Best Games of 2000 Supplied by Alex van Kaam As usual at the end of the year all the websites have posted their list of best games and stuff. Since I only really think that voodooextreme is the site to go to I decided to show you their list of awards, a list I can fully agree with, I put the links in since there are some nice screenshots for those who are interested. http://www.voodooextreme.com/articles/2000actionwinners.html ACTION GAMES ------------ Third place - MechWarrior4: Vengeance from Microsoft. I haven't had this much fun playing a MechWarrior franchised game since Mech2: Mercs. While the single player campaign is a tad on the short side and the acting is atrocious - Mech4 offers great multi-player support and the instant action skirmish mode is a blast. Visually - the graphics in Mech4 are stunning; the mechs look fantastic and the weapon effects are great. There were some minor flaws in its visuals, but overall Mech4 was easy on the eyes and ran nicely. Vengeance is a must buy for any MechWarrior fan. Second place - Diablo II from Blizzard Entertainment. Yeah, I know what you're thinking - what is Diablo II doing in the action category? Well, if you think clicking the right mouse button two million times an hour killing thousands of monsters is 'role playing', well - we have a fundamental difference of opinion that isn't likely to be resolved. Diablo II, to me was a hardcore arcade/action game with very minor RPG elements (character skills and advancement) that sported one of the best treasure systems ever created. The single player campaign mirrors the multi-player Battle.net action, which is the finest co-operative gaming experience found online today. The vast assortment of monsters, dungeons, magic items, spells and equipment really made Diablo II a winner; its addictive gameplay gives it thousands of hours of replay value. Diablo II may be 'more of the same' but by god - if it's not broken, don't fix it. BEST ACTION GAME OF THE YEAR - Giants: Citizen Kabuto from Planet Moon Studios! Big surprise! Err, not. Giants was easily one of the most innovative games released in the last three years; coupled with its outstanding graphics, hilarious writing, strong characters, cool multi-player and radically different gameplay styles, Giants was the clear winner as best action game of the year. http://www.voodooextreme.com/articles/adventure2000winners.ht ml ADVENTURE GAMES --------------- Third Place - No Winner. That's right. There is no winner for third place. Frankly, there just weren't enough award quality adventure games this year to give someone a third place. Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned was cool, but had plenty of problems that push it out of contention. Other adventure games, such as Timeline, were a disappointment with their illogical puzzles and weak story. The story and puzzles are the meat and potatoes of an adventure game, so an adventure game with a weak story and puzzles is not a good adventure game. Maybe next year we will see some higher quality adventure games on the way -- games like Stupid Invaders look to be quality titles in 2001. Second Place - The Longest Journey from Funcom and Empire Interactive. One of the finest adventure games in the last 5 years, The Longest Journey gave adventure gamers everything the needed in a game. You play as an art-student named April, who is having many problems in her life as of late, including weird dreams that seem all too real. As you progress through the game, the source of why the dreams seem real is revealed, and it is then that The Longest Journey grabs you and doesn't let go. The game follows a structure close to a Shakespearean play -- there is an introduction, a rising action, a climax, a falling action, and then a conclusion. The story throughout the game is so riveting and compelling, that you are forced to keep playing so you can satisfy that need to know what happens next. Another thing that The Longest Journey excels at is making the gamer truly care about April and her friends. You begin to feel for the character, a very important thing in adventure games. Add to this excellent graphics, strong puzzles, and long gameplay, and you have a mighty fine product that no adventure gamer should be without. BEST ADVENTURE GAME OF THE YEAR - Escape from Monkey Island from LucasArts! LucasArts revived one of the most memorable series in gaming history and updated it for 3d in this 4th instalment to the Monkey Island series. Many fans were upset at the thought of Guybrush Threepwood being in 3d, yet LucasArts was able to make the transition successfully, while still keeping the cartoony feel that is a hallmark of the Monkey Island games. Escape from Monkey Island also had some of the greatest animations I have ever seen in a game -- to quote Sammy Sosa, "It's soooo real!" However, graphics aren't what make Escape from Monkey Island the best adventure game of the year -- the wacky, corny, and always hilarious story is. Starting off as a quest to save your wife's governor's mansion, MI4 quickly escalates into much more than that, including a visit from everyone's favorite ghost pirate, LeChuck. The script, while not as funny as previous Monkey Island games, still had