Bright special effects or touching stories? Gamers are divided into two militant camps: the first to show a detailed rendering of each bush in 4K resolution, and the second love games with a good adventure plot. Developers strive for a symbiosis of visual and story parts, but not every company manages to competently combine these two branches in games on the PC.

Looking for an adventure game with best story users spend more than one day. Beginner players should pay attention to such franchises as The Witcher, Half-Life, Portal, Mass Effect, Mafia and others. And progamers need to break away from AAA projects and take a closer look at indie studios. For example, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrfice is a worthy competitor to big-budget titles.

Passing singles with a good plot on PC, do not pay much attention to technical errors, but put the emphasis on the story - so immersion in virtual world will bring much more pleasure. From the article you will learn about the best plots in single-player games that will easily captivate any gamer with their atmosphere.

Mass Effect: Andromeda

One of the controversial projects of last year was the fourth episode of the space epic Mass Effect. It's disappointing that the devastating comments regarding the latest installment of the franchise are justified: the deplorable facial animation and sometimes sparse dialogue create an unpleasant first impression of the game. Despite the controversial moments, this is still the same old Mass Effect with the best fantastic plot and a thoroughly developed Universe, which fans of space battles should definitely get to know.

The plot in Mass effect andromeda is based on the BioWare classic: the world is in danger, and it seems that thanks to special totems everything can be fixed, but alien villains do not allow the hero to calmly save humanity. While walking through Andromeda, there is a very pleasant feeling: as if you are becoming part of something important. The inhabitants of the Milky Way have not yet had time to fly to the new galaxy, but they are already creating colonies and forming new organizations and, over time, begin to build cities. Therefore in Mass Effect Andromeda you can’t help feeling that you are standing at the very origins of something unknown and majestic.

Explore a new galaxy, learn the touching stories of your companions and complete quests against the backdrop of futuristic space stations. And make sure that Mass Effect is not an ordinary fantasy adventure game, but the most fantastic saga in the modern gaming industry.

Dragon Age

The masters from BioWare decided to show a master class not only in creating space adventures, but also in the fantasy RPG genre. And so it appeared Dragon Age Origins, which even at the development stage positioned itself as an “old school” role-playing game.

If you're used to the tired cliché of noble knights forever defeating evil, then the third-person slasher fantasy Dragon Age: Origins will be a real discovery for you. The game world in BioWare's RPG is much more complex than it seems at first glance. Get ready for unexpected plot twists! Despite the medieval setting with dragons, the developers perfectly showed the harsh reality. For example, casual acquaintances are constantly trying to drag the character into the next adventure.

All the fun in Dragon Age rests on the tasks and relationships between the heroes. What will please you is the non-linear completion of quests, where you have to choose between justice and your own comfort. But in Origins morality is very vague. For example, you meet bandits who took tribute from the poor, you kill and think that you have become a real hero! But in fact, these were the defenders of the city, who protected their lands from the influx of refugees.

Dragon Age is a deep RPG with an intriguing, serious story. An invaluable find for ardent fans of the “realistic fantasy” genre. Brutal scenes of violence, a fantasy ghetto, and bloody massacres every five minutes deservedly earned a “+18” rating. And many users will be pleased that the game works on the platforms pc ps3 ps4, xbox 360 and mac os x.

Alan Wake

Alan Wake has always been a standout among games - a mystical 3rd person thriller with a good plot and an open world. The main character is Alan Wake, a talented writer experiencing a creative crisis. Yielding to the persuasion of his beloved, he moves to the small town of Bright Falls. The writer settled in a cozy house among breathtaking mountain landscapes. Alan hopes that the change of environment will benefit him and he will continue his creativity.

A good, atmospheric plot captivates you from the first seconds. The hero quarrels with his wife and goes outside to “cool down,” but suddenly he hears an incomprehensible noise, and then the terrible screams of his wife. The writer runs towards the voice and sees his beloved falling into the depths of a mysterious lake and dives after her without hesitation. The hero woke up in the forest, driving a car and with a laceration on his face. After a while, Wake learns that more than a week has passed since his jump into the lake, about which he remembers absolutely nothing. Now the hero is occupied with only one question: what the hell is going on in Bright Falls.

Alan Wake is a third-person stealth adventure that keeps you on the edge of your seat and creates empathy for the protagonist. The hero's crazy games of imagination are fascinating, and the plot itself is essentially a medley based on the stories of Stephen King and the television series Twin Peaks.

