Best all time games IMO (By genre) (I still play all of them from time to time)
R4 Space strategy:
Space Empires IV
makes the MOO series look like a joke. SEIV is the best R4 game ever made. So many things you can do, and so many different ways to do it.
FPS:
Quake Team Fortress - (TFC doesn't cut it as a comparison IMO. It has better graphics, but your avatars feel like they have lead weights strapped to their feet).
TF brought the highest level of teamwork to a game I have ever experienced since. Most FPS games were/are about personal skill. QTF was about team tactics and skill as a team. Additionally, classes were so specialized that a single player was usually only ever recognized as dominant in one or two, even if proficient at the others. A shout out to my old [aF (animal farm) buds if any of you made it to freelancer!
RTS:
Warcraft III
I agree with the Rise of villages series being not so great. You can't take an empire of 200 people and pretend it is a good strategical game. Warcraft III is the ultimate recognition that these games are primarily tactical in nature, not strategical. WCIII refined the interface to allow for the tactical element to be ramped up a notch. It's a fast do or die environment, and good manuevering skills will win you the game.
MMORPG:
Anarchy Online (haven't tried SW Galaxies yet - so it's pending)
Versatility. That is why this one stands above the rest in the crowd. You can do anything and go anywhere. The landscape is amazing and there are always new things to explore. But getting bored? Fine. Drop in at the local bar Reet's and listen to a streaming DJ playing all your favorites live. Watch the club socialites dress up in the latest fasions and dance the night away with the excellent emote systems AO uses. Or battle it out with other guilds to control land to build your bases on. AO is remarkable in that, to date, it is the most pervasive virtual world I have ever seen. And the clan environment is increadibly rich. Guild Storm with it's 300+ members makes NEO's freelancer reign of terror look impotent by comparison.
Pure strategy:
Panzer General
I'm not so certain in this category, but Panzer general at least required you to be a good strategical player to win. If you suck at chess, you might as well give up before you begin. This game showed strategy for what it was, seperating the concept from tactics, which many people seem to have confused. I really haven't played alot of these types of games though.
Space sim:
Freelancer? :p Freespace is good, but I need options to be entertained. Freespace was dead for me the moment I finished the game.
Mech Sim:
Battletech 3025 beta.
An MMRPG of a sort. Sadly, EA games cancelled the project before it went gold. Too bad. It made MW 4 combat look contrived. The feel of piloting a mech in this beta was pure joy. I heard Msoft bought the game engine, but I'm not certain.
RPG:
I'm a die hard Baldur's Gate fan. Neverwinter was a pathetic unoriginal joke, and morrowind tries to hard to be like a FPS game. I'm not big on the fighting fantasy style games, since I want to play the game, not watch the 10000 cutscenes, although those scenes are admitedly very good. Neverwinter btw, was a prime example of how badly cookie-cutter games can suck: Get an item, bring it back. Get an item, bring it back. Need a new mission? Get an item, bring it back. Having fun yet? Get an item, bring it back. Quick! You must stop the forces of darkness! To do this: Get an item, bring it back. (yawn)
Hmm I'd have to say I enjoyed Wizards and Warriors alot, and I loved the original Eye of the Beholder series.
Wed Jul 30, 2003 1:17 pm 
