Game Recommendations

As a regular PC gamer, I go through a lot of games and enjoy them greatly, and it always pains me to see great games not being given the coverage they deserve. Here are a few titles that I think you should go out and get a hold of.

Thief

Thief: The Dark Project	Thief II: The Metal Age
Thief III: Deadly Shadows	Thief IIx: Shadows Of The Metal Age

While it's a difficult choice to make, I'd say that the Thief series of games has to go down as my favourite PC games of all time. Unique gameplay, intriguing storylines and exquisite attention to detail (not to mention the odd spot of black humour) make the Thief games unrivalled in my honest opinion.

In the three official Thief games, you play Garrett, a master thief in a fantasy city set somewhere between the medieval and Victorian ages. Stealth and timing are the name of the game, as Garrett's poor combat prowess is compensated for by a masterly ability to hide in shadows and a large collection of handy thieving tools. While the games focus mainly on quietly relieving people of treasured possessions, as their storylines unfold you find that Garrett is much more than just a common thief...

Where Thief excels is that it's not just a case of blowing everything up in sight as you work your way through a set of waypoints. Often you need to improvise and think on your feet, and there are a lot of sidestories which you can keep up with by reading books or by listening to characters talking while you hide nearby. The level design in each game is superb, with a very open approach; you can choose your own approach to achieving your objectives, for example blackjacking everyone in sight and going about your business unheeded, or 'ghosting' through the levels, never being spotted or heard.

Atmospheric level design is a hallmark of the Thief series

Another great aspect of the Thief series is that if you own Thief II (in my opinion the best game of them all) you can download Thief IIx, a free unofficial expansion for Thief II in which you play Zaya, a young trader-turned-thief who is new to the world of Dayport. Although unofficial, this expansion pack is of commercial quality and keeps the spirit of the Thief series admirably.

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Myst

Myst	Riven
Myst III: Exile	Myst IV: Revelation
Myst V: End Of Ages	Uru: Ages Beyond Myst

The Myst series is probably one of the longest-running PC game series (the first game was released in 1994), but to this day its brand of puzzle-solving adventure gameplay remains entirely unique. The point-and-click interface makes the Myst series accessible to anyone, even someone with no gaming experience, and the games' environments and atmosphere are uniformly breathtaking.

Right from the outset, the Myst series is all about mystery and exploration; you are placed in beautifully-rendered environments and essentially left to work out what to do on your own, with little to aid you but what you can glean from the surrounding area. The worlds ('ages') of Myst revolve around books; books are used as portals between Ages or even to create them. Each Age has its own unique environment and often nothing is as it seems; the laws of nature and physics may be bent or even entirely broken. The games revolve around the fictional ancient D'Ni civilisation and the family of Atrus, one of the last surviving D'Ni and your character's only friend in the world of Myst.

The Myst ages feature dazzling landscapes and unique architectural styles

The most striking feature of the Myst series is the painstaking detail evident in each Age; the landscapes and buildings are beautifully rendered and utterly captivating, while the ambient sounds and music convey a real sense of atmosphere. In short, every area in every game looks and sounds absolutely fantastic. It's easy to lose yourself in the world of Myst, all the more so because the puzzles are fiendishly involving and at times immensely frustrating - until you realise what you've been missing and it all falls intricately into place.

Tomahna: Myst's answer to Rivendell

One of the most pleasing aspects of the Myst series is the integration of real-life actors into the games, right from the original 1994 game through to the latest. You will come to recognise the faces of Robyn and Rand Miller as Atrus and his errant sons, as well as actors such as Brad Dourif (One Flow Over The Cuckoo's Nest, The Lord Of The Rings). This, along with the beautiful orchestral soundtracks by Robyn Miller and Jack Wall, gives the games a near-cinematic quality in terms of storyline - although you should of course expect to spend more time solving puzzles than watching cutscenes. The Myst series is first and foremost a collection of puzzle games, and you can expect to be kept happily immersed in the world of Myst for hours on end.

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Day of Defeat

Day of Defeat

Steam

Often forgotten in the shadow of CounterStrike, Day of Defeat is another online multiplayer game based on the Half-Life engine. Based on the battle for Europe in the latter part of World War II, Day of Defeat focuses on squad-based infantry combat in the streets of war-torn European towns.

Unlike many online games, DoD is not a simple frag-fest, nor is it a game for loners. At all times you're encouraged to work as part of a squad, and while it is possible to play as a lone wolf lurking in the shadows it is far more rewarding to help out in the intense territorial battles or assaults that make up the various DoD scenarios. With a choice of dozens of player classes, each with their own distinct weapon, and 22 standard maps and hundreds of custom maps, DoD offers a wide variety of gameplay.

Perhaps the best aspect of DoD is that it strikes a good balance between realism and gameplay; while you are very vulnerable (a single rifle shot can easily kill you) and the weapons realistically simulate accuracy and recoil, once you're dead you can plunge right back into the action with the next wave of reinforcements, the better equipped to take out that sniper who just pegged you.

DoD encourages players to operate as part of a squad

The Day of Defeat community is friendly and welcoming, and new players are encouraged to join in the fun and learn from more experienced veterans. There are a lot of tricks to learn in playing DoD, so it's advisable to watch how decent players play and copy their actions. Oh, and you can always check out my DoD Guide.

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Freespace

Freespace

Freespace 2

Freespace and its sequel Freespace 2 are at the pinnacle of space combat gaming, and have retained that crown for several years. Despite being ancient in modern gaming terms, they are still unmatched in their genre for well-balanced gameplay and mission design.

Set in the far future, the Freespace games put you in the shoes of a Terran space fighter pilot, charged with protecting humankind's colonies throughout the galaxy. Your missions range from scouting and exploration to head-on bombing assaults, right through to last-gasp defence of your colonies and capital ships. Supported by wings of squadmates, you are placed into huge battles where you are just part of the picture - while you might be hunting down a bomber wing, enemy interceptors might be trying to knock out your assault team while two destroyers duke it out with their beam weapons. This frantic setting makes for very involving gameplay, as well as leaving you with a choice of ways to approach the missions.

Both games involve a large single-player campaign as well as online multiplayer skirmish modes. The campaigns are lengthy and well-executed, with your character fighting through battle after battle in galaxy-spanning wars and gaining ranks with each major success. You'll be shifted around different squadrons as the campaigns progress in order to give you a shot of the different roles, which include (among others) bombers, interceptors, scouts, and the immensely fun 'space superiority' (i.e. shoot everything in sight) classes.

Call that a gun? This is a gun!

The reason Freespace works? Simple: frantic, fast-paced gameplay with huge battles all around you. The missions are varied and well-designed, and there are plenty of interesting developments to keep you interested as the wars progress. Online play allows for fun squad-based assaults or simple, frantic deathmatch-style dogfights. At their heart the Freespace games have been designed to be fast-paced and great fun; their success at this makes them classics which are still just as playable as when they were first released years ago.

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