11. The Last of Us

Cinematic trailer

Take a stealthy stroll across post apocalyptic America in The Last of Us.  Widely considered one of the best video game stories ever, The Last of Us gives the player a chance to follow Joel on his journey with young Ellie to find an elusive group called the Fireflies.  Ellie is immune to the disease that has overrun the world turning most of the population into cannibalistic monsters known as the Infected.

 
Infected aren’t the only enemy you’ll be knocking out

The game has a many unique and fun features.  In addition to the usual long ranged weapons, players can pick up melee weapons like pipes and baseball bats to bash a few skulls before they break.  Health kits and molotov cocktails are among the items that can be crafted throughout the game to give you an advantage against any crazy monsters, human or otherwise, that try to end your progress.

 
That’s a lot of Infected to deal with

You can even get your stealth fix on, sneaking up behind enemies and sticking a shiv in their throat.  Listen Mode let’s you view where your enemies are so you can take them down silently without alerting anyone else.

The story is where this game really shines.  Ellie goes from an annoying hindrance at the beginning of the game to someone you really care about having at your side as the game goes on.  Not many games can truly create that emotional connection with a character, but The Last of Us excels at it.