Since that time, I've grown to love UT2004 as the true successor to UT99, and I believe that it has surpassed the pure joy that was UT99. So I think it's a fitting choice to use to begin this thread.
In my piece, I said,
I really believe that these three descriptors map to the best games out there. There are tons of qualities that can be brought up to describe an awesome game, but I think they all boil down to one of those three items.In my book, games have to do three things right in order to be truly great: they have to pull the player out of his or her life and into the game, to the extent that the person playing the game forgets that they're playing a game. (Any of you who have sat down to play after dinner, then looked at your watch and realized that it's 3 am have played a game that meets this requirement. You know what I mean; quit pretending you don’t) Next, a game has to earn a perfect mark in the gameplay department--it has to be fun to play. (Duh) Finally, the game has to be replayable. A game can last 10 hours and be very good, but you'll never catch me casting a best-ever vote (and scarcely ever a Game of the Year vote) for a game that I don't feel like playing anymore after a relatively short amount of time.
Immersion
Let's take UT2004. This is one game that grabbed me from the get-go and provided me with dozens of sessions of play in which I couldn't have told you at the end whether I played for 2 hours or 8 hours without looking at a clock. The level of immersion is simply brilliant. Back in the day, I used graphics, enveloping sound, and a comfortable control scheme to enumerate the characteristics that made UT99's immersion level so high. I'm not certain that that's a valid description, however. The control scheme of a game certainly plays an important part in this--if you're worrying about which key to press or what button to click, your immersion level is damaged and you're brought back to the 'real world'--but I don't know that it's possible to describe exactly what captures your heart and pulls you out of your world and into the game's--it just happens, and I think it's a combination of things. In any event, UT2004 does this.
Gameplay
Similar to but distinct from the immersion factor is gameplay. One can be immersed in a game's world without being totally sold on its gameplay. The Longest Journey is a good example of this. TLJ's story was brilliant, IMO, and kept me plastered to my PC until I finished the game, despite some less-than-wonderful puzzles and fetch-and-deliver sections of the game. TLJ is a great game, but it's not at the top of my all-time list. UT2004, on the other hand, has nary a true flaw in its gameplay. Get a group together--or a group of bots, for that matter--load up a quality map or three (out of the hundred or so released with the game, or dozens more released since), and you'll be in gaming nirvana immediately, and throughout your session. Combine full immersion in a title with top-notch gameplay, and you're well on your way to the top.
Replayability
At this point you're likely scratching your head--if a game pulls you in and is eminently playable, wouldn't it stand to reason that it'd be replayable? Why yes, yes it generally would. But I'm not talking replayable in the 'It was so awesome I played it through again' sense. I'm referring to the I've got more than 200 hours of play notched with this game. Please find me a 12-step program sense of the word. Max Payne was an awesome game with regard to the first two criteria I've presented, but fell short in the replayability department.
Replayability can come from tons of levels or other content, random level generators, bonus packs, or community content; regardless of its source, it serves to keep you coming back, and continues to deliver the 1-2 punch described above so that years after a game's release, you're still as addicted as you were on release day. Diablo had it. UT99/2004 meets this criterion, as well.
What do you think causes a title to climb to the top of the stack and stay there? Do you agree with my choices of immersion, gameplay, and replayability? Did I miss anything? Is replayability really necessary? Why do we drive in parkways and park in driveways? Discuss!