26. BioShock (X360, PS3, PC)
BioShock's Rapture may be gaming's single most atmospheric location, at once both unsettling yet deeply enchanting. What an absolute joy it was to explore this failed utopia, uncovering the story of its collapse through wonderfully acted audio diaries while dealing with its remaining crazed denizens. The story is almost as good as the setting... this is how you do a fucking plot twist! Gameplay itself is also a delight, a butter smooth FPS experience with loads of creative weapons and special powers, and even a sort of survival horror feel (something that is sorely lacking this generation) in the early goings until the game's backward difficulty curve leaves you hilariously overpowered toward the end. If for some unfathomable (fathom, geddit?!) reason you haven't played this gem yet, would you kindly?
25. Silent Hill 2 (PS2, Xbox, PC)
As the game opens, James Sutherland has come to everyone's favorite creepshow town to meet his dead wife... and it only gets cheerier from there. Silent Hill was the first game to convince me that a video game could be genuinely scary, and Silent Hill 2 perfects the survival horror experience both in terms of storytelling and game design. Sure, the controls suck a little lot, but that just makes it scarier! Akira Yamaoka's genius score rocks your face off; it's probably his finest hour. SH2 also marks the debut of the iconic Pyramid Head in his one and only contextually appropriate appearance (raping mannequins).
24. Red Dead Redemption (X360, PS3)
It only took seven console generations, but someone finally decided to make a good Western game (or at least the first one since Custer's Revenge). RDR is actually set in the early 1900s, the final days of the frontier, and the portrayal of a dying way of life lends the game a pervasive sense of melancholy and poignancy and makes a wonderful backdrop for Dan Houser's signature brand of anti-government invective. Still, it's basically Grand Theft Horse, so there's plenty of hell to be raised and laughs to be had (most of which come from being mauled by those incredibly stealthy bears). The multiplayer may be the best part of the entire package. While there's the usual complement of deathmatches and objective games, and even horse racing and poker, I rarely left the "lobby" which is actually a free roam experience that allows players to posse up or shoot it out over the entire map. Turning the tables on would-be gankers and counterganking them until they finally ragequit has made for some of my most memorable multiplayer moments ever. (Alliteration, wut.)
