Here we are then, a new decade in which people will stumble over by which awkward colloquialism they'll use to refer to it.  Gosh, what a hideous sentence.  Anyway, each of our writers will look back over the so-called noughties and pick ten of their favourite games from the decade and tell you precisely why they think they belong in this rather esteemed category.

Don't be surprised to see repeat entries by certain games; it doesn't mean we're lazy or unimaginative, it simply means we're honest and that these games are as good as we say they are.  And so, let us delay no longer and delve into my very own top ten of the first decade of the Twenty-First Century.

Read on...

10. Marble Blast Ultra (2006)
Now, this XBLA game might not be what you would immediately consider to be the stuff of amazing gameplay, but you'd be wrong.  This game with its innumerable levels is so utterly addictive and compelling that back in 2006, I found it hard to tear myself away from its rolling, bouncing madness.  Controlling a marble may seem a little dull, but with power-ups, taxing levels and a cracking, if repetitive soundtrack, Marble Blast Ultra was the game du jour, keeping me quiet for hours.

9. SSX (2000)
In the early days of the PlayStation 2, we marvelled at the graphics, the then-stunning environments carved out by the console.  SSX took you to some crazy boarding slopes and threw you, strapped to a piece of hardwood, onto rails, into tunnels, through snow-laden cities, just for the pure fun of it.  It captured a great atmosphere, was so simple and intuitive to control and this, along with the local multiplayer functionality means that I will always remember this game fondly.



8. Resident Evil 4 (2005)
Creepy, grissly and more tense than Dale Winton's face after another lift, Resident Evil 4 broke new ground for the series.  The over-the-shoulder view and complete control of protagonist Leon put the player more in touch with the action than before.  Hacking your way through infected Spaniards in some incredibly grimy settings was a fantastic thrill ride in the middle of the last decade.



7. Legacy of Kain: Defiance (2003)
I was torn between Soul Reaver 2 and Blood Omen 2 but then I remembered Defiance, where you had the best of both worlds, playing as both Raziel and Kain for the ultimate in the series.  Indeed, the finale was everything you would expect from a well-laid-out series and switching between the two characters kept the game feeling fresh throughout.  The beautiful combination of puzzles, story and combat meant that this game had everything that I was looking for and I am incredibly pissed off that Defiance wasn't one of the titles that the 360 has backward-compatibility for.



6. Fable II (2008)
Sir Peter Molyneux's finest offering, in my opinion.  This game took you to Albion, holding hands with Zoë Wanamaker as she guided you through an epic adventure where you and your dog sought to avenge the death of your sister.  Artfully executed, Albion wasn't just a map in which to roam, it was a land rich in detail, lush scenery, enjoyably varied - if occasionally clunky - combat and the basis of the game, the way your character changes according to your behaviour.  Every morning when my character wakes up, he brushes his teeth and polishes his horns...



5. Dragon Age: Origins (2009)
While Fable II brought us the fun, entertaining, slightly silly RPG, Bioware stepped out of the shadows once more to dust off the serious RPG.  The attack-die-rolling, lightning bolt-casting, epic quest-based game will raise a smile to anyone who's ever 'saved versus death'.  On consoles, it doesn't look its best, but still presents a fresh, next-gen role-playing experience for those who like the no-bullshit approach and an evolving storyline that reacts to the way you play.  On PC though, the game is simply mindblowing, taking the real-time strategy elements that real role playing can involve quite deeply, combining it with amazingly rich textures, jaw-dropping visuals and a pleasingly higher framerate.



4. GTA III (2001)
A flagship of the PS2 years, Rockstar's masterpiece was a real turn-up for the books.  The previous titles were top-down forays into the gangland underworld, but nobody was quite ready for the third game.  Setting you loose in a fully-immersive 3D Liberty City, complete with tramps on the beaches and whores on the streets, GTA III set a new benchmark for open-world gaming all those years ago.  The radio stations, the adverts, the cars, billboards, characters and plots were so finely detailed that while each following rendition of the GTA franchise have improved graphics and realism, none have quite captured the sense of achievement and originality that GTA III had in buckets.



3. Half-Life² (2004)
Slipping back into his orange hazard suit, Gordon Freeman was to ride once again in 2004, summoned by the mysterious G-Man to continue a franchise that has truly made its mark on gamer culture.  Taking and extending the mythos of the first game, Half-Life² snatched away your happily ever after and sent you straight into the pseudo-communist hell of City 17.  The graphics, sound, score and gameplay all came together to provide a faultlessly atmospheric game which, though linear, was one hell of a ride.  It could be described as a playable movie, with such impressive spectacles as setting zombies aflame in Ravenholm, bringing down an insectoid gunship, taking in breathtaking coastal views from the underside of a rail bridge, reaching the Citadel by way of Dog and kicking some major arse with your souped-up gravity gun, the game's story is a screaming adventure and my word, it tells it well.



2. Oblivion (2006)
Part first-person shooter, part RPG, Oblivion must be the biggest, most immersive, staggeringly beautiful and absorbing game of the first decade of the Twenty-First Century.  The map is immense and full of secrets and surprises, views and vistas, a compelling variety in climate, fauna and flora, all the while, plot points, places to visit during quests, deep caverns and hidden dungeons lie in wait for you to discover them and reap the rewards.  Combining the linearity of storylines with largely freeform play, Oblivion takes you into its world and delivers freedom beyond compare.  It's perfectly possible for you to aim low, ignore the main quest and become a fisherman, eventually moving into a nice house by the sea.  You'd probably come away thinking the game was a bit rubbish, but it has the versatility to allow this to happen.  Or you can complete as many quests as you like, retire to your tower and create some new spells to try out on the bears.  Or you could do both.  Oblivion offers you so much, you can barely believe it all fits on that little disc.



1. Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (2003)
Of course, it had to be.  Jedi Academy was a great single-player game.  But beyond that, in the multiplayer mode, there was a glittering universe, all created by the community of modders.  Some modders were amazing.  Some were less so.  Some made maps.  Others made skins.  Others still made lightsabres.  The joys of the Force are that you can apply them to a great many other franchises.  Is that Neo bending the Matrix to his will, or is he just using the Force?  Does Gandalf cast that lightning bolt as a spell, or is it just the Force?  Add to that the first-person shooter element and the, what? Twelve different guns?  And detpacks.  And tripmines...  Add a cloak.  Add a jungle, and suddenly, you're playing Predator.  Then factor in your vehicles.  From TIE fighters to taun-tauns, Jedi Academy let you drive, pilot, ride and fly the lot.  And if the game didn't originally, the modders saw to it that you could eventually.  And so one year I found myself hosting a server, full to the brim with interesting, freaky, funny and irritating people (by that I mean most were some of these attributes, not all).  My time was taken up being a seven-foot man without a face and glowing red eyes behind a long, black robe, with two red-bladed lightsabres, standing watch in front of a light-post on a landing platform as every Friday and Saturday, hopefuls would battle it out in order to attain a higher rank and more admin privileges on the server.  For three years this continued and it was the most fun I had at a computer that decade, without my willy out.  Of course this is a largely romanticised view of the clan days of UFO.  It was actually mostly spent typing in "/amsilence saber" into the console.