|
|
To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu
-------------------------------------------------------------- This story was printed from ZDNet Australia. --------------------------------------------------------------
|
Top Games of the Year September 16, 2001 URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/reviews/software/graphics/soa/Top-Games-of-the-Year/0,139023432,120107020,00.htm
Close that spreadsheet and break out the joystick -- it's time for some fun. From action/adventure games to space-combat sims, this has been a banner year for 3D games.
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings
Company: Microsoft
Diablo II
Diablo II, the long-awaited sequel to 1997's hack-and-slash classic is just as fierce as
its predecessor and boasts even more astounding graphics. The game's plot is
still basically a series of demon-slaying missions, but the devil is in the details: Diablo's
terrific fight sequences, incredible lighting effects, and complex, ever-changing
landscapes place it in a class by itself.
Company: Jack of All Games
Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed
For racing-sim fans, Electronic Arts' Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed leaves
the competition in the dust. Offering 80 Porsche models dating back to 1948,
Unleashed delivers outstanding graphics, challenging course layouts, and truly
useful cockpit controls. Its greatest strength, however, is the remarkably accurate
handling built into each car.
Company: Electronic Arts
Pro Pinball: Fantastic Journey
If pinball is your sport, Empire Interactive's Pro Pinball: Fantastic Journey may
convince you to trade in your flippers for a keyboard. Based on the latest iteration
of Empire Interactive's amazingly realistic Pro Pinball engine, Fantastic Journey's
smooth 3D graphics and Dolby Surround soundtrack create the most authentic
pinball game ever.
Company: QV Software
Rainbow Six: Rogue SpearRainbow Six: Rogue Spear from Red Storm Entertainment provides more down-to-earth entertainment based on the exploits of the Rainbow antiterrorist group created in Tom Clancy's best-selling novel. Each Rogue Spear mission pits Rainbow members against heavily armed terrorists intent on wreaking havoc. The game's realistic weaponry, locales, and plots all add up to a truly masterful interactive thriller.
Company: Interplay
Re-VoltThe most imaginative racing game of all just might be Acclaim's Re-Volt, which puts you in the driver's seat of an ultrarealistic radio-controlled toy car. We loved driving Re-Volt cars under tables and between legs while scooting around normally grim locales like museums and grocery stores -- not to mention demolishing other vehicles with vicious little weapons like water balloons and bottle rockets. Big fun from a bug's-eye view.
Company: Acclaim
Star Trek: Klingon Academy
Check out Interplay's Star Trek: Klingon Academy, which casts you as a young Klingon
cadet undergoing elite combat training. You can choose any of 25 elaborate mission scenarios
or opt for custom skirmishes, all of which involve spectacular pyrotechnics and thrilling
ship-to-ship combat.
Company: Centre Net
Tachyon: The FringeNovaLogic's Tachyon: The Fringe a spectacular space-combat game. Containing more than 60 missions, a consuming story line, imaginative ship controls, and superb 3D graphics, Tachyon offers incredibly engaging single-player action. But it's even more exciting in multiplayer mode: offering intense 16-player LAN-based deathmatches and awesome 120-person online arena games.
Company: Electronic Arts
The SimsElectronic Arts' The Sims is a control freak's delight. This simulation lets you create an entire neighborhood of virtual beings, give them personalities and homes, and then watch them interact. The game's AI is awesome, and seeing your Sims react to the mundane, humorous, or horrifying situations you create will engross you for hours at a time. God never had it so good.
Company: Electronic Arts
Thief II: The Metal Age
Eidos Interactive's Thief II: The Metal Age makes up in intensity what it lacks in high-speed
slash-and-gore. As in the original Thief, most of the action revolves around an enigmatic
character who completes his missions more through stealth than swordplay. The richly detailed
environments, superb 3D soundtrack, and haunting enemies combine to create a game you'll
play at the edge of your seat..
Company: Ozisoft
Unreal Tournament
For front and personal confrontations, look no further than Unreal Tournament.
This beautiful but violent first-person shooter offers five different play modes that
provide surprising diversity. Both single-player and multiplayer gameplay are incredibly
intense, and the game's vicious AI-driven opponents are as convincing as any we've seen.
Company: Ozisoft
Copyright © 2009 CBS Interactive, a CBS Company. All Rights Reserved. |
It doesn't get any better for strategy fans than Microsoft's Age of
Empires II: The Age of Kings, which offers epic gameplay spanning the millennium
following the fall of Rome. This historically accurate real-time game assigns you
the role of one of 13 Middle Age civilizations intent on conquering the world. Vivid
detail, brains-over-brawn tactics, and a mind-boggling array of combat options make
this one of the most addicting games of the genre.