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GTA Ideas Pages |
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Lots of PC games, most of them bought at budget prices (DM 10,- to DM 40,- in Germany), line my shelves. I have started this list to remind me which games were (not) worth playing. It is not complete by far. Single entries may not be complete (esp. requirements, multiplayer). Feel free to send contributions or disagreement. |
Games made in Germany? |
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name of the game local/net
players requirements
(optional) producer/publisher year
source
gameplay review Tech
notes
*** Grand Theft Auto
4
DOS (glide) & DirectX DMA Design
1997 69,-DM
Birds-eye action
with the player driving classy stolen cars (instead of always going
around on foot like those other action games make you!). Lots of text
and storyline inside the gameplay. Rich simulated city environment
(no-one's standing in corners or always patrolling the same
corridor). Exploring encouraged (no time pressure). Excellent CD
soundtrack. User levels and add-ons available on Gouranga
and elsewhere. Fast 486 required. No saving inside a level=ca. 2
hours. Contains blood and swearwords. Internet Gameplay is slow.
*** pod 2/8
Windows95 DirectX Pentium (MMX D3D S3-Virge ATI-Rage)
Ubisoft 1997
PC Super Play 3/98
Racing stunning Sci-Fi 3D tracks, cars
that sound like a bag of scrap iron when setting down after a jump,
fast pace, great feeling, very immersive! Splitscreen/net
multiplayer (can be combined), plays well with both keyboard or
analog gamepad. Anybody know how to get this to run on a 486?
(***) Vangers
8 Windows
Interactive Magic/K-D Lab 1998 demo
The world is alive: The crabs, the surface, other drivers, the
culture. Turning "rotate" on makes it a bit jumpy at times;
that ought to have been dampened some. If you get offroad, no
driving, no auto-putback: see how you get yourself out of the
unexplored planetary rough :-) Don't be afraid to read everything and
use tutorial mode. IMO most reviewers missed being able to use what
they learned in other games, but see for yourself. It's cult.
Reviews suggest 64 MB RAM and a P200 upwards for good playability.
(**) Colin McRae Rallye
1998
demo
Very realistic. You drive alone. Wish the demo would
support an analog input. The best I can do is try not to bang the car
up too much and keep it on the road at least 50% of the time.
Challenging. Could possibly play that more often.
* Interstate '76 8 directX Activision 1997
The story is gripping and well-designed. Gameplay centers more on shooting (and targeting) than on driving. The polygon landscape looks unreal, it's hard to estimate terrain form and distances. Car wrecks float and look bad. Bug: Sometimes cars get propelled up vertical polygons, bad in the police trap level. The control setup got confused with my 2 Rage3D gamepads and forgets button settings.
HiOctane 8 DOS (SVGA) Bullfrog 1995 Green Pepper
Very fast. Easy to use. Instrument panel design very nice. Powerups, lots of shooting, scores for shooting accuracy and frags as well as racing times shows you where the point of the game is. Only 6 short tracks & car models. No installation necessary. Made for 486/66 and up, it can be a bit fast on a Pentium200, and hard to handle with a Joystick. Win95 compatible. Supports LCD shutterglasses.
(--)
Grand Prix 500cc
1998
demo
Commodore 64 flair, watching my driver lean reminds
me of some good old sprites. The sound is not much better. The
gameplay? Can you guess? Jumpy (slow framerate) on the Riva128
200MMX.
(-)
Micro Machines V32
Codemasters 1998
demo
Leave it to the kiddies. Themepark-like options etc.
The ground is flat, the obstacles don't move, and I miss a cockpit
view. Boring.
**
Screamer (Bleifuß) DOS
Virgin Gold Games
2
Scenic Tracks. Good for a quick race. Use the "special"
modes to get to know a track. I haven't figured out yet why you
can choose all these cars - I use the "Hammer" on
automatic.
