|
 Well another long eve with Dos Equis (the writer's brew) and my old PC CD-ROM portfolio got me to waxing poetic again.
I scanned all the titles I had in my library dusting off the dust of ages and reviewing the titles of games that brought me such gaming pleasure, "Back in the Day". As I reminiscenced over the games the good Prophet of Taco's, aka The Taco Prophet, brought up a thread about the best games no one ever played. Thus began another soul searching journey into the depths of my Gaming psyche. Thus my Top 10: Underrated PC Games of All Time - in no particular order:
Freespace 2 - Without a doubt, the best PC space combat opera ever developed. This game combined amazing graphics, an engrossing story line and spectacular game play. Freespace 2 combined the best elements of all the top line space combat sims, its storyline was easily on par with the Wing Commander Series, its flight combat system, put X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter to shame. The storyline elements actually impacted the game as you progressed and the missions made you make tough "Kobayashi Maru" type choices and literally "wing" it. While it won accolades, its star faded into obscurity and Volition dissolved the franchise. Battlezone - Before there was Battlefield 2, and its ilk of combined arms strategy games, Battlezone roamed the empty wastelands that combined FPS style vehicle action with the RTS style management of the Command and Conquer series. Using the 60's and 70's Cold War as a backdrop, Battlezone was an amazingly memorable game that no one bought and thus was consigned to the bargain bins of lore. Homeworld – If Command and Conquer was the progenitor of the RTS genre, than Homeworld was the game that brought RTS to the stars. I remember acquiring Homeworld and slapping it onto my trusty PIII. I was immediately entranced by the new age music and sucked in a by the 3D engine graphical wonderland. The storyline could bring to mind a space age version of the Hebrews march through the wilderness, or better yet a spacefarer's version of the "Odyssey". Unfortunately, its successive expansions seemed to drive away more people than it brought in and sadly enough Homeworld 2 landed on shelves with a thud. Giants: Citizen Kabuto - Imagine if Godzilla was combined with Randy "The Macho Man" Savage, and got released on an island. There you have it, Giants: CK was a combination FPS RTS meets FPS RPG, meets Wrestlemania. The wacky hijinks this game elicited will always remain in my heart. Conan may have uttered "Crush your enemies, drive them before you, hear the lamentation of the women". Kabuto would have uttered "Crush and eat your enemies, Body Slam their holdings, Hear the lamentation of the survivors (then eat them too)". Giants: CK was a game way ahead of its time. The fact it never caught on big was just another "WTF?!?" I need to ask the gaming gods. No One Lives Forever - Half Life may have expanded on the fact that the FPS genre was more than just shooting everything; however, NOLF perfected it. With the graphical style of James Bond, meets the Avengers, meets Austin Powers along with a cast of superbly acted NPC characters, NOLF was the premier single player FPS experience. For its time, the game AI had no peer, and every mission was exciting masterpiece of pacing and action. If it wasn't for its sub par Multiplayer NOLF might have been the top FPS instead Half Life kept that honor and hence doomed NOLF's longevity. Aliens vs. Predator - This game put abject terror into the FPS genre. Half-Life had some icky scenes, however nothing was more depressing then hearing those face hugger pods opening up in AvP. The thing that made this game the most fun was its LAN multi-player. While internet play was non-existent, while on a LAN, in a pitch black room, with psychopaths who specialized in playing the Aliens. This game was the stuff of midnight terrors. Blind firing, grenade tossing into the darkness, feeling mortal dread when hearing any hissing noises, this game could have had it all. Alas, shotty developer support and flaky internet play, combined with a game engine that was dated when the game was released doomed yet another FPS franchise. Planetscape: Torment - P: T, it’s a game that RPG lovers of Baldur's Gate fame swear by or swear at. Using the classic BG engine, the isometric view made the characters larger than life in this wonderful RPG. The games open ended class system allowed your character "The Nameless One" the ability to be any and all things. Plus you actions directly affected your alignment in tradition D&D type fashion. P: T fan base was pretty much an extension of BG, so its fan base was small but dedicated. Damn shame the series was never carried out to its full potential. Interstate 76 - Twisted Metal may have made automotive combat fun, but I-76 made auto combat funkalicious. Whitebread protagonist, Groove Champion, and "cool as the other side of the pillow" Afro toting sidekick, Taurus, led a campy cast of auto vigilantes. Character development aside this game featured some of the most realistic driving combat around, and of course the soundtrack was positively A+. I-76's follow up Interstate '82 effectively buried the franchise, but as I always say there's no crying in vehicular warfare. The Oregon Trail - Picture it. I was in elementary school circa '83 and my father had just purchased my first computer, the Apple IIc. My school is handing out those Scholastic order catalogs... and what’s on the back "The Oregon Trail". $29.95 later and my father believed he had purchased a learning tool for his impressionable son. Fast forward 23 years and “The Oregon Trail” stands out as a game that lead me down the path to PC Gamerdom. The only thing more influential would have been those choose your own adventure Apple games. Good Times... Good Times. Heavy Gear 2 - Mechwarrior will always be the 100 tonne gorilla of robotic mechanized warfare; however, Heavy Gear 2 was a superb game in it's own right. Based off Dream Pod 9 Heavy Gear Universe, HG2 was a perfect balance of mechanized robotic combat and FPS style ease of use. Mechwarrior made you feel like you were in a tank, with legs. HG2 actually gave you the feeling of being in a semi agile humanoid robot (with a big ass gun). The weapons were balanced the multi-player was fun and aiming for someone's legs, ala Mechwarrior 2, was not the key to victory. Damn shame that this game never caught on and Activision's implosion finished off any other hope this game franchise may have had for other venues. |
