Twelve Games that need a Digital Distribution release
Whatever your particular misgivings about digital distribution vs. retail, it has made many games available that would otherwise have been difficult to get a hold of. I have bought quite a few games now, that I might not have been able to get otherwise and I’ve had a lot of fun with some of them. The main reason why the following games should be made available is for future generations of gamers, there are many old games that are not really worth playing any more, but there are also many classics that have never been matched since and it would be a shame if people didn’t at least have the opportunity to play them.
So in no particular order, these are the games I feel are deserving of a chance:
System Shock 2
Top of the GOG.com wishlist currently with 8160 votes I think it’s easy to see why this one needs to be released. Often heralded as one of the most atmospheric games ever made, the demo showed great promise when I played it. The story is mentioned often and each time I hold myself back from reading it, hoping one day I’ll be able to experience it myself.
Planescape: Torment
Like System Shock 2 above this one has been at the top of the GOG.com wishlist for as long as it has been around. Developed by Black Isle Studios, the same team behind the Baldur’s Gate series this one is another that needs little discussion. With supposedly some of the best story writing ever used in a game I have wanted to give this one a go for quite a while. The graphics might be a little hard to get past now, but I think it would be worth the effort.
Jurassic Park: Trespasser
The Arm! I wrote a little about Trespasser a while back, famous for it’s unique control system (and interesting health meter) I would be very interesting in being able to explore a little more of this game. It can be quite an unwieldy beast at times, and I’ve never heard anything about particular set pieces that might be good to try, but from what little the demo offers I just know there is more to be had from this strange game. I know it’s not a good game, but it deserves a chance simply because of it’s place in gaming history.
Conquest Frontier Wars
A personal one this, I’ve played the demo many times over the years and despite it’s limitations have always enjoyed my time playing it. I don’t enjoy it for being an RTS, I enjoy the stories I conjure up in my mind whilst playing. As well as the usual number groupings for units you can also hire Admirals who add various bonus’ to ship performance, each of them has a distinctive personality. The most memorable being Admiral Smirnoff with such classic lines as ‘Hell is icy and invites you all’ and ‘The bear has left the woods’. What I also liked was the ship designs, in the demo you only see the human wessels, they’re pretty standard stuff but watching a fleet of Dreadnoughts having at each other was great, the sights and sounds conveying a great sense of physical impact. It’s not a brilliant game, but the little things have made an impression on me.
Homeworld
I think it’s very strange that we have yet to see the Homeworld series become available from any of the digital distribution outlets. Both Dawn of War and Company of Heroes have a significant online presence, but arguably one of the best space strategy games (not to mention the best 3D space strategy) has yet to be made available. I wasn’t as impressed with Cataclysm, and number 2’s story and gameplay didn’t seem to have the same draw, although it was and is beautiful. The first however I count as one of the greatest gaming experiences I’ve had, the music, the gameplay, the moving story of a race trying to find their new\old home. I haven’t played it in quite a while now, but I think the visuals are simplistic enough to not have a negative impact on playing through the game.
Startopia
Another of my all time favourite games, Startopia suffered extremely disappointing sales and really deserves a second chance. Your funny computer assistant, the remarkable detail of some aspects of the game, the interesting species that inhabit your station, there is so much this game has to offer. Who doesn’t want to run a space station filled with weird looking aliens?
Grim Fandango
Not got much to say on this one, I’ve only ever played the demo and that was not only short but hard to remember in this gaming addled brain of mine. What I do know is that it was made by LucasArts towards the end of their era, and one of the main people who worked on it was Tim Schafer, who is responsible for the hilarious and often clever Psychonauts. So you know it’s going to be funny. Truly funny games are few and far between nowadays so it’d be great to be able to play one from the golden age of humorous adventure games.
No-One Lives Forever
Another funny game, another demo I’ve played. The sniper section; which has you covering a hotel guest as he bumbles about, dropping coins and muttering to himself, and the classic moment infiltrating a base where a nearby merchant gets into and argument with one of the guards (“Are you insulting my monkey?”) are two scenes that have stuck with me over the years, and that was just playing the demo. When my little sister was younger she used to love going through the training section, never bothered with the rest of the demo she just had a fascination with trying out all the gadgets. For some reason I’ve never bought No-One Lives Forever.
Starlancer
One of the earliest games I was hooked on, the relatively simple gameplay and the interesting plot grabbed me in a way very few games ever have. Reminiscent of war films, with various characters in different planes communicating the plot. The camaraderie of your squadron (despite having little to no in-game impact) as you fight for your survival was a lot of fun. The missions had a great variety, some were massive set pieces with important story development, but then there were the more standard patrol type missions which furthered your engagement with the other characters, rather than moving the story. Many people preferred Freespace 2, but that only goes to show there is a market for this kind of game. It has been too long since we’ve had a fun space shooter, years ago there were so many of them, but now all we have left over from that era are the more sim-like X and Evocron series as well as EVE Online.
Mafia
The reason I mention this one is because it is most likely already on its way. With Mafia II due out some time next year it is quite probable that they are holding on to it for some pre-release hype and the ‘pre-order and get a free game’ promotions that have become popular of late. One day I will play this one properly, I am always hearing good things about it but didn’t see much in the time I played.
Star Trek: Armada II
Back when I first played the original Star Trek: Armada I enjoyed it a lot, but as time went on I started noticing more and more flaws. Nothing game stopping, just annoyances here and there and a general sluggishness that made the quite times drag on. Then I played the demo of Armada II, it somehow felt a little more cohesive with the implementation of warp travel and expanded options and range of ships. I though about buying it, but I waited too long and soon I couldn’t find a copy anywhere. Admittedly the demo contains the two best factions, the Federation and the Borg, but there were several others which would have been interesting to try.
