Personal Computing
Great games never really die
Ben Oliver | 5th Dec 2006 | 10:00
Great games never truly die, do they? You could be forgiven for forgetting all the modern and old classics alike in the excitement of knowing the ‘next generation’ of consoles are just over the horizon. Not to mention the leaps forward made by PC hardware and software for upcoming games.
So what does happen to older games? Some are put in storage so that they might see another day in the far future, like Walt Disney. Others are vacuum-packed and put on sale in neon lit shops in the heart of Tokyo. While some have their essence transferred and regurgitated into Flash games and put on the web for new generations to enjoy.
Recently I was digging through an old box when I found, what I consider to be a handful of truly awesome games. First, is one of the great western RPGs (Role Playing Games), Ultima VII! Now I could look back and laugh at its pixelated graphics, dodgy MIDI soundtrack and bonkers storyline but it was a superb and cutting edge game for its time. It was the first game of its kind where absolutely every object was interactive. Open ended to such a degree that you could just mess about and become a baker if you liked, spending each day and night gathering ingredients, churning butter, kneading flour etc. When that got boring you just ran across the river and there would be a fortress full of Orcs to kill. Brilliant!
Showing my true geek colours, one of the many spells available was a teleportation spell and I used to abuse it by teleporting some poor unsuspecting towns person half way across the world. I then watched as they ran over mountains and rivers just so they wouldn’t seem out of place. The game had so much to choose from; millions of people to mess with and such a vast world to explore that you could seemingly never get bored. But of course I did, otherwise it wouldn’t be in the box.
Monkeying around
Next to appear from the mystery box was, Monkey Island 2, an old school point and click game. Frankly there aren’t enough of these. Let’s face it, who needs to destroy whole armies of intergalactic aliens when you can click away, solving puzzles until contracting carpal tunnel syndrome? Monkey Island 2 was equally as enjoyable to play as Ultima VII but it was funnier. The intro has dancing monkeys!
In Monkey Island 2, you take on the role of a young wannabe pirate named Guybrush Threepwood. He’s grown a beard since his last adventure in order to look older. This is more than I can do. Poor Guybrush gets mugged right at the beginning of the game, a zombie pirate is back from the dead to get him and his girlfriend thinks him a fool. The similarities to my own life are scary. Another favourite feature of mine is the insult system, which is used to combat opponents, ‘Would you like to be buried, or cremated?’ ‘With you around, I'd rather be fumigated.’
More linear than most games in style, it is still loads of fun finding all the hidden Easter eggs strewn throughout.
It's the end of the world, of Warcraft III
The last one I pulled out is by far the most recent and memorable, even if you hate the RTS (Real Time Strategy) genre. Warcraft III: The Reign of Chaos was the last RTS game Blizzard released since turning the franchise into the hugely popular MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game), World of Warcarft. It’s fair to say that much of the success WoW has was due to the large fan base the previous games attracted.
Warcraft III and the expansion Frozen Throne are both still so popular, they’re played at international gaming events. I was lucky enough to meet the world champion of Warcraft III: Frozen Throne at the recent Intel World Series of Video Gaming event at London’s Trocodero. Despite all the success he looked too much like an ordinary person, where was his suit of armour? Amateur.
Like most RTS games it involves you accumulating resources, this time around, gold and wood. Throwing in some research time makes your units more powerful. Mastering each unit’s unique abilities and coordinating them successfully is the key to gaining a sweet victory. Taking the layman’s approach, I use to build as many units as possible and storm the enemy’s base, praying for a win. This occasionally worked against the computer but it explains why I always got annihilated playing online.
Apart from the frantic battles, the story was engaging too. You got to play different races, all the usual fantasy fare: Elves, Orcs, Night Elves and the Undead. Often finding that you battled hard all the way through one story campaign, only to destroy everything you’d achieved by playing the next race. Hammering home the futility of war, maybe?
Despite all that, it too ended up in the mystery box. What have I really learned then? As long as you’ve got a sturdy box or not too damp basement you can store these games rather than throwing them on top of the nearest landfill. Visit them like distant relatives, enjoying their company and ultimately remembering why you don’t hang around them that much.
