ive created two lists, the first one is for those games that i played most in their time. in the past i loved them but i (mostly) wouldnt play them again:
10. saboteur 2 (zx spectrum): i drew a half of a square meter map for this, played and replayed so many times...
9. last ninja 2 (zx spectrum): another ninja game, far from being as beautiful as the first part on c64, hard as hell - i think i never could finish it
8. laser squad (c64): ufo -1, round based tactical goodness, played a lot with my brother against each other.
7. chaos (zx spectrum): an early game by julian gollop (laser squad and ufo-genius), a great game with 2-player option, only for the good old speccy!
6. bards tale (zx spectrum): the first, the best, the original. a lot of time went there, and i still wasnt nowhere in the game. then there was some problem with the tape and i was stuck for ever in a battle against some ghouls in a cellar...
5. sim city (c64): it was a much dumber version than those for pc or amiga but i was still awed by its complexity on a micro machine
4. wolfenstein 3d: the first the classic... i drew maps for the first episode until i found a program that exports them into txt files. how many hours of work - for nothing... ok spent but not wasted 8)
3. carmageddon: the ultimate car massacre - who cares about the finish line?
2. syndicate: great fun, cyber agents in a corporate governed world - where are new good cyberpunk titles?
1. age of empires 2 - age of kings: i think the game that introduced me to rts... im not used to praise a ms product but this one does worth it
on the second list are those that i not only praise for their nostalgic value but i can (and do) play them again anyitime. and again and again... here they are:
10. vampire the masquerade: bloodlines (+redemption): buggy buggy buggy, partly beautiful partly ugly, however one of the greatest gaming experiences ever. and althogh forgotten the first one also well worth a shot.
9. broken sword 1 (and maybe 3): i didnt like the second one, i needed the templars and conspiracies. i didnt play the 4th.
8. longest journey: its sad to see it only on the 8th place (at least it made it, not like syberia and many others!), but a very important criterium was replay value, and that is not so good for an adventure game.
7. fallout 1-2: what to say, i wrote walkthroughs for both of them, open world rpg, decision-consequence system, post-apoc world (not some stupid fantasy 8)...
6. warhammer 40000 - dawn of war 1 (+expansions): i rarely find an rts that i dont consider a waste of time, this a great example. a great game in a great world (i love wh40k). i still play a skirmish a few times a week. same map. same race. NOT BORING!
5. sid meiers pirates! (both): there was a year when i only had an old laptop with monochrome lcd and i almost exclusively played this. now i play sometimes the new version, just as exciting + funny, but i could revert to the old version anytime - who cares its ugly?
4. no one lives forever 1-2: at first i hated the first one until i realized whats its about. great laughs, good story and characters, amazing voice artists. i didnt like a few things in the second installment but fortunately there were quite a few improvements to balance this. have i mentioned i love monolith games? (poor shogo and blood2, they almost made it 8( )
3. dungeon keeper 2: i know, the first one is considered better by fans, but the interface was so dated i didnt enjoy it. not like the second one - its installed on my comp, a skirmish is always good for a laugh - DISCO INFERNO!
2. deus ex (+iw): my favourite for years (until the coming of the next one), cyberpunk setting, a good bunch of good ol conspiracies and (for an fps(?)) good character development. the second one was dumbed down, evidently created for console - first i hated it. but playing it i realized how many good ideas went into the game (eg. coffee wars, ng resonance) and i almost forgave all its faults.
and the winner is...
1. the elder scrolls 3 - morrowind: i played it 1-2 years later it was published and it was still pretty, great story, a novel character development system (for me at least), lots of books to read, most of them well worth the time and the best fantasy world i encountered (i dont like fantasy much, sorry 8). the typical architecture of different regions, 2 dozens of armour type (all corresponding to race and faction), an open ended game and the best open world... oh my, i still cant believe that they could press all this into 1 cd, and the work behind it - it amazes me... and so does the fact that nobody could replicate its complexity and overall greatness. though i LOVE morrowind i only liked its expansions and oblivion, the latter was a diappointment in too many ways - i probably will never sacrifice that many effort into tes4 again but if id find the time id start again morrowind tomorrow. scratch that. today!
what a bloodbath in both groups - but there can only be ten!
there are a lot of games that may be better than those on the list but (for me) represent so low replay value that dont fit the criteria above although i enjoyed them very much.
i dont play much multiplayer games and i intentionally have included any of these only if i spent most of my time on their singleplayer part but i need to mention counter strike (sorry! 8) which i play since the end of 2000, and i definitely wasted more time on cs(:s) than on any other game.
there are unfourtunately many games that ive never played and im almost embarrassed about it, mentioned by others - but of course those that i havent played cant make the list...
