Favorite PC game - Round Table

Sharby · Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2004 4:04 pm Post subject: Favorite PC game - Round Table

It's round table time again people and this time we're going gaming!

Since pc gaming is slowly giving way to the consoles we're going to breath a little life back into them. Out of all the pc games made, and there have been quit a few, which is your favorite? New or old, strategy or rpg, doesn't matter (as long as you've played it) we want to hear it.

Now I've been playing pc games for quite a while, back when 5.25 diskettes were the new up and comer, now this in no way implies that I'm old...just older than some.

I think my favorite pc game was "Die by the Sword", a fantasy game where you were a Knight/fighter being a tunnel rat, going through the different tunnels and caves on this quest all the while hacking away at goblins and kobolds and such. But what I loved the most was the multiplayer aspect. You could play part of the game as co-op with another buddy over the LAN, but the most fun were the death match games. It reminded me of Monty Pythons Holy Grail. You could control how you actually swung your sword with the keypad...1-9 swung low left to hight right, 4-6 straight across...you get the idea, but if you cut off your opponents leg he would hop around and could still fight, cut off his arm and now he's hopping around on one foot with no sword, we had more fun trying to see who could cut off the most body parts than we ever did playing the regular game.

You could customize your character some, male, female, armor type, weapon, you could even be a skeleton or an orc or other monters within the game. One game was "Orc Soccer", you had an orc with a big club (of course so was your opponent) on this medeival soccer field, your goal was to score as many goals in the time alloted obviously, but the ball though was a little goblin creature that you just smacked around bouncing them off the walls and ceiling...oh there were some good times.

Ok so maybe you had to be there to appreciate it....or at least 10 years younger maybe :wink:

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L8rdaze · Forum Member Joined: Jun 04, 2002 Posts: 62

My first memory of computer gaming started on a Commodore 64 using the data cassette. It was a D&D type game by Avalon Hill called TelenGard. It took like 10 minutes to load from the cassette and was a blast to play (back in the day!) While playing it one day, I accidently found out that you could hit tab and break into the (BASIC?) code. I edited a formula so everytime I wallk into the inn, my gold would triple. Ended up getting so much that it caused an overflow error! Guess you could say that was my first experience at "modding" (LOL).

After that I ventured into the INFOCOM realm and the games like Zork, but I soon grew tired of READING all that prose!

2 other games that are burned in my memory are NEUROMANCER (based on the book) and BLOODNET,which was a Cyberpunk/Vampire game!

L8r!

GlitchGirl

Hmm.. toughie...

First game that really sucked me in was "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" - the old infocom text adventure. It was sometimes infuriating, but it was also funny and fun to play when it wasn't driving me crazy. Took me forever to beat but beat it I did, HA! >

I also used to love the old Warlords series - it was the only strategey game I ever really got into. Lot of fun in all it's incarnations though four I believe (I think it became RTS after that. I prefer turn base with strategey)

The first UnReal game ranks as one of my favorite shooter. I still remember the first time you step off the ship into the outside world and going "Whoah!" Okay the graphic look dated now, but at the time, that was amazing. Plus it offered a deeper game than most of the shooters I'd played before.

Freedom Force deserves a mention. Best superhero game I have played to date, and I still love how easy it is to make your own characters. Can't wait for the sequel.

Sam & Max Hit the Road and Full Throttle. Gads those were great - funny challenging, and some of the best game writing to date. When I heard the sequals to both had been shelves I was heartbroken. (darn Lucasarts) "Day of the Tentacle" ranks up there too if only for the things to have to do to that poor hamster, and the whole "save the scinetist from the IRS" sequence. Talk about abusing the NPCS. :lol:

Baldur's Gate and Final Fantasy 7 tie for favorite RPG. I admit that the latter is a port from console, but it was still a very good game. And Baldur's Gate was so massive but fun... I need to pull that out again sometime. Plus there are probably a million I'm forgetting.

One thing I don't like about console games is the lack of customization. I like being able to go in and "tweak" things like graphics and sounds and so forth. Console games are too locked in in that respect.

I think right now, consoles are all new and shiny, but who knows, hopefully things will drift back to the PC eventually.
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OrcaDesignStudios

I really like the NHL series from EA Sports. I'd been out of it for a few years, but got 2004 at a massive discount (something like 60% off) and I still play it from time to time. Of course, I've customized my own team and given them new uniforms

One game that I absolutely loved was Journeyman Project 2 and 3. The first one was cool, but the 2nd was GREAT. Not action packed in the least, but very good in terms on having to piece together clues, etc. Same goes for number 3, which was far more in-depth than the other two. Replay value isn't great, but the first time around, they're fun.

