That One Game That You Think is Text Book Example of 'Making a Good Game'.

It doesn't have to be your most favorite game of all time. Just tell us what game in your opinion can be studied closely as a lesson for good game design, the game that got almost everything right. For me the very clear winner is Thief 2: The Metal Age.

First things first, I didn't play Thief games when they first came out. After finishing Dishonored, I heard a lot of people mentioning how it's inferior to Thief trilogy, then I saw a list posted by WatchMojo where they called it the best Stealth series out there.

So, I went ahead and grabbed the trilogy from GOG, applied patches so these games can support 1080p resolution and 32 bit colors, as well as a bit improved visuals. After that I went ahead and played all of them for the first time less than 2.5 or so years ago and I still play them several times a year.

So things that I am mentioning here are not part of my memories (or nostalgia). This is something I learned by playing these games recently over and over again. Like most people, I think Thief 2 is objectively the best in the series and I think on hardest difficulty it's also the most well made game I've ever played. Here's why:

Gameplay Controls:

As fluid as they can get. They aren't sluggish, instead you press a key or move your mouse, the game responds immediately. You don't have to wait for animation cycle to end before giving another command (Thief: Deadly Shadows suffered from this), instead you experience some of the most responsive controls ever. The only noticeable issue in the game is ledge detection which sometimes messes up but you only notice that in second last mission where you steal masks without touching the floor. If you are careful however you can avoid this problem completely but still a bit more polish was required.

Gameplay Design:

The game is made in a way that you can complete the entire game without killing anyone. It never forgets that it's a Stealth game so it always discourages direct confrontation. In Thief: The Dark Project, during haunted cathedral level on hardest difficulty, you are asked to banish all ghosts inside and near the main hall. Not in this game. You have no idea what you can do in this game without ever getting spotted. And the best way to play the game is to never engage in combat and for true Thief experience, hardest difficulty is recommended where the mission fails if you kill humans. You can kill spiders though, and disable robots or banish ghosts if you like.

Level Design:

Hands down, the best level design I've ever seen in a linear game. Is it too linear? No. Is it too complex and maze like? No again. Places that you visit in Thief 2 look like actual places. Their design is very practical yet there are several ways to approach your objective and there are ton of secrets that I am still finding even after playing this game so many times. Every time you read "Secret Found" it is a satisfying experience and you feel special. I think this adds more to the replay value of the game along with many other things.

Difficulty Option Done Right:

In most other games when you raise the difficulty, you take more damage and enemies take less damage. It doesn't affect the game much. That's not the case here. If you raise the difficulty, you get more objectives per mission that you have to complete, and these objectives add more to the storyline in some way and encourage you play the game again or harder difficulties. It makes harder difficulties more appealing without relying on stats alone. Hardest difficulty also asks you to not kill any human, which really fits well with the theme of the game.

Tools:

I found that in most games you have a lot of weapons and most of them have same function. In the end you end up picking up your favorite weapon and start killing everyone from start to finish without ever trying anything else. Sure, you can use rest of the tools but you don't have to use them at all. In Thief 2: The Metal Age, every tool is created for a purpose and you will have to use all of them otherwise you won't survive.

You'll have to use Water Arrow to create darkness, Fire arrow to destroy metal, Moss Arrow to create soft surfaces, Noisemaker Arrow to distract enemies, Gas Arrows for disarming enemies from safe distance, Rope Arrow for climbing areas that are otherwise not reachable, Simple Arrow for hitting switches that are not reachable, Blackjack for disarming enemies, Sword for banishing ghosts, Flashbomb for blinding enemies, Invisibility potion for becoming invisible, Lockpicks for opening doors, boxes and safes, Scouting orb for observing the room before entering it, Mechanical Eye for observing your target, Speed Potion for running faster if things go wrong, Mines for laying traps for robots and so on.