*
Have a N.I.C.E day
8? Windows
DOS DirectX
Magic Bytes 1997 PC Games Racing Special
2/98
Nice tuning. Nice puzzle. Nice engine sound. Mediocre
tracks. They're mostly level, and every track has the same loopings,
jumps and narrow parts. I am either
on 1st place or on last, dependingon whether I made one
mistake. Especially mean is the looping-ramp-looping because if I go
fast and don't straighten the car just right when coming out of the
first looping, I fly past the entrance to the second looping and get
set way back. I can't choose tracks (at first?). Be
sure to map the buttons on your pad to some of the 31 functions; the
game itself supports only 4-button-devices!
- megarace 2
GamePack 2
Install
this for the humourous sci-fi gameshow video that provides the
storyline. Watch the demo, but don't play the game: the gfx is
pre-rendered video, steering is difficult at best. Play pod
instead.
--
Battle Race
DOS (S3Virge)
Icarion Spielhallen-Hits 1
Not
"cars" exactly. The ship's controls are weird, hard to
govern. Hitting a wall at an angle stops me more than I'd expect. Key
setup is a pain.
*** Sidewinder 3D Pro
Microsoft
A 4-axis Joystick is a must
for these kinds of games. You either have the 3 axes of rotation all
in one hand, or if you can't roll, you can move sideways. (With a
copter, this is the same.) You don't need to use your copter sim's
"simple" mode (with rolling and banking coupled). Circling
an opponent is really easy. The sleek design makes the 3D Pro look
better than the more recent "fat" MS joysticks.
** Comanche Nova
Logic
Voxelspace Engine - need I say more? Looks good,
flies easy.
** Apache Longbow Digital
Integration
Two people can play pilot and gunner in the
same copter on 2 PCs. While the polygon world looks a bit drab, there
are more objects than your immediate targets moving about.
* U.S. Navy
Fighters Gold ECA
Just setting
down on an aircraft carrier is a challenge not taken lightly.
Requires a quality joystick or else the plane won't fly straight.
*** Descent Parallax/Interplay
1995 Bestseller Games Gold 8
Descent
is great. Descent is fast. Descent is the
immersive 3D experience. (No sticking to the floor with
occasional jumping!) You fly, barrelling down the tunnels at
breakneck speeds to find yourself in a huge cave and enemy fire
coming at you from all directions. You edge into a room, always wary
of the sharp-toothed cutter robots. It doesn't matter which is the
right side up as long as you keep moving. Plays even better in
single-PC coop: one person flies, the other fires. Supports LCD
Shutterglasses.
** Magic Carpet Bullfrog
The
athmosphere is fantastic, due to the "wildlife", the
peasants, the sound effects... Supports LCD Shutterglasses.
Most 3D-shooters contain displays of excessive violence directed at targets that look more or less human. While you may be aware that you're just meddling with electronic data, no-one knows what effects playing these games has on your real-world behaviour. Until we know more, don't let anyone who might have bad dreams play with it. These are adult games!
**
System Shock Origin
PCPlayer 12/97
A story unfolds as you
find messages left by the crew of a deserted (?) space station. CD
version has speech output.
*
Doom id shareware
A
2½-D world of switches, hidden doors and monsters. You
can turn the mosters off on the command line. You can use three
networked PCs to give you front and side views.
*
GLQuake id replay
+ Internet
A 3-D world of switches, hidden doors and
monsters. The OpenGL-rendered graphics look ok. Supports
6-axis DirectInput devices.
-
Rebel Assault LucasArts Bestseller
Games Gold 4
I don't like the graphics, and I feel I have
to try the levels too often to master them.
*
Wetlands New World Computing PC
Action PLUS 5/97
Neat Sci-Fi Subsea Graphics.
** Who
shot Johnny Rock? 2 DOS
American Laser Games DM
19,95
1920's crime, converted Laserdisk Coin-op. Funny
cutscenes. After you've opened the safe, the game gets a bit lengthy.
What makes me grin is that while Arcade players drop one quarter
after another, I can "continue" for free. Takes about 1
hour to play through. The video resolution is 196x???.
