A trip back to 2001 in gaming history (Part 1)

Now where do you go when you want to find out some random facts? Yes, Google, but where does Google take you? That's right, Wikipedia - 2001 is the year when Wikipedia went online and you had the chance to edit any historical fact yourself just to prove your point! And what OS would you use to browse Wikipedia? Of course the newly released Windows XP, all that while rocking Britney Spears (we won't tell anybody, no worries) on your brand new iPod.
This is 2001! I've had so much fun making the post about 2000 games, too many kickass games there, so I wanted to dive slightly further to look into the 2000's before going full retro.

Before I carry on with this I'd like to note that it'd be really cool if you reading this would share your thoughts and opinions on the games I highlighted below as I (and probably most other people) am not well familiar with all of them and might have totally missed the awesomeness of some or even generally missed to mention some cool games released that year.

Some other years I already covered, be sure to open them up in a new tab while reading this one.

A trip back to 2001 in gaming history (Part 2)
A trip back to 2000 in gaming history (Part 1)
A trip back to 2000 in gaming history (Part 2)
A trip back to 1999 in gaming history (Part 1)
A trip back to 1999 in gaming history (Part 2)
A trip back to 1998 in gaming history (Part 1)
A trip back to 1998 in gaming history (Part 2)
A trip back to 1997 in gaming history (Part 1)
A trip back to 1997 in gaming history (Part 2)
A trip back to 1996 in gaming history (Part 2)
A trip back to 1991 in gaming history 

Having that out of the way, let's get straight to the point!

• Clive Barker's Undying

An FPS horror game published by EA. Noteworthy that a quite famous horror author Clive Barker (as you might have already suspected) took part in creating the game's story and helped with level design. He even voiced a character.

• Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel

This is more of a spin-off, set in the same Fallout universe however having little to nothing to do with the earlier two games. The game shifgted it'f focus on a turn based and more complex tactic combat system. It was still well received by the gaming community and is surely worth a go if you were into the Fallout games of that time.

• NBA Live 2001

Anohter NBA game. Do you have anything to note about specifically teh 2001 one?

• Sonic Adventure 2

Developed by Sonic Team USA and published by Sega for their own Dreamcast console - this was the last sonic installment to be released for Dreamcast.

• Severance: Blade of Darkness

An action "slasher" type of game released by Rebel Act Studios. The game was supposed to be called "Blade: The Edge of Darkness", however had to change the name due to there being a US TV show called "Blade: The Edge of Darkness". Worth to mention that the game was praised for having really good graphics and detailed textures for its time.

• Europa Universalis

A strategy game that was based on a similar 1993 board game made by Philippe Thibaut. The gama became a surprise hit for the studio (Paradox Development Studio).

• Conker's Bad Fur Day

A new installment in the Conker series, a platform game targeting the more mature audience (due to its really specific humor, use of tobacco and alcohol) was graphically and technically rally similar to the studio's (Rare) earlier games like Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong 64.

• Castlevania: Circle of the Moon

One of Gameboy Advance's launch titles. It was rated as 108 best selling game on Nintendo Power's top 200 games list.

• Serious Sam: The First Encounter

Oh, one of the reasons I wanted to take up 2001. I can't exactly pinpoint why I love the first Serious Sam this much, but I just do. An awesome FPS, a must-play as far as I can tell. Have you played it back in the day, what did you think of it? Have you played the HD remake on the new engine? We would absolutely love to know that in the comments. I'd also like to note that initially the "Croteam" studio planned this game only as something to showcase their new engine.

• Black & White

A god sim released by EA. Now I would also have to stop here for a moment. If you were reading some of my earlier posts, you probably know of my love for Bullfrog games and this one was a good successor to them. Being worked on by Peter Molyneux, who was responsible for Dungeon Keeper and Populous - this game (no wonder) received fantastic reviews and shortly after a sequel.

• Submarine Commander

Have anythign to tell us about this one?

• Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare

A reboot and a fourth installment in the series in general. Inspired a terrible Uwe Boll movie that is somewhat based on this installment of Alone in the Dark.

• Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive

A tactic-based game with some stealth elements set in the wild west. I sadly won't have much to add here, but please do if you've played it!

• Wizardry 8

The final installment of this RPG series. The series had a 9 year break between Wizardry 8 and "Wizardry 7: Crusaders of the Dark Savant", which was released way back in 1992.

• Tropico

Tropico is one of the titles that stand out for me in 2001. A sort of strategy-simulation game where you take on a role of a ruler (El Presidente) of a fictional tropical island. I love the game for it's stylish gameplay and awesome narrative and I bet you would too in case you haven't tried it. I've also played some Tropico 5 and still find it extremely entertaining. Would be awesome if you could let us know what is your favorite Tropico?

• Myst III: Exile

Third installment of the famous graphic quest series. Unlike previous games which were developed by Cyan Worlds, this one was made by a new studio (Presto Studios) and published by Ubisoft. Best one in the series according to "The Daily Telegraph".

• Red Faction

A sci-fi FPS, one that I personally enjoyed quite a lot. The first game to feature the so-called "GeoMod technology" allowing you to alter (mostly destroy :) ) the environment to a large extend, in an unscripted manner. The PC version of the game included a sandbox mod allowing you to experiment and fool around with GeoMod.

• Half-Life: Blue Shift

The second official Half-Life expansion originally planned as a Dreamcast version of the game. You are able to experience the story as a security guard Barney Calhoun.

• Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis

A battlefield simulator game, considered to be inspired by the 1995 "Gravon: Real Virtuality".
In 2006 Bohemia Interactive released a sequel called ARMA: Armed Assault. Are there any ARMA people here?

• Twisted Metal Black

Twisted Metal was always good and this one is no exception from what I can tell. Later the game became available free as an multiplayer-only version.

• Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura

An RPG developed by Troika Games which managed to get the 4th position on NPD Intelect's best-seller list.

• Anachronox

A futuristic RPG inspired by things like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy - Anachronox features turn-based gameplay and a delightful exploration experience of various sci-fi locations. The game was initially planned to be out in 1998.

• Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec

First Gran Turismo game to be out for the PS2, which eventually became one of the best selling games of all time.

• Final Fantasy X

The tenth final fantasy game, originally released for the PS2 (you can now get it on PS3 and 4 too) fist FF title to feature voice acting. This installment uses a new combat and leveling system opposed to the previous games. In case you have anything to say about this game please tell us, as I'm sure there is quite lot to be said here!

• Max Payne

A legendary FPS by Remedy Entertainment. I would not go into details about the story as you (honestly, anyone) probably know all that already and if you don't - please do yourself a favor and check it out! One of the first games (apart from Matrix of course) to feature the bullet time effect thingy from the Matrix.

Finishing off the first part with Max Payne seems to be about right. As of the list so far, the most fun I probably had was while playing Serious Sam. What would you consider your personal favorite from 2001 so far? And most of all why? Let's have a small discussion about this and hopefully everyone will fond something new for themselves.

A trip back to 2000 in gaming history (Part 1)
A trip back to 2000 in gaming history (Part 2)
A trip back to 1999 in gaming history (Part 1)
A trip back to 1999 in gaming history (Part 2)
A trip back to 1998 in gaming history (Part 1)
A trip back to 1998 in gaming history (Part 2)
A trip back to 1997 in gaming history (Part 1)
A trip back to 1997 in gaming history (Part 2)
A trip back to 1996 in gaming history (Part 2)
A trip back to 1991 in gaming history 

Thanks for your time!