The Top 10 Games of 2K Games

Back in the day and before the world discovered that it actually really likes playing video games a LOT, the average gamer was hard put to name a game studio it liked let alone their Top Ten. Oh sure, they could rattle off a list of game publishers - but the development studios were something of a mystery.

At least part of the reason for that lack of familiarity with the game studios that created the games that they played and loved was down to the publishers themselves, and not any sort of fault or blame to be laid on the gamers.

You see, back in the day it was mostly the game publishers whose name was promoted, and who spent time, money, and effort building their brand.

As far as the publishers were concerned, the less you knew about the developers the better, since it was the publishers name that they wanted you to associate with game quality - particularly as the ashes cooled from the great game collapse of the 1980s.

The idea was for you to pop in to your local video game store and, seeing the logo and name of the publisher who made the last game you really liked, have you respond subconsciously with the notion that hey, Gamma Games made that shooter you just finished and liked a lot, and hey! Look! Here is another game from Gamma! It has to be as good, right?

Of course not, but that was what they wanted you to think.

Today things are different. For one thing, most gamers know that a game is published by a games publisher, but was created by a development studio - so just because the game says Gamma Games on the cover does not necessarily mean it is going to be the same - or that it will not be even better - than the other games you bought that were published by them.

The Publishers Series

To help broaden the general knowledge of our community and to highlight the best games that they have published in the past few seasons, SuperCheats is proud to launch our regular monthly Publishers Series of feature articles.

Top Ten features that provide you with the Top Ten games published by a game publisher - and this month the publisher is 2K Games - a subsidiary of Take Two Interactive and sister company to 2K Sports, who thanks to that relationship publishes games from studios that include 2K Australia, 2K China, 2K Czech, 2K Marin, 2K Vegas, Cat Daddy, Firaxis, Visual Concepts, nd the Rockstar Network!

Because 2K Games is both a publisher and a game development studio in its own right, sometimes it wears both hats, being the game publisher and studio - and that is a good thing because, over the years, it has allowed 2KG to provide some of the finest games in their genre to gamers who have come to associate the name “2K Games” with high quality entertainment.

So with that in mind - and the knowledge that you can utterly rely upon our superior knowledge of games and gaming, and our impeccable taste in titles, we present to you the Top Ten Games of 2K Games as the inaugural entry of SuperCheats Game Publishers Series!

Top Ten Games of 2K Games

While Forest's mum was right in her belief that "Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." she was wrong too... Not too wrong but wrong nevertheless, because sometimes just knowing what is on the outside of the box can tell you an awful lot about what is on the inside.

For instance there are the games of 2K Games - and in particular our take for the Top Ten Games they have published - each of which is worthy of slotting into your console or PC (whichever applies to you) and spending time playing!

Our Top Ten picks for 2K Games are:

10. Prey (Human Head / Venom)

July 2006 - PC, OSX, Linux, X360

Created as a fusion of First-Person Shooter and Action-Adventure by game development studio Human Head (the Xbox 360 version was developed by Venom), Prey attained a mixed reception among game reviewers largely due to the fact that while listing Shooter as its core genre, it contains elements of puzzle and platforming as well as traditional action-adventure genres.

The player character and protagonist is a Cherokee named Domasi Tawodi (AKA “Tommy”), who by profession is a veteran of the U.S. Army and whose civilian occupation is garage mechanic.

Tommy faces an alien enemy who controls a living spaceship, and enslaves and devours humans (and other aliens) as a food source.

Among its more innovative features is the partial suspension of physics so as to permit the player the ability to walk on walls, manipulate gravity, and perform a special ability called the Spirit Walk.

Interestingly, the Spirit Walk is based loosely upon the Native American ritual that permits a shaman to leave their body and walk in a parallel dimension known as the Spirit World, whereby they can see and partly interact with people in the physical world while being undetectable.

The game included full online play for up to eight players, utilizing the game's play innovations for its rather unique multi-player side.

The game released as both the standard boxed edition, and a Limited Collector's Edition (LCE) that included special metal packaging, a pair of die-cast pewter figurines for Tommy and the alien Hunter, and offered players the option of downloading the official game soundtrack online.

While there were plenty of shooters released in the 2006/2007 game season, Prey was unique in its spiritual side, and its focus upon a Native American character as its protagonist, two factors which gave the game considerable play by traditional media.

With its unique and fast-paced game play mechanics, Prey obtained very positive reviews, averaging scores of 4/5 and 9/10 with most reviewers, and a very positive reception for its online multi-player side, which at the time was not the well-established mode it is today.