***
Empire deluxe
6/6 Windows
& DOS New World Computing 1993
Well-balanced turn-based strategy game with attractive
Multiplayer gameplay. Plays a bit like chess. 10 Unit types (2 land,
2 air, 6 ships), no "production race". Gameplay easy to
learn, tactics intricate (esp. multiplayer, the computer is easy to
beat after a while). Map generator: use 20x20 map for a quick game
(15 mins) or 200x200 for a game that may take days. Szenario editor.
gameplay review Runs on a 286 with EGA. You can play on one
computer taking turns, but if each player has one PC, you can prepare
your turn by giving orders in advance.
**
Warcraft 2
6 Windows
& DOS Blizzard 1995
Real-time fantasy strategy game. Cut down trees for wood
resources that don't grow back. Neat orc sounds. 16 Unit types (9
land, 2 air, 5 ship) with different capabilities. Both production
strategy and battle tactics decide the game. W95 szenario editor.
486.
**
Heroes of Might and Magic
4 Windows95
& DOS New World Computing 1995/96
Megapak 7
Turn-based fantasy game with roleplay fighting
skills and strategy map and production system. Building/balancing
groups to form effective fighting teams is crucial. Maps look nice
and invite exploring. Most are large or huge, making for lengthy
games.The "relay-running supply line" technique moves
fighters long distances quickly, thus subverting "proper"
logistics. W95 version has extra levels.
Look up Vangers and GTA in the Cars section; they're crossover titles.
*** Sim City
DOS VGA
Maxis
Very captivating;
checking stats is actually fun because you see all those maps.
***
Sim City 2000
DOS SVGA
Maxis
Actually improves on SimCity, what with elevated
terrain, water connections, improved graphics, subways etc.
***
Settlers (Siedler) 2 DOS
(SVGA)
Bluebyte
Very
captivating. Great athmosphere through sound and graphics.
Thankfully, the tempo leaves you time to sit back and watch the
scenery. Populous-like indirect combat system. 2-Player cooperative
or match via Splitscreen (better have SVGA for this!). For
improved two-player play a second mouse can be connected.
***
Transport Tycoon 2
DOS
Chris Sawyer / Microprose 1994
Get
buses, trains, ships and planes to transport passengers and goods in
a world so big you'll have had lots of fun before you even come up
against your opponents. As in Settlers, it's fun to just sit back and
watch once in a while.
-
Constructor
4 DOS
(IPX) Acclaim / System3
The
buying & building, upgrading houses, buying extras is very fun &
funny, too. However, the game then tries to rush you with timed
objectives and a computer-controlled attack, giving it the character
of real-time strategy more than simulation. If it had a sim mode
where I could just build & expand I'd be happy.
*** Eric the Unready Legend
Entertainment
Very funny!
** Day of
the Tentacle LucasArts
Wacky
graphics and wacky (but logical) puzzles.
** Höhlenwelt
Software2000
A world where every man
who's good and wise wears a beard. Anyone know the English name?
** Chewy - ESC von F5 Bluebyte
** Hand of Fate Westwood
** Loom
LucasArts
You aquire magical spells by learning musical
patterns and copying them to your printed spellbook.
*** Under
a Killing Moon Access
Tex
Murphy, hard-boiled detective in a mutant future, solves cases in a
3D-world.
** Discworld
II
Windows
or DOS Psygnosis 1997
neon edition / megapack 9
Oh how I wish to roam the
streets of Ankh-Morpork! Only 4 locations in Unseen U and aboout 8 in
Morpork... :-( I find the cartoon-style cut-scene animations a shade
to lengthy sometimes.The game would not run when installed to
drive G:.
*** Myst Cyan
A
bewitching and mysterious world that draws you inside. Beautifully
rendered and sounded scenes. See also: Art
goes Computergame
*** The 7th Guest
Trilobyte/Virgin
Spooky athmosphere
and soundtrack. Rendergraphics.
*
Shivers Sierra
Sierra Originals
Rendergraphics.
