Best games of my life, part 2/2
Previous part: https://hive.blog/english/@herosik/best-games-of-my-life-part-1-2
DotA 2 - One of several titles where I lost thousands of hours (if not more). The remake of my favorite map for the cult "WarCraft 3". Just like at launch, today, I think it's very good that Valve has taken over IceFrog and the project he has devoted a lot of time to. I don't play anymore (okay, from time to time I puff on my friend's account, as it is in Poland and we sit at his chat), because DotA, like every online game, consumes a huge amount of time, but I still follow roughly her development. I am browsing the changelogs of the most important patches (I'm curious about the direction in which this product is going). If you like games where reflexes and using your brain count, and in itself is sometimes a challenge, download Steam and download the free Data. Many hours of fun ahead of you ... just first you have to meet all the heroes who (unlike LoL) are available from the beginning. I will write more about "Defense of the Ancients" in the 4th part of the text about "WarCraft", in which I will describe the genesis of the MOBA genre, the beginnings with LoL (which I followed since beta-tests :), I was not a "fame", but something there always dripped from friends from the candlestick: P), generally, there will be some memories from this period of time. B. good formula that works for many years + great graphic engine = patent for a successful and memorable game.
Doom 1 - Probably my first favorite game, and most importantly - it accompanies me to this day. I have 4 flashbacks from when I was a kid. It is true that I also warmly remember "Tomb Raider 1 and 2", with which I also have a few memories from my childhood (as well as from "Mortal Kombat 2", "Alone in the Dark" and "Duke Nukem 3D", but I will write about it at other paragraphs), but they can be counted on the fingers of 1 hand. Returning, however, to the product ID Software. I don't know what I felt as a 4 or 5 years old child, but once, when I grew up, I tried to visualize it. This anxiety, torn bodies, enemies from hell, blood ... Damn, I could have been even 4 years old then: D. I remember how I had to memorize the codes so as not to get lost every now and then (iddqd and idkfa, greetings to those who remember) and not bother Uncle (the "save & load" service was too much for me then). The joy of massacring demons and zombies was great :). I particularly liked the rocket launcher and the iconic two-barreled shotgun, which, with good aiming, could effectively mow down enemies.
It is true that I spent the most time on the second part, but the first one bought me the most with its darker, more occult, and hellish atmosphere. "Hell on Earth" has already gone in a slightly different direction, inspired by other motives. A situation like in "Diablo 1 and 2" or "Mortal Kombat" for the first part and its sequel. In each of these 3 cases, the original focused more on darkness, atmosphere inspired by the Devil, occultism, and unclean powers, and their sequels slightly tempered it. In fact, I am not surprised, even as a 13-year-old I heard two priests complaining from the pulpit about "Doom" (and at that time there was not even news about third, so you know ... it looked a bit funny when you compared the graphics with games from 2003).
Returning, however, to the works of ID Software, these were cult in their time. Mainly because of the graphics, shading, and other technical innovations implemented in them. Even the then boss and creator of Microsoft, Bill Gates, participated in the advertising campaign and promoted "Doom." Those who grew up in those days must remember the pain in the ass of Amiga fans for whom "Doom" was an unattainable title. While the Amiga was not a much worse gaming platform before (or even better), the ID product changed everything and sealed the superiority of the PC over the Amiga. Shading, freedom of movement, graphics, number of weapons, moving objects ... Oh yeah, at the time of his premiere, John Carmack and the rest of his team achieved a success that many dream about, and sometimes only happens.
Anyway, "Doom" was not a revolution only in terms of graphics and technical solutions. ID Software studio developed something like multiplayer (remember the famous "rocket jumpy"?). For several years, in competitions to select the best players in "Doom", the main prizes were Porsche cars from the main owners of ID (you could enter the parking lot and choose one of several). If I remember correctly, it was probably the player with the nickname Fatal1ty who was one of the biggest internet celebrities and made history as one of the most famous players in the history of online games. One could talk for hours about the impact of the "Doom" and the later "Quake". Admittedly, the sequel is better in every way, but the first part had that distinctive claw. It was the "Crysis" of those times, total luncheon in the head. John Carmack is a programming genius, and "Doom" is one of many milestones in the development of computer games.
