Classic Cuts: 10 Best Old-School PC Games
Set foot on any college campus, high school playground, or even office break room, and you're liable to hear the smack talk: "Today's PC gamers just don't have it as good as we used to back in the day." Maybe so. Or maybe yesterday's outings were more memorable simply because they helped lay the groundwork in terms of design and innovation for the countless equally enjoyable titles surging up the charts today. Either way, you don't know what classic means until you've played the below interactive outings — each of which has easily stood the test of time, and helped redefine gaming as we know it along the way. Happily, a growing range of retro downloading options (see: an ever-expanding roster of online retailers who now offer access to countless reissues and remakes of classic gaming hits) makes it easier than ever to get back in the game. And as you'll quickly discover, many older titles remain every bit as playable today as they were once upon a chunky old monitor ago.
Better still, you'll find that the classic gaming experience is also simpler to access and easier to enjoy than ever. Credit the rise of cutting-edge computer hardware such as the many gaming-specific PCs, laptops, and add-ons/upgrades (e.g., mind-blowing graphics cards, high-end monitors, and premium motherboards) that manufacturers like ROG now offer. If you experienced classic gaming during the golden years, then you'll remember the one overriding complaint with respect to old-school gaming: that most hardware systems weren't upgradeable quickly enough to keep up with the latest gaming advancements, or powerful enough to allow you to get the most from software titles. Instead, many players found themselves using specialized hacks (e.g., overclocking machines, using memory managers to better handle RAM usage, or cranking in-game audiovisual settings way down) to get more from systems and to make their favorite titles playable on underpowered hardware readouts. This often meant reducing first-person shooters to little more than pixilated facsimiles of the actual white-knuckle experiences developers intended, or reducing real-time strategy gaming speeds to laughable levels.
Thankfully, today, courtesy of ROG and other providers, you don't have to make sacrifices like this anymore — you can experience these classic titles as their creators originally intended. Think: no more having to reduce graphical settings and on-screen images to indecipherable blurs, shrinking the number of computerized opponents you can play against to a single adversary, or being forced to play on maps so small you're practically sitting on top of opponents. Now, playing on an ROG system or hardware, you can experience these titles like never before — and the way that they should have been experienced once upon a time, long, long ago. The bottom line: whether you're looking to relive the halcyon days of your lost youth, or simply rediscover PC gaming's roots, be sure to check out all your favorite classic titles once again. Here are 10 of the best you'll be wanting to revisit without delay.
Doom (id Software)
Released in 1993, seminal sci-fi run-n-gun outing Doom wasn't technically the first first-person shooter to hit the market, yet it's ultimately come to be hailed as the genre-defining title when it comes to FPS gaming. Moreover, it remains one of the industry's most influential titles more than two decades after it first stormed PC monitors, winning over legions of fans with its brutal blend of pixilated demon-slaying mayhem. The original — wherein a lone space marine attempts to turn back the forces of Hades by blowing the living hell out of floating eyeballs, horned horrors, and other assorted mutants crawling around a labyrinth of dark corridors — doesn't stand out just for its original gameplay. It stands out also for its business smarts, foreshadowing the arrival of today's massive free-to-play gaming market, with the original Doom being divided into three nine-level episodes, the first level of which was given away as free downloadable "shareware." Almost a bait-and-switch for unsuspecting players, who'd never seen such in-your-face 3D action before, the trick actually worked, helping propel the franchise to sales of more than 10 million copies, and a permanent place in players' hearts. With a star-studded series reboot due out this year, now's the perfect time to revisit its original entry — still every bit as fresh, frightening, and fun to play with the lights out as the day it was first made.
