This really makes me feel better about missing out on No One Lives Forever 2. Up until now, I always thought that it was considered a classic at least on par which its predecessor (which I have played only a couple of years ago and rather enjoyed).
As an aside:
Transport Tycoon is available on iOS devices, and it was made by the original designer.
It looked solid on my iPhone 5, but the iPhone screen is just a bit too small to really play it. I imagine it’s fantastic on an iPad.
Since it just released on GOG, Sin’s worth checking out. It’s a really underrated shooter that does some really cool things. The late 90’s had lots of weird shooters like Requiem Avenging Angel, Wheel of Time, and Kingpin that tried new things but either weren’t a whole lot of fun to play or ran out of steam long before the credits rolled. Sin has loads of variety and great pacing. It’s definitely worth giving it a shot!
Holy crap, Sin! I played the heck out of it. I’m sure In still have the disk, but I’ll probably GOG it.
I’m sure I have Sin on Steam. I think I got it with the Source engine episodic sequel.
Unfortunately, Sin’s Steam release was censored and didn’t come with 2015’s excellent Wages of Sin expansion pack. Luckily the GOG release was overseen by a reformed Ritual and is completely unaltered (besides being able to run on modern systems without a fuss!) and includes Wages of Sin.
It is. Those people are crazy.
Just by looking at what I have installed at the moment:
Baldur’s Gate 2 (with a few great mods through BWS)
Jagged Alliance 2 (with JA2UC or 1.13 mods)
Civ IV (with ROM:AND mod or FfH2)
Age of Wonders 2: SW (with unofficial 1.4 patch and some great fan maps/scenarios)
SMAC
Fallout 2 (with restoration project)
Max Payne 2
Red Alert 2 with Yuri exp.
Honorable mention: carmageddon 2 (for countless hours spent… though it has aged when compared to flatout 2 and the likes :D)
I concur. HOMM2 is a great example of how pretty hand drawn graphics can be. I remember reading an interview with one of the animators where she discussed drawing pixel by pixel, the animations for each creature.
Slightly OT: There’s also a balance patch available, if you are playing MP with friends. It’s located at UndeadHalfOrc & Darmani's Heroes 2 balance patch - The Heroes Round Table. If you get the GOG version, download the windows 95 version, and unzip the balance patch in. I’ve played through half each of the Roland and Archibald campaigns with it, and it makes good changes. For one, peasants are marginally more useful now, by a tiny margin, instead of being only necro fodder.
Wasn’t SiN terrible and boring? I can’t remember. All I can remember are attractive looking guns and the incredibly long load times. Hopefully that problem has vanished on modern computers?
I think the long load times were due the wrong release candidate being sent to manufacturing. The initial retail release contained developer hooks that would refresh the level every few minutes and it required around a massive 40 mb patch in 1998 to get it in a decently playable state. The load times are no longer a issue.
I played through it a couple of years ago. The Alexis Sinclair stuff is embarrassing, but there’s really cool weapons, dismemberment, variable objectives, secrets, a super interactive environment and so much 90’s attitude. It’s like a polygonal Build engine shooter, right down to the goofy core. So if you found Duke 3D juvenile you should steer clear. Otherwise it’s a good time.
Smac/X - probably the greatest x4 of all time. The interface is occasionally annoying, but it’s easy to work through. Freed from the fetters of doing a history based civ builder, Brian Reynolds helped do something amazing here. It’s got incredible mechanics, the best pollution and government systems in a 4x I’ve ever seen.
MoO 1 & 2 - despite being a sequel, 2 is a pretty different game than 1 and they’re both worth playing. One has a mostly great interface because it’s a simpler game, and even huge universe games can be completed in 2-4 hours. It’s not a “cup of coffee” strategy game, but it’s a shorter, more compact experience. 2 is more sprawling, there’s a lot more detail to manage. And the Antaran mechanic will drive people crazy. But it’s also fantastic.
MoM - the interface isn’t great but it’s not as bad as some make it out. It’s a tremendous game and no other fantasy 4x has quite pulled off it’s blend.
Open X-Com - the king, in renewed glory. Open Xcom adds a lot of nice bells and whistles to facilitate the playing experience. The Firaxis remake was a solid game but did not capture X-Com’s greatness IMO.
System Shock 2 - I don’t think Bioshocks or the new Deux Ex quite captured what this game did. It was pretty amazing.
Planescape Torment
Fallout
Much like Desslock, I find myself pining for a major goldbox release on GoG. I’m afraid the titles are lost in licensing hell, though.
Deus Ex (played > 6 times)
Thief 2 (played > 6 times)
NOLF 1 & 2 (despite respawning enemies, I enjoy playing #2)
Curse of Monkey Island (MI3) (I love that Gary Coleman voiced the bottomless mug kid)
Grim Fandango (a classic)
Day of the Tentacle (usually takes me ten minutes or so to forget how dated the graphics are)
Arcanum: of Steamworks Magick Obscura has been available on GOG for a while but as of today is now available on Steam too.
A whole boatload of Sierra games are on Steam now, including Arcamum, Caesars 3 and 4, Quest for Glory and a ton more.
AKA best Caesar.
Though 2 will always have a place in my heart <3
Isn’t it wonderful how big an effect GoG had on the industry? Now whenever an older game on any service is released, people just expect it to work with no hassles on modern machines. Remember how that wasn’t the case at all before GoG? A steam release often meant “well, let’s figure out a guide to get this working on modern machines”.
I’ve only played 1-3 but I enjoyed all of them, but yeah, 3 is fantastic. I keep meaning to try 4 though.
Yup, other folks saw that “Hey, these older geeks now have money to burn! Let’s re-release all the stuff they loved or couldn’t afford when they were younger!” ;)
Waverace, NBA Jam, and Command and Conquer, all on N64. Final Fantasy Tactics and SSX tricky on PS1.
I’d pay big money to get Waverace on Steam with controller support…the feel of that game is amazing.
I take this to mean that when the doctor checks you out with a stethoscope he hears the words, PLEBS ARE NEEDED! PLEBS ARE NEEDED!