Fahrenheit

Movie lovers should pay attention to the role-playing action third-person shooter Fahrenheit, released in 2005. The French noir thriller Fahrenheit became a pioneer in the game genre of “interactive cinema”. It was thanks to him that we got such masterpieces as Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls.

Lucas Kane is the main character of the game, who is suspected of murder. The plot centers on Lucas denying his guilt to everyone accessible ways. Conventionally, the game can be divided into two plots: in one part we watch Lucas’ experiences, and in the second – his attempts to prove his innocence in the face of the law. Completing Fahrenheit takes a couple of days, but there is very little gameplay. Often all you have to do is pick your cues and enjoy Quantic Dream's best storytelling of the past decade.

For lovers of good graphics, in 2015 a re-release of Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy Remastered was released for PC, Xbox, PS, Android, iOS. It differs from the original version only in the improved picture and support for HD mode.

Fallout 4

Developers from Bethesda manage to create exciting gaming universes that captivate gamers for dozens of hours. In their projects, you can spend hours simply studying a map or reading local books. Fallout is one of the popular franchises in the ranking of the favorite franchises of many gamers.

The protagonist of the series is a nameless daredevil who is trying to survive in a cruel post-apocalyptic world. Get ready to plunge into the rich atmosphere of a destroyed world and fight fantastic mutants. Fallout 4 meets players with interesting quests, exciting stories, weapon fetishism and an open world. Thanks to this freedom of action, the game series has gained a large army of fans.

Mafia III

After the release of the first Mafia, subsequent parts of the series were rightfully considered the best games in the noir genre. Players awaited the release of each story with special trepidation and hope. And for good reason! After all, the series takes gamers to the USA, when gangster groups were actively appearing one after another. The plot itself is based on the confrontation between gangster groups over territory.

The open-world adventure Mafia 3 on PC continues the story from the perspective of Lincoln Clay. The action takes place in the sixties. Of all the successors, the familiar works of The Animals and The Rolling Stones sound. The main reason Mass shootings on the streets of New Bordeaux are becoming racist. In general, the developers did a great job with the atmosphere. And then - shootouts against the backdrop of mafia intrigues and conspiracies accompanied by an amazing soundtrack. Hangar 13 seems to be showing what titles in the action role-playing genre should look like.

It's no secret that success is good computer game consists of several criteria. The grafical part, controls, physics, realism, leveling system and, of course, story line.

In this TOP we will talk specifically about those games that are in the top ten according to the last criterion.

10. Alan Wake

The game gets an honorable tenth place Alan Wake, which tells about the adventures of one famous writer. A good storyline with non-trivial characters.

In this case, the main character is the writer Alan Wake, who decided to find his once missing wife. This is not so easy to do, because along the way a real nightmare begins, as reality gradually mixes with the imagination of the character himself. This idea is really quite interesting and at one time gamers really appreciated this new product.

9. Fahrenheit

The ninth place in our TOP of the best plots in games is occupied by the game Fahrenheit, which has become a real breakthrough since its release into the gaming industry.

Main character- this is a simple guy who is accused of a murder that he, of course, did not commit. The passage itself is an interactive drama, where a special role is prepared for gamers. Players need to make decisions different situations to reach the end. By the way, the end of the story depends on the decision options that the gamer himself chooses.

8. Fallout

Eighth place takes no less famous series games called Fallout, considered the first project in which gamers are invited to dive into the dizzying and dangerous world, on the verge of death.

The peculiarity of this game was the alternative solutions in the storyline, which led to quite interesting and unexpected events. Over time, a whole series of games based on this project were released, which only became better and more interesting each time. The third part of the game has long ago achieved high ratings in all criteria and is rightfully considered the best in the series.

7. The Witcher

Our rating of games with the best plot continues from the well-known series "The Witcher", created based on the work of Andrzej Sapkowski. The main character will have a considerable number of adventures, and in order to complete them, the Witcher will have to defend not only the people dear to him, but also the entire kingdom.

The most unusual thing for such a vibrant genre is love line, full of constant intrigue, betrayal and conspiracies. Throughout the series, players will be able to personally observe how the Witcher gradually ages and how his journey ends.

6. Mafia

Of course, we can’t ignore two well-known parts of the third-person shooter called "Mafia". For personal computers, finding a project that has a good storyline is not so difficult, especially when compared with games for consoles or mobile devices. So PC owners don’t have to worry about the “interesting plot.”

As for the Mafia, it tells the story of the thirties, when criminal incidents were at the very center of all events. This game is difficult to describe in words, because since the first part many other projects have been released with improved graphics, new features and advanced engines. But it is this storyline that will never become outdated and will remain relevant at any time.