us in stitches with its crazy antics, puns, and obscure references. The puzzles were almost always intuitive and fun, lending even more to the fun factor of the game. Oh, and the game brought back everyone's favorite skull without a skeleton body, Murray. This game is just top notch LucasArts adventure -- let's hope they don't abandon us adventure gamers too, like so many others have. http://www.voodooextreme.com/articles/fps2000winners.html FIRST PERSON SHOOTERS --------------------- Third Place - Soldier of Fortune from Raven Software and Activision. Soldier of Fortune was -- hands-down -- the bloodiest, most violent game I've ever played in my entire life...and that has to count for something. Raven's advanced GHOUL rendering technology, with its 26 unique hit zones, made Soldier of Fortune a virtual orgy of grizzly, Quake II-engined death. The ability to blast off any appendage, watching enemies limp around, grabbing at their knees or crotch; blowing off their heads and watching their brains splatter against the wall is, indeed, the game's biggest selling point. Soldier of Fortune's real-word environments, outstanding levels, great weapons and full length single-player campaign were top notch; and while the multi-player never really caught on (perhaps due to the number of units sold), it held some quality capture-the-flag and deathmatch levels. Soldier of Fortune really kicked some major ass. Second Place - Deus Ex from ION Storm Austin and Eidos Interactive. Usually, when you think of a first-person shooter, a role-playing game doesn't immediately come to mind. However, Deus Ex (from Warren Spector and the ION Storm Austin team) defies genres, mixing action with role-playing to perfection. It is, without a doubt, one the best first-person shooters of the year. With its intriguing plot, complex skills system and cast of gritty characters, Deus Ex is something very special . and a must-play for any hardcore gamer. Congratulations to Warren Spector for saving ION Storm and making such an amazing game. Now, if only it ran better on a Direct3D-based card... BEST FIRST PERSON SHOOTER OF THE YEAR - No One Lives Forever from Monolith and Fox Interactive. Monolith has finally proven to the gaming world that they aren't a bunch of no-talent hacks, by delivering a Triple-A caliber, incredibly captivating first-person shooter. The solo experience in No One Lives Forever really excels, with superb writing, movies, music, levels and best of all...fun gameplay. The missions are shaken, not stirred - offering a bevy of activities besides simply running around, shooting things. Scuba diving, skydiving, driving motorcycles and snowmobiles spices up the game nicely, and the super-sexy sleuth, Cate Archer, is a great leading lady. Kudos to Monolith for producing such a top-notch product! http://www.voodooextreme.com/articles/ve2000rpgawards.html ROLEPLAYING GAME ---------------- Third place winner - Icewind Dale from Black Isle Studios. Icewind Dale was the third game to use Bioware's Baldur's Gate Infinity game engine; following of course last year's best RPG winner Planescape Torment. While it offered very little in the innovation category, Icewind Dale had a good storyline, great musical score, plus plenty of hack and slash action to keep players happy. Overall, I really enjoyed this game greatly. Second place winner - Deus Ex from ION Storm. Deus Ex has made its way into our Voodoo Extreme best of year awards yet again; it also won the second place prize in the overall best first person shooter genre. With its intriguing plot, complex skills system and cast of gritty characters, Deus Ex is something very special...and a must-play for any hardcore gamer. While Deus Ex may not be the best role playing game (or first person shooter) it perhaps offers the best overall gameplay experience of any title this year. THE BEST ROLE PLAYING GAME OF THE YEAR - Baldur's Gate II: The Shadows of Amn from Bioware. The game that started the rebirth of the Advanced Dungeons and Dragon computer franchise is back and better with ever with its sequel Baldur's Gate II: The Shadows of Amn. With added 3D support, new character classes, monsters, magic items and epic sized length, Baldur's Gate II was hands-down the best RPG released this year. Its story really shined brightly and the writing was top notch. As with Icewind Dale it may not have been a terribly innovative title, but Baldur's Gate II without a doubt reigned supreme over this year's crop of role playing games! http://www.voodooextreme.com/articles/strategy2000winners.html STRATEGY GAMES -------------- Third Place - Homeworld: Cataclysm from Barking Dog Studios and Sierra Studios. Last year we saw Homeworld, one of the first RTS games to break out of the traditional mould, and put us in a true 3d environment where you can move your units on a 360 degree sphere. Not quite a sequel, and not quite an expansion pack, Homeworld: Cataclysm fixed everything that was wrong with its predecessor, expanded the epic story of the game, and stuck to the exact same formula that made Homeworld one of the best games of 1999. The mix of 3d space action, the inability to overpower your opponent with brute force, and the added strategy of a 3rd dimension