RossBFaeDundee Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 (edited) I am subbed to The Escapist on YouTube primarily for Yahtzee Croshaw's Zero Punctuation reviews, but also his debates with RLM's Jack Packard. Zero Punctuation is easily the most entertaining review format for games I've seen, and hasn't got old in a decade. Also subbed to Jim Sterling, was a big fan around the whole Digital Homicide lawsuit saga, and while I've dropped off Jim's content in the last few years I'll still occasionally tune in and enjoy Jim's reviews. I really haven't went and read game reviews for years now, used to buy magazines but as I've gotten older I've played less video games and drifted over more to watching films and sports. Edited March 13, 2021 by RossBFaeDundee 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thistle_do_nicely Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 (edited) Some excellent, excellent games listed so far. More than a few I haven't actually played tbh, but I've heard of just about all of them at least. Two of the best PES games going (PES 6 should be coming up soon I would imagine...) Baldurs Gate 2 (+ Throne of Bhaal, genuinely one of the most memorable games I've ever played.) Undertale (its tricky because tbqh the actual "game" portion is just a kind of... simple bullet hell thing, and yet it's so, so much more than that. One of those games that's defined by its soundtrack imo FTL (I can only reliably beat the Flagship on Easy mode, Normal tends to end up with me utterly ruined by the mid to late sectors, Hard is full on lol nope territory to the extent I've not even bothered with it) Cannon Fodder (I didn't know there was a SNES version! I can mind my older brother playing it in ye olde Amiga days, the theme song is burned into my head, so damn catchy) Deus Ex (or as my older brother called it, Deuce Sex. Excellent game.) Rogue Leader (I sank a lot of time into it but was never, ever able to complete it difficulty seemed to spike a tonne later on, but it was really solidly designed and didn't feel too unfair) Command & Conquer (a classic RTS, had a real feel like being a child playing with a bunch of micro machine/plastic toy tanks and soldiers to it. tbf I was a child when I experienced it so that may well be why, ha) Spoilering in case its not in the spirit of the thread and I know its way too late in the day to vote but a few springing to mind + from a little cheating looking at my Steam list for inspiration Spoiler 1. (PC) Half Life 1 and or 2. Obvious shout, but for the first one, working with the limitations at the time they just made the absolute most out of a heavily scripted, linear FPS game by treating it like a wild rollercoaster watching a bunch of mad set pieces unfold and giving you a load of fun weapons to play with (those weird snark things etc.) Top 3 material there. 2. (PC + Gamecube) Medal of Honour: Allied Assault. Sort of as above, but they gave it less of a rollercoaster feel and made it more of a cinematic experience. Riffed off of Saving Private Ryan just a bit for the d-day landings. Last mission a little disappointing but the overall experience was great. I reckon Allied Assault should be up there, it was one of the best single player FPS games going. (as an extension since its admittedly a different game, same franchise effectively just a console specific version, but this mission is one of the best I've ever played. The sombre music, it not being a set objective but genuinely trying to save as many of the NPC's as possible through the mission, everything about it was superb. 3. (PC) Mount & Blade, at the very least the original (my toaster powered computer can't run the recent one ) + its bajillion mods. Building up from a simple low level guy with a few manhunters to a crushing force of knights, crossbowmen and, er, peasant women is fun even in the base game. Hard to "complete" though. I'LL DRINK FROM YOUR SKULL. Should be getting a few mentions, it's been around for years, maybe not top tier but a solid mainstay. 4. (PC) Hotline Miami and its sequel. Stylized violence, but one of the coolest games out there. Prolly not high on the list if at all... I'd have nominated it, Darren Mackie Style, if I took part in the poll. 5. (Game Boy Advance) Advance Wars. Should be high on the list! About 99% of my handheld gaming hours were spent on it. Dual Strike is hilariously broken with the x2 CO mechanic, but still fun. 6. (PC) Into the Breach. FTL's chesslike cousin. Alright, won't be high on the list. Really elegant, board game feel game like on a chess board. Little tricky to adjust to what the game wants you to do (taking damage to your mechs through positioning deliberately is sometimes an optimal move to make which seems counterintuitive) but a fun few hours to be had. 7. (PC) Neverwinter Nights and the expansions. If BG2 gets listed then this should too, damnit. I never got into the multiplayer but my brothers spent hours on a couple of different servers. Only a coupla votes if any I reckon, bit niche if BG2 only got 1 or 2 votes, it was groundbreaking with a developer giving so many modding tools away to the community though. 