5. Dragon Age

Dragon Age is a project that you've probably heard about, even if you haven't played it. Of course, in order to understand the whole essence of the story, to enjoy a well-developed and compelling plot, you need to play all the series of the game. Nobody knows how events will develop in the next minute. Which of the heroes is destined to die at the very beginning, and which will remain throughout the entire series. Perhaps this is the only game that can serve as an example for other developers who want to create a project with an alternative history.

The storyline allows you to fully reveal all the capabilities of the main character, not only in basic characteristics and skills, but also as a person as a whole. There is also a love line, which can cause a lot of problems in the future. But this all depends on the actions of the players themselves.

4. Grand Theft Auto

GTA is a whole series of games, but in this TOP it is worth focusing on latest issues this project, since the first parts did not distinguish themselves with a special storyline. The game genre itself is in many ways reminiscent of the “sandbox” direction. A little later, the developers decided to outline the storylines in more detail, adding clarity and meaning to them.

Starting from the third part, freedom of action has increased, and the already vast world has become even more interesting. Each hero has his own story, in the development of which players are directly involved. Here gamers can watch how characters rise from the very bottom of the dark world, becoming real crime bosses in your business.

3. Half-Life

So, we finally made it to the top three. A project called Half-Life, which amazed with its story about the silent doctor Gordon Freeman, who is fascinated by physical phenomena. He is the only key to saving the entire universe. As a weapon to save the world from the extraterrestrial world government, he uses a crowbar, as well as any other objects that come to hand.

The first part of the game tells how the doctor investigates the essence of the research "Black Mesa", after which he tries to save his life. The continuation of the project tells about the takeover of the world by strange authorities who are too actively involved in all spheres of society. Both projects are considered legendary, and deservedly receive third place in our list of the best story games.

2.Mass Effect

Silver goes to the trilogy Mass Effect for a very memorable story about one captain and his crew, who spaceship roamed the universe, trying to save it from the invasion of alien creatures.

The game awaits you a large number of various missions united by a common goal. The gamer risks plunging into a dizzying kaleidoscope of history with incredible speed, despite the fact that it consists of three whole parts.

1. Assassin's Creed

According to many fans, honorable first place should be given to the series of games about the Order of Assassins. The developers very skillfully intertwined modern world with the historical era. The storyline moves one main character into the guise of various assassins, and players will be able to watch the fate of each of them until the end of all series.

For its rich dramatic story and unique cult style, this game rightfully receives gold in our TOP.

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This is not to say that games with a linear plot are bad. Of course, there are a lot of great games in the world that don’t need a plot at all, and if they do have one, it’s deeply corridor-like. However, just as a big sausage sandwich is better than a small one, so a non-linear plot is better than a linear one, especially when it comes to some kind of role-playing project. If you think so too, then you will be interested to know about ten games that, in my opinion, had the most non-linear plot.

Many people don't consider The Walking Dead full game. They say it’s some kind of cartoon where the player sometimes needs to press one button. Of course, such a point of view also has the right to life, but as for the plot, then with it full order. The player will be asked to make a choice quite often. Sometimes ten times a minute, and sometimes once a minute. And, if at first everything goes more or less linearly, then, when new characters are added to the story, the decisions made by the player will affect the plot more and more, and the moral torment of choice will haunt the gamer constantly. Moreover, the scriptwriters use a fairly familiar, but still effective technique, according to which they first tie it to some to a minor character, or even several, and then offer to sacrifice one to save the other. In total, if my insanity serves me correctly, the game has 3 endings, among which there will be no absolutely good ones at all.

If you thought that 3 endings were worthy, then there are 18 of them, and some are very, very difficult to achieve, and many, in despair, simply take it and watch them on the Internet. This is also not a game in the literal sense of the average gamer, but a movie, but the movie is atmospheric, unusual, and, I must say, not fun. The plot revolves around a serial killer who calls himself Master Origami, whom the main characters catch, catch, but cannot catch, and in some endings the killer remains free, and the playable characters end their lives very badly. Here you are required to make a choice much more often than in The Walking Dead, and if you like that sort of thing, be sure to wait for a game called Detroit: Become Human. It's made by the same guys who made Heavy Rain, who promise even more endings and even more branches.

Fallout 2 and 3.

