Image credit: The Centre for Computing History
As you know already, I am a console guy; more specifically, a huge PlayStation fan. However, even I concede that the most diverse gaming platform ever devised is the personal computer, which still has an avid fanbase of loyal gamers and power-users alike, regardless of what consoles are doing. Over the years, many huge gaming series have popped up on the machines, from 80s and 90s classics to modern-day smash hit titles. Today, we’re going to focus on games from the 90s-00s era, called “big-box” PC games because they came in huge boxes, which were often stuffed with bulky instruction manuals, floppy-disks and CD-ROMs. If any of these games catch your eye, I encourage you to follow the links to the places you can get the games and give them a try for yourself!
5: Doom (Original)
The Doom series, which recently went from a cult classic to a blockbuster-hit franchise thanks to Bethesda Softworks, got its start on computers such as the one pictured above back in the 90s. Featuring violent, intense and pulse-pounding run-and-gun action, the game was hugely controversial back in the 90s and garnered a lot of negative press. It was also one of the games that started the whole “parents against games” debate which went on for years.
Regardless, the game itself is a stone-cold classic. You play as the “Doom Guy,” a U.S. Marine stuck on Mars during a demonic invasion. As such, you’ll have to shoot your way through countless levels of demon-slaughtering goodness. If that sounds fun to you, you can buy the game here, as well as on the Xbox and PlayStation Store if you play on console.
4: The Secret of Monkey Island
One of the all-time great PC games, The Secret of Monkey Island saw your character, Guybrush Threepwood, and his friends on an epic, swashbuckling adventure. The game itself is a simple, point-and-click graphic adventure without many epic gameplay sequences. However, the story and the nostalgic nature of the game have allowed it to live on in the form of a cult classic for over three decades now, certainly making it worth checking out.
You can get it on Steam here, as well as on mobile, Xbox consoles, and the PlayStation 3.
3: You Don’t Know Jack!
My sense of humor is quite irreverent and idiotic; as such, You Don’t Know Jack is one of my favorite games of all time. A parody of classic game shows like Jeopardy and Family Feud, You Don’t Know Jack features strange questions that combine many pop-culture references and niche topics, resulting in one of the most frantic and confusing trivia game shows I have ever seen. It also doesn’t help that the host of the show, Nate Shapiro, is a sarcastic wise guy that takes verbal shots at the players whenever they screw up or take too long to answer, making for some good laughs all around.
The game can be played with up to three local contestants, all crammed around the computer, fingers itching to buzz in on their respective buzz-in keys. This makes for some pretty fun party-gaming, and YDKJ tournaments are absolute blasts to play. If you like party games or trivia games of any kind, do yourself a favor and try this one out, you won’t be disappointed.
2: Civilization III
One of my personal favorite games of all time, Civilization III is the game that started my obsession with real-time, turn-based strategy games. Of course, Civilization IV, V and VI are arguably much better as games, but in its day, Civ III was unrivaled in its strategy and mechanics. You start out in the B.C. era with nothing more than a settler, a land unit whose job is to build cities, and a worker, whose job it is to irrigate land, farm, and construct roads. After settling down a city and naming it, you are in control of the city’s production, as in, what it will build in a set amount of turns. Cities can construct military units, settlers for new cities, and numerous buildings that improve city function and production. In short, there are many things you can do with just one city, and the first thing you build will help to determine your future strategy.
Soon, after some building, fortification and exploration, you’ll come across another civilization that is expanding its territory near you. Thus begins a diplomatic struggle that will last the entire game. You will have to talk with them, negotiate trade deals, and more in order to gain and sustain their trust. If worse comes to worst, you’ll have to fortify your borders and defend yourself against attack, and perhaps, if you’re prepared enough, go on the offensive yourself.
All in all, Civilization III is an overall great time with enough strategy and replay value to keep you occupied for quite some time. The game can be purchased on PC here.
1: Half-Life 2
Considered by many to be the greatest video game of all time, Half-Life 2 released to a ridiculous amount of critical acclaim in 2004. It was one of the first video games to bring first-person shooting, an amazing story, driving cars, and a near true-to-life physics system together in one game. As a result, it has gone down in history has one of the greatest if not the greatest game of all time.
It is also worth noting that Half-Life 2 literally put Valve and the company’s new online DRM-based service, Steam, on the map. Steam and Half-Life 2 released quite close to one another and each helped spread word about the other, making for one of the most widely used digital storefronts of all time and one of the greatest games of all time.
The game can be purchased from the Steam store here and can also be bought on Xbox consoles as part of The Orange Box collection.
Are you a PC gamer? What’s your favorite PC game? Leave a like below if you enjoyed the article and come back tomorrow for more from Genesis Gaming!
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