4. Rome Total War
This game had one of the biggest impacts on my life. This game was released 12 years ago and it still impresses me with how much content there was in it.
Rome Total War is a strategy game that allows you not only to control the map but, to go into the fights and control the armies yourself. The battles were some of the most epic experiences I have ever had in gaming. It introduced me to the Total War series and is still my favorite installation to date.
My love for Roman war and history came from this game. I spent countless hours trying to recreate the Roman empire from a small start to making it the biggest empire in the known world. Watching legions go at it with Gallic Barbarians convinced me that Rome was the best civilization of all time. I wanted to know more about how they fought and what their history was to our world. I wanted to know the history of the cities and how they actually fell to the Romans.
I felt like Julius Caesar when playing this game. I was the commander of possibly the greatest army in history. The strategy was never ending. From the game map down to the soldiers it was an experience like no other during its time.
Until Total War Rome 2 came out I was still going back and playing this game. The second installment is not as great outside of the wonderful graphics. It is much more complicated and it does not have a good tutorial to explain what all of the new things are.
This game makes this list because it started my true love from classical history and because it is one of the most fun strategy games I have ever played.