I'm a computer gamer myself. When I lived in Arizona, there was a great store called Bookmans. Sort of like a geek's pawnshop, where you could bring in your books, electronics, games, action figures, etc, and sell them for cash or in-store credit. The games were in good shape, and were quite cheap, and sometimes you could get a killer find. Such as Elder Scroll's Oblivion with box, manual, everything, for $6.
Anywho, growing up, I was never in a financial position to buy games. I missed out on many classics. So, I started to go to Bookmans with the sole mission of rounding out my collection with the games I always wanted to play, but never got the chance. Or, just games I remember being reviewed highly and might be interesting to check out for only a few bucks.
I now have a hefty binder barely big enough to contain all these CDs. I've attempted organizing them by category, but it's not always easy when you have genre-blending titles.
First Person Shooters
1.
Half-Life 1 - One of the few games I actually purchased in its prime, and boy was I not disappointed. The younger you are, the more real games seem, and this game enraptured me.
2.
Half-Life: Opposing Force - Talk about an expansion done right! In those days, expansions were not unlike movie sequels, a shoddy attempt to make a quick buck. Those alien shock troopers were great, I loved the electic roach gun, and the newt grenade launcher was overkill on LAN.
3.
Half-Life 2 - A sequel, done right and with loving care. Valve may have taken their sweet-ass time, but it was definately worth it.
4.
Pariah - I actually haven't installed this one yet. I played the demo, and found the upgrade system to be interesting, if a bit gimicky for multiplayer.
5.
Area 51 - Another I haven't installed, let alone played. I've read that it initially installs anti-crack software without the user's knowledge, which can open their computer up to rootkit attacks. Later patches remove this, supposedly. I probably won't be playing this until I have the time and patience to look into the matter further.
6.
Doom - Hells ya, you've gotta own this game if you call yourself an FPS player, let alone a computer gamer!
7.
Doom 3 - Haven't installed it yet, but I did play it when it first came out on a friend's rig. Fun, but I didn't play long enough to realize the "monster spawns and jumps out of a dark corner" was their only trick.
8.
Quake I - Haven't installed this, but I had played the demo waaay back when it first came out. Heh, in those days, I was really more of a "demo gamer" with my subscription to PC Gamer and not much else. Had to pick up Quake 1 when I saw it. Those jumping monster bastards, man they were f*cking scary!
9.
Quake II - A game I actually bought during its release, w00t! Cyborg-slaughtering for the win!
10.
Quake II: The Reckoning Mission Pack - Ahh, expansion packs. I bought this one as well when it came out. A fun little extension, but nothing near the quality of
Opposing Force or
Brood War.
11.
Quake III: Arena - I'm naughty, this is only a burned copy. Still, I remember seeing
curved geometry for the first time and was like "OMFG!"
12.
Aliens vs Predator - Haven't played this for the reason below.
13.
Aliens vs Predator 2 - Why try the first when you can play the second! A fantastic game. Never got to play it in multiplayer, but it's conceptually brilliant. Like FPS Starcraft.
14.
Unreal - I still remember this one line in the PC Gamer review of Unreal about how when the reviewer stepped out of the alien ship and saw the expansive outdoor environment, his jaw dropped at the gorgeous splendor. Then I finally played it years later, remembering those words. Heh, in those days I'm sure it was a new experience from the tight corridors of Doom/Quake. But man talk about barren! Ah well, still a decently fun game, but I never got past this one part because of a bug. The game used the CPU to pace itself on certain things, and today's computers were way too fast for it. The result was a fan obstacle that was impossible to get across. *sigh*
15.
Unreal II - Haven't played this, but as I love the Unreal Tournament franchise, it should be fun playing through it's granddaddy.
16.
Starsiege - Talk about a game made with love. The fact that it came packaged with two thick ~200 page books, one of which was full color, at no additional charge really impressed me. One book gave all kinds of great info on all the vehicles, weapons, and parts. The second, which was the one in color, detailed the history of the universe. That was really something. I remember I bought this game at Costco. This was actually the first ever game I played over multiplayer. What a new experience that was. Of course, dial-up lag was a b*tch, but you took what you got. As for the game itself, simply great. I really loved the custom lingo for both the humans and Cybrid forces, really immersed you in the experience.
17.
Tribes - Haven't played this yet, but it's the classic that birthed the epic multiplayer skirmish games filled with jetpacks and vehicles. Thus, I just had to get it.
18.