And, finally, I have to give the nod to CASTLE, an old DOS-based game where you explored a castle and ogres were represented by capital O's and swords were plus signs. you moved around with your arrow keys and could examine things by typing in basic commands like "LOOK OGRE," getting reponses like "The OGRE looks nasty!" Of course, you could also type in "LOOK TESTICLES" and get the response "I don't have testicles and I can't see testicles!"
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Sturkwurk

Wing Commander 3, I think it was 3, the first one with Mark Hammil in it.

Then the other space ship flying games like Tie Fighter, X Wing and so on.

Doug

snorky2k

I feel that Z was the best PC game that I ever encountered. Available in the mid 90's from Bitmap Brothers, the program fell into complete obscurity after being purchased first by Westwood then EA Games.

At each level, the player had to build an army of robots, vehicles, and emplacements to fight the computer AI. All of the different robots and computer had different capablilities and the difficulty rose very quickly. I enjoyed playing it for hours even though my day job required that all of us would go play video games for at least 15 minutes a couple of times a day. ( I worked at a game manufacturer not related to Bitmap, Westwood, or EA ).

BtaraKtahn · Forum Newbie Joined: Feb 18, 2004 Posts: 7

"Doom 2" by id (PC) - The first really good First Person Shooter I ever played. Also, the first game I ever played online with one of my cousins.

"Outlaws" by LucasArts (PC) - This is what you get if you cram Doom 2 into a blender with the animation from Aeon Flux and the music and score from a Sergio Leone western.

"Full Throttle" by LucasArts (PC) - A funny post-apocalyptic murder mystery/frame up. Mark Hamill plays the villain *loved his work as Joker in "Batman: The Animated Series"*

"Sam & Max: Hit The Road" LucasArts (PC) - One of the funniest games I've ever played. I love Max (the psychotic rabbit). When Sam dips his head into the water on the Tunnel of Love ride and then presses it into the fuse box to short it out... heheheheeeee.... You HAVE to play it on CD, though. 3.5" diskette doesn't talk all the way through.

"Monkey Island" LucasArts (PC) - I remember me and my mother staying up late playing this. I didn't care much for the 2nd one, though 'everyone' I see online swears it's the best. *thinks everyone online's an idiot* I also love the 3rd one; "Curse of Monkey Island". Much better animation and none of the stupid PC Soundcard beeps and music. It also has Gary Coleman as the Lemonade Kid.

"Elite" (C-64) - My cousins and I used to play this one a lot. Start out with a little crap ship, buy goods cheap at System A then turn around and sell them at System B or C for more, take out pirates and salvage their cargoes, or just go pirate, yourself! Capitalism In Action!

"X-Wing" and "TIE Fighter" from LucasArts (PC) - As much as I enjoyed these games (getting to be an X-Wing pilot in the Star Wars universe), I didn't care much for the TIE Defender game which vomited up some BS ship that was better than anything Alliance had, yet somehow, the Empire was still defeated. I feel the same way about the Naboo fighter from Crapisode I. The Z-95 Headhunter was state-of-the-art at the end of the Old Republic. Why then do they have some stupid yellow ship that puts anything in the 4th, 5th and 6th movies to shame? I don't remember seeing a single Z-95 in neither that movie nor "Attack of the Clones". *really hates George for Crapisode I...*

"Wing Commander" and "Wing Commander II" by Origin (PC) - Experience Han Solo butt-kicking action as you fly the Ferret through asteroids with the turbo button down and Kilrathi on your butt! I was a little disappointed when they went 'live action' with it in Wing Commander 3... Angel was prettier as an anime character.

"Silent Service" (C-64), "F-15 Strike Eagle" (C-64), "Project Stealth Fighter" (C-64), "Airborne Ranger" (C-64), "Pirates!" (C-64), "Civilization" (PC), "Gunship" (C-64) and "Gunship 2000" (PC) from MicroProse - "Project Stealth Fighter" was the only game in their lineup in which I actually won a Congressional Medal of Honor for a mission... yet I never could land successfully on a carrier.

"Wasteland" from Electronic Arts (C-64) - One of the Best... Games... EVAH!!! Predecessor and inspiration to the "Fallout" games from Interplay; hindered only by the sounds and graphics of the time since the gameplay itself never seems to get old. The nice thing about playing on the C-64 was the fact that you could reformat the other 3 play disks you create so you could continue taking your team through again... and again... and again; leveling them up with better equipment and ranks... until everyone's wading through the Citadel with proton axes and power armor.

