An excellent Real Time Strategy (RTS) game based on the Peter Jackson films (not to mention the brilliant and famous books by JRR Tolkien, on which the films are based), and first released by Electronic Arts in 2004.
Continue reading The Lord of the Rings: The Battle For Middle-Earth, PC
Racing Destruction Set was an early Commodore 64 release for Electronic Arts, first released in 1985.
I’d consider it a timeless classic – especially among C64 race games.
An excellent sequel to Little Big Adventure, once again developed by Adeline Software International and published by Electronic Arts, this time in 1997.
Little Big Adventure 2 is more detailed, more varied, and more fun than its predecessor, and, technically, it is also something of a leap forward – this second game having fully-rotating 3D exteriors, as well as the usual isometric, pre-rendered backgrounds seen in the first game.
French developer Adeline Software International created Little Big Adventure (or LBA as it is affectionately known), for Electronic Arts in 1994.
The game is an isometric 3D adventure, with simple beat ’em up combat elements, and features an interesting mix of pre-rendered backgrounds (popular at the time of release, but dating badly these days), and 3D polygonal characters.
The second of two ground-breaking Ultima Underworld games made by Blue Sky Productions (later to become Looking Glass Technologies) and Origin Systems.
Labyrinth of Worlds, first released in 1993, again features a very early (and successful) attempt to create a Role-Playing Game with a fully-explorable 3D environment. Both this – and its predecessor, The Stygian Abyss – were developed concurrently, and were a significant leap forward in terms of software technology at the time.
Continue reading Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds, PC
The first of two ground-breaking Ultima Underworld games made by Looking Glass Technologies (formerly known as Blue Sky Productions) and Origin Systems.
The Stygian Abyss, first released in 1992, is one of the first Role-Playing Games to feature first-person action in a 3D environment.
Black Crypt is the first game developed by Raven Software. It’s an Amiga exclusive, initially published by Electronic Arts in 1992. It could be argued that it’s also an unashamed clone of FTL’s Dungeon Master, but it is at least an exceptional one.
Wasteland is a sprawling Role-Playing Game that could be said to be a prototype of a Fallout game, as it carries many of the traits seen in those type of games.
It was originally released on the Apple II in 1986, then later converted to the Commodore 64 and PC MS-DOS in 1988. Windows, Mac OS X and Linux versions followed later.
The above is a screenshot I took when I wrote the world first review for PC Zone magazine, way back in 1999. I like it because it’s simple, atmospheric, and quintessentially System Shock 2.
The King of Grabs 