Introduction
The PC has stood out throughout the years for its rich abundance of games, something that has only accelerated through the years thanks to download services like Steam and Origin.
We're a diverse bunch here at TechRadar and a list of favourites was never going repeat titles. Hitting our rundown is every type of game out there — from the massive arenas of Unreal Tournament to the sprawling metropolises of Sim City, the random slapdash mayhem of Worms and a bit of Star Wars thrown in for good measure.
So buckle in and get ready to be taken on a discovery of PC gaming through the eyes of our motley crew of writers and editors.
Kane Fulton - Computing Editor
Unreal Tournament
I stopped caring about single-player games after the launch of Unreal Tournament 99. UT99 had it all: massive arenas, blisteringly fast Instagib mods, epic assault maps and community-driven, pre-millennium IRC-based chat. They all tested my 56k connection to the max, and it was an absolute blast.
Hugh Langley - News Editor
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II
I think we can all agree that PC gaming peaked with Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II. Go back to it now and, sure, it's not easy on the eyes, but this game had so many great things going for it: the lightsaber control, the live-action cutscenes, the level set on the falling spaceship. In 1997 Gamespot called it the best single-player FPS since Doom. More than 15 years later, I don't think anything has changed.
Gareth Beavis - Phones and Tablets Editor
Worms Armageddon
My PC gaming experience has never been about high power, more playability. Which is why I adored Worms in all its forms, from Worms 2 (although I was allowed to play Worms 1 on a friend's computer once) to Worms Armageddon, I couldn't get enough. In fact, I played the demo version of Armageddon for about a year before realising I could just save up and buy it.
It was the simplicity and the nuanced levels that got me, that you could be a lone worm and with a few judicious drills and girders could destroy the stupid computer team. There's nothing more satisfying than inching over a map for 28 seconds and poking your last enemy off the cliff.
John McCann - Phones and Tablets Deputy Editor
Sim City
My first ever computer game was Sim City. I remember the box it arrived in, an old fashioned TV made up the artwork and the sheer excitement of popping in the floppy disk and booting it up for the first time was incredible. It had moving cars (read: tiny white rectangles), awesome disasters and those graphics… well, I was in love.
Patrick Goss - Global Editor-In-Chief
Half-Life
Half-LIfe
I thought long and hard about Counter-Strike but, in the end, I had to plump for the game that spawned the mod, Valve's Half-Life. From the mono-rail intro to the jokes and characterisation, via some of the greatest scripted events to grace the world of game and the famous crowbar, the first adventure of Gordon Freeman remains a bona fide classic.
I still rank the moment that you finally catch up with the 'rescuer' soldiers and they try to kill you as one of the most brilliantly realised early-game twists of all time. Counter-Strike, Steam, the Grav Gun, Portal and virtually every first person shooter since owe a debt to the original Half-Life, so I do as well.
Matt Hanson - Phones & Tablets Writer
Command & Conquer
Command & Conquer is probably the PC game I have played the most over the years, with its alternative Cold War followup Red Alert a close second. Playing local multiplayer using a null cable connected to my two PCs against a school friend from down the road will always be one of my favourite PC gaming memories. Especially the times I won.
Duncan Bell - Lifestyle Editor
Deus Ex
I loved everything about Deus Ex. The dark tone, the massively interactive world, the guns, the trenchcoats, the silly accents, and even the creeping-about stealth bollocks that I usually find tedious beyond belief. I even loved the fact that when you sniped someone from a dark corner, his mates would run around furiously in little circles for about 2 minutes, a bit like they were moshing.
Then they'd stop and resume patrolling as if nothing had ever happened, even going so far as to step over the corpse of their dead colleague as they continued their rounds. And the ending! How much more bleak could you get than choosing between plunging the world into tyranny, anarchy or a new dark age? None more bleak. Sorry, spoilers there.
James Peckham - Phones & Tablets Writer
Counter-Strike: Source
I'd hate to count up the hours of my life I have sunk into Counter-Strike: Source. CS: Source didn't need a story, it didn't need new maps, it didn't need to be renewed each year like CoD. It just needed the simple yet near on perfect gunplay with a continuous loop of game rounds to keep me glued to the screen for hours on end. That alongside a massive mod community creating all new game modes kept me addicted for years and as I write this I'm starting to wonder why I even stopped.