Tribes 2 - Again, haven't played it, but why not?
19.
Tribes 3: Vengence - I had played the demo of this, and thought it was well-done. Sadly, it sold so poorly that they have no plans to create another Tribes game. Anywho, at least I have the full series tucked away! Although, not quite if you consider Tribes part of the Starsiege universe, which is part of the Earthsiege universe. Meaning, I'm missing Earthsiege I & II to fully complete the series.
20.
Marathon - Another reason I missed out on many classic games is because my family for the longest time only owned a Mac. And Macs, as you know, aren't known for their wide selection of games. But Marathon... that was the epic sci-fi FPS to Macs as Doom was the demon-slaying epic FPS for the PC. Yet, this game had a story. And not just any story, a really good one. The insane computer AI Durandal, the slave-trader aliens known as the Pfhor, that distinctive chirp/gurgle of the Pfhor guards followed by the
fwap! of their energy staff, the dual-wieldable shotguns... ahh, yes, epic.
21.
Marathon 2 - Continuing the epic, and just as fantastic. Only regret is I was never able to play
Marathon 3: Infinity.
22.
Return to Castle Wolfenstein - Haven't played it, though I did play the Xbox or Playstation adaptation of it at a friend's house. I also played a tiny bit of the computer version back when it was a benchmark as a demo on display computers at stores. Anywho, seems like it'll be a fun game.
23.
Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault - They just kept churning out those WW2 games, didn't they? Thankfully, a few were really good. Haven't played this one, though.
##.
System Shock 2 - I don't actually have this game anymore. Lent it to my cousin, never saw it again. But man oh man talk about one of the most atmospheric games you could ever play! SHODAN, the Annelids, the message logs, so great and creepy! I wish I still had it...
FPS/RPG Hybrids
24.
Painkiller - A game that wanted to go back to the roots of FPS gameplay. You really have to understand that to appreciate it. A fun arcadey game. The bosses were the highlight.
25.
Cliver Barker's Undying - Yet another game I haven't played, but I did play the demo when it came out. And boy was it creepy! Will probably be less so nowadays, but still worth a shot!
26.
Tron 2.0 - Not the
best game ever, but still fun. What I really liked was the computer lingo they used for the game world.
27.
No One Lives Forever 2 - Only played the first level of this before I had to do other things, and never got back to it. Still, it was shaping up to be a great game, and I remember extremely positive reviews.
28.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines - My roommate bought this when it first came out, so I was able to play it fully back then. When I saw it at Bookmans for cheap, I just had to own it. Bugs aside, this game is fantastic. The haunted house level alone is epic in its presentation. They made great use of Half-Life 2's character animation technology for the dialogue interaction sequences. I just wish the development team had taken more time to polish this gem.
29.
American McGee's Alice - What a great, twisted interpretation of a children's story turned into a game. I bought this online a year or so after it had already come out. I simply love the demented music, and the psychodelic level designs are superb. I always liked how your "health" was your sanity, and your "ammunition" was your willpower.
30.
Messiah - Haven't played it, but I remember positive reviews, and the game mechanics seem like they might be interesting with how you take over people's bodies.
31.
Giants: Citizen Kabuto - Talk about foreign humor. Still, despite its flaws, I liked the asymetrical races you can play as, from the magical naked women, the weird-looking techno army dudes, to the giant beast Kabuto who just smashes shit up and eats you.
32.
Evolva - I knew the reviews were horrible on this game, yet its game mechanics had always intrigued me and that thought stuck with me until the day I saw it in Bookmans. The reviews were right, it's not a great game. Still, I like the concept of stealing the DNA of your enemies and modifying yourself and your team in different ways.
##
Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion - Another fantastic game that I no longer own. Forgot it in the CD tray of my laptop when I turned it in for a free cleaning and it conveniently disappeared. Those bastards. On one hand, it only cost me $6 at Bookmans, but on the other, I had Oblivion at an incredible price I'm not likely to ever find again in the near future! AND I was really getting into it! Damn that thieving bastard! Go figure it's the only game
ever to not feature an annoying serial key.
Misc Games
33.
The Hive - Lol, an on-rails shooter. Came with my cousin's PC. I played it when we visited, and so one day they just gave it to me. Heh. Not a great game, but it killed time.
34.
Abe's Oddworld - Haven't played it, but I remember it being reviewed positively.
35.
