Jdanddiet's Top 100 Games 2012 Part Three: 80-71

An atmospheric painting of a lone ODST soldier

80.Halo 3: ODST (Xbox 360) (New Entry)
Bungie surprised many with this moody plot-driven alternate look at the Halo universe.  Playing a wholly more vulnerable soldier, for me ODST had a more balanced gameplay than any of the Master Chief games.  The music is fantastic too.

79.Jet Set Willy (ZX Spectrum) (down 10)
JSW slips ten places this year, but with the XBLIG release imminent, don't be surprised if he's back staring down the porcelain throne in 2013...

78.Max Payne (PC) (no move)
Hot rain sizzled on my jacket like spit from a demon.  I got the feeling I was going nowhere - fast.
 

The lovely Dreamfall

77.Dreamfall: The Longest Journey (Xbox) (down 3)
Certainly one of the most beautiful of last gen games, Dreamfall backs it up with some unusual puzzles and all manner of point and clickery.  A lovely game.

76.Brian Lara Cricket '96 (Megadrive) (up 7)
With my Megadrive now permanently back in the house, this Codies cricket sim has seen a fair bit of action lately.  Uncomplicated cricketing fun.


75.The Suffering (Xbox) (New Entry)
Survival horror on the original XBOX. Set within a grim prison where all manner of creepy goings on are, um, going on, The Suffering is an underrated gem of a game.

74.Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2 (PC) (up 8)
I played through this again a few weeks ago whilst researching an article (I'd love to do a making of this game).  It would have risen more places - but like many PC games from the late 90's, it's starting to look creaky around the edges.

73.Resident Evil: Code Veronica (PS2) (down 40)
Code Veronica is one of the biggest fallers in this year's list.  Going back to it after playing Resi 4 and 5 was disastrous.  It didn't have the nostalgia of the earlier games and looked poor.  Expect to slip out next year.

The original Medal of Honor - Allied Assault

72.Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (PC) (down 21)
Another big faller, I haven't gotten around to any MOHAA action this year and the ubiquity of military shooters has not helped its cause.

71.Gynoug (Megadrive) (up 21)
Earlier in the year, we had a mini-high score challenge on the RG forum which resulted in me falling in love with this polished little shooter all over again.  Great music.