** Jewels of the Oracle
Discis/Navigo 1995 AdventureBox
Mystic
middle-east antique underground athmosphere. 24 Puzzles. No
storyline. Rendergraphics.
** Karma Discis/Navigo
1996 AdventureBox
Mystic
chinese antique underground athmosphere. 12 Puzzles. No storyline.
Rendergraphics.
*** The Fool's Errand Miles
Computing 1987 gamebox
As the
fool meets all characters from the tarot deck, he solves over 80
puzzles to complete the map of the sun.
** The Puzzle Gallery Miles
Computing Top Shots, gamebox
Precursor
(?) to "The Fool's Errand". Sports 140 Puzzles arranged
around a carnival theme. For some
word puzzles you need a good command of English.
-- Blown Away
Windows
Imagination Pilots 1995 Game
Pack 2
MGM Movie Merchandising. The videos are badly
rasterized, the navigation is cumbersome, most puzzles aren't so hot
either and are often played against a running timer. Using "Options",
all puzzles are available directly. Requires switching to 256
colors, window stays at 640x480, didn't run on one PC, perhaps
incompatible with ActiveMovie?
*** 7
Colors 2 DOS
Gamos/Infogrames 1991
Best played
against a human. A single game/level is over in a few minutes, but we
usually can't stop at only one. The levels are generated at random.
Russian-designed
(remember Tetris?). The only advantage of using 2 PCs
is that everyone gets a mouse.
**
Splitterwelten 4 DOS
Magellan
Push each others' monsters
off the edge before it crumbles. Patterned after the board game
"Abalone". Anyone know the english name?
* Puzzle Bobble 2
DirectX
Taito/Gamebank/GT Interactive 1996
PCGamesPLUS 8/98
Feels
like Tetris, plod on through level after level... Though
the loader demands a Pentium, if you have a 486 with directX already
installed, you can just start pb.exe from the CDROM.
** You don't know Jack 3 Win3.1/Win95/Mac BMG/Berekely Systems 1998
Get someone to play it with you, then it's very fast and fun. Playing a quiz show alone is not the same. German version: very good; you think it was made here. I didn't try the Internet Show yet.
Multimedia titles have no gameplay to speak of; their main purpose is to let you peruse some multimedia material about a certain topic, often with a 3D-adventure-like interface and some small games thrown in.
* Pyst
Windows
Mac Parroty/Sierra 1997
The material is good & funny - I wish there was more
of it. John Goodman sings. The
German translation and synchronisation could be better.
- Star Warped Win3.1/95+Mac Parroty/Sierra 1997
Humor is at office level throughout (lame). If you get this game for free, look at the 3 wall posters; see the Spike Lee scenes in the vault 052577; play at hitting Ewoks and the Jedi quiz; look on the CD for the ranchcam otrc*.mov, esp. otrc034.mov and otrc042.mov.
Virtual Springfield (2) Win95/Mac Fox 1997
The first look is disappointing: the game takes you from streetcorner to streetcorner automatically, with no chance to stop or even turn your head, although obviously a 3D-model was used.
ToDo: *** Worms, *** Jagged Alliance, *** Laser Squad, ** VidGrid, *** Quest for Fame, ** Populous, * Dark Reign, * Bad Mojo, - Evocation, - Frankenstein, *** Suspended, ** Gateway, *** The Incredible Machine, *** Lemmings, ** Shanghai - Great Moments, * Battle Isle, *** Rampart, * Outpost, *** 3D Ultra Pinball, *** Traders, * Golden Gate Killer, ** Psychic Detective, * C.H.A.O.S., * Beneath a Steel Sky, ** Monkey Island, - Braindead 13, *** Suspended, *** Paradroid, -- Tuneland, *** Just Grandma and Me, - IQ 130, ** Bob Dylan: Highway 61 interactive, *** Quest for Fame
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n 2
Windows DOS DirectX
p 199 m
gameplay review
Tech notes
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GTA Ideas Pages |
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Created
by Michael Mendelsohn