Marc Chacksfield - Content Team Lead
Fade To Black
I was pretty much a console gamer from the beginning but when I did play PC games I always loved something that would push the envelope with graphics - for me in the 90s this meant Fade To Black. I lost hours in that game. Granted it wasn't as good as its predecessor, Flashback, but it was my first steps into the world of third-person gaming, something that has stayed with me ever since.
Cameron Faulkner - Assistant Editor
The Movies
Peter Molyneux may like to fluff up his projects, but The Movies deserved the hype. It's a Hollywood studio simulator where I had a blast spending my time sifting through the local (not talented) talent for my next movie masterpiece and recording voiceovers for my interpretation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
Kevin Lee - Associate Editor
Super Monday Night Combat is a name most people don't remember, but it was a third-person MoBA ahead of its time. Equal parts bizarre and polished, it was a blast playing as a ninja versus a talking gorilla, and thanks to some witty banter from the announcers it had a unique style of its own.
Joe Osborne - Senior Editor
Baldur's Gate
Few PC role-playing games from the '90s nailed the scope, fun mechanics and breadth of choice inspired by the Dungeons and Dragons tabletop game series than Baldur's Gate. Sure, having access to the D&D license helped a little (OK, a lot). But regardless, few RPG adventures stand up to hours I've spent exploring the world of Baldur's Gate, its inhabitants and the consequences of my actions therein.
James Rivington - Commercial Content Editor
Grim Fandango
I always was and still am a huge lover of shooters so it was hard for me to not choose one of the FPS games I played on PC when growing up; Wolfenstein 3D, Doom II, Dark Forces, Project IGI, Soldier of Fortune, Operation Flashpoint, Half-Life... I could go on. But the game that will always have a place in my heart above all others is Lucas Arts' adventure classic Grim Fandango.
To this day it remains the hardest game I've ever played - I'd sometimes play for a whole evening without getting anywhere at all. The controls were truly appalling. In places it was infuriating. But those characters, that humour, those amazing locations, that script. Grim Fandango was one of a kind, and with the recent remaster, if you've never played it you no longer have an excuse!
Nick Pino - Associate Editor
The Sims
While great games like Warcraft, Half-Life and Diablo could hold my attention for hours at a time, it wasn't until I played The Sims that I truly lost days of my life staring at the warm glow of my CRT monitor. Curmudgeons write the series off as a waste of time or, worse, a game only girls play.
The beauty of The Sims franchise, in my mind at least, is its ability to appeal to either gender equally, and enrapture anyone from age nine to 99 with the simple act of living the life you've always wanted. Will Wright's creation went on to be one of the highest grossing PC games of all time and inspired millions of gamers around the world to appreciate simplicity and out-of-the-box thinking in game design.
Nick Broughall - Australian Managing Editor
ScreenCheat
I'm going to shout out to the local Aussie indie dev scene and celebrate the awesomeness of ScreenCheat. The result of a GameJam event in Melbourne, Screencheat captures those amazing four-player split-screen battles from the days of GoldenEye, and pops them into a ridiculously bright, happy setting. The catch is that you, and all your rivals, are invisible, and you need to "cheat" to work out where they are. It's also the only game where you can "Windows Vista" another player, which is worth the price of admission on its own.
Sophia Tong - US Tech Lead, Gamesradar
King's Quest VI
I loved most of Sierra's adventure games in the 90s but King's Quest VI is my favorite because of all the fairy tale references and silly puns. It's a pretty standard prince saves princess kind of story, but the puzzles were clever and the world was unique. They just don't make them like they used to!
Lily Prasuethsut - Associate Editor, Wearables
Mass Effect
I love everything made by BioWare, especially Mass Effect. Taking cues from the days of Baldur's Gate, I feel like the Mass Effect games were crafted with the finest storytelling and in depth characters I've ever encountered where decisions made held so many dire consequences. Despite some sketchy gameplay mechanics, I still found time to play all three Mass Effect titles more than once, quite happily.
No comments:
Post a Comment