It is a pity that John Carmack's approach did not allow the title to improve. Tom Hall wanted to develop the plot, introduce the companions of our "space Marine" (who in the final version of the product ended up as a corpse in several boards), he did not want to focus solely on exterminating the infernal hordes with a wide range of weapons. There was a well-thought-out scenario divided into three acts (one of them was to take place in hell!). It was supposed to be similar to the third part of "Doom", in which at the beginning we could explore the space station and talk to our cosmic companions. John Carmack, however, got his way and his vision of the game won (which made Tom Hall use some of these ideas in his new game "Rise of the Triad"). He also said his cult quote: "Story in a game is like a story in a porn movie. It's expected to be there, but it's not that important."
I am a bit sorry and saddened by this fact. It's a bit similar to the feeling of watching the DBS anime. It seems cool, but when you think about a manga that has much cooler ideas, there is a feeling of pissing off. To this day I am waiting for the "real Doom" from ID. Three was not it, I liked the addition of "Ressurection of Evil" even less, despite the restoration of the iconic two-tube. Maybe I will play with four one day, but it is not going to be as rebooting as I would like. Fortunately, fans have produced a lot of mods and additional boards that extended the life of this title. Basically, I know most of this game by heart. For many years I had it at least once a year. Once upon a time, I passed it on the penultimate difficulty level without any cheats (though I cried like angry with some boards ... damn tactical thinking in "Doom", where did it come to). Next to "WarCraft" and "Command and Conquer", this is my favorite brand in the gaming industry. This aura of anxiety, numerous inspirations. I dream about getting a book "Doom Bible", which I will put myself on an honorary place in my collection of various cultural goods. Link for the curious http://doom.wikia.com/wiki/Doom_Bible
Command and Conquer Gold Edition - I really love everything about it! This is the game I remember best and I will associate it with my childhood for the rest of my life. I don't care about its flaws, slow resource gathering, sometimes a bit of kitsch (although here it was the least of all games by Westwood studio). From intro, through music, story, graphics, and animations (soldiers who did push-ups when the player was not controlling them for a while or a commando who talked to us when we weren't doing anything), ending with the awesome atmosphere and putting it together. You should also mention the introductory videos to the missions or other video cutscenes between them. They perfectly introduced the atmosphere of entertainment and discovering new ones was a lot of fun.
The world is similar to ours. "Global Defense Initiative" as the NATO counterpart of the "good" versus the "Brotherhood of NOD" led by the charismatic leader Kane, played by actor Joe Kucan (and played by awesome!). A new substance, Tiberium, arrives on Earth. It improves the standard of living (cash, a lot of money, new technology, urban development), but ultimately contributes to the destruction of the world as we know it (as we know from Part 2 with the subtitle "Tiberian Sun", the expansion "Firestorm" and "Command and Conquer 3" along with "Kane's Wrath" and the most unfortunate fourth installment in the series).
A well-thought-out campaign (for those times), an excellent interface, whose inseparable element ("Eva") gradually introduced us to the game world and the theater of action (Europe for GDI, Africa for the NOD Brotherhood) during the installation. All of this and many more contributed to the success of the Westwood studio team. Once I bought the original "Command and Conquer" twice (now it is free to download from EA), the title itself was changed once a year, just like "Doom". It has its drawbacks, such as scripts (if you know your opponent's movements and have visibility, you can easily defeat him), which have always been a pain in the studio, slow development (the reaper moves horribly slowly, and in some missions, we are far from the Tiberium field ... ), but it did affect my life. Music accompanies me to this day (Frank Klepacki has talent!), Joe Kucan, as he was bad-ass, remained so. The sequels did not have that "claw" anymore, and I will not even mention 4 (although its trailer was Cossack).
I always prefer NOD. GDI is too simple for me, and a few Mammoth Tanks cut through everything without any strategy. Playing as a Brotherhood requires a more offensive strategy, the so-called "harrash" (harassing the opponent and disturbing him in the efficient management of the base and units). I did not play multiplayer and I missed the phase for this title, but I spent several hundred hours in this universe. As in the case of "Doom", "Command and Conquer" was very groundbreaking and influenced the development of the computer games industry.
WarCraft 3: Reign of Chaos + "Frozen Throne" expansion - From what I remember, it was in "WarCraft" that I did the best in my gaming career. I've faced a lot of players on Battle-Net who were high in the rankings. I have lost many times, but I have also been able to win many tough matches. In "Reign of Chaos" (a basic version of the game) I was quite high on the Polish channel. I could boast of many icons that I got for the number of wins with a given race.
