#5: 'Fallout: New Vegas'
Obsidian Entertainment’s take on the Fallout universe brings you to post-apocalyptic Nevada, where mutated creatures roam the wasteland and Sin City continues to prosper in the middle of the irradiated desert. You can take on a plethora of quests to gain experience and find new weapons, but the reason that Fallout: New Vegas is so well-liked is because of its endgame: You can choose to give control of New Vegas to one of three factions, or take control of the area for yourself. Any choice you make starts a long, yet intense quest that will decide the fate of the city’s citizens. The game’s ending can also change depending on your overall reputation and interactions with specific characters.
#4: 'Age Of Empires II'
Starting your own empire from just a town center and a few citizens is no easy task. In addition to constructing buildings to research new technology or improve your army, you need to defend yourself from rival empires that will attempt to halt your progress. If you have a large army, you can begin your conquest to take out other empires in the map, but victory also comes if you build a Wonder and defend it from enemies for a specific amount of time. With 13 civilizations to choose from, there are multiple paths to victory against computer or human opponents.
If you want to add more historical aesthetics to your gameplay, you can try the campaign mode, which allows you to command the troops of famous leaders such as Joan of Arc, Saladin, or Genghis Khan.
#3: 'Diablo II'
Blizzard’s second entry in the Diablo series lets you choose from one of the five playable characters before you embark on a journey to prevent Diablo from returning to the human realm. In addition to the main storyline, levels also feature side quests for you to gain more experience and items. After you finish the main story, you can join other players online to play the story again in order attain more powerful items. If you want bragging rights, you can fight other players, as well--and the victor in a duel gains some gold and the “ear” of the defeated player.
#2: 'Civilization V'
In Civilization V, you once again have to lead your civilization to greatness, but there are new features that will encourage you to take different paths to victory. For instance, you can influence city-states to gain additional revenue or military units, or you can purchase social policies to further specialize your civilization’s output. Some players opt for a militaristic or space-based victory, but these specific features offer an avenue to win the game with your cultural influence. However, those looking to conquer the world will find that it takes more time because the ability to stack multiple units on one tile has been removed. Depending on your preferred way to win, games can take days to complete. However, it’s worth playing again with different civilizations and victory types to get the most out of the massively popular strategy title.
#1: 'The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim'
A single journey through the land of Skyrim can take hundreds of hours, but you have the option of creating different types of characters with each playthrough. Some players choose to start as a dual-wielding warrior, whereas others prefer to hide in the shadows or take out enemies from afar. Magical abilities are a suitable alternative to melee or ranged weapons, or you can talk your way out of a dangerous situation rather than killing everything in your way. More content is found in mods, which further enhance the game with new quests, abilities, or characters.
