Top 50 PC games of all time. 40-31

Continued from last part.


40. Gothic (2001)
-developer: Piranha Bytes

It was a time when PC gaming was in transition from 2D to 3D and Gothic was the first RPG to do so, it had beautiful 3D towns filled with different NPCs minding their own businesses. It had life of its own a world that you can believe in and not just another lifeless virtual land. It definitely wasn't the best Western RPG ever made but it did well as one of the first 3D high fantasy game paving the way for many others to follow.


39. Mass Effect 2 (2010)
-developer: Bioware

A lot big budget modern games receive a lot of hype especially the multi platform ones from Activision or EA. Bioware was never one that hypes its game very much in fact the original Mass Effect received almost zero media coverage prior to launch, but now that Bioware has been purchased by EA something has to give right? Well two years prior to the launch of Mass Effect 2 a 30 sec teaser trailer was shown as the official announcement for the game and it caused a huge internet uproar. Months before the launch you can not visit a site without some kind of Mass Effect 2 video and video game site are filled with the game's coverage. It was a hype train that stretched longer than the great wall. But in the end Bioware did live up to that hype where many others would have failed.

38. Crysis (2007)
-developer: Crytek

Some called this a Tech demo and others called this the greatest first person shooter ever made, whatever you take away from playing Crysis or the inability of playing it is that Crysis was way ahead of its time in terms of Graphics and Tech. No game has ever pushed boundary between virtual and reality as far as Crysis has and like I said its a shame its so ahead of its time because 3 years of its initial launch its still almost impossible to play Crysis on HD resolution with highest possible setting and Frame rates.


37. Tribes (1998)
-developer: Dynamix

Speaking of ahead of its time back in 1998 Tribes was truly revolutionary in its team based game play with guns that shoots Frisbee, jet packs and player controlled turrets. We see those interesting game play elements in many of today's acclaimed FPS such as Team Fortress 2 and Battlefield Bad Company 2 but this was almost 13 years ago with 3D graphics still in its infancy.


36. MechWarrior (1989)
-developer: Dynamix

It just seems that big customizable robot duking it out with each other makes a perfect sense for a good video game...today. Then you look at the date for the original Mechwarrior, its almost shocking that 20 years ago Dynamix made that popular Mech simulation that no one today could duplicate, talk about being ahead of its time and feeling like I have been repeating myself.



35. PlanetSide (2003)
-developer: Sony

Believe or not Sony made a lot of games back in the day, especially online MMOs so you could say that Sony foresaw something in the MMO genre but unfortunately MMOs are a very niche genre and very expensive to develop so one small error it could be its a goner, sometimes even good MMOs have a hard time staying alive. Planetside remains a special game in many ways that its one of a few FPS MMOs and one of a few that incorporates Sci-Fi elements.


34. Command of Conquer (2005)
-developer: Westwood Studio

Real Time Strategy games and PC are like Bread and Butter. Command and Conquer is one of the most recognizable RTS series out there, it single handily made RTS what it is today and popular among gamers. Since then the C & C series have sprouted into many different games ranging from Sci-Fi to realistic to god knows what but one thing it has retained is the same great epic game play from day one.



33. Alien Vs. Predator (1999)
-developer: Rebellion

Most of the time games that are made from movies suck, there is no other way to say it. But once in a new moon movie based games that turns out so good Hollywood decides to turn the game into a movie and that is exactly what happened with AVP. A game with two biggest Sci-Fi monsters on screen going head to head in a game except this time the game is good and the movies suck. You get to play all three factions and get exact feeling you would expect from playing. As predator you feel mighty and powerful and sometimes invincible, as an Alien you feel like a deadly monster prowling in the shadow, and as a marine you feel helpless. The atmosphere was dead on in the game as it was in the movies.


32. Homeworld (1999)
-developer: Relic Entertainment

Majestic. Soulful. Atmospheric. Downbeat. Not words we usually associate with strategy games. Homeworld is different. It is the only strategy game on this list that manages to create a mood other than euphoria or tension. Homeworld is important not just because of its mechanics, not just because it was the first time players asked to control vast fleets in space. It was important because it made our battles matter.


31. Grim Fandango (1998)
-developer: Lucas Arts

Damn Lucas Arts again? Well the truth is without designer Tim Schaffer there would be no Lucas Arts and now that he is gone I am right, Lucas Arts has turned into shit. This classic adventure game is one of the greatest game ever made not just on PC, but saying it is does not do it justice. It had many firsts in a game, one of first great 3D game, one of the first game that the character would actually look at the direction of the NPC that he is talking to, and one of the first where you will engage in a conversation in a style of conversation tree to learn more about the story and progress...strange this all sounds like one of my current favorite game Mass Effect, and speaking of Mass Effect.



30. Mass Effect (2007)
-developer: Bioware

The game had very little fanfare at the time of the release, it was a launch game for a new console where everyone had doubts about the game being able to sell, it was a game that was condemned to fail by bitter fanboys because Bioware refused to do a sequel to Knights of the Old Republic and lastly it was going to fail because critics said you couldnt combine Sci-Fi, tactical shooter and a Western RPG in one game. In the end the game was not perfect but it had a certain charm that you just want to love it and play it again and again. It definitely is not one of Bioware's best games but it sure is one of their most lovable franchise today.