The game's difficulty and gameplay is tuned in a way that you will always have to use everything you have if you want to do your job properly. At no point you will be just picking up your standard arrows and start killing everyone from start to finish because you like to do that. Nope. Your entire inventory will be used and every tool inside your inventory has its own function. And since you know every item that you have is important, it forces you to think and plan ahead and use these items carefully instead of wasting them on less challenging situations in the level early on. It also forces you to fully explore the environment in desperation to find secrets, armories and stashes to pick up more of these goodies or gold to buy them later on, and it's always satisfying to find these things.

Main Character and Villains:

Garrett is very likable character. He isn't some super hero and he knows it. He is a Thief, and he isn't a traditional badass who can go toe to toe with his enemies. So he uses his thieving skills to defeat them and yes that includes final level too. This also makes villains more terrifying since they feel like an actual threat and you being under powered compared to them. Garrett also doesn't like to get involve in other matters and wants to stay away from the trouble. He is greedy and sarcastic, yet sometimes it feels as if he has a good heart. Devs wrote his character in a way that only in few sentences that he speaks, you come to know about his character without ever experiencing melodrama or mountain of dialogues.

More Grounded Story:

Story in this game is very grounded. The main protagonist Garrett wanted to retire in Thief: The Dark Project, and since things turned out differently than he planned them, he is a bit short on cash in Thief 2. This game is not about some super hero dude kicking ass and saving the world. This is the story of a guy who lives in a corrupt city where everyone desperately tries to stay alive. He only robs different places in early missions to pay his bills and doesn't want his landlord to kick him out. Meanwhile, there is a new Sheriff in the town who starts arresting every outlaw in the city. Of course there are twists and turns in the story and to save his ass, Garrett has to go against bigger forces in later parts of the story but at no point you feel like a super hero who is interested in kicking ass, just a very skilled Thief who is trying to stay alive. Sure, you feel badass,,, but in a different way.

Story and Gameplay Come Together Nicely:

The story is about a Thief who steals stuff to pay his bills and entire game is built around that. In cutscenes you meet an anti hero who likes to stay away from trouble and steals because he has to and that's exactly what you do during gameplay as well. You don't kill a lot of people during gameplay and then see character acting like a good human being who wants your sympathies in a cutscene. Everything feels natural and well put together.

Another place where the game truly shines is the way story is told through gameplay. During the start of every mission you watch a cutscene but then handcuffs are off. Most levels are 1.5-3 hours long and during these gameplay sections, at no point the control is taken away from you to show you a cutscene. During these lengthy gameplay sections, the story is told through gameplay.

You read notes, diaries and letters to get more information about characters as well as their professional and personal lives. Sometimes characters that are about to appear in the future are mentioned in these things and later everything comes together when you finally meet them. You also hear people talk to each other, which sometimes adds more to the story or reveal location of some secret.

During first third of the game you are just robbing different places. It is business as usual but meanwhile you hear people talk or read their letters that tell you something isn't right. Everything makes sense when things come together in later parts of the story and you are like "Oh so that's why something was feeling odd". And this is something that you experience yourself through gameplay, which movies and books lack. Thief 2 takes advantage of its medium pretty nicely.

Sound Technology:

Sound is central part of gameplay in Thief 2. It is highlight of the original trilogy. You have different types of surfaces in the game like marbles, woods, carpets, sand, concrete etc. All of them produce different kinds of sounds. Walking on wooden surfaces for example is fine, but if you run on them, it produces more noise. Similarly carpets can absorb your footsteps so even if you run on them, it is fine. Marbles on other hand are very dangerous and even if you crouch on such surfaces, it produces a lot of noise and even enemies that are far away can easily hear you. The best approach is to avoid marble floors or use Moss Arrows to create soft surface to walk on. Similarly other types of surfaces produce different kinds of sounds as well.

Another place where Thief 2 shines are the ambient effects. The game doesn't have your traditional Action Movie soundtracks. Instead the money was spend on creating ambient noises. This really creates strong atmosphere and makes the game more immersive. Eric Brosius, Kemal and Ramin Djawadi (who composed soundtracks for Iron Man and Game of Thrones later BTW) worked on Thief 2's sound technology and there is a good reason why these guys were hired by some of the best in Hollywood and Game Industry to work for them.