Animorphs: Know the Secret - Yes, I was into Animorphs, back when it first started. I bought every book up until about ten or so books when the author ended the long-running series. Thus, even if it was crap, I had to at least try the Animorphs computer game. Like the TV show, it sucked, horribly, but maybe not quite as bad as the TV show.
Adventure Games
36.
Myst - So many people raved about Myst. I got it, played it for a bit, got bored. Neat, nice music, some cool worlds, but it just didn't hold my interest. I miss the original adventure games, like Monkey Island 1 & 2, Maniac Mansion, Loom, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Zak McKrakken and the Alien Mind Benders, etc. Then the adventure games I missed out on, like Day of the Tentacle, Sam and Maxx, Blade Runner, etc. *sigh*
37.
Sanitarium - Haven't played it, but I remembered such a glowing review about it in PC Gamer. Had to buy it.
38.
Monkey Island 3: The Curse of Monkey Island - A great reinvisioning of Monkey Island's art style, but there will always be a place in my heart for the first two. Sadly, with #3, a bug existed that caused a crash at a specific point in the game, preventing me from ever getting halfway through, if that.
Massively Multiplayer Online Games
39.
Guild Wars - Of course, with these games, you can't get them at a place like Bookmans. So, full price out of my pocket. Ah well, at least this one I can still play! My girlfriend and I each got a copy to play together. She was actually the one who wanted us to play it, and I figured, gf who likes to play videogames? SCORE! Anywho, a fun game in its own right, but it can either become incredibly boring or incredibly absorbing while not playing it -- that is, trying to figure out unique builds.
40.
World of Warcraft - I actually stayed away from this game for the longest time, until my girlfriend, once again,
dragged me into it. Granted, she didn't have to push very hard. =oP The MMO formula, perfected. And perfectedly addicting. I missed classes to play this goddamn game. However, if you're able to pull your mind back from the pursuit of constantly getting better, you realize you are just repeating the same thing over and over, grinding for better numbers or a prettier shade of flaming gay purple. All the while your bank account shrinks by fifteen bones every month.
Role-Playing Games
41.
Fallout 2 - Heard so many great things about this game! Saw it at Bookmans, had to get it. Installed it, started playing. First thing I noticed? The controls suck ass. Anywho, didn't get too far into it. I'll have to try it again sometime later. I'm sure once I get more into the storyline that interest will pick up.
42.
Diablo - Ahh, another Blizzard classic. Click click click, die die die, loot loot loot. Repeat. =oD I have fond memories of that game. Then I remember playing online and wondering how the hell people were able to kill me so easily. Then I discovered trainers and gear creators. What dicks. A shame, but it did prove amusing for a bit trying out unlimited Armageddon, invinicibility, teleport and unlimited mana, etc. Crafting superpowered items was also a fun little pasttime.
43.
Diablo II - The addictive template, new and improved! It would serve as Blizzard's most evil field study for human addiction, used in the diabolical construction of the most addicting game ever known to man, World of Warcraft. Damn them! But a good kind of damning, with succubi.
44.
Diablo II: Lord of Destruction: A worthy expansion.
Real-Time Strategy
45.
Myth - Such great reviews I remember for this game. Upon playing it, I could definately see it was a game great in its own time, but it didn't age well. Still, it was interesting, and I should probably give it another shot. Not sure how much I enjoy the whole "you only have as many units as you start with" gameplay, but it is a bit more realistic. But the gameplay is slow, and the controls aren't the best.
46.
Total Annihilation: Kingdoms - Another old game that got great reviews but didn't age that well. I enjoyed it, but quickly found the AI easily exploited with dominant strategies.
47.
Age of Mythology - I love mythology, and a strategy game featuring it is even better! Gameplay isn't the best, but it's fun, and some of the units are just great to watch. I also liked how the Norse worked differently with their mobile carts. I just wish all the races were as different and asymetrical.
48.
Empire Earth - Great idea, not so sure on the execution. I'd have probably done some things differently, but still, I'm glad they tried.
49.
Empire Earth: The Art of Conquest - At Bookmans, I thought, why not? Haven't tried it, though.
50.
Dungeon Keeper 2 - Haven't played it yet, but it's next on my list.
51.
Dune 2000 - An interesting predecessor to Command & Conquor. The concrete was annoying to deal with, though. Infantry feels more like vehicle fodder than particularly useful.
