L.A. Noire (2011)
Genres:Adventure, Strategy
Themes:Open world, Action, Historical, Thriller, Sandbox, Mystery
Game modes:Single player
Story:L.A. Noire is a neo-noir detective action-adventure video game developed by Team Bondi and published by Rockstar Games. It was initially released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms on 17 May 2011; a Microsoft Windows port was later released on 8 November 2011.
L.A. Noire is set in Los Angeles in 1947 and challenges the player, controlling a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer, to solve a range of cases across