I devoted a lot of time to this game, followed the tutorials on the internet, developed the base of tactics, tricks, and played trying to imitate the best players. The effects were visible, I encountered world-class players several times. For example, Hate-Love-Anger (I was decimated each time), an almost unbreakable German, held first place in the ranking for many years, and his Night Elves were terrifying. Or "4 Kings" ("4k" for short), cult in some places. Grubby, Tod, and somebody else. 3 vs 3, in some tournament match. Me and my two friends from Krakow. Let me tell you that we were close, but we got too excited that we could beat them and plowed us at a crucial moment. In total, I had 50,000 games (summing up matches from all accounts on Battle Net). They even stole my best Paligator flagship account in their time. :( I spent a little less on campaigns (those from Blizzard and fans), mods, computer games. I hope Blizzard will not screw up the next part and oils the WoW event and will be a direct continuation of the three. The title that I got the most into in my life and I keep it on my hard disk to this day;). I will write more about "WarCraft" on the occasion of 3 parts of the "After Years" series.
The rest of the games:
Super Castelvania IV - One of my favorite games from Konami. First of all, I remember the soundtrack that I listen to once in a while on YouTube. Other things that I still remember fondly today are: the atmosphere of the game and interestingly thought-out levels (along with a perfectly matched background music!). I never got to the end, when I had SNES, I was not overwhelming enough to go further, like in the 5th board (and then the electricity went out for a second ... how pissed I was). So I saw the end and the continuation of the Internet. I'm not a fan of Castelvania, but this game was one of the few I owned for the Super Nintendo. Apart from the trilogy "Donkey Kong", "Alladin", "Spiderman: Maximum Carnage", "The Lion King" or other fairy-tale characters, "Super Castelvania IV" was quite a "dark" entertainment.
Cadillacs and Dinosaurs - One of my favorite arcade games. As soon as I think about it or about "Mortal Kombat" (or any other games I have played on slot machines), I immediately remember memories from the gaming booths. Many of them relate to the cult in some circles "Cadillacs and Dinosaurs", a production that attracted quite a crowd through the screens (mainly to see how far a given player will go, James Gunn laughed amusingly in the second part of "Guardians of the Galaxy"). Every once in a while I like to download a game and play an hour or two. A beat-em-up is quite relaxing entertainment for a few hours, but playing a longer game can be tedious. My favorite player was the black Mustafa and the blonde one with whom the only female warrior was in love. It was more difficult to play with Fatty and Miss, so I used them the least often.
Duke Nukem 3D - Oh yes, this title could not fail to appear here. If only because of "Duke Nukem Forever" himself, which I have followed for many years. Every boy who played FPP games and grew up in the '90s must associate "The Prince" (an immortal argument - "because tits"). He approached the subject a bit differently than "Doom", "Quake" or any other "Unreal". He was, above all, an exaggerated parody that mocked pop culture, muscular dribblers, aliens, and action movies. Anyway, the creators made funny jokes about their own products. In one of the first boards, Duke says at one point, "I'm not cracking in front of Quake." It is a pity that after its 3rd installment of the series, no one was able to pull this brand, which is now dying seriously. Maybe someday I will return to the version adapted to today's computers.
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 - I don't like sports games and most of arcade games, but I love good music and completing new "challenges". THPS is a series where each part received the highest marks, among others from CDA for music (probably only from the fourth part they started to complain a bit about it), and me, my friends and thousands of players around the world started the "loose entertainment" mode, we turned up the speakers and enjoyed hip-hop or hard-rock. I have never passed any of the parts. Well, "cleaning" the board was often a challenge for me, for which I spent several dozen hours in my life. Part 3 is my favorite and in retrospect I think it was the best of the series.
Tekken 3 - On the one hand, I like this brand, on the other I have some regret ("no hard heelings" was decided by the "invisible hand of the free market" and players' wallets), because it took the palm of precedence of "Mortal Kombat" when it comes to popular arcade fights. I followed the development of this series from the first to the fourth installment. When my friends' siblings got PlayStation 1 from their mother, we soaked in for long hours in Tekken. We played several dozen matches a day, without any tiredness. Today, from similar playing, I would have sore hands: D. Then I got bored a bit, although I have two or three parts for PS3.
Soul Calibur II - I fell in love with this brand at first sight (actually in the first two parts). Both announcements have inspired me many times when I wrote stories or posts in RPG sessions on the forum. My second favorite fighting series (right after "Mortal Kombat"). Mainly because of the quite characteristic and cool characters. Like some awesome battle shounen for older teenagers with slightly higher expectations. . Mainly female (although Cervantes, Nightmare and Spawn <X-Box exclusive character> are so edgy, which is my weakness), they have more and more breasts (similar to the anime "One Piece" or "Code Geass "). It was nice to see the sketches and pictures of Ivy or Taki ^^. I did best (in that order): Spawn, Kilik, Raphael and Nightmar. Later, I lost interest in the brand (I played in 3, but I hardly like it at all), maybe I will come back to it since I have a Playstation 3.
