It’s taken a lot of discussion... okay, bickering between the TGR staff, but we’ve finally been able to agree on our pick for the fifty best games of the noughties. Now it’s your turn to bicker with us. OK, let’s face it, some great titles didn’t make it onto this list. Lots of great titles, in fact. It’s been hard to narrow it down to 50, and for that as a community we should be thankful. Over the last ten years we’ve been treated to some really fantastic games, especially in the last few years, and it’s certainly been, and still is a fantastic time to be a gamer. There are still some potentially great titles to come out later this year as well, and maybe they’ll invalidate this list (even more), but we just couldn’t wait until 2010 to start our bickering. So, without any further delay, here it is in alphabetical order: the TGR staff’s pick for the 50 Best Games of the Decade.

Baldur’s Gate 2: Shadows of Amn [BioWare] [Sep 2000] [PC]

Setting down the roots for all Western RPGs after it, Baldur’s Gate 2 was a triumph of characterization and storytelling. The atmospheric world of Faerun became all the more meaningful through the tangible changes to it that players orchestrated through their actions.

Batman: Arkham Asylum [Rocksteady] [Aug 2009] [PS3, 360, PC]

Who would’ve thought that a movie/comic book licensed game would make the list? Arkham Asylum confounded its cynics who were expecting a poor title from an unknown studio. In the asylum itself, Rocksteady provided a setting that did justice to the realm of insanity within Batman’s line-up of villains. Every second spent within its crumbling walls was creepier and more exciting than the last.

Beyond Good & Evil [Ubisoft] [Nov 2003] [PC, PS2, Xbox, GC]

With a believable main character in an absorbing world, Beyond Good & Evil was a uniquely satisfying action-adventure game, and one that placed emphasis on investigation rather than combat. The emotional story and deep interrelationships proved that you didn’t need bullets or chainsaws to tell a tale in video games.

BioShock [2K Games] [Aug 2007] [360, PC, PS3]

Andrew Ryan’s ruined vision of paradise was a masterclass in atmosphere and intelligent storytelling. The slow reveal of the events that led to the decaying underwater utopia of Rapture made for a chilling experience, but so much more so was the uncovering of the player’s role in the city’s demise.

Braid [Number None] [Aug 2008] [360, PC, PS3]

Braid was a work of artistic brilliance with some unique platforming puzzles, but its genius was in its ambiguous, multi-layered story. That story offered up a final twist that literally turned the game on its head, and blew the minds of players who thought they had even the slightest grasp on what was going on.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare [Infinity Ward] [Nov 2007] [360, PS3, PC, Wii]

By blowing the WWII cobwebs away from the previous Call of Duty games, Modern Warfare was able to up its spectacular presentation to the max. Although the bombastic moments provided the highest thrills, it was the melancholy story and forlorn ending of this topical shooter that left the greatest impression. Beyond that, its perk-based multiplayer kept players glued to their seats for many, many months.

Sid Meier’s Civilization IV [Firaxis Games] [Oct 2005] [PC]

Never mind the level of depth and strategy within Sid Meier’s Civ 4 that made it a work of genius, for it was its open-ended potential for creating a unique nation that could dominate through either aggression or diplomacy, its incredible attention-to-detail, and the wonderfully balanced mechanics that made it such a replayable and, above all, fun game to play.

Deus Ex [Ion Storm] [Jun 2000] [PC, PS2]

Deus Ex was the grandfather of the intelligent, RPG-based shooter genre, one that has yet to be as brought into light as sharply as it was with that game. It was the perfect storm of all the conspiracy theories a Mulder-a-like could wish for, and Ion Storm filled its world with unrivalled complexity, such that it remained convincing and engaging right to its dramatic end.