To be honest, the plot of the third part did not seem out of the ordinary to me, so I immediately wanted to put only part No. 2, but knowing that young people associate Fallout not with isometrics, but with a first-person view, then the third part represented by the same New Vegas I left it - let it be. However, Fallout 2 still has a cooler plot. Here, almost every task can be completed in at least two ways. More often than not there are more ways. You can level up for a long time and then go to the final boss, or you can do it right away, without breaking anything at all, and kill him there without firing a single shot. True, if you do this, then in the final story about the fate of the cities that the Chosen One was supposed to visit, nothing good awaits them - the cities. Any of your actions can affect the fate of entire settlements, and the hero will be able to remain in the memory of people and good hero and an evil scoundrel. It all depends on personal preferences.

I personally managed to get three endings out of this game, although they say that there is at least one more. These endings are diametrically opposed, starting from victory over evil and ending with personal transformation into an evil demigod, who, while you watch the credits, will begin to destroy humanity. The game was made by the same citizens who worked on the first two parts of Fallout, which is in itself a sign of quality. As in Fallout, the main branches here will break off in the course of dialogues: if you answered the wrong way or the wrong way, please follow a different plot track. By the way, it was precisely because of the dialogues that many of those who enjoyed playing Fallout did not want to play this RPG, since there were too many of these dialogues and too few battles, and in the end it turned out something similar to a text novel .

Probably, in terms of the number of endings, this game is the record holder today. Moreover, some of the endings were many months after the release, and it cannot be ruled out that someday the developers will show us one or two more hidden endings that no one has achieved. And everything in the game would be completely fine if it weren’t for its absurd plot and surreal atmosphere. The main character wanders around the office, trying to understand what is actually happening, and the voiceover communicates with him, telling him what to do and where to go. The nuance is that the order of actions, as well as their choice itself, is a personal matter for everyone, and it is not necessary to follow the instructions. But you can follow. For example, in one mission, a voice will ask you to press three buttons in turn over the course of two hours. And those who don't disobey, who don't feel like the game is going in a loop, will get one of the rarest endings in the history of video games in general.

There are alternative endings and the opportunity to go through it differently in the first two parts, but the third is still cooler. If you don’t take the additions of Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, then in total the game has 3 full-fledged endings, as well as 36 states of the game world in all the lands where Geralt has visited. Well, as players progress, more than 300 different main and minor scenarios of certain events await them, starting with the most powerful quest with the Bloody Baron, and ending with the correct execution of some small mission, where you don’t just need to report that the dwarven pharmacist ate by wolves, which will also be considered fulfillment, but to find his body and find out that it was not wolves who ate him, but local pensioners. I won’t spoil it, because the game is relatively new and big, so many people are still playing through it, I’ll just say that, despite the generally positive atmosphere of this action game, there are not just bad endings, but very bad ones.

I don’t presume to judge, but, in theory, the greatest nonlinearity was evident in the first part. At that time, the game didn’t yet look like a corridor shooter, and the developers were still trying to put it really unusual story, which you can replay again and again, trying different variants solutions. It was not possible to determine the exact number of endings. Basically, everyone comes to the first - green ending, at the end of which Shepard remains alive. But in fact there are 3 more that are different, but not very much. You can destroy the Council, or leave it, save the fleet or destroy it. Also, the ending depends on who will be decided to appoint consul. In general, this is a normal game with a good plot, made at a time when the developers had not yet become completely lazy, and gamers were not considered complete sheep.

Arcanum.

Here there is also complete order with nonlinearity. Just like in Fallout 2, almost every mission can be completed different ways. For example, bandits won’t let you on the bridge and demand money for passage. You can kill them, you can complain about them to the constable, who, however, will only make things worse, you can pay them, or intimidate them, persuading them to let you pass for nothing. And so it is everywhere. After completing each area that you happened to walk through, it will find its own fate - good or bad. For each option there will be 2-3 outcomes. Well, as for the hero, he can also end in different ways. He may die, or he may become a god if his communication skills are sufficiently developed. In general, in terms of nonlinearity, the developers of Arcanum pulled out almost everything that could be pulled out at that time, and it’s impossible to complain about the limited choice of actions here.

Yes, exactly Stalker. Many then may say, well, since Stalker, then let there be GTA 5 and Borderlands, but we are talking about non-linear games, and it’s difficult to argue with the fact that Shadow of Chernobyl is non-linear. The game is nonlinear, if only because it has open world, and interactions with different characters can indeed be diametrically opposed. Well, alternative endings, of course, are also present. They are divided into two types: True and False. The first ones are positive, there are only two of them. The second ones are negative, there are five of them in total, and, I must say, it is much easier to end the life of the main character sadly. For example, if he has a lot of money in his pockets, the Monolith will punish him for greed, if the hero wants to destroy the Zone or humanity, the Monolith will punish him for cruelty, and so on. In general, the result is one of the most, if not the most, non-linear first-person shooter.