Fallout (Interplay)
This spiritual successor to classic cult-favorite sci-fi role-player Wasteland (an interactive ode to big-screen films like Mad Max, which recently received a franchise reboot itself) clearly wasn't the first post-apocalyptic title to hit the PC. However, its sprawling open-world design — inviting players to explore a living, breathing dystopian alternate future, wherein mutants and scavengers roam the barren wastes — took the setting and genre in an entirely new and original direction. Successfully combining humor with the all-too-timely topic of mutually assured global destruction, Fallout's intricate combat, rich storyline, and retro-futuristic vibe quickly captured the hearts of millions of tactical enthusiasts. Offering a cast of colorful characters, a rich setting to explore, and multiple decisions that affect the player's journey through a world gone horribly wrong, the title's massive replayability and vast range of adventures to pursue still make it a wonder to experience today.
Half-Life/Half-Life 2 (Valve)
Among the earliest first-person shooters to prove that intelligent storylines and white-knuckle combat could go hand-in-hand, the original Half-Life laid the foundation for its equally monumental follow-up. Throughout these science fiction-themed, alien-blasting epics (watch out for those head crabs!), players take on the role of theoretical physicist Dr. Gordon Freeman, who must single-handedly beat back hordes of extraterrestrial invaders. Instead of starting off in a cell or in a world gone mad, though, Freeman's story begins as just another day at the office...until his research and experiments into teleportation technology go terribly wrong, that is, unleashing untold horrors into the world. And while the setup may sound familiar on paper, the execution was anything but... Featuring a gripping storyline, a diverse range of settings to explore, and an eye-opening array of adversaries to battle, the Half-Life series simply nailed it when it came to capturing the same sense of excitement you'd get from all your favorite sci-fi TV series. Only here, you get to play the hero, and lay waste to adversaries with an arsenal of hefty firearms, not to mention Freeman's favorite sidekick, a trusty crowbar — always the last-ditch go-to weapon when things really get hopping!
Diablo (Blizzard Entertainment)
Role-playing games are often grandiose, slow-moving, and stat-heavy affairs. Rather than take a stereotypical approach to the process though — offering hours of dice-rolling character development, turn-based melee combat, or films about elves and orcs endlessly blabbering on about who invaded their kingdom — Diablo instead decided to turn genre conventions on their head. Rather than keep things slow and low, the title pumped up fantasy-themed action to insane levels by focusing on real-time battles based on furious mouse-clicking and hardcore hack-and-slash melees. Players could essentially pick from three character classes (warrior, sorcerer, or rogue) and then wade into the thick of battle with skeletons, demons, and other fang-or-tooth-waving opponents, grabbing every item in sight as they simultaneously racked up huge body counts. Among the first titles of its kind to bring RPG gaming to the mainstream, Diablo also remains an all-time favorite for its fast and furious multiplayer battles. When first released in 1996, it was practically an institution on college campuses worldwide.
Battlefield 1942 (Electronic Arts)
World War II games were all the rage back in 2002 when Battlefield 1942 first stormed the beaches. But unlike other first-person shooters of that era, which focused almost solely on infantry combat, this all-star romp went a step further by adding player-controlled vehicles you could maneuver to whoop on opponents, vehicles such as tanks, jeeps, fighter planes, and even capital ships like aircraft carriers! Multiple character classes were available to pick from as well, offering players the chance to lock and load with a variety of era-specific weapons from sniper rifles to bazookas and machineguns. With up to 32 players allowed to duke it out together online, it didn't just bring new levels of excitement to military-themed mayhem — it also redefined the scale and ambition of what multiplayer PC gaming battles could truly entail. Needless to say, it's no surprise that Battlefield 1942 didn't just spawn a sequel or two — it also quickly invaded and seized control of players' hearts and minds, remaining among one of the field's most popular action-packed franchises to this today.