Immersion:

This is my favorite part. Thief trilogy is easily the most immersive games I've ever played. Yes, Thief 2 lacks dark atmosphere of the first game but it doesn't change the fact that the game is still very immersive and there are several reasons why you really feel like you are sucked into another world:

• The game doesn't take control away from you and demands attention instead of you sleep walking through it. This really keeps you awake and on your toes. You HAVE TO pay attention, run, hide, listen, read etc.
• Sound technology is top notch. Ambient sounds and atmospheric music really enhance the experience.
• Map is actual piece of paper that Garrett acquires somehow. Sometimes the map is incomplete because he had no source to provide complete information about the place. The game also doesn't show your exact location as you see in magical radar maps.
• The game has rich lore that makes everything believable.
• Letters, diaries, notes and conversations that you encounter make you believe that you are visiting an actual place where people live and work. You encounter mini stories within these levels. In bank level for example you come across several letters where people are discussing about choosing their next master banker. It has nothing to do with the story but the stuff is there to make things more believable.
• The game has great atmosphere and practical level design.
• Giant UI or cinematic effects don't cover the screen. Instead everything is crystal clear, which means the game likes to simulate real life instead of a movie. Even when picking up items you have to look at them and see what you are actually about to pick up. Their name doesn't pop up on top of them.
• Emergent gameplay. You can tell your own story because the game gives you bunch of tools and drops you inside a level and lets you come up with your own solutions.
• Items are placed correctly for you to steal. For example you might find some coins in bathroom because someone must've dropped them when changing clothes. You won't find box full of gold in guard quarters, unless someone stole it from the nobles, but then it's possible that you'll find a note where guard mentioned the stolen item. Nothing feels out of place or gamey. You won't find box beneath the staircase.

Because of immersion, it is really an amazing experience when you avoid the police in the streets and reach your house to pick up your gadgets and money while you are framed and your entire house is locked down by blue coats. Since everything happens during gameplay, you really feel like an outlaw who is in a lot of trouble and now he is picking up items from his house to help him survive the upcoming battle because shit just got real.

Verdict: Of course like any game out there, Thief 2 is not perfect. As I mentioned, ledge detection could've been a bit better, AI isn't perfect like any stealth game and ending is pretty short compared to the original. But all things considered I think this is the most well made game I've ever played and I've played a lot of shit.

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Tell me what is your pick and if possible also tell us why you think that.

Ninja Gaiden on the Xbox

Super Mario World and Super Mario Brothers 3 comes to mind. Unfortunately I would not be going into the orgasmic detail that you undertook with Thief 2.

Super Metroid,

Halo CE

Uncharted 2 and 4

Doom 3

Come to mind.

This might be a bit of an odd one, but I will put forth Red Orchestra 2/Rising Storm (prior to the RS expansion the game was pretty rough around the edges).

The way the maps, game modes and gameplay mechanics are designed to simulate a realistic war scenario without being overly complicated is kinda brilliant. The fact that it actually has gameplay mechanics that take advantage of the setting is something rare and should be commended, especially for the Japanese who might be my favourite faction in a FPS ever. The fact that classes are limited result in a realistic balance of weapons so you only have a few guys running around with automatic weapons with most people simply having rifles. Machineguns are deadly, artillery is terrifying and it really depicts the horror of war without glorifying it, while still making for a compelling gameplay experience. I freaking love how you are actually looking for enemy soldiers, not red triangles.

I also love how the UI is designed: by default, there is almost nothing on screen. If you press a button, pertinent information will be shown.

The biggest issue seems to be the pretty brutal initial learning curve. However, this also serves to scare away more casual players. Right now, the game has a small but dedicated community and 90% of games have teams that communicate and coordinate - across 32 players per team! there really is nothing else like it. The only real flaws in my opinion are that the visuals aren't too great and there is some lingering jankyness to the movement and first-person cover system.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 immediately comes to mind.