Star Trek: Starfleet Command III
I have absolutely no idea if this game is any good, I’m simply going off the quality of the first (which I enjoyed) and the fact that it contains the more modern Star Trek ships. I don’t quite know what happened to the game, I wasn’t very knowledgeable about the goings on of the PC gaming scene at the time. All I know is one day I saw it in the shops at full price, and thought I’d keep an eye out for it in the future, then it was gone. What is especially strange is that Metacritic has it scored at 78, not amazing but hardly a failure.
I LOVE STARLANCER!!!!!
Ok, so I my be a a little pissed here. Strongbow Black addles the mind in ways you cannot imagine. But Starlancer is incredible. Its brilliant. Its fantastic! Everyone should play it! I’d go on, but im struggling to type a coherent sentance. More tomorrow
I had forgotten you were a fan of Starlancer too.
I’ve never felt the same sense of living in a war as in Starlancer, the radio chatter, the briefings, it all came together and gave me a great sense that I was fighting the good fight.
There are three stand-out moments I can remember; one racing out of the huge asteroid (Starlag?), switching to external camera and seeing the flames lick at my ship as the asteroid exploded. The second was the mission where you fly the enemy torp. launcher through the massive enemy fleet, slowly moving into position before unleashing your payload, then the race to the nanny ship to switch to a proper fighter. The last was my favourite, the big twist involving Viper. Perhaps I was just young, but I did not see it coming.
Amen. I’ve been pulling for GoG to issue Planescape (though I have a sinking suspicion that Wizards of the Coast is holding onto the IP with both hands and the clamps)… I really need something to replace the discs that got scratched beyond the ability of toothpaste to save them.
And yes, yes, yes to both Grim Fandango and NOLF needing to be rereleased somehow. Both are truly classic game experiences for roughly the same reason: both are a twisted look at a particular subject (the Afterlife and domestic espionage, respectively) that somehow manage to remain utterly internally consistent while maintaining a nearly constant sense of fun and play. GF is a game whose quotes I’ll suddenly randomly have pop into my head (and out of my mouth) even after eight years of not having played it.
OTOH, NOLF has so much personality and such a handle on the James Bond era of espionage media that no matter how many times I play through it, I still feel like there are references and jokes that I’ve missed. And at the same time — despite the world being a whacky one in which evil HARM thugs pause in their patrols to have deep discussions about correlation not implying causation — after a few hours of play it all just starts to make so… much… sense…
(And NOLF 2 is just as good as/better than NOLF 1).
I really hope these games find their way to digital distribution. More people need the chance to understand what I mean when I wonder about that stuff they pack canned hams in…
There is hope for Grim Fandango now Lucas Arts has started releasing some of it’s games. Only on Steam so far, but at least that’s something.
This post has only been up a few days and already three of the games have had gushing praise, why don’t the developers\publishers\copyright holders realise they could be making lots and lots of nice money?
Some have slight legal issues to overcome it’s true, but that just means they have to try harder. Kidnap all those involved and lock them up in an office with legal types until all the problems have been resolved.
Also, found another I would want on the list (but forgot about), Star Trek Birth of the Federation.
Ah, I can talk about Starlancer (and Freelancer) forever. In my 14 year-old mind, it was one of the first games to conjure up an existant, real universe. You’re right in saying that it all came together, and its a shame that so many people go on about Freespace 2 and how awesome it is, because I played that afterwards and I never got the same feeling that I got for Starlancer.
Starlancer had everything. The flight mechanics felt real; the first ship you fly is a lumbering beast that you must swing around with an iron grip, which means the first few missions can be just as challenging as many of the later ones. Being able to walk around your capital ship was great, as was the concept of earning medals and promotions to have people in the corridors salute you as you walk past (or insult you if you performed badly).
In fact, that was probably the feature that excited me the most about Starlancer when I first played it. Your actions and performance in a mission actually have cause and effect – its not just whittled down to a score or a percentage. Fail to destroy a secondary objective (or sometimes even a primary objective), then the game continues and you get your ass handed to you. You feel like you screwed up, and somebody payed for it. Whats more, that failed target will often return in a future mission to make it even harder.
Then theres the storyline. Ooh, this is where it genuinely shines over Freespace 2. The tale of a group of volunteers, of underdogs who get laughed at by other squadrons, gradually making a name for themselves in the war to end all wars. Epic stuff. The news reports set the pace, and give a picture of the large-scale war you’re fighting, while you’ve also got the little stuff that gives your squadron character – the whole Viper thing, Bandit getting promoted, rescuing Klaus Steiner (who is actually mentioned in Freelancer, if not by name, one of the tiny slivers of continuity between the two).
The missions you mentioned were all great, particularly disguising yourself as a Coalition bomber. Up until that point your ships have been getting faster, stronger and easier to maneuvre, then all of a sudden you’re flying a piece of shit thats got the turning circle of a house and moves twice as slow. Thats one of the only times I’ve felt genuine nail-biting tension in a space sim… “Get back in formation!!”.
In fact, most of the missions were challenging, but none of them were impossible. Only once do I remember banging my head against a wall trying to complete the same mission – the one where the CSS Krasynaya warps in and the ANS Reliant gets the crap torpedoed out of her. But there was tension! And oh, joy of joys, when I finally saved that ship without a scratch after chasing down every single torpedo, boy did my fist pump the air.
So yeah, fantastic game, one of the best I’ve ever played.
Grim Fandango is awesome too.