Charting a hypothetical Soviet invasion of the US, Red Alert 2 hands you control of both nations to defend the superpowers with cartoonish ideological fervour and missile-armed zeppelins. Every nation, every character, and every unit presented across the campaign is an obtuse caricature of its real-life counterpart.
What starts as a slightly drab, sincere take on heated Cold War tensions, quickly develops into a silly pastiche of overzealous superpower struggles. All of these theatrics are made even better by FMV cutscenes pre-recorded videos of real-life, non-CGI, full-flesh actors played between missions. The crazed Soviet scientist Yuri and the hot-headed American commando Tanya are loving imitations of the best and worst 80s B-movie characters.
And the gameplay is a joy to behold. Skirmishing across carefully-constructed maps to fulfil varied objectives, regularly unlocking new units, and facing additional enemy threats at a consistent pace keeps things fresh. In a refreshing shake-up, Shadow Tactics brings real-time strategy to the deadly stealth of Feudal Japan. Small in scale but grand in ambition, Shadow Tactics sumptuously marries stealth with strategy, as you leverage the disparate abilities and skills of your team to knock out guards and run around sentries.
But be careful not to draw too much attention. Paced stealth is the key here, encouraging well-thought battleplans rather than rushed violence. The game verges on a stealth puzzler at times, challenging you to most elegantly and swiftly overcome linear challenges and choose from the wealth of possible solutions available.
Distract enemies and sneak past camouflaged, pick off opponents from a distance using expert marksmanship, or go in for the killing strike, carefully lining up your targets to dance between, in the illustrious rhythm of death. You will feel like a ninja. If realism and authentic simulation of World War II battles is your bag, then make sure to check out Steel Division 2. Command amour, infantry, and aerial forces to seize objectives and rout the enemy, paying careful attention to terrain bonuses or hidden enemy forces that may scupper your forward advance.
Getting started: Read our Hearts of Iron 4 tutorial. Steel Division is the soul of hardcore hex-and-counter wargame, converted to the fluidity of a fully-realised 3D on-screen battlemap, and spruced with some real-time flavour. Its emphasis is on the operational battlefield, though, and functions as a perfect mid-point between hardcore wargamers and traditional RTS-lovers. Oh, and kill lots of people. Your units are continuously out-gunned and out-manned, having to rely on their tactical wits to evade or stealthily dispatch combatants.
Thief II: The Metal Age expands on the smash-hit "first-person sneaker", Thief: The Dark Project, demanding a whole new level of stealth, strategy, and skill to survive. New spells, equipment, and abilities provide a higher level of gameplay. Recreate your favorite legends from Greek mythology as you build and rule beautiful city-states. You'll make friends in high places, get involved in the affairs of immortals, and even meet Zeus himself.
Here's your chance to fly two of the deadliest next-gen attack helicopters -- the U. More than just another modern tank simulation. This design effort goes further than any before it to accurately model real-world conditions and tactics -- but in a way as to not overwhelm the novice, would-be tanker with a zillion key combinations and an overwhelming interface.
As Lt. Tuvok, you'll leap into action to defend the Voyager from assault, battle through derelict spacecraft, infiltrate a Borg cube, and take on the ultimate colonization force -- all while facing annihilation at every turn. No one said being a hero was easy. An entire world with its own diverse species, economic systems, alliances, and politics awaits you. Choose from a variety of races and classes, and begin your quest in any number of cities or villages throughout several continents.
From there, equip yourself for adventure, seek allies and knowledge, and head out into a rich world of dungeons, towers, crypts, evil abbeys -- anything conceivable -- even planes and realities beyond your imagination. Learn skills, earn experience, acquire treasure and equipment, meet friends and encounter enemies.
A multitude of quests and adventures await, but you choose your role, you define your destiny. A scurvy-inducing new chapter in the legendary Monkey Island adventure series unfolds in rollicking 3-D. Allegiance, the multiplayer space-combat game from the minds of Microsoft Research, combines the challenges of tactical squadron-based combat, intense one-on-one space dogfights, and amazing graphical and sound effects into a space-action experience like nothing you've seen before.
A frenzied action game in which players battle each other with one of three distinct races: The Meccs, the Sea Reapers, or the giant named Kabuto. These three species are highly incompatible with one another, and are all battling for supremacy over the islands on which they inhabit.
FIFA 's environment is alive -- this is not just a simulation: sidelines bustle with activity from spectators, coaches, and teammates as the weather and lighting change. When Alice answers a summons to return to Wonderland, she barely recognizes the place.
From the fungal rot of the Mushroom Forest to the chemistry of the Mad Hatter's Domain, Wonderland festers to its core. Undaunted by the diseased ambiance and mortal danger that surround her, Alice must undo the chaos. Wielding strange new technologies and hungering for revenge, the Soviet Empire invades America. New York City and Washington are overwhelmed. Allied forces, unprepared for the surprise attack, are decimated.
Will freedom be crushed under the heels of Communist aggression? Japan, The land is in turmoil. The last Shogunate has collapsed, leaving the nation divided into seven warring factions.