Baldur's Gate and Dragon Age.

Well, and, of course, the classics. In the end, it was decided to stage two games at once, because it is impossible to decide which of them is more deserved. Personally, I like Baldur's Gate better, but if we talk only about it, then they might ask - where is Icewind Dale? Then, in general, you will have to remember all the classic, isometric fantasy of 20 years ago, which was much cooler than the modern Pillars of Eternity or the promoted, but wretched Torment: Tides of Numenera. In both of these games, we controlled a combat squad, solved problems, thought about what to do so that everything would be fine, chose the lesser evil, and sacrificed some kind of ally to achieve the goal. In general, this is exactly what many people love who want to spend their time playing video games in the most interesting and varied way possible.

Even though Half-Life was a revolutionary game, it had little story (a couple of talkative scientists don't count). In Half-Life 2 and its sequels, the plot became one of the main components. There is a clear main goal: to rid the city of alien invaders. The motivations and characters of the heroes are thought out, and the game world is filled with science fiction, at times intertwined with harsh realism.

Moreover, the story in Half-Life 2 is closely tied to the gameplay. Gordon's vehicles and devices receive improvements as the game progresses, which is always logically arranged. Even the hero’s simple training in using a gravity gun reveals details of the life of Alix, Freeman’s companion, who helps him in battle and solving puzzles.

A bold experiment by Ubisoft. Far Cry 3 has a lot of good things: beautiful and bright graphics, a rich open world, cool shooting. But the shooter is remembered mostly for its plot.

A spoiled young guy and his friends accidentally end up in a dangerous place. There he is met by Vaas, the mad leader of the bandits who control the area. Now the main character needs to learn to shoot, hunt and survive in order to become a real warrior, defeat the antagonist and save his friends.

As the story progresses, the player meets many memorable characters, but the real symbol of the game is the psychopath Vaas. He is so well written by the scriptwriters and played by Michael Mando.

3. BioShock series

The first two BioShock parts take place in the underwater city of Rapture, and the third in the flying city of Columbia. However, in every game in the series, one thing remains the same: their stories tell about people (and almost people) who rebelled against power structures. Society is either on the verge of destruction, or has already been destroyed, and the heroes are fighting those who brought people to this state.

The stories in each game are fascinating, with frequent unexpected twists. The emphasis on plot is especially strong in the third part: it is the climax that affects and partly explains the other two.

Borderlands 2 is a journey. Having recovered from the train crash, the heroes set out to take revenge on the man who tried to kill them - Handsome Jack. He, of course, will try to deal with them several hundred more times.

On his way, the player will meet dozens of unique and literally unique ones. The main thing you need to know before passing: side quests here sometimes even more interesting than the main ones. And don't forget about the add-ons. There is a lot of content in them, and the stories are every bit as humorous and inventive.

Well-worn better times a cowboy walks into a bar, orders a drink and begins to tell the amazing story of his life. It turns out that he fought with almost all the famous bandits of the Wild West: Billy the Kid, Jesse James and others.

The player must “live” what the cowboy is talking about. The character remembers details - they appear in front of the player in real time. If a hero dies in a flashback, the narrator stammers: “No, wait, it wasn’t like that.” And all this is presented with light humor and mysticism.

6. Metro Series

Metro 2033 and Metro Last Light are inspired by the books. The developers worked closely with the writer during the creation of the games, so their stories are fascinating, authentic and thoughtful.

The player travels through the Moscow metro, where people live after a nuclear war, and periodically comes out onto a surface contaminated with radiation. On the way he meets different characters- good and bad, traitors and true friends. And in the end he has to make several difficult decisions on which the fate of the world depends.

Spec Ops: The Line starts out as a regular military shooter. Three brave soldiers arrive in destroyed Dubai to find the source of strange messages. They are attacked by rebels, then by American troops. Everything turns out to be not what it seems, and then again. The ending completely turns the whole story upside down. Or not - it depends on your actions.

Despite the fact that the shooter was released quite a long time ago, it still perfectly demonstrates the horrors and consequences of war.

8. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series

The Modern Warfare trilogy is an epic adventure that will take the player from covert operations in the Middle East to full-fledged war between Russia and the United States. There's not much in these shooters characters, but the characters are memorable. Mainly because in each part you need to play as a new character side by side with the old ones.

Not all three parts of Modern Warfare turned out equally good. Nevertheless, they gave us many amazing moments: the mission in Pripyat, the grueling defense of a small restaurant in an American city, or watching nuclear explosion first person.