Rob's 2001 gaming year in review
AMD Athlon 850.
Ram: 384 megs of ram
ATI Radeon All in Wonder 32 megs ddr
Creativelabs Soundblaster 128 pci
10 worst games for 2001(could of easily made is 20 but I’m trying to limit the negative)
10. Tropico – I don’t know what I was expecting but this game isn’t it. About as fun as watching stucco dry, Tropico takes a truly interesting concept of being a dictator of a tropical island, and turns it into a virtual daycare for 500 kids.
9. Arcanum – Whats the use of creating a rich rpg world where magic and industry met when you are going to make magic mind numbingly hard to play and tack on a combat system inspired by drunken dwarf wrestling?
8. Max Payne - Should be called Minimum Payne. Ok, the game is ultra short. As in complete in a single afternoon short. As in my god I blew $50 on this short. While there is some decent moments of guns a blazing action, the game is marred by lousy effects, gimmicks that fall to add to game play, and some of the worst AI this side of single player Extreme Paintball.
7. Stupid Invaders – Can’t expect much from a game with stupid in the title but, my god, click and point adventure gaming is like 17 years old. To screw up basics like “click on door, walk through door” is unforgivable.
6. Oni – A fighting game, that is controlled by the mouse. About as much fun as a FPS controlled by a controller. Luckily we had Bungie to thank for both this year.
5. Conquest: Frontier Wars – There is nothing wrong with this title. Its just another “me too” RTS when I expected so much more.
4. Red Faction – Another big disappointment. Its just another average fps, with a bellow average them, failed technology, and empty promises
3. Tribes 2 – The winner of the 2001 Derek Smart achievement in Quality.
2. SW: Galactic Battlegrounds – Lucas Lucas Lucas. You have gone so far beyond whoring out your child. Really, please put a stop to this. This isn’t a game. It’s a $40 graphic set for AOE. What’s next? The Sim Wars, where Luke and Han fight against the evil backed up kitchen sink?
1. Black and White – Lying Head took OVER FOUR MONTHS to make this game playable beyond 15 hours. Bugs so huge that Rainman could have caught them while watching people’s court, in a Kmart in another STATE! Worse, features liked in the manual weren’t shipped with the game. Later after a hail of protest, Lyinghead agree to supply “bonus add-ons” to get the game be what was sold in stores. Most of these add-ons failed to work.
The 10 errr 8 Best games of 2001. (I had the really dig for these 8.)
8. Fallout Tactics – It was based in the fallout universe and had cool graphics. Has quite a number of massive problems but I got some enjoyment out of it.
7. Adventure Pinball – Kind of neat. Fun Pinball Action. Not great but for $10 it was a great buy.
6. Half-Life: Blue Shift – It included Half Life:Op For which made up for the shortness of the main game. Gave some better graphics. Had many quality hours back in the Half Life Universe.
5. Civilization III – It’s a fun new take on the classic game of Civ. Doing right where others have done wrong.
4. Startopia – A fun little title that had lots of personality and style. Could have been so much more, but beggars can be choosers I guess
3. Spiderman – Out side of the save system and low polygon counts, Spiderman was an extremely fun game with excellent action, and great work on the sound track and voice acting.
2. DS9 The Fallen – The best Star Trek game and one of the best 3rd person games I’ve ever played. The camera was great and never left me unable to see my foe. The different characters just extended the game play in a good way since they had significantly different play styles and different areas to explore.
1. Deus Ex – Rereleased for this year (though I didn’t play the GOTY edition), Deus Ex was finally playable on average hardware. This game’s story was extremely meaty and the interactive environment gave me the closes to “I’m really there” experience of any game. Ever.
I must add that Wizardry 8 and Return to Wolfenstein could have been on my best list but both came out with high prices at a time I was rather low on funds.
One game I wish to mention is Dreamland Chronicles. It was to be the successor to the original Xcom and it was canceled early this year. It will be missed.