Great Video Game Narratives

Bobby and I inadvertantly fell into a little question of great video game narratives while discussing Taxi Driver.  Kissel mentioned that Taxi Driver is from a time period known as the "golden age" of cinema.  I would say we are currently in what could be best described as a similar golden age for video game narratives.  While it's nearly impossible to have as strong of a story as many amazing movies in the video game space, we are seeing an incredible amount of great stories in games in the 360/PS3 generation, especially later in the generation.  I named a few of my favorites in the Taxi Driver thread, and I figured I'd elaborate on my top 4 here...

4) The Last of Us - A mysterious virus wipes out an extremely large portion of the world's population, leaving the last few humans in a desperate fight for survival.  Set 20 years after the outbreak began, the story primarily follows Joel, a broken man probably in his late-40's who takes odd jobs to survive, who accepts a job to escort a young girl, Ellie, across the wasteland that is the United States.  Clearly drawing inspiration from 28 Days Later and The Walking Dead, Joel & Ellie encounter various packs of "infected" humans, which range from 28 Days Later "fast zombies" to some pretty twisted abominations, most notably the "clickers." They also encounter even more dangerous marauders and savages among their own kind.  It's a series of amazing shorter stories sprinkled into a solid overall narrative.  I could touch on some of the fascinating characters that are met along the way, as each meeting brings a new perspective into a world teetering on the edge of survival.  (Total Play Time: 15 hrs)

3) The Mass Effect Trilogy - The overall narrative of the desparate struggle for the survival of the galaxy doesn't even become clear until about 3/4th's of the way into the first game.  As Commander Shepard, you take it upon yourself to unite the galaxy and stop the impending doom about to befall it.  The story has been done before to an extent, but what hadn't been done quite like this in the past was the individual character development.  You cared about your squad, and it was brutal to have any of them killed, especially when you could have avoided it.  I particularly loved the final game's story, which was absolutely relentless as you sped on to the finale.  (Total Play Time: 40 hrs "critical path"/100 hrs completionist)

2) The Walking Dead Season One - This one can be considered a "high concept" story: a man rescues a young girl and agrees to help her find her parents amid the beginning of a zombie apocalypse.  This drives the bulk of the story, and the relationship that develops between Lee & Clementine is among the most well-realized of any form of media, video game or not.  Every character in their survivor group along the way is also fantastic, each with their own motivations and personalities that were memorable for anyone who played them.  Even Ben, a near throwaway character, was better realized then some main characters in full on trilogies.  (Total Play Time: 12 hrs)

1) Spec Ops: The Line - There are hundreds of military shooters out there, but none of them actually analyzed the real ramifications of war on the innocent and the soldiers quite like The Line.  The premise is simple: you are in command of a small reconnisance team tasked with learning the fate of their fellow soldiers in post-attack Dubai.  The early part of the game is ho-hum enough, but there is a serious turning point about midway through.  We're talking legitimate war crimes here, and the effect they have on those responsible.  Worth noting you can play the ending multiple ways, and the "bad guy" ending is downright chilling.  I've never finished a game and just stared at the credits thinking "WHAT HAVE I DONE?!?!?!"  quite like I did after finishing this one.  (Total Play Time: 6 hrs)

Those are my personal favorites.  A few more that I have played if you're curious....

Bioshock Infinite (15 hrs)
InFamous (12 hrs crit path/20 hrs completionist)
Thomas Was Alone (3 hrs)
Journey (2-3 hrs)
Dragon Age: Origins (30 hrs crit path/50 hrs completionist - story is clearly derivative of Game Of Thrones)
Final Fantasy XIII (40 hrs)
Fable II (20 hrs crit path/50 hrs completionist)
South Park: The Stick of Truth (12 hrs crit path/20 hrs completionist)