8. (DS) Disney's avant garde DS game and all round masterpiece, Corey In The House. Spoiler 9. (Playstation One) Anyway. hilarious banter choices aside - Final Fantasy will have a few nominations. I'm partial to FF6 and even some of the cheese in FF5, but FF7 will get the most nominations I guess, arguably the remake too although I can't comment as haven't played it. Some terrific and challenging fights/optional battles/boss battles throughout. One of the best final boss sections ever, again helped by the music but how many enemies do you get throwing a fucking star going supernova at you 10. Yoshi's Island (SNES) Personal preference coming in here from my youth (take me back... please...) but I genuinely loved that game growing up; perfect mix of challenge (especially on the bonus levels) at my age. Points taken off for the annoying baby sound, but you just adjust the volume a little/learn to git gud and don't get hit so the baby noise doesn't play, simple as. might be some nominations, I suspect other Mario titles will smash it though tbf. SMB3 on the Nes was unbelievable for such a limited system. 11. (PC) GTA San Andreas. An all round favourite of the GTA games. Vice City might be some preference for the sheer 80's aesthetic and memories, maybe even later/earlier GTA games. GTA ought to get a few, I'm genuinely interested to see if Vice City, 3, 4, or San Andreas make it highest though. Hold the liiiiine... love isn't always on tiiiiiime... *change of station* Aight man f**k 'em... I don't give a f**k, they gon' push me to ma limit I'm aaaaalll in... Other Nintendo glory day classics, worthy of mention (SNES, NES, N64)... Perfect Dark, Goldeneye, Majoras Mask, A Link to the Past, Super Metroid, Battletoads, Contra (although I'm 99% sure interestingly that the one I really enjoyed was called Probotector, think it was a Europe wide thing that they didn't like the main characters being human so they changed the theme to robots instead!) Varying amounts of nominations here I reckon. Possibly some Castlevania titles to come too. Exciting stuff ahead! I didn't really care for any of the Tomb Raider games, was maybe too young for them at the time but repeatedly getting murdered in hard to follow camera angles when my spatial awareness was still developing wasn't all that fun to me. Can appreciate if any of them pick up a high placing as it's a solid, popular series with a fair few titles, no qualms if it does. EDIT: OH! G Police + Future Cop LAPD, Colony Wars too. G-Police was terrific. Made a hash of an earlier edit and put stuff outside the main spoiler tag, whoopsieee! Edited March 13, 2021 by Thistle_do_nicely 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madwullie Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 (edited) 5 hours ago, Thistle_do_nicely said: Some excellent, excellent games listed so far. More than a few I haven't actually played tbh, but I've heard of just about all of them at least. Two of the best PES games going (PES 6 should be coming up soon I would imagine...) Baldurs Gate 2 (+ Throne of Bhaal, genuinely one of the most memorable games I've ever played.) Undertale (its tricky because tbqh the actual "game" portion is just a kind of... simple bullet hell thing, and yet it's so, so much more than that. One of those games that's defined by its soundtrack imo FTL (I can only reliably beat the Flagship on Easy mode, Normal tends to end up with me utterly ruined by the mid to late sectors, Hard is full on lol nope territory to the extent I've not even bothered with it) Cannon Fodder (I didn't know there was a SNES version! I can mind my older brother playing it in ye olde Amiga days, the theme song is burned into my head, so damn catchy) Deus Ex (or as my older brother called it, Deuce Sex. Excellent game.) Rogue Leader (I sank a lot of time into it but was never, ever able to complete it difficulty seemed to spike a tonne later on, but it was really solidly designed and didn't feel too unfair) Command & Conquer (a classic RTS, had a real feel like being a child playing with a bunch of micro machine/plastic toy tanks and soldiers to it. tbf I was a child when I experienced it so that may well be why, ha) Spoilering in case its not in the spirit of the thread and I know its way too late in the day to vote but a few springing to mind + from a little cheating looking at my Steam list for inspiration Reveal hidden contents 1. (PC) Half Life 1 and or 2. Obvious shout, but for the first one, working with the limitations at the time they just made the absolute most out of a heavily scripted, linear FPS game by treating it like a wild rollercoaster watching a bunch of mad set pieces unfold and giving you a load of fun weapons to play with (those weird snark things etc.) Top 3 material there. 