The Original Deus Ex

• Excellent level design
• Excellent Storyline
• Ahead of its time and not only combining but perfecting FPS/RPG genre into one as a result we have RPG shooters like even mass effect exist today (even thought it sucked but each of thier own)
• Fantastic lore and cyberpunk universe
• one of the first game which introduce the concept of many organization in game and play vital role in it.

and btw as much as I love Thief but i prefer Hitman 2 and Splinter cell chaos theory over it.

If you ask me, it's gotta be: The Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen/2, Soul Reaver/2 to Legacy of Kain: Defiance.

Blood Omen has been one of my favorite games ever since I played it way back in the day of the PlayStation era, that and Soul Reaver are among the best games on PS1. It was one of the first games outside of the PC adventure ones to takes voice-acting seriously. Hell, did you know that Walter White's wife from Breaking Bad is Ariel in this series? It was one of her earliest major roles and that was a huge surprise when I actually replay this series like 2 years ago.

Also, I was sadden that both Vorador and the Elder God voice actors died many years ago.

Super Mario Bros.

It's gotta be Link to the past.

I don't have to set my goals high.

It's relaxing the puzzles are still fun to this day.

The whole light and dark world to explore. Beautiful sprites with great animation.

The music is enthralling. Its not too easy and not too hard its JUST right JUST RIGHT on the difficulty.

I just wish there was a bit more end game content once you're fully powered i'd like to have a little more content.

Okami

I played it like ten years ago, and I don't remember much about it, but that's probably what I would call a perfect video game.

Nintendo games are polished in ways that make other games feel unfinished or broken.

Super Mario World to name one.

Ninja gaiden

Diablo 2

Vampire rain lol jk

This and MGS3, Half Life and Half Life 2, Halo CE, Syphon Filter.

Also sorry TC but that OP is too long.

Diffidently Z.O.E 2nd runner the story the game play the design and mechanics of the game the characters are fantastic and well developed throughout the game i know i am in the minority but i think it was one of the most underrated game of all time its a sham that the third installment wont happen though

Quake.

Super Mario World

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Super Metroid.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.

Super Mario Bros 3.

Red Dead Redemption

That entire series. I would add the Mass Effect and KOTOR games. Just straight up fun games.

Same, that's the most recent example I can think of that nails it all. Mechanics, controls, level design, variety, pacing, proper difficulty curve, teaching the player without spelling it out... great stuff.

But if we boil all those qualities down to their most basic form, then this:

Can't ever go wrong with the SMB template. It's still the most regularly referenced video game in game design schools. After they move students past evaluating card games and table top stuff, SMB is the game to deconstruct.

I'd give a shout out to Megaman X as well. Not even close to being one of my favorite games, but it does feel like a thorough class in game design chops.

Super Mario World, even if its not my favorite Mario game nor my favorite SNES game, i still think the game has superb design...i could also thrown Chrono Trigger as well, but i fear i may be biased towards that game...however, i do see very few (if any) flaws in that game.

This is a really intriguing question and the Thief games are good examples.

To avoid being repetitive, I'll say Viewtiful Joe. Its mechanics are refined so that they're hyper intuitive once you get the hang of them and the difficulty curve is great, with each new level presenting you with more challenge than the last. That level of challenge forces you to use everything you have at your disposal, especially at higher difficulties.

Another example would be Painkiller. Not in that every game needs to be like it, but that it's entirely focused on doing one thing really well, which is action. Everything in the game is in service of the fast paced gameplay, with no filler or fluff, something more games could use more of.

Lastly, for multiplayer, I'll say Team Fortress 2. The classes are all supremely well designed and nearly perfect in how its balanced, since every singe one is useful in their own way. Sure, some are more enjoyable than others (I have yet to run into anyone who really enjoys playing as the medic) but each one is a key component of the overall team and specializes in their own thing.

@hillelslovak: Agreed.

Tribes 2.

Actually requires skill unlike many twitch shooters, steep but steady learning curve, very rewarding, balanced, apex of competitive FPS, fast paced, chaotic but still requires teamwork, all around perfection.

@davillain- said:

If you ask me, it's gotta be: The Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen/2, Soul Reaver/2 to Legacy of Kain: Defiance.

Blood Omen has been one of my favorite games ever since I played it way back in the day of the PlayStation era, that and Soul Reaver are among the best games on PS1. It was one of the first games outside of the PC adventure ones to takes voice-acting seriously. Hell, did you know that Walter White's wife from Breaking Bad is Ariel in this series? It was one of her earliest major roles and that was a huge surprise when I actually replay this series like 2 years ago.

Also, I was sadden that both Vorador and the Elder God voice actors died many years ago.

YESS!! Damn I can't believe I forgot about these games.

I feel ashamed.

@charizard1605: A Link to the Past and Super Metroid are legitimately the most timeless games u have ever played. Most games become dated, but these two age like fine wine. Every time I play them, they're better.

I'd also like to say Retro Studios did everything outstandingly right with Donkey Kong Country Returns. I've never played a platformer before or since reach the level of genius that Returns does. It offers everything I've ever wanted from a platformer and much more.

The Witcher 3 - Beautiful graphics, immersive world, great combat, great progression, excellent storyline, hot as **** female characters

Resident Evil 4

No joke, the medic is my favorite class.

I am not a very competitive player so the idea of a support role where I can score points and help the team without ever having to fire a shot at an enemy is something I like a lot.

Thread only asked for text book example of good video games, not necessarily great. And in its simplicity, Mario Bros is timeless. The things that are Mario's strengths are things that can still make a modern game entertaining, if not actually great and timeless. Tight controls, great game feel, level design that compliments said mechanics and feel, proper game flow n rhythm, a reasonable amount of difficulty that provides stakes to what the player is doing, catchy music, clear visual language, all in all polish.

I'll hear the arguments about whether or not mario being a bit slippery in that game stops that game from being great, especially considering where Mario went after, but that game isn't good? or playable? Gtfo.

Played through that game like 10 times, hasn't stopped being fun yet. The encounter design and sheer variety of that game are SO GOOOOOOOOD.

Portal 2... very close to being a perfect game to me. Something I'll show my kids one day.

Getting ready to go to work so dont have time to write much, but here is my favorite games in the genres I have played the most of:

MMORPG - Everquest 1

Single Player FPS - Half Life

Multiplayer FPS - QIIIA

RPG - FFVII

FPS/RPG - System Shock 2/Deus Ex

Tactical shooter: OFP - Cold War Crisis/Arma III

Puzzle game - Antichamber

Dungeon Crawl/RPG - Legend of Grimrock 2

Zelda Wind Waker, Tomb Raider 4: The Last Revelation, Metal Gear Solid 3, Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow, Okami, Half Life 2, Jak 2, Uncharted 2 among others.

Super mario world

By system these are the he's that are most memorable now:Wii last story 360- chrome hounds ps3- demons souls, ps4- bloodborne xbone- halo5 Wii u xenoblade ,ps2- final fantasy 12 xbox- steel battalion Dreamcast quake game cube president evil 4 ,3 Sony ff7 n64 goldeneye Saturn virtual fighter, SNES mortal Kombat Sega Genesis golden axe, SMS kenseiden Nes double dragon

Beyond Good and Evil for its opening minutes.

It manages to set up the world, the important characters, their personalities/relationships, the controls/combat, the enemies etc in the first 10 minutes in a fun and exciting way. It is being used in game dev courses as an example of how to do these things.

If you never played the game here are the first 8 minutes. It was released 13 years ago.

There is no game that is a text book example of making a good game.

Everything has its time and place, and there is no panacea for good game design. First and foremost, game design needs to achieve certain psychological goals, and design their game around achieving those goals.

Edit: With that said,

Platformer: Wario Land 4, it even had a 600 page book written about its game design (though Cinemaitc Platformers should avoid looking at WL4)

Stealth: Thief, for the reasons you listed.

RTS: StarCraft, a well balanced RTS that shows how to get both the campaign design and the multiplayer done right. The only weakness is hte story.

TBS: Alpha Centauri, Terraforming, create your own units in the middle of the game, diplomacy, multiple ways to win, loads of philosophy, what is there not to like?

RPG: Liberal Crime Squad, takes a lot of RPG foundaitons and turns them on their head. The health system, resource management, pacifism are all far more satisfying in this game than they normally are. Get wounded, and you will notice that you do not lose HP, your body parts get injured which in turn has a heavy impact on performance, you can even die after getting healed up due to bleeding out, this health system in turn means that even a low level threat can still kill you. Resource management is far more important in this game, and proactive planning is encouraged, even time is a resource as the world moves on without you and if the conservatives manage to pass a bill which makes Saint Ronald Reagan the King of USA, you get a game over. Kill a conservative and you will have the police on your ass, and unlike GTA where they stop chasing you if you hide for a few minutes, your crimes will only get resolved in court, and if you play on nightmare mode where every policy is an exaggeration of what real world conservatives want. Good luck not getting executed.

SRPG: Fire Emblem: Conquest, Even though Fire Emblem 5 and Jagged Alliance 2 is more enjoyable. Fire Emblem: Fates is a more generalized way to define a good SRPG. Every Misison is unique, every mission even has good variety within its own encounter design, allowing the mission itself stay varied, weapons can ammount to a lot more than just +damage, the controls and UI are incredibly fluid and intuitive, difficulty settings dont do much to affect damage and stats, but rather adds complexity to encounter design, improved enemy AI, adding more enemies and adding skills to existing enemies (that encounter suddenly got a lot more complex when that one priest has a silence spell). As per usual in Fire Emblem, character death is permanent, so you are always encouraged to stay on your toes with your positioning and plan carefully, a single misstep and one character in your team is gone for good.

While there are plenty of correct answers, there is only one right answer.

The level design is wonderful, the game moves at a silky smooth 60 fps. It features some of the best puzzles this generation. Not to mention the minecart and cannon levels shows excellent ways to use the gamepad.

I find it odd to say, but its vastly underrated. Even though its a GOTY nominated game, not to mention a GOTM award winning game.

Resident Evil 4 full of exploits. Doors. Ladders. Looping scripts. Unbalanced upgrade system.

It's influential and undoubtedly a great game - but the design is very far from perfect.

@bunchanumbers: Don't make me buy another game >_<

Nice analysis. Super Metroid is probably the first that comes to mind. There are other games that are closer to my heart for other reasons but I think Sper Metroid pretty much got everything perfectly balanced.

I do like the original Mario Bros. and it's simplicity. For example, there is no tutorial, but you can grasp all the mechanics necessary. The first thing you encounter is a Goomba, which forces you to experiment and learn how to jump. But for better level design, I think Mario 3, Mario World, and Mario Galaxy are good games to study.

Holy shit, never thought I'd see someone else pick ZoE2: TSR. It's incredibly niche.

I wouldn't put so much stock into the story, the characters and script etc, but I've never come across a mecha game that has such satisfying combat and fluidness to animations and gameplay. Fast, frantic, albeit slightly repetitive with some awkward boss battles, but other than that it's sublime. It all comes together when you get that Zero Shift ability and you become a god and you finally become worthy enough to match Anubis which consequently produces some amazing boss fights.

Here's hoping Death Stranding's 5 floaty beings are some what of an indication that there might be some ZoE influence there, maybe.

The video you posted isn't an exploit. Krauser takes massive damage from the knife by design. It's one of intended ways of beating him.

You mentioned Quake, which is ridden with exploits, some of which became a staple of the series (like strafejumping).

No game is coded perfectly.

Company of Heroes. On my phone, so tomorrow I'll elaborate.

Kotor.