52.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Ah, what a great game! Lively and action-packed. Vehicles seem almost overpowered. The race selection is good, but I hear they never added the Tyranids in any of the expansions. Such a shame. It's interesting looking back at the old 1980's 40k sourcebooks and seeing how blatantly Starcraft copied the Marine's design.
53.
Sacrifice - Now here's an interesting game I just finished playing. Had wonderful reviews all round, and they're well-deserved. You serve as a wizard for one of five gods. In the campaign, you can choose who you want to serve each mission. The choice earns favor with some gods while losing favor with others, and each mission you gain one of that god's spells and unit types. The creature design is refreshingly unique and bizarre. The gameplay, at first, is a bit weird for an RTS player, but you actually get accustomed to it. Your camera focuses only on your wizard in a third-person perspective. You also don't build any structures that create units. Instead, you summon them with your wizard. So it's like a third-person action strategy game. The two game resources are mana and souls. Mana is acquired through Mana Wells, which you can build a Manalith over it so only you and your creatures receive mana from it. To receive mana while away from your Manaliths, you must summon little creatures called Manahours. These transmit mana from all your Manaliths. Mana is an infinite resource, but should your opponent target your Manahours, you could find yourself quickly running dry, unable to summon more creatures, cast spells, or resurrect. That's another thing, when your wizard is killed, he becomes a spirit. You're able to continue issuing orders and controlling your troops, but you cannot collect souls or cast spells. Your health will gradually increase if there is a mana source nearby to recharge, which at full health you will reincarnate. So, you never actually die unless the enemy gets to your altar and desecrates it. The second resource is souls. All units cost at least one soul, with more powerful creatures costing more, up to 5 souls. Souls are a static resource, with only the amount on the map existing throughout the entire mission. Therefore, souls are quite valuable. When your troops die, they release a blue soul. These you can pick back up by running over them. Enemy souls, however, come out red. You cannot pick these up. Instead, you must convert them using a spell. The spell summons a creature called a Sac-doctor. This creature revives the monster and tows it back to your altar to be sacrificed to your god and purified into a blue soul. However, if the Sac-doctor is killed on his way back to your altar, he'll release the ressurected enemy unit. Also, while the creature is being purified, if the Sac-doctors conducting the ceremony are attacked, the creature is set free. Thus, gaining your enemy's souls is important for outnumbering him, but it's tricky and not without risk. Now, as for being defeated, if an enemy gets to your altar, he can sacrifice one of his own units to desecrate your altar. When that happens, you start taking damage to both your health and mana. If you die, game's up. However, if you attack the Sac-doctors, you can stop the desecration. With a handy Teleport spell that allows you to travel with your surrounding troops to any of your structures in about a second, you can defend against this. However, if the enemy has just slain you and your manahours, taking you out of commission, you'll be hard pressed to ressurect fast enough to stop the desecration, and if you die again after reviving while the ceremony is still taking place, you're done. Anywho, to summarize, it's a great game with unique game mechanics. Graphics are naturally dated, it was made back in 2000, but it's not ugly.
54.
Command & Conquer: Red Alert - Having been accustomed to Blizzard and Blizzard-wannabe games, the differences in this game definately stuck out to me. One resource? No fog of war after exploring? No unit caps? Centralized base-building? Pre-building a building before deployment? Vehicles squishing infantry? Yeah, it was a lot to take in. =oP Fun, interesting, but not too sure on the balance.
55.
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 - Same as above. Some units and abilities are downright overpowered. Very frantic with how quickly units can die.
56.
Sim City 2000 - Talk about a classic. No goals, do whatever you please. Even conjure fires, tornadoes, and aliens like some biblical god. I remember being in awe when first gaining access to the Archologies. Ah, what a great childhood memory... =oP
57.
Sim City 3000 - Another Bookman-acquired game. Interesting continuation, but still as confusing as ever as to why certain areas grow better than others.
58.
Sim Earth - Lol, talk about puke on a screen. Never really could make heads or tales on this game's "gameplay". Not very intuitive, nor engaging.
59.
Sid Meier's Alpha Centari - What a dwarfing tech tree. And those mind worms get damn annoying. Grav tanks for the win!
60.
Castles: Siege and Conquest - What a boring childhood. While everyone else had Wolfenstein 3D and Doom, I had this. Still, castle-building was fun, as was the slow takeover of the country.
61.
Castles II: Siege and Conquest - Damn Pope.
Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Apr 11 2008, 8:54 am by Hercanic.
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. Games are a classic people. You could even mention FF7, though it may be up there i didn't see.