"Zork I", "Wishbringer", "Leather Goddesses of Pheobos", "Plundered Hearts" (C-64) from Infocom, "Crescent Hawks' Inception" from Infocom/Westwood (PC) - I loved the little extras that Infocom packed with their games, such as the scratch'n'sniff card, 3D comic and glasses with "Leather Goddesses" or the glow in the dark rock with "Wishbringer". Plus, being text-only, you couldn't just run in pixelated gun blazing. You actually had to THINK things through. *went through a LOT of graph paper making maps for these stupid games*

"DragonStrike" (PC), "Pools of Radiance" (C-64), "Curse of the Azure Bonds" (C-64), "Secret of the Silver Blades" (C-64) from SSI, ... oh, gawd... I'm really dating myself with these... "DragonStrike" was neat as it was a "DragonLance" flight simuator. The graphics were akin to "Gunship" for the C-64, but it was still pretty neat as you could use breath weapons, claw rakes or just fly directly into your opponent wit the tip of the lance. The "Pools of Radiance" series let you take your characters from one storyline to the next.

K. Moving forward a bit...

"Star Wars: Rogue Squadron" (PC) from LucasArts - I really enjoy the Battle of Hoth in this game. I just wish it lasted longer. It would also be nice if the game had Gamma settings so you could lighten it to see the bloody terrain in some of the missions. Unfortunately, my new nVidia chip card has pretty much rendered the game useless on my system as it now either crashes after missions, or when set to play on NT or Windows 2000 modes, doesn't seem capable of using a joystick (though without the crashing... but I can't pilot with a mouse; so sue me.)

"Fallout" and "Fallout 2" (PC) from Interplay - I just don't get tired of playing these games over and over.

"Rainbow Six" series (PC) from Red Storm/UbiSoft - A heck of a lot of fun in a LAN party when you and your friends go in as a team... not quite as much fun online when everyone else has a cable modem and you're on low-end dial-up and you have to lead your targets by 2 or more seconds.

"Baldur's Gate" and "Baldur's Gate 2" (PC) from Bioware - I haven't really played these much in multiplayer, but the single player modes are fun.

"Neverwinter Nights" (PC) from Atari - One of the most enjoyable online games I've ever played... particularly since they don't charge you a monthy fee to play it)

"Vampire: the Masquerade - Redemption" (PC) from Activision - It's a pity that Activision no longer acknowledges that this game ever existed. Hackers have taken over the WON servers and have run off just about everyone left in that community; crashing games at a whim and threatening users' systems.

"No One Lives Forever" (PC) from Fox - I fell in love with this game from the opening title sequence where Caite Archer dances across the screen to the ever so cool "No One Grooves Forever" theme. The game has the feel of a Matt Helm movie. I haven't played the sequel yet as I put the game up after purchasing it this year when I found that it wasn't compatible with my integrated Intel graphics. I've since remedied that with a new graphics card but can't remember where I stored the game. C'est la vie.

In defense of console games, I highly recommend "Spider-Man 2" from Activision. I hate the linear missions it throws in your way from time to time forcing you to finish them before you can get back to bashing heads with bozos in the streets or swinging around the tops of the NYC skyline. If you get the chance, try web slinging a perpetrator from the roof of a buiding over the side. The little icon showing where they are in relation to your screen gets smaller and lighter as he plummets to his little TRON death... then is replaced by points tallying up for your score.

It also tosses in some of the other Spidey villains such as Black Cat and Rhino, as well as the lamer ones like Mysterio. I'm currently stuck on the portion of the game where Spider-Man is trying to break the control terminals in Dr. Octavius' lab (where the arms get grafted to his back). So, the game's on hold a bit while I play around with others such as "Rogue Ops", "X-Squad" and "Spy Hunter" *loves the new Game Stop that opened up last month in her area!* Cheap used games! Yay!!

Lofweir · Forum Newbie Joined: Jan 10, 2004 Posts: 1

My first memorable experience with gaming is with the first two games I ever finished. Bards Tale I and Starflight, both by Electronic Arts. Bards Tale was essentially a straightforward hack and slash with no real roleplaying, but it was great fun building up your party and meeting the next monster. Starflight really had a sense of discovery to it. I remember the first time I figured out where Old Earth had to be, and went out and found it.

Mechwarrior II and its followups, Ghost Bear Clan and the full-blown mercenaries, all great games.

The PC-version of Wolfenstein, the first one, with it's awful pixel graphics and the maze levels. My first first-person shooter. This was the game that really sucked me in. I can still remember the blue nazi guys with the machien guns screaming "Mein Leben" as you gunned them down.

The entire Might and Magic seres (ignoring M&M 9) has killed many hours of my life.

And finally, the Ultima series by Origin, in particularly Ultima 5, the last great RPG. I loved Baldur's Gate and other RPG's I have played, but Ultima 5 still stands out in my mind as a truly great game.

Ratteler · Forum Member Joined: Jun 10, 2002 Posts: 550 Location: NYC

I wasn't all that much into gaming as a kid. I remeber Donkey Kong and Smurfs on my Colecovision.

When I got my C64 my favorite games were Raid On Bungling Bay, Mail Order Monsters from EA was cool because you got to design a creature.

