Yeah, I love Moonbase Commander. Play it all the time when I’ve only got 10 or 15 minutes to play a game and I need a break.
I was shocked at the CGW review. The guy just didn’t seem to “get it.”
Counter-Strike, all the whey!
Wrong year. Oddly enough, it still generates 50-100k (!) players on a regular basis, though:
Currently at 96,754 players as I write this. 82k are for Counter-Strike.
After they release the Condition Zero patch with the riot shield and the new guns / maps, it’s possible I may pick up counter-strike again for a while.
Sometimes, the masses are right. BF1942 for me as well, with NOLF2 as close runner-up. Honorable mention to Darkfall for being a very good adventure game made by a lone guy on a shoestring budget; and to Laser Squad Nemesis for being an awesome PBEM strategy-lite game that is dirt fucking cheap.
I haven’t had as much online fun in years: BF1942 rocks.
PC: Warlords Battlecry 2. Runners-up: Dsciples 2, Avenum 3, and Age of Wonders 2.
Console: Virtua Fighter 4. Runners-up: Wild Arms 3, Burnout 2, and Ratchet and Clank.
The above was me.
Warlords Battlecry 2
runner up to IWD2
i enjoyed Mafia immensely, followed up by Battlefield 1942…although i hear this Christopher Columbus 1492 version is really good too. :wink:
sadly, i am just now playing MOHAA, so unless i finish it by end of year, i don’t think i’ll be able to nominate it.
you guys playing AoM, is it worthy of nomination? it’s on my short list of games to-do.
PC Freedom Force
Console Tie: Ratchet and Clank & MK:DA , I’m a fighter freak from the arcade days can’t help it
For me it’s a toss-up between BF 1942 and Warlords Battlecry II. I give the edge to BF 1942 because WBC II still has some annoying bugs that need to be fixed. The sad thing is SSG has a new patch ready but they can’t get UbiSoft to agree to release it.
A toss-up between NOLF2 and AOM.
Addendum : Oh I agree Brian - I’ll also add Medieval:Total War - fantastic game.
I’m still most impressed with Medieval: Total War. Great mix of tactical and strategy gaming. Runners up: Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin and Morrowind. BF1942 is a great design but there wasn’t much to single player and multiplayer was a bit hard for me to get into - though that’s likely more my fault than the game’s.
Console: Romance of The Three Kingdoms VII (PS2). Then again, I’m a complete freak and no responsible journalistic outlet should let my tastes in console games influence them whatsoever. After that, Vice City.
Geez… is this Battlefield 1942 central? Bah, I still don’t get how this game is getting rave reviews. It has no single player mode worth note, a multiplayer mode thats really not that much different than games like Tribes 2 and the online latency isn’t even as good as something like MoH (and yes I have played BF42 on a t1 line). Yeah its a solid game, but goty material? And no, I’m not saying this because I’m an ofp fan (totally different games). There’s something just too arcadey and cheap feeling about it…I’d even compare it to something like Mobile Forces, another game thats not particularly bad, but has that mots effect.
I think the game would have been better if closer to a Ghost Recon/Delta Force game, and instead focus a bit more on realism. Really, this game doesnt strike me as anything particularly great… it just feels soooo TF/Tribes 2 (with even less modes of play) for the SPR fans. I really dont get it. Plus a game like Deadly Dozen Pacific (a budget title with big budget gameplay imo) comes off simpler to play than BF42 but for some reason feels more authentic.
Yeah, the games good, it works well at what it does as a ww2 arcade team based shooter. But take away the ww2 clothing and nobody would care, imo.
etc
All that angst and you don’t even list your choice for GOTY? Bah yourself.
Gee this year is hard to pick goty.
I’d have to say Morrowind.
Though in strategy I’m partial towards Soldiers of Anarchy and WBC2.
In action Deadly Dozen Pacific and NOLF2.
Good times! The sturm and stress of it all.
etc
I liked Medieval: Total War for strategy gaming. The depth is incredible, especially on the strategic map. So much so that you don’t even have to bother with tactical battles, though those can be great too.
I will say that America’s Army (once it was patched to versions 1.30 and 1.40) has got to be my shooter of the year. Battlefield 1942 is fun, but it’s for when you want a somewhat brainless, non-stop, chaotic, kill-and-die-30-times-a-round experience. But for realism and intensity, you can’t beat America’s Army. Best realistic shooter available right now, and the close-quarter combat maps are simply the pinnacle of the genre. I find I can’t even bother with Ghost Recon anymore. Yeah, it’s a hassle having to qualify past basic training and infantry school, but the trick is to muddle through the training missions and get to the Airborne and Ranger missions. Airborne missions include parachuting out of a plane at night, maneuvering to hit the landing zone, assembling into your assault group on the ground while under fire, and getting the mission done. Insane.
The 75th Ranger mission Weapons Cache has got to be the best level. Two warehouses, seperated by a loading dock/parking lot. You all get M4 carbines and SAW’s, so it’s all about going room-to-room in fighting that compares to Stalingrad at times. It’s bloody, brutal, and gory, but it’s all about teamwork and communication skills, especially if you’re about to be overrun and you’re screaming for back-up while trying to fall back to the next room.
Yeah, I have to get back to Medieval TW. I never completed a whole game unless getting my butt kicked by the Germans or Turks counts!
I think theres a lot of great games that could have been classics this year… lots of 8/10 or 9/10 or 4 star games that are shy of that ‘classic’ status… missing that one feature or mechanism or something that gets it up in the ‘must play’ status for me. A game like Freedom Force could have used a more open ended campaign approach. Dungeon Siege a more in depth character development. NWN control of a party. UTk3 more gameplay modes. BF42 a credible single player mode and more multi modes. This year is the best I’ve seen in pc gaming, but it lacks that one title that just oozes UBERness like OFP or TA did for me. Morrowind comes closest though…and Vice City on console.
And a game like Morrowind win points for me not because its a perfect game but because its a rare type of open ended crpg game that works well and is highly replayable. Plus I think the exotic MW environment (excellent art designs btw!) keeps it as one of the games i seem to come back to.
etc
GOTY: GTA3.
Runners up: Freedom Force, Combat Mission BB, TCM2003.
BF1942 misses out because of the weak single player. Great online though.
DeanCo–
I’d go with Morrowind, so far. It is certainly the game that I’ve played the most of. Close runners up would be NOLF2 and Battlefield 1942.
Yeah, I’d definitely give props to Morrowind in addition to my choices. First RPG I’ve played more than a few hours since Fallout.
I’d say Battlefield 1942 comes in on top despite the complaints about latency and single-player because of the sheer fun factor, but then Tom would make me leave the room again.