2. (PC + Gamecube) Medal of Honour: Allied Assault. Sort of as above, but they gave it less of a rollercoaster feel and made it more of a cinematic experience. Riffed off of Saving Private Ryan just a bit for the d-day landings. Last mission a little disappointing but the overall experience was great. I reckon Allied Assault should be up there, it was one of the best single player FPS games going. (as an extension since its admittedly a different game, same franchise effectively just a console specific version, but this mission is one of the best I've ever played. The sombre music, it not being a set objective but genuinely trying to save as many of the NPC's as possible through the mission, everything about it was superb. 3. (PC) Mount & Blade, at the very least the original (my toaster powered computer can't run the recent one ) + its bajillion mods. Building up from a simple low level guy with a few manhunters to a crushing force of knights, crossbowmen and, er, peasant women is fun even in the base game. Hard to "complete" though. I'LL DRINK FROM YOUR SKULL. Should be getting a few mentions, it's been around for years, maybe not top tier but a solid mainstay. 4. (PC) Hotline Miami and its sequel. Stylized violence, but one of the coolest games out there. Prolly not high on the list if at all... I'd have nominated it, Darren Mackie Style, if I took part in the poll. 5. (Game Boy Advance) Advance Wars. Should be high on the list! About 99% of my handheld gaming hours were spent on it. Dual Strike is hilariously broken with the x2 CO mechanic, but still fun. 6. (PC) Into the Breach. FTL's chesslike cousin. Alright, won't be high on the list. Really elegant, board game feel game like on a chess board. Little tricky to adjust to what the game wants you to do (taking damage to your mechs through positioning deliberately is sometimes an optimal move to make which seems counterintuitive) but a fun few hours to be had. 7. (PC) Neverwinter Nights and the expansions. If BG2 gets listed then this should too, damnit. I never got into the multiplayer but my brothers spent hours on a couple of different servers. Only a coupla votes if any I reckon, bit niche if BG2 only got 1 or 2 votes, it was groundbreaking with a developer giving so many modding tools away to the community though. 8. (DS) Disney's avant garde DS game and all round masterpiece, Corey In The House. Reveal hidden contents 9. (Playstation One) Anyway. hilarious banter choices aside - Final Fantasy will have a few nominations. I'm partial to FF6 and even some of the cheese in FF5, but FF7 will get the most nominations I guess, arguably the remake too although I can't comment as haven't played it. Some terrific and challenging fights/optional battles/boss battles throughout. One of the best final boss sections ever, again helped by the music but how many enemies do you get throwing a fucking star going supernova at you 10. Yoshi's Island (SNES) Personal preference coming in here from my youth (take me back... please...) but I genuinely loved that game growing up; perfect mix of challenge (especially on the bonus levels) at my age. Points taken off for the annoying baby sound, but you just adjust the volume a little/learn to git gud and don't get hit so the baby noise doesn't play, simple as. might be some nominations, I suspect other Mario titles will smash it though tbf. SMB3 on the Nes was unbelievable for such a limited system. 11. (PC) GTA San Andreas. An all round favourite of the GTA games. Vice City might be some preference for the sheer 80's aesthetic and memories, maybe even later/earlier GTA games. GTA ought to get a few, I'm genuinely interested to see if Vice City, 3, 4, or San Andreas make it highest though. Hold the liiiiine... love isn't always on tiiiiiime... *change of station* Aight man f**k 'em... I don't give a f**k, they gon' push me to ma limit I'm aaaaalll in... Other Nintendo glory day classics, worthy of mention (SNES, NES, N64)... Perfect Dark, Goldeneye, Majoras Mask, A Link to the Past, Super Metroid, Battletoads, Contra (although I'm 99% sure interestingly that the one I really enjoyed was called