Number 2, multiplayer

StarCraft

There are many real-time strategy games that could arguably take StarCraft's spot on this list. After all, it was WarCraft II that made multiplayer RTS gaming popular through Kali. Red Alert made internet gaming even easier and was arguably the first true internet RTS, and Total Annihilation made the first use of 3D, not to mention truly combining land, sea and air.

Yet if you look at popularity both among mainstream and hardcore gamers, if you look at the numbers of people who play and own StarCraft, there's no comparison. Even Blizzard's follow up, WarCraft III, isn't as popular. No other game has three completely unique races that don't share a single unit. Heck, no two units even resemble each other. Yet, despite the drastic differences between the Zerg, Terran, and Protoss, they remain balanced. The balance hasn't always been maintained, but even at the height of Zerg imbalance,, Terran and Protoss players still stood a chance.

This balance is tricky and always changing, people come up with new tricks all the time and recycle old ones. Styles of play that grew unpopular a year ago can be reintroduced due to their effectiveness against the latest fad. Sure, the pace of development has slowed down, but the competition remains furious. Even those who simplify StarCraft down to the "rushing will beat a hard tech, hard tech beats balanced, and fast teching beats balanced" maxim are often the very same who play the game to this day.

As with its other games, Blizzard has extended continuing support to StarCraft over the years. After the Brood War expansion pack came a host of balance patches, patches that Blizzard delivered after much research and often against the objections of its players because more often than not, what Blizzard did was right. However, the balance changes aren't all. Demo recording was implemented to satisfy the online crowd and this has led to a revolution in how quickly strategies and tactics are picked up by new players.

Not only is StarCraft a multiplayer real-time strategy king, but it remains the benchmark for a singleplayer campaign. Who can forget characters like Raynor, Kerrigan and Tassadar? How about the haunting opening sequence of Brood War, when the foreign Battlecruiser leaves the marines below to die at the hands of the Zerg swarm? And there is only one game that has a more chilling ending than Kerrigan, the Zerg Queen, coming out on top in the end.

In the words of former FiringSquad Editor-in-Chief, and StarCraft strategy guide writer Bob "CalBear" Colayco,

The game had staying power, because aside from the three uniquely balanced races, Blizzard actually took an interest in the game after release (what a concept!). They actively adjusted the game balance over a period of months and years after release and added enhancements and tweaks to the battle.net interface as well. It's amazing that many RTS games today still can't get matchmaking right, and it's five years after Blizzard provided the blueprint with Battle.net

For these reasons and more, StarCraft has earned its position as Number Two on FiringSquad's Best Multiplayer Games of All Time list.