make Homeworld: Cataclysm a sure-fire winner for any strategy fan. Second Place - The Sims from Maxis and Electronic Arts. Somebody stop Will Wright from designing any more games, because, frankly, we don't have the time to devote to his masterpieces anymore. Basically The Sims is nothing more than running a Family, The Sims became one of 2000's most addicting games, both for casual and hardcore gamers, and also one of the years best selling titles. The ability to create a computer version of yourself and follow him or her through their day, with no end, besides death, is just amazingly innovative. You can find a spouse, have kids, find more spouses (Yes, your Sim is a Mormon it seems), or go crazy and make lesbian lovers, S&M dungeon shacks; imagination is the limit. There are so many little things to do in The Sims that it never plays the same twice. While many wouldn't consider it to be a strategy game, it seemed like the only category that fit for a game that pushed the envelope so very far. BEST STRATEGY GAME OF THE YEAR - Sacrifice from Shiny and Interplay! "Wow". I think that describes Sacrifice best. After the whole Messiah debacle, many wondered if Shiny lost its touch in making games. I think Sacrifice shut all of those people up. A game where not only strategy is needed, but also quick thinking, Sacrifice transcends the typical strategy game by bringing you down to the battle and putting a Shiny twist on everything. Instead of harvesting gold, souls of creatures are harvested for power. With the souls and mana, you can cast a number of spells specific to your god, which you sacrifice to and praise. The inclusion of five different gods gives the game major replayability and add to that the superb graphics and you have the best strategy game of the year, hands-down. Shiny found a way to innovate and created a superb product in Sacrifice -- if only there were some way to stop playing. Congratulations to all our big winners! http://www.voodooextreme.com/article.taf?articleID=239 BEST GAME OF THE YEAR --------------------- Fifth Place - Giants: Citizen Kabuto from Planet Moon Studios. Although no one really gave Giants a first place nomination it was on almost everyone's top three favorite games list. With its innovation, amazing visuals, creative cast of characters and diverse game play modes Giants not only won our "best action game for 2000" award but was a finalist in our best overall category as well. Sadly, the condition Giants shipped in (namely the bugs) prevented it from being ranked higher on our list. Fourth Place - Sacrifice, from Shiny Entertainment. Our best strategy game winner for 2000 has shown up again in the best overall game category. Sacrifice initially impressed the world by winning the "Best of ECTS" last fall prior to its release and dozens of 90%+ better review scores later Sacrifice has vindicated Shiny from its Messiah failures. Introducing ground breaking 3D visuals with creative game rules, Sacrifice is something very different than the real-time-strategy games we are accustomed to. With its innovative game play, stellar visuals and solid story Sacrifice has secured its place among our top five games of the year list. (Dave "Octane" Morrison's GOTY choice) Third Place - Baldur's Gate II: The Shadows of Amn, from BioWare. The trend of our genre award winners making the best of overall list continues as BioWare's Advanced Dungeons and Dragons licensed RPG Baldur's Gate II: The Shadows of Amn comes in at number three on our fantastic five list. With the added 3D support, extremely long and satisfying single player experience not to mention huge cast of playable characters Baldur's Gate II: The Shadows of Amn was not only the best RPG of the year, but the third best game overall as well. (Robert "Apache" Howarth's GOTY choice) Second Place - No One Lives Forever, from Monolith Studios. With No One Lives Forever Monolith has made great strides in making people forget how poor its prior games were and has started to repair its reputation with the gaming community. Powered by its next-generation LithTech 3D game engine No One Lives Forever offers attractive graphics, fluid skeletally animated characters as well as expansive outdoor environments. NOLF's witty writing, lengthy movies, moody music and fun game play was outstanding, but only one other game prevented Monolith's fantastic first person shooter from reigning supreme in our 2000 best of year category. (Billy "Wicked" Wilson's GOTY choice) BEST GAME OF THE YEAR - Deus Ex, from ION Storm! Deus Ex can best be described as a thinking man's (or woman's) first person shooter. Blending the character development aspects of a role playing game with the perspective of a first-person shooter, Deus Ex crossed many genre lines and was our second place winner not in Voodoo Extreme's best first person shooter list, but role-playing games awards as well. Its dark sci-spy theme, cybernetic enhancements and multiple endings made Deus Ex an all-around favorite here at VE, as it was present on all of our top three voting selections. Congratulations to Warren Spector and his ION Storm Austin team! (Manveer "Eidolon" Heir, Jasen "Torrid" Torres and Chris "Outlaw" O'Brien's GOTY choices) - o -