To sort of contrast the "biggest let-down" thread, I'm asking: what game(s), in your opinion, were revolutionary and/or represented the best the industry has to offer. By that I mean, which pushed the boundries more then the others in terms of gameplay, story, or technical achievement.

For me

Spec Ops: The Line really hit the mark for story telling in how it was one of the few games to actually make me dislike it in a good way (those who've played it know what I mean) and generated an emotional response (the other being Bioshock 2: Minerva's Den)

For gameplay? I'd go with Red Faction: Guerrilla or Just Cause 2. They both offered a massive sandbox and gave you tonnes of tools to do what you want in them. JC2 did so by giving players a play space of monumental proportions and, peppered with challenges to complete, generals to kill, and things to destroy. RF:G did so my introducing (or at the very least, greatly improving) on the idea that you can use the environment to your advantage and encouraged you to plan ahead (rig a bridge to blow at a convenient time or use a building to crush a hostile squad)

And technical achievement goes to, for me, Crackdown. Those it's not out yet (the new one), the tech demo they showed of a fully destructible city with persistent debris really struck me as something I've never seen done before (RF did it to a limited degree).

I would like to hear your opinions. Please note that I'm not ruling out older games, I just never really played games until Xbox

Diablo II due to the loot system and the hunt for loot. There is no other game like that in the loot hunt a few tried but did not capture the balance like DII.

Game of Thrones RPG.

Daggerfall, the first really open world play it how you want game that was worth playing. It may have even been the first one like this, not sure.

Aw, I thought you'd write GTA V: Rockstar saved us.

Honestly, I'd have to say Goat simulator is one of the highest moments in gaming history.

Or maybe COD MW3.

Or maybe heavy rain....even though it was more like an interactive movie.

That's true, never really thought of that. Even if it wasn't the first, it must have been the largest...or at the very least one of the first to use a degree of procedural generation

Now, I can see Heavy Rain and I guess CoD, but what's your reasoning with Goat Simulator?

I know it seems a little biased since this is Bethesda's forum, but Fallout 3 created such a brilliant feeling for me that will most likely never be replicated. That feeling of dread and desolation while exploring the Capital Wasteland. There's so many memorable moments, quests and encounters. More than any game has ever been able to provide for me. I spent countless hours just exploring and not even touching a mission or quest. I still sometimes lay in bed thinking about what I can do next in the game. Which quest should I attempt, where should I go exploring, all these sort of questions ran through my mind and I loved it. Coming on to these forums and discussing certain quests or locations just added to the great experience. Some of the best and most memorable discussions I had on these forums were in regards to quests in the game that had no pleasant outcome. Ones that taught you the world wasn't so black and white, only mere shades of grey.

The original Super Mario Bros. changed pretty much everything about how video games were played and made. It basically started the modern era of gaming.

The ending and epilogue of Red Dead Redemption really raised the bar in storytelling. One of my favourite moments.

That's a good point. I completely forgot about atmosphere! While I can certainly see where you're coming from (having sunk hundreds of hours into FO3), I'd say my most atmospheric game would actually be Portal 1. Everything from the dirt stains along the lower walls, to the sparks you see as equipment comes online, to the glitches in GLaDOS's voice all really sell me on the "this place has been forgotten for some time". Every line and action in that game meshed together in such a perfect way.

Thinking about it now, I think "The Stanley Parable" is another high point in gaming, purely for it's writing. It's like a non-crap version of Dear Ether, but with more freedom.

EDIT: SO MANY TYPO'S

Baldur's Gate. Although I'm sure there were a few before it, I found that it was one of the first RPGs that actually took its story seriously and did something meaningful with it, rather than dropping you into a dumb lifeless world with no context whatsoever like most RPGs in the mid-90s. I know it wasn't the first game to do that, but it stands out to me because of how well-executed it was. And even if it wasn't the first, it's still, like, the best RPG ever in every other aspect, regardless.

Fallout 3

I dunno about it being a revolution in a technological or even a storytelling way, but Shadow of the Colossus has stuck with me like no other game has throughout the years. There's something about the atmosphere that's just outstanding.

the height of 3DO and the Might & Magic franchise...

still awesome games even after all this time..

Wrong. You're seemingly oblivious to one of the greatest creations to ever happen in gaming history that will soon be upon us from the talented developers at CD Projekt RED, as they introduce the third and grand finale of their critically acclaimed trilogy, that is, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. An RPG that will define the genre and set a divine example of what a true RPG experience is meant to be, a pinnacle of the newest generation of gaming that will revolutionize the gaming industry, a masterpiece that will come to PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on the 24th of February in the year 2015 at a store near you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdNzt7i9QIU#t=205