Paradroid is another classic from those days.

I loved Gateway to Apshi as well.

Then came my first Obsession. ELITE was so much more than a game to me. Crappy verctor graphics sure, but in the late 80's it was like a Dream come true. I loved it so much I bought the Amiga Version before i bought an Amiga. I found another 3D game called Cholo that was pretty cool. But every so often I hook up the emulator and play Elite even today. Elite 2 and 3 were ok, but it got to complicated to dog fight.

It's my eternal sadness that no one has updated Elite to modern technology. Sure there have been 3D space fighters, and Space trading games. SOme had elements of both. But nothing ever hit that free form formula that Elite had.

My next great Obsession was DOOM when I got into the PC. FPS pretty much took over my gaming.

Duke Nuke em', Quake, you name it. Something about running around with weapons and killing people just make me feel so much better. :twisted:

I think it's very sad that the Original Quake hasn't been update for newer Technology. That was my first real Multiplayer Experience. Slinging around with the grappling hooks and all the other mods.

Enemy Territory got a year before I burnt out on it.

Right now I do Unreal Tournament 2004 to offset my bad moods, which means I play for days at a time. :twisted:

I wasn't big on strdegy games except for Command & Conquer. I loved that series until I tried it online once. Ughhhh.... When I was trounced so increadibly badly in Generals... I kind of lose my taste for the whole Genera.

I never like the watch from behind games like Tomb Raider Etc. If it's not FPS... it's nothing.

Not a sports fan so I never really go into any sports games.

I don't like games with story's and missions that finish. Anything free form and open is for me.

BtaraKtahn · Forum Newbie Joined: Feb 18, 2004 Posts: 7

kmw

Well... I'm going to assume we're not talking about arcade stuff, which is when I first got hooked in college. While my buds were drinking and getting laid I was over in a corner conquering the likes of Asteroids. What a knucklehead!

My wife bought me my first console. A Super NES. I was depressed about my employment situation and I guess she wanted to cheer me up. It came with a Mario game which I don't think I ever bothered to play. (To this day I've never played a Mario game, despite having purchased every single Nintendo upgrade and even now having several types of Mario games.) The day after I got the gift I recall going to the nearest store and asking about games. I ended up buying a tennis game (which after a couple minutes of play I thought was a waste of time) and a little something called Zelda: A Link to the Past. [I remember asking the vendor about it and he said nonchalantly, 'I hear it's good.']

It's been more years than I care to think about, and still Link to the Past has spoiled me for all other games, even its wonderful sequels. I'd never played anything like it and it took me a hell of a while to get the hang of the fact that I had to apply my friggin' brain to it. There was a point in the game where I was supposed to enter a castle or tomb or something and I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to get in. And there was — wait for it! — this monkey that offered to get me in if I paid it. And since I was cheap as hell, even with virtual money, I kept telling it no. Then one day, at a complete loss, I said ok and sure enough it got me in. And it suddenly dawned on me, wait, this isn't Asteroids or pinball where everything that has to be done is right there at my fingertips. I'm actually going to have to think! to get through this thing. Once I wrapped my mind around that I started having the grandest time with that game. But the kicker came when I finally confronted the evil ruler for the final showdown. Or so I thought. I defeated him and started running around the room like I'd beaten Mike Tyson. And then the dark lord laughed and transported me (er, my character?) to a completely different world.

I was stunned. I gaped as it crept into the back of my mind the adventure was only just starting...

Not before or since have I had such pleasure playing a game. Now I'm a big fan of stuff like Resident Evil and have even loved the new Zeldas. But nothing, absolutely nothing, has compared to that experience of actually, well, discovering not just this great game, but the potential enormity of gaming.

And thanks for giving me a chance to relive it again. I haven't played a game in years (tried Outbreak and just found it too annoying) and this memory has rekindled some nice, well, memories...

take care all

kmw

MRNot

GhostofMacbeth · Forum Member Joined: Sep 21, 2001 Posts: 613

I am a Mac guy and have been rather limited to my games because of that but I always loved Marathon, Dark Forces, and a few others.

GlitchGirl · Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2004 10:07 am Post subject:

Speaking of arcade games and how things have changed...

http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3109674

http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=0&cId=3137498

Preteens given games most of us grew up with. Some of the commentary is downright freaky.
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LonCray · Forum Newbie Joined: Apr 28, 2003 Posts: 1

Man, I played Zelda - Link to the Past on Super NES years ago - and just this year got my 8 year old son playing it. Child has just about beaten it now - one final enemy and he's done. I play the Temple of Elemental Evil game on PC and Myst - but I'm no good at either. Asteroids - the old arcade version - THAT was a game I was good at. When I get rich, I'm getting one of those old standup consoles for my basement.