Civilization V (Firaxis/2K Games)
Since first being released in 1991, famed PC game designer Sid Meier's Civilization series has remained a timeless favorite with historical strategy enthusiasts. Credit its epic scope, addictive gameplay, and shockingly intuitive approach to grand-scale adventure and conquest, which help the franchise continue to rank today among the very best turn-based offerings when it comes to exploration, expansion, exploitation, and extermination. Over the course of 25 years, the Civilization series — which some credit for first introducing them to many historical places, faces, and empires — continues to be the first port of call for players looking to win as much through diplomacy and trade as through conquest and war. It's hard to blame them: as you can see right from its initial offering, in addition to seizing an empire by force, players can spread religion and culture, develop technology to reach to the stars, or strive to succeed by creating a better world. Credit its wildly unique and enjoyable design for making the franchise such a longstanding staple. Following the game's release, "Please, can I have just one more turn?" quickly became a rallying cry for hordes of adults, kids, and desperate significant others worldwide.
Sid Meier's Pirates (Microprose)
If you've ever been a kid, chances are you remember what it's like to dream of hoisting the mainsail, shivering your timbers, and setting sail for the open seas. A defining moment in PC gaming, this action-strategy hybrid — inviting you to captain a fleet, hunt for buried treasure, and duel with some of history's most notorious buccaneers — effectively puts the keys to a Spanish galleon in your hands and invites you to become a dashing corsair. Part excitement (see ship-to-ship battles, swordplay, etc.), part adventure (check out that hunt for your lost family), and part strategy (love those tactical combat encounters) — the sum proves far greater than its many interesting parts. Set in the Caribbean, complete with richly randomized play based on real pirates and buccaneers of the 16th and 17th centuries, Pirates invites you to trade goods, man a crew of scurvy dogs, and live the life of an infamous corsair. Well worth experiencing all over again, prospective peg-leggers would also do well to check out the greatly expanded and visually enhanced remake released in 2004.
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings (Microsoft)
Among the best real-time strategy games of all time, this ridiculously slick and grandiose affair lives up to its name, given that it's hailed to this day as royalty by even the staunchest RTS critics. Offering enthusiasts the chance to start in the dark ages with one of 13 playable civilizations after the fall of Rome and build a mighty empire in a matter of minutes, players simply couldn't get enough of its epic action, which invited them to build intricately modeled towns, raise armies, and bring the scourge of war to their enemies. Five historically based campaigns provided a rich single-player experience, with engaging multiplayer head-to-head action just the cherry on top. A follow-up expansion, The Conquerors, only added further to the glory of the Middle Ages — and the potential glory you could claim by outsmarting friends and family members and sending them packing.
Deus Ex (Eidos Interactive)
To say that sci-fi role-playing masterpiece Deus Ex (clearly inspired by cinematic classes like Blade Runner) was genre-redefining is a massive gaming understatement. Released in 2000, the insanely ambitious tale — equal parts cybernetic adventure and pistol-packing exercise in futuristic grit — combined elements from both the FPS and RPG genres in a cyberpunk-themed world of mistrust, misinformation, and paranoid conspiracies. The title — which featured combat that plays out like a traditional FPS, but also includes a skill system that allows players to enhance both the characters' abilities and their weapons — isn't just worth playing for hands-on excitement though. It's also worth giving a whirl for the compelling atmosphere. Set in a bleak future where technology and biology have become inextricably intertwined, the franchise quickly won a place in enthusiasts' hearts, where it remains, with myriad sequels continuing to arrive to this very day.
Command & Conquer: Red Alert (Westwood Studios)
A spin-off from the hugely successful Command & Conquer (C&C) franchise, Red Alert quite simply raised the bar for the real-time strategy genre. Creator Westwood Studios had essentially already laid the blueprint for the RTS category with earlier classic release Dune 2 and forever redefined it with C&C, but it was 1995's alternate C&C: Red Alert that truly broke the mold and set the formula for all RTS games to follow. Beyond the crazy parallel history storyline and killer graphics, it was among the first RTS games to successfully feature and popularize competitive online play. Between a sick solo mode and insane head-to-head multiplayer action, it managed to capture the hearts of an entire generation of PC enthusiasts and helped popularize the idea of handing friends and family their rear ends over the internet. Enjoy over-the-top tactical action in a seemingly made-for-Hollywood style setting? You'll definitely want to break it out and give it a whirl again today.
By Scott Steinberg
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