Ken Levine's favorite games of all time

by Alexander Sliwinski { Apr 7th 2008 at 6:00PM }

MSNBC asked 2K Boston's Ken Levine, creator of BioShock, what his top five games of all time are. Levine gets double bonus points for picking cult favorite Beyond Good and Evil, which he says "managed to combine whimsy and dystopia in one unforgettable package." Levine's other picks are:

Civilization IV
World of Warcraft
Heroes of Might and Magic 2
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Beyond Good and Evil

The best part of the bite-sized feature is when Levine admits that World of Warcraft is his "always-reliable secret shame." If Ken Levine can admit it, maybe others will find the strength to do it as well.

Tags: ken-levine, levine, msnbc, top-5-games

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Christopher Grant @ Apr 7th 2008 2:52PM

Ken Levine says A Link to the Past is his favorite Zelda game as well? Finally, someone who agrees with me!

brandon_r87 : Brawl : 4897-5857-5091 @ Apr 7th 2008 6:06PM

LttP was probably the best 2D Zelda, only because Minish Cap was criminally short, but I would be hard pressed to pick my favorite Zelda game. The 2D and 3D games are just so great for their own different reasons, just like the Metroid series. I don't know if I'd say Ocarina was the best 3D Zelda though, Majora's Mask was equally great for me. You can't discount Wind Waker either, and Twilight Princess is only a bit behind.

While Phantom Hourglass was great, I would have preferred a new 2D Zelda.

DangerMouse @ Apr 7th 2008 6:15PM

The people who say that LttP is their favorite Zelda game are probably old enough not so squeal about it in an argument, and content with their own decision. Not a big Zelda fan, but i couldn't get into OOT, maybe i got my hands on it way too late.

brandon_r87 : Brawl : 4897-5857-5091 @ Apr 7th 2008 6:15PM

Oh my gosh, you commented before the article was posted. Tell me where you keep the time portal!

Mr. Bungle @ Apr 7th 2008 10:52PM

Going with you on this one Grant. LTTP is bestest Zelda evar.
Long Valley for life!

Chris @ Apr 7th 2008 6:04PM

a link to the past is terrible compared to 'wand of gamelon', truely the god of god of games.

back to reality, Beyond good and evil I'd have to agree was great but underated =(

brandon_r87 : Brawl : 4897-5857-5091 @ Apr 7th 2008 6:09PM

I bought Beyond Good & Evil a long time ago, but didn't get further than an hour into it. It's one of those games I can tell is good, but didn't seem to enjoy it. Maybe it gets better further in though, so I have been meaning to give it another try. The anthropomorphic characters bother me because they come into contact with real people. This doesn't seem to bother me with Sam & Max though, maybe because it is comedy.

t_m @ Apr 7th 2008 7:45PM

I did exactly the same. I must dig out the disk again and play it properly.

Oddly, I had the same experience with psychonauts.. but once i pushed through the initial lack of interest I discovered it was amazing and got totally hooked.

brandon_r87 : Brawl : 4897-5857-5091 @ Apr 8th 2008 1:01AM

t_m, I did that exact same thing with Psychonauts too. That's strange we both did the same thing with two of the same games. The first half of the game was a bit slow, but the second half was amazing and I was so glad that I came back to finish it.

mr nimblewick @ Apr 7th 2008 6:12PM

I found the strength to end my WoW addiction. I did go back for a few weeks to try out private servers, but that was just to cheat and see everything.

Curtis the Claw: Brawl Code 1075-0441-3284 @ Apr 7th 2008 6:35PM

I used to be addicted to WoW, then I sold my old laptop and didn't get my new one for a week and that was enough for me to be over it.

DangerMouse @ Apr 7th 2008 6:22PM

Oh, and that photo needs to be in black and white. It's the style now.

Einhanderkiller @ Apr 7th 2008 6:35PM

http://xs226.xs.to/xs226/08152/bwlevine471.jpg

DangerMouse @ Apr 8th 2008 2:17AM

Perfect. Much more professional.

Robobagins @ Apr 7th 2008 6:46PM

FOREHEAD.

What was this news post about again? Distracted by, oh god, so FOREHEAD.

maxx @ Apr 7th 2008 6:58PM

Hell yeah, Beyond Good & Evil getting some love.

iturnbull @ Apr 7th 2008 7:17PM

Ahhh, Heroes of Might & Magic II - the only PC game I like more is Heroes of Might & Magic III. Truly, games for the ages.

Or something.

Donald @ Apr 7th 2008 7:18PM

Ken Levine is watch you [radio edit]

theturtle363 @ Apr 7th 2008 7:40PM

He looks like that one doctor on House

Matt B @ Apr 7th 2008 7:47PM

Who could argue with CIV 4? I play it almost daily pimping my religion, pushing my civics, and praying to Ra that no one declares war on me.

Noam Chomsky @ Apr 7th 2008 9:17PM

nigga you need to build some macemen and get shit done

ApolloIV @ Apr 7th 2008 9:27PM

This sounds like a day in the life of a Joystiq poster

Mr.ESC @ Apr 7th 2008 8:02PM

I agree.

I don't see Diablo II on that list so I'm going to suppose he never played it because Diablo II was epic.

Arno @ Apr 7th 2008 9:16PM

Dumb games.

Mr.ESC @ Apr 7th 2008 10:10PM

No U but thinking about it why he didn't mention Grim Fandango,WTF? Everyone should play Grim Fandango and every Oddworld game except for the GBA titles.

Damn you MS for your sh*tt* BC I always wanted to play Strangers Wrath.

David @ Apr 7th 2008 10:45PM

Hideo Kojima: "I'm ashamed to admit it, but I secretly love Starcraft."

Mr.ESC @ Apr 8th 2008 12:56AM

If I say "No,really?!" in a sarcastic tone would that make me a racist?

Mr. Bungle @ Apr 7th 2008 10:53PM

Finally someone gives HoMM props. Good show!

teitoku @ Apr 7th 2008 11:17PM

Hey, LttP, at least he picked ONE good game.

Halidan @ Apr 8th 2008 12:15AM

okay seriously why does Lavine always look like he is getting his prostate massaged during the photo?

MegaSnort @ Apr 8th 2008 1:33AM

LEVINE!!! You said X-COM was one of your 3 favorite games. That game transcends time and space, runs on DOS yet one of the most entertaining, intelligent and fleshed out turn base tactic games even by todays standards.