Star Fox 1 - I don't like any flight simulators or even simple arcade games made like that, but "Star Fox" on the SNES is the exception that proves the rule. Ever since I was a child, I felt a strong immersion when playing a humanoid fox. In my childhood, I barely reached the last board with an almost wrecked ship (but the horny was mega, I remember how I yelled delighted with my "awesomeness": D), as a teenager, I probably discovered all the secrets of this production. Later games were not like that anymore and I regret that the following parts departed too much (in my personal opinion) from their original. Well, sometimes there are such "single shots".
Tzar Burden of the Crown - Another RTS game on my list, this time from a slightly smaller European studio (if I'm not mistaken, the game was made by Hungarians or Bulgarians). And guess what? Despite some strange pictures of some characters (during cutscenes) and sometimes too difficult levels (even as an adult player, I had too much trouble: P), the guests had no reason to be complex towards the West. It was quite a playable game, and I had a pleasant time spent several hundred hours of my life.
Shogo Mobile Armor Division - One of my favorite old FPP games. Mainly because I love mechs, which are quite an important element of the game. We shoot the opponents both as a pilot (in the bases) or a giant robot that can easily squash tiny people. And all this in a very manga atmosphere ... Probably one of the few manga games that was really very good in comparison with Western titles. I recommend it, it has not aged so badly from the perspective of today :).
Wolf 3D - The grandfather of the well-known FPP games, although it was not the first game of this genre. It was also not "Catacomb 3D", which came out in front of Wolf and also had a characteristic "paw". The history of First Person Shooters goes back years to years. The ID simply put everything together perfectly. I got to know "Wolfenstein" after reading two parts of "Doom". Despite worse graphics, fewer opponents, not to mention the available guns, I liked this atmosphere and numerous secrets (some I remember to this day) hidden often random places on the map. The "Spear of Destiny" add-on (a bit of a "conspiracy theories", hehe) I passed relatively recently, yes 5 years ago. You could feel the influence of the new toy from ID Software, especially in the final match, where we fought after quite an interesting and unexpected change of scenery, with Satan himself : D.
Pokemon - For many years I was not able to understand the phenomenon of this extremely simplified pseudo-RPG game. Well, even my friends, who are not very fond of manga and Japan, simply played on computers and lvl-up their Poks. The success of this game probably came from the fact (I'm talking about the local market - real friends and stories from internet colleagues) that not everyone had a good computer back then. Sometimes they were so antiques that the HoMM 1 or 2 were kept to the minimum details, without sound, and cut mercilessly, believe me, it was so. "Pokemons" were quite a long, developed entertainment, and some locations needed a little polling, add to that low hardware requirements and voila. I went through its different versions dozens of times, choosing the usual fire starter (cheers to Charizard, who is still not the Dragon-type).
Dune 2 - I did not want to give this title (the text is already terribly long), but a few sentences of explanation should be given for the photo of the text and my approach to the Westwood studio that I forgot. Just as "Doom" is the father of FPP games, someone who collected all essential solutions in a proverbial "heap", the creators of C&C and "Dune" are, in my opinion, the fathers of RTS (although here Blizzard showed better skills when it comes to developing - they started much worse, but as Prime Minister Leszek Miller said: "You don't recognize a man when he starts, but when he ends", or something like that). Each subsequent programmer's study drew heavily from Westwood. "WarCraft" is in some ways my favorite brand for games, thanks to the fact that it is well handled from the first to the third installment. Westwood lacked that so after the premiere of "Red Alert 1" and it was only the third part of the series that brought the brand back to its former glory. C&C was great, Dune got a nice (such +6/10) "refreshed version". A much more interesting project was "Emperor: Battle for Dune".
Dune 2 as a game has archaic controls in retrospect. However, if this and that were to be improved with minor changes, I would play much better than in "WarCraft 1", which in this respect (as well as a too powerful computer at a certain stage of the game, which forced to frequently "save n load") sucked. The atmosphere is quite similar to the slightly worn (in my opinion, largely wrongly, although I do not know the universe very well, I only read the book that he is adapting) by David Lynch. I recommend it if someone wants to see the classics :).
What does your top game list look like? Which games chained you to your armchair for long hours?