PLANESCAPE: TORMENT for being the most literary computer game ever written. Thematically ambitious and tremendously well-thought-out.

FREESPACE 2 for being so unrelentingly brilliant it killed the space combat genre stone dead. FREESPACE 2 perfected it, and there was nowhere for it to go afterwards. The story is brilliant, takes some genuinely unexpected turns and ends on a jaw-dropping moment.

ANACHRONOX is the most underrated RPG, maybe the most underrated game, of all time. It takes some of the ideas behind Japanese RPGs and puts them in a Western RPG setting, marrying the best ideas from both genres to excellent effect. It's very funny, quite long and the ending is genius. It also features some of the best RPG characters ever.

HALF-LIFE 2 is a rather linear experience, but it's sense of atmosphere and place is second to none. The story unfolds in front of you and it's up to you if you just rush along after events or take the time to investigate nooks and crannies where you'll find information on the Seven-Hour War and the occupation of Earth by the Combine. Very cleverly done.

KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC has a great story, riffing off the original STAR WARS movie but not derivative of it. The characters are excellent and the story very well-realised. The much darker sequel should have been better, but it was released in an unfinished state by LucasArts, which is a shame.

The MONKEY ISLAND series, particularly the first two games, are nonstop genius from start to finish, easily the funniest computer games ever made with an excellent story and a brilliantly mindblowing ending to MONKEY ISLAND 2.