Probotector, think it was a Europe wide thing that they didn't like the main characters being human so they changed the theme to robots instead!) Varying amounts of nominations here I reckon. Possibly some Castlevania titles to come too. Exciting stuff ahead! I didn't really care for any of the Tomb Raider games, was maybe too young for them at the time but repeatedly getting murdered in hard to follow camera angles when my spatial awareness was still developing wasn't all that fun to me. Can appreciate if any of them pick up a high placing as it's a solid, popular series with a fair few titles, no qualms if it does. EDIT: OH! G Police + Future Cop LAPD, Colony Wars too. G-Police was terrific. Made a hash of an earlier edit and put stuff outside the main spoiler tag, whoopsieee! Like I said, I'm a sucker for new and shiny things, so I've hot mount and blade 2 sitting on early access too. I'm waiting for it to get a bit more beefed out before getting wired in, but all the YouTube videos I've watched of it so far look magic. Never played the original I'd agree a few you mention there should be coming up at some point. Not least because I've voted for them and they've not shown up yet... Edited March 13, 2021 by madwullie 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DA Baracus Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 (edited) I used to get a PC mag in to mid to late 90s but only for the demo disk. AH f**k!!!! That's just reminded me that one of my all time favourite games, and one I absolutely should have had high on my list, was found via a demo of it on one such disc. That's what you get for rushing your list!! Anyway, said game is Little Big Adventure 2. Just a brilliant game. Also first played the original GTA on a demo disk. Edited March 13, 2021 by DA Baracus 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lofarl Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 (edited) This was the best review pc zone did https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/29gllx/the_sims_2_hm_fashion_stuff_review/ Edited March 13, 2021 by Lofarl 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Thompson Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 This was the best review pc zone did https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/29gllx/the_sims_2_hm_fashion_stuff_review/I think that might be the best review anyone has ever done... ever! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguel Sanchez Posted March 13, 2021 Author Share Posted March 13, 2021 On the subject of which reviewers you should trust, there's a reason I'm including Zero Punctuation and Jim Sterling videos where I can. In terms of other websites I'd say Kotaku and Eurogamer, although I'm now a regular reader of the latter. There are also my reviews of course, which are entirely independent and thoroughly justified. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguel Sanchez Posted March 13, 2021 Author Share Posted March 13, 2021 Two updates today (hopefully) IN 135TH PLACE, WITH 5 POINTS FROM 2 VOTES Game: Destruction Derby Platform: PC, PlayStation, Saturn, Nintendo 64 Release date: 1995 Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5m-LOKklOo I'm not going to lie, I thought this was Demolition Racer until I made this post. Shame, but there's always value in a racer where you're encouraged to crash into your opponents. There's good development heritage here, with Reflections going on to create the Driver series and publisher Psygnosis being responsible for WipEout. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SANTAN Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 Ps5 game right now that's a modern crash em up type of game mixed with lots of colours and free running. It's kinda shite. I used to love one similar on the sega back in the day! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DA Baracus Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 18 minutes ago, Miguel Sanchez said: Two updates today (hopefully) IN 135TH PLACE, WITH 5 POINTS FROM 2 VOTES Game: Destruction Derby Platform: PC, PlayStation, Saturn, Nintendo 64 Release date: 1995 Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5m-LOKklOo I'm not going to lie, I thought this was Demolition Racer until I made this post. Shame, but there's always value in a racer where you're encouraged to crash into your opponents. There's good development heritage here, with Reflections going on to create the Driver series and publisher Psygnosis being responsible for WipEout. What a great game this was! Not played that in so many years. Might need to track down a copy. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguel Sanchez Posted March 13, 2021 Author Share Posted March 13, 2021 4 minutes ago, Patrick Bateman said: First one from my list to make an appearance. I remember being blown away by the vehicle physics and the damage. Seemed otherworldly in the mid 90s. I waited patiently for a similar game for years. I ended up buying Wreckfest when it came out. Very good game but perhaps missing something which I can't quite put my finger on. I reviewed Wreckfest recently and came to the same conclusion. It's too realistic. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotThePars Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 (edited) 9 hours ago, Thistle_do_nicely said: Hide contents Hotline Miami and its sequel. Stylized violence, but one of the coolest games out there. Prolly not high on the list if at all... I'd have nominated it, Darren Mackie Style, if I took part in the poll. 5. (Game Boy Advance) Advance Wars. Should be high on the list! About 99% of my handheld gaming hours were spent on it. Dual Strike is hilariously broken with the x2 CO mechanic, but still fun. Anyway. hilarious banter choices aside - Final Fantasy will have a few nominations. I'm partial to FF6 and even some of the cheese in FF5, but FF7 will get the most nominations I guess, arguably the remake too although I can't comment as haven't played it. Some terrific and challenging fights/optional battles/boss battles throughout. One of the best final boss sections ever, again helped by the music but how many enemies do you get throwing a fucking star going supernova at you Hotline Miami is really cool. The soundtrack is a killer. Like if Gesaffelstein was given free rein to produce tunes for a video game. So good. I voted for an Advance Wars style game but much more recent. That format is brilliant. Fast became one of my faves. You should replay the Remake if you ever get the chance. It's free on the PS4 for this month! I really need to go back and clear the originals on Switch. I'll spoiler some of the reworks cause of, uh, spoilers, of the original themes cause they're so good. Spoiler (phase 3 for the drop) Edited March 13, 2021 by NotThePars 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFTD Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 13 hours ago, Mr X said: I guess I have to step in and correct you all again Everyone knows Edge, at its height, was the far superior games magazine I'm amazed it launched in 1993. I'd never heard of it until the mid-Aughts. Did it ever get banned from WH Smiths? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19QOS19 Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 Had Destruction Derby 2 and it was a favourite. I still have it somewhere and still can't win a Derby. Games must have been so much harder back then and not just that I was a child. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stellaboz Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 AH Destruction Derby! Loved it. The L Driver was a nightmare for getting into a fight with. Also if you ever played in the bowl, you always got points if you immediately drove to your right and clipped the guy next to you. It was also important to try drive around in reverse so your car wasn't utterly wrecked too quickly. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFTD Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 Yeah, Destruction Derby was a lot of fun at the time. Eventually superceded by games like Carmageddon, which is still a lot of fun these days. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slacker Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 Never actually owned Destruction Derby, but rented it from Global Video about 8 times. Did own Destruction Derby Arenas on the PS2 but it wasn't nearly as good. These are mine so far: 7. Mario Kart: Double Dash!! 8. Call of Duty: Warzone 9. Burnout 3: Takedown 10. NBA Jam 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gkneil Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 Glad to see some love for my Rogue Leader choice 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Thompson Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 4 hours ago, gkneil said: Glad to see some love for my Rogue Leader choice It very nearly made my list too 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Thompson Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 7 hours ago, BFTD said: I'm amazed it launched in 1993. I'd never heard of it until the mid-Aughts. Did it ever get banned from WH Smiths? Not that I remember. Sure you're not getting the magazine mixed up with yourself? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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