Out of this chaos will emerge one warlord who will master the Art Of War. Kurt Hectic is back to save the universe. This time, he is teamed with the genius Dr. Hawkins and the six-legged, gun-totin' robotic dog Max. Save the world with unique gadgets and weaponry, like the Black Hole Grenade and the Sniper shield. Takes you back in time with authentic aircraft, detailed cockpits, and spectacular scenery. Moving canopies, folding wings, battle-scarred paint, realistic aircraft damage, and last-second bailouts immerse you in a new level of combat flight simulation.
It's Air pirates roam the skies over a shattered America. You are Nathan Zachery -- dashing air pirate. Lead a squadron of privateers in thrilling ground-level missions. And romance a bevy of dangerous femme fatales, but be warned -- they can turn on you faster than a Fairchild in a terminal tail spin. You are snake, a government agent on a mission to regain control of a secret nuclear weapons base from terrorist hands. Now the international best-selling Playstation game comes to the PC with better graphic, added features and new game play modes!
Unlike anything you've played before, Metal Gear Solid introduces a new genre of gaming where ninja-like stealth and a cool head are your best weapons for survival. Prepare to enter the next generation of RTS. You'll develop a hero to lead your forces into battle. Share your abilities and spells with surrounding members of your army. And develop your hero as you expand your empire. Because what's the fun of winning a battle if you don't know who to carry off on your shoulders?
Features the "Black Widow" Jeanette Lee and an improved single-player mode. The official expansion pack for The Sims lets you take your Sims to new extremes. Help your Sims deal with everything from roach infestations to alien abductions. Give them the opportunity to become rock stars, talk show hosts, even UFO investigators, with five new career options.
Feel the power of really flying a B! See what it was like to be part of the man crew on dangerous bombing missions over occupied Europe. Outstanding graphics, animations, and sounds realistically recreate every aspect of the strategic air war in WWII. Do you dare explore the lost continent of Velious?
Here you will find some of the most dangerous and elusive creatures to ever roam the lands of Norrath. Challenge your resolve and adventuring skills as you set foot on the icy wastes and explore a land locked in turmoil and conflict. This enhanced version of SWAT 3 includes multiplayer support, new weapons, new levels, and more.
The Federation believes that whoever controls all three Red Orbs may have the power to destroy the universe as we know it, so it's up to you -- playing as either Captain Sisko, Major Kira, or Lt. Commander Worf -- to find the Orbs first. From Rocket Ships and Medieval Castles to Winter Wonderlands and new environments, you now have a complete working palette to create your next thrill-a-minute masterpiece. Build on new landscapes, provide more shops and stalls or take on one of 30 new scenarios filled with new exciting challenges.
This expansion two pack also includes Corkscrew Follies. While it does have some new features and still plays well, it actually falls short of its two predecessors in the important area of multiplayer support. If you're serious about space strategy, you can't afford to miss it.
Now you'll fight for the Cotentin peninsula, from the landings at Utah Beach to the siege at Cherbourg. In the dense hedgerows of the French countryside, AT teams may be lying in ambush almost anywhere.
By placing a premium on infantry tactics, Invasion puts the capital "C" back into Close Combat. In Heavy Metal, you take on the role of F. Synopsis: While most of our games come from the annals of video game history, Homeworld was one of a handful of titles from last year that absolutely had to make the list. Not only did Homeworld take the real time strategy game into 3D with style and grace, the game's graphic design, silky smooth animation and seamless interface make it a near perfect example of what can be accomplished by a creative design team.
Better still, the game's storyline is better than a lot of movies that are hitting the screens these days. After finding an artifact that leads them to believe that their ancestors came from another planet, an entire planet's population leaves their dying world to try and find their homeworld.
The game's smoothly ramping difficulty level combined with loads of plot twists kept us coming back to this title again and again. We ended up giving this game a 9. Other games influenced by Homeworld: Since it's such a recent release, we're still waiting for a flood of influenced games, but from what we've seen O.
Synopsis: It was really hard for us to pick Wing Commander II over the original Wing Commander, but in the end the sequel's great storyline in which Blue Hair gets framed for the destruction of a Confederation carrier , fantastic gameplay, and cool speech pack option which came on about a million floppies and made WCII one of the first games to really take advantage of the Sound Blaster's DAC chip made this the best of the series.
After Wing II, Origin started using real actors and FMV for their cutscenes, loosing a little part of what made the first two titles so incredibly absorbing.
Gunship Elite. Synopsis: Oh man, this was a hard call as well. Forget about it. Red Alert was a near perfect RTS title, combing fantastic graphics, an interface that had been refined over years of player testing and tweaking, incredible unit and building design including the Tesla Coil, V2 Rocket Launcher, submarines, engineers, and, of course, Tanya and long, difficult levels.
Better still, because the camera was zoomed out a good deal further than previous iterations, players could really see a lot more of what was going on, an advance made possible by Red Alert's ability to show scads of units on screen at the same time. Still, no matter how great the single player game was, the real reason that this title ended up on our list was because of its blindingly good multiplayer mode. This is the game that made kids start building their own home networks.
