight system made its way into other games that have perfected it since, including the Batman Arkham games.
Dota
It’s hard to know where to start with Dota’s innovations. The original game was a mod for Warcraft 3, based on a map from StarCraft, and gave birth to the Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) genre. This twist on the RTS and action RPG games of the time has gone on to be the basis of some of the biggest esports on the planet. Riot’s League of Legends and Dota 2, the Valve-owned sequel to the mod, regularly draw crowds to rival sporting events. But Valve’s version has arguably had some of the more influential additions. Integrating with the Steam platform gave Valve a way of selling cosmetics for characters, and for fans to submit their own designs and sell their own cosmetics on the marketplace. This created an entire economy, based on the perceived value of some shiny hats. Valve also implemented the Battle Pass model for players to support their favorite tournaments and players, boosting the prize pool of The International to tens of millions of dollars. Pretty much every ongoing game now has a seasonal battle pass based on this model, and love or loathe microtransactions, Dota is a huge part of why they exist.
Grand Theft Auto 3
No open world game would be where it is today without the influence of Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto 3. The first in the crime series to take the camera out of the sky and put it on your shoulder, rendering an entire city in 3D. It seemed like magic to those playing at the time in 2001, the way the inhabitants of Liberty City appeared to have their own lives, driving and walking around and yelling at you for almost running them over in a tank. The mission structure and the ability to grab whichever car takes your interest are staples of action games these days. But previously if you wanted driving you got a driving game, if you wanted shooting you got an FPS. Everything together in a sandbox that let you ramp off cliffs and blow up helicopters to your heart’s content was unheard of, and still makes for a fun Sunday afternoon today. With plenty of cinematic influence from mob movie classics, it’s hard not to get caught up in the power fantasy. If not the most innovative game of all time, certainly still one of the best.
Minecraft
Games don’t have to have billion-dollar budgets to start something special. Despite now being worth more than $2.5 billion to Microsoft, when this fresh little indie game hit the scene between 2009 and its official release in 2011 it inspired immense creativity. An open sandbox to build structures, or landscapes, or complex contraptions with your friends was revolutionary at the time, and continues to be popular today. There are even spin-off games like Minecraft Dungeons, expanding the game’s world for its legions of fans. Being the most popular game on earth doesn’t make Minecraft innovative. Giving fans the power to build the world and the community they want does.
