Sometimes there is overlap with “the best” and sometimes there isn’t.
It’s a singular vision that was a clear inspiration for so many other developers.
It’s funny and imaginative and clearly doesn’t compromise on what the creators wanted it to be.
Psychonauts wasn’t bad at the time, it was just before its time.
Now its time has come again.
The Movies
CJ:Who hasnt dreamt of becoming a director and making their own films?
No, in The Movies you really got to shoot aforesaid movies.
I remember particularly enjoying the early backdrops for driving scenes, which used static cars and a moving background.
A fair few of us still have a soft spot for it even after 17 years.
And now here I am, saving that sequel.
So, what gives?
Well, the truth is that I still have them both installed on Steam.
That might seem odd, but I need them both because I gravitate towards them for different reasons.
Am I a goblin committed to a life of chaos?
Battlefront 2s biggest strength is the heroic antics you could achieve all on your own.
The original Battlefront makes you feel like part of an army, just one stormtrooper amongst many others.
Battlefront 2 places the emphasis firmly on becoming a one-person army, both on the ground and in space.
Civilization IV
Ollie:I joined the world of 4X games just asCivilization IVhit.
More than any game I’d played before, Civilization IV felt like a game for grown-ups.
After all, only grown-ups are allowed to commit mass slaughter and plunge the world into nuclear chaos.
Every time I started a new game, I felt that I was embarking on a voyage.
It was a tremendously exciting prospect, a real feeling of adventure.
The early-game of Civ IV is ingrained into my mind.
But there’s still something about Civ IV that hasn’t been seen since.
Sure, I got that the goal was to help your villagers thrive.
You could yank trees out of the ground before pouring them into buildings to help with construction.
You could throw rocks at rival settlements.
You could gently scold your giant wolf baby for pooping on a tiny man.
Dont do that, my large wolf son!
This is ayouissue, it seemed to silently imply.
Be a better god.
it’s possible for you to tell a big cow to batter a lion.
I miss Lionhead a lot.
Maybe theres something poetic about that.
If you ignore the wolf pooping bit.
That kind of removes some of the mystique.
There’s only one thing for it: brains.
Eatingbrains, to be specific.
you might use your head as an explosive bowling ball.
The GRIP thatThe Sims 2had on me as a 12-year-old was unmatched.
Downtown was a giant new lot complete with bowling alleys, karaoke machines, and dance floors.
It set a standard.
Driver 3
James:Bear with me.
It is a bad video game.
And yet, its not the immediately repulsive kind of bad video game.
Soon, youre trundling around Driv3rs barren, barely textured cities thinking… its kind of alright, actually?
The car handling feels decent.
The lighting looks quite nice.
Ving Rhames is only mildly phoning it in.
Alice0:After 17 years, F.E.A.R.
It is still cool for shotguns to dissemble baddies into their component guts.
It is still cool to batter baddies with a spinning roundhouse kick.
It is still cool to take helicopter rides between mission sites.
It is still cool for a straightforward man-shooting mission to creep into supernatural horror.
It is still cool to have lots of unnerving quiet time.
Hell, even the jumpscares interrupting those moments are still cool.
A second character will accompany you throughout, either AI-controlled or played by a friend in local co-op.
If a character dies, the story continues without them.
All it’s missing is online multiplayer, really.
Unlike many games with ideas well ahead of their time, ObsCure has aged fairly well.
A little clunky in places and hard as nails, but that was the style at the time.
Plus, it’s possible for you to take down enemies while hanging from a pipe!
And do the splits on tight corridor walls to avoid being seen!
Now that’s something that’s definitely worth preserving.
