Some days ago when making my list "Games you should have played but probably haven't" i thought about all those games that are really special to me but i guess most people haven't played them or maybe didn't even know they exist. This might have several reasons, one of them beeing that the success of these games mostly was limited to Germany or at least Europe. But as I am writting this list i start to think that it's a real shame that people probably haven't played those games. So if you are looking for something to play and you don't care that some of these games are almost 10 years old (or even older), i hope to be able to inspire you to play them now (it's not too late!). I think you won't be dissapointed! But as always there will be the people saying that all these games are shit. To you guys: I know, they are old and might have their problems but too me they are really special pieces of entertainment of which i still think many years after having played them, and this is why (let's start at the top of my list):
Gothic
Gothic is an open world role playing game in the style of Morrowind, but it actually came out some months earlier than Morrowind. You play a nameless hero, well who somehow ended up in the so called "Colony", a huge valley with forrests, mins, lakes and everything that belongs to a fantasy world, which was turned into a prison by a magical barrier (build up by some mages) that won't allow people to leave. So much for the story because I don't want to spoil it for you. So what is really special about this game is the world itself. For me this truely felt like a living and breathing world. There are animals around that have a life cicle, meaning wolves will come out of the forrest to hunt during the day and at night you can find them sleeping at well hidden spots in the forrests. Some kinds of insects are flying around near rivers and lakes and during the night they will sleep along the river bank. And this day & night cicle just looks fantastic. People also have their own life cicle..they will stand up in the morning, then do their work and go to bed in the evening. They also do something that they do not even do in some modern rpgs: they will threaten you if you go into their houses and try to steal things (at least if they see you). This gives the world a truely immersive feel and was one of the main reasons i loved that game so much. Another reasons is the freedom of choice you have as a player. The prison is home to three different factions and you are free to choose which faction you want to join, which influences the story, the armour you will get and the skills you are able to learn. The fighting itself is pretty clumsy but you will get used to it quickly.I really suggest you to go and give it a chance. Althought it beeing almost 10 years old it's just a great experience!
Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis
This game is hard. One bullet and you are dead. And probably you won't even know where it came from. But also that's why it's so good, you really feel the fear of losing all progress of the last hours of playing (yes in the beginng there was no saving function. There was one checkpoint at the end of each mission. That is true cruelty!). No wonder the game called itself a simulation. But what was so great about it was the open world. It took place in a huge island that got invaded by the russian military. You are a US soldier on the island and have to strike back..well at first you try to run away but you will be left behind and have to fight your way though hell. And since it all takes place on one island you will have truely "realistic" missions. First you will be transported to the battlefield with your team on an old truck, after you hopefully survived the batlle an armored transport vehicle comes to pick you and the rest of your teammates up to drive you to another shitty place on the island where you will build a camp with tents and a campfire. Suddenly in the night you get attacked and kidnapped....and so on. So you always know why you are at a certain place and how you got there. This gives the whole game a sense of meaning and continuity that i didn't experience in any shooter since then. Also the feeling at the end of the game when you are driving around the island and you think "oh i know that spot, that was where this crazy battle happened. And this was where that guy died" is really special. So if you are out for a challenge and don't get frustrated too fast...go and have fun!Anno 1701
Anno 1701 is best compared to a Sim City back in 1701. You start with a ship, sail to one of the many islands and begin to build a small town. First thing you will notice is that this game is BEAUTIFUL! It simply looks amazing, which makes it just so more fun to watch your small town grow to a huge city. But don't think that's easy. The underlying economic structure is complex and it might be overwhelming when your settlers develop to citizens and all of a sudden you have to get them alcohol and chocolate. Where the hell do i get this from, right? You will soon find out by exploring new islands and if necessary conquering them (yes there is fighting but its not a main part of the game). This game really is about relaxing and watching your city grow...i think it's somehow the same addiction of building stuff that gets people attracted to minecraft (although not to the same extend as minecraft...i know that would be blasphemy!). So if your into building stuff and really nice graphics...try this game!The Black Mirror
So i love adventure games and this one is a 2D adventure game. It's not too old i guess, maybe 5 or 6 years old. So it doesn't look like the first monkey island but rather like the new "HD" remake. I really like mystery stories (it all started with X-Files...damn you Mulder) and that is also what i love about this game. The story is just very dark. You play as a guy named William Gordon whose family lives on an old castle (yes they are aristocratic). You left the castle for reasons i won't spoil but you have to return as your grandfather mysteriously dies by falling of a freakin tower of the castle....weird isn't it? So you have to somehow investigate what made your grandpa jump onto a fence (i know...it had to be a fence) . The atmosphere is really tense since this the game mostly takes place in the castle and its equally mysterious surroundings. The gameplay itself is classic adventure style. You collect things, solve puzzles and talk to people. It's really the atmosphere that kept me playing this trough to the end twice. So if you are into adventures and mystery you might have fun with this game.
Commandos 2: Men of Courage
Commands is the kind of game genre that you won't find anymore today. It somehow just didn't find too much fans i guess. Although back then it really had many fans. Commandos is a 2D (topdown view like in most strategy games) strategy game...although i would say tactics fits it better. You play as a small team of soldiers fighting against the Nazis in world war 2. Each of the soldiers has special abilitys or weapons like a sniper with, guess what, a sniper rifle, a spy that can put on enemy uniforms or a green beret that can stab people with a knife. Your task is to somehow clear a setpiece of all its enemys by clever use of the abilitys of all these soldiers. What makes it hard is that each enemy soldier has a kind of triangle indicating its current view. So if you are getting into the triangle you will be immediatly attacked and most of the time its game over. So it's really about killing the enemies one after another such that you are not seen or at least won't die because of it. Also the setpieces are really cool. Sometimes you are thrown into a destroyed city, other times you will be in a huge harbour full of submarines, and guess what, yes you have to destroy those submarines by planting some bombs. But first you have to get there. So you start to work your way through the map. Let the sniper shoot the guy on the roof of that building so that your soldier can sneek up on the guard that previosly was in the view of that guy on the roof (which is now dead)...you begin to get the idea. It almost feels like a puzzle game sometimes..although a really cruel one. So if you are into figuring out tactics and world war 2 you should give it a try.OK this is the end of my first blog post. If you really read this to the end I salute you. I hope that i could inspire some of you to try these oldies out and hopefully you won't regret it. So if you liked the blog post let me know it and if you hated it let me know it too so i can make it better next time. And if you have already played some of those games let me know what you think about them. Duder, it's over!
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