Synopsis: This game still stands as one of the greatest games ever released and was the first title to really introduce gamers to Peter Molyneux's genius. A refinement of the release Populous, Populous II added better graphics, an easier to use interface and a handful of new powers. This was also the title that introduced gamers to the idea of God games as they commanded their group of followers to wipe out those who were so unwise as to worship other gods.
Some of the more memorable effects ranged from the powerful volcano that ruined an opponents landscape past the point of repair, the lightning bolt, which would strike down an enemy follower that had particularly displeased you and, our favorite, the plague, a quiet attack that slowly spread throughout the enemy's population and killed them. Perhaps the most amazing thing about Populous II though was the fact that it boasted a strong multiplayer component that allowed gamers to take each other on as rival gods through a serial link or modem connection.
While this may not sound all that cool to you now, keep in mind that the year was and multiplayer gaming usually consisted of a friend sitting behind you shouting advice. Synopsis: Almost every gamer, no matter how old or young, has spent some part of their life sucked into one of the titles in the SimCity series. Along with Populous, this game the original SimCity shipped in , as did Populous invented, and over the years refined the god game genre, and to this day Tal claims that SimCity was the sole catalyst responsible for him choosing Urban Planning as his major in college.
Unlike most of the titles on this list though, SimCity never really claimed to be a game in the traditional sense, preferring instead the label "interactive toy. In addition to being hideously addictive, the title helped educate an entire generation of game players on the real-world dangers of pollution, crime and urban decay.
For those of a less philosophical nature, instant joy was no further away than the disasters button that gave you several different ways to deliver the electronic version of kicking over your own sand castles at the end of the day. One of the most ingenious and creative titles ever shipped for the PC. There are also numerous games like Theme Park and A-Train that owe a big debt to the granddaddy of all Sim games.
Synopsis: Star Wars! Friend, mother, secret lover. While there are copious numbers of great space combat sims in the annals of gaming history, only one series the one from LucasArts Sure, flying for the rebels was great and all in LucasArt's Star Wars: X-Wing, but the call of the Dark Side was strong, and once TIE Fighter hit the shelves in , we forgot all about being on the side of righteousness and good in favor of signing up for the Imperial Navy.
One of the big improvements that TIE Fighter added to the Star Wars series of flight sims was adjustable difficulty, a much-desired feature given the difficulty of X-Wing. And, of course, who could forget the incredible soundtrack? Synopsis: Alone in the Dark started a horror craze in video gaming that continues to this day. In the guise of Carnby, a tough Victorian-age private investigator who's trying to sort out a suicide that just doesn't make sense you must explore an ancient manor and put a stop to the evil that permeates it to the core.
In addition to the fact that the game looked great for the time it was released this was the original third person 3D action title , Alone in the Dark boasted an incredibly creepy storyline that kept us looking over our shoulders as we played into the wee hours of the morning. Lovecraft fans will remember with glee the horrors of opening the front door too early and the ghost of the old woman that still freaks me out whenever I see an empty rocking chair. Perhaps the funniest thing about Alone in the Dark though is how long it took to become popular.
When the title was first released, it had a pretty uninteresting cover and little US marketing. Consequently, the game sat on shelves for a couple of months before word of mouth got out about how great it was. These days, if a title doesn't sell within the first thirty days, it disappears Fortunately, the Internet keeps you from having to wait three months to hear whether or not a game is worth buying. Synopsis: Firebird's Elite was one of the greatest games ever made, and Trent was pushing pretty hard for this one to get the top spot.
Years ahead of its time, Elite used the simple graphics that were available at the time to put forth what still stands as the greatest space combat simulator ever. As a young pilot, you had to buy and sell goods to improve your ship and kill enemies to build up your combat rating. Elite featured a fantastic economic model that required you to do research about a potential trading partner to figure out whether it would be a good match for the cargo you were carrying at the time.
As the game continued, plot points were introduced and you got the chance to take on secret Navy ships, unscrupulous traders, and even an entire alien fleet. Players have the chance to fight in some of the most iconic WWII battles. The game features a single-player campaign and multiplayer that supports up to eight combatants. In the sequel, players have more multiplayer factions including the Russian and the German armies.
When Halo Wars came out in , it was an XBox exclusive. The game is set in the Halo universe. The timeline places it before Halo: Combat Evolved. Players can complete the campaign in co-op mode and compete against each other in skirmish mode. The s were great for RTS games. The game is set in one of the most popular fantasy universes, Warhammer 40K. Four races, including Space Marines, are available. The game features classic RTS mechanics and introduces morale and squad-based combat.
Several expansions and a sequel were released. It is developed by a different company than Dawn of War. The game is a recreation of the tabletop game Battlefleet Gothic. Players are in control of one of the six available factions. The goal is to gain dominion over the Gothic sector of space. Various spaceships with customization options are available. A sequel, Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 2, was released.
Mars colonization is the theme. The gameplay features classic RTS mechanics with a strong focus on economic development. A single-player campaign allows players to be in charge of the colonization process. Multiplayer that supports up to eight players is available as well. Another veteran RTS series that originated in the late nineties, Homeworld became the highest rated computer game in Almost 20 years later, the franchise is still up and running.
0コメント