Continuing this blog with another handful of gaming greatness from the last decade:

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

Release date: 2 May 2002
Platform: PC (also available on Xbox)
Developer: Bethesda
Genre: Fantasy Role-Playing

Like Arena and Daggerfall before it, Morrowind pushed PC role-playing to the limits. Technically astounding in its day (aside from a plethora of bugs, some of which sadly remain: you haven't experienced Morrowind until you've got yourself stuck in a bush!), the third Elder Scrolls chapter was a fantastic example of a truly open-ended game experience. Follow the storyline or make your own path, it really doesn't matter. You are free to do whatever the heck you like and believe me, there's enough to keep you going for hundreds of hours; something that many sandbox games these days claim to provide but rarely deliver. From a technical standpoint, the game has since been leapfrogged by its own follow-up Oblivion, but in my eyes Morrowind is a deeper, more interesting game. The world of Morrowind, with its lava-encrusted mountains, stinking mud flats and eastern-inspired architecture is completely different from the bland, generic fantasy setting of Oblivion and so many other modern RPGs. No other game could employ a giant flea as a method of transport. Morrowind is huge and unique and, with the help of a brace of expansions and a couple of patches to iron out the wrinkles, I still thoroughly recommended it.

Me, Myself & Morrowind: I actually bought this on a whim not long after release, although I'd previously enjoyed playing Daggerfall a few years previously and knew the experience was likely to be similar. The first time I played through I didn't take too much time exploring the world, preferring to plough straight on through the main quest. I returned to Morrowind after purchasing the add-on packs (Tribunal and Bloodmoon) and this time I was much more thorough and found myself totally sucked in. I remember having the map of Vvanderfell pinned to my bedroom wall for months. I even had little coloured sticky dots for points of interest! Now that's geeky.

Burnout 3: Takedown

Release date: 10 September 2004
Platform: PlayStation 2 (also available on Xbox)
Developer: Criterion
Genre: Modern Street Racing

Ah, Burnout. That gem of a racer that forgoes the usual street racing bores of tuning and blinging your ride in favour of crashing your four-wheeled beauty as spectacularly as possible. Smash, crash and blast your way through the opposition for cash or glory. What could possibly be more entertaining? Burnout 3 is the pinnacle of the series, improving and polishing the game modes introduced in the first two games almost to perfection. It is also notable for retaining a healthy challenge and requiring a modicum of skill – something that went right out the window in the sequels. The game features a long and varied career mode, excellent pick-up-and-play modes and some of the best multi-player around. Forget that online Net Play nonsense, I'm talking crushing your living room rivals into the closest barrier and watching them burn.

Me, Myself & Burnout 3: I never used to play racing games. I'd played Rad Racer, Mario Kart, Wipeout and not much else. I'd never dabbled in 'serious' racing games, whether they be street racers or motorsport simulations, and it was initially just the Crash Mode that attracted me to the Burnout series. I watched my cousins having a blast with Burnout 2's Crash Mode one Christmas, had a go and got hooked. I picked up Burnout 3 not long after and found that the fun transferred over to the racing elements just fine. What's more, the fun was never-ending! To this day, it's my favourite racer and my number one choice for casual gaming.

Half-Life 2

Release date: 16 November 2004
Platform: PC (also available on Xbox, later ported to X360)
Developer:Valve
Genre: Sci-Fi First-Person Shooter

The original Half-Life broke ground within the PC gaming community, taking a tired, over-cooked and increasingly generic first-person shooter genre and injecting a healthy dose of – gasp! – plot. Featuring scripted sequences and dazzling set-pieces that took you on a heart-pounding rollercoaster ride throughout Black Mesa, Half-Life was a rare example of a shooter with a brain. Fast-forward six years and Half-Life 2 does it all over again, only bigger, better and infinitely prettier. Although the claustrophobic setting of the first game was fitting, the sequel strikes a careful balance between corridor crawls and breathtaking open environments that will leave you picking your jaw up off the floor. Half-Life 2 thankfully retains the strong narrative tradition of the first game with a killer storyline, showing a wider view of a world in turmoil following the events in that game. The set pieces are huge, the scripts well-written. Throw in some vehicle levels, intense combat and probably the best weapon ever and you have a game that has not only stood the test of time (hard to believe it's now over five years since release date) but is still able to induce that first-time 'Wow!' factor amongst gamers.

Me, Myself & Half-Life 2: The original is one of my favourite games and was my shooter of choice for many years. I bought Half-Life 2 on release day – I still have nightmares about those early days Steam activations – and was blown away from the start. I've always kept my rigs reasonably up-to-date so I was able to take advantage of the pretty graphics from the get-go. Jaw-dropping. I must have played the original game through three times in a row and since then about once a year on average. Episode 1 and 2 dragged me back in and although Valve's promise of a steady stream of episodic content has long gone out the window, I still have hopes for Episode 3. The only thing that annoys me about Half-Life 2 is that I had to buy the damn thing again when the Orange Box came out. No publisher should make you do that.

Dragon Quest: The Journey of the Cursed King

Release date: 13 April 2006
Platform: PlayStation 2
Developer: Level 5
Genre: Fantasy Role-Playing

Believe it or not, Dragon Quest VIII was the first main-series Dragon Quest game to reach the UK. It may seem surprising then that it was such a hit here, but once you start playing the mystery disappears. DQ8 was popular because it is brilliant. Gameplay-wise, it's pretty tradiational in it's JRPG trappings. Exploration, party members from all walks of life, loot, levelling, all sorts of weird and wonderful monsters, attack, heal, cast spell, run away, you get the picture. What makes Dragon Quest VIII stand out from the crowd is its loving presentation (the cel-shaded graphics were designed by Dragon Ball artist Akira Toriyama), dry humour and a lengthy storyline that, while involving, never hurrys you too much and allows you to explore this colourful world at your leisure. It's hard to put into words how much fun this game is. It's definately one of the top RPGs on the PlayStation 2, probably one of the best RPGs on any console, and one that I urge you all to sample.

Me, Myself & Dragon Quest VIII: I've actually owned three copies of this game. I bought my first copy second hand and never really got around to playing it for a while. When I finally did, I found the disc was buggered. It looked fine, and even played fine for a few minutes (which is how it slipped by my initial testing). Too long since purchase to take it back, so I picked up another copy. I play it this time, probably sinking about 60 hours into the game before I stupidly managed to lose the disc. I left it in someone else's PS2 and forgot about it (although how I managed to retrieve the memory card but forget the disc is beyond me). So I had to buy a third copy. Good job it was cheap as chips back then. Finished the game this time, just in time for my second copy to be returned to me. I still have that spare kicking around somewhere. Want it?

Yeah, there'll be a Part 3, no question about it. Hopefully I can get it out before Mass Effect 2 drops through my door on Friday (hopefully Thursday if Play.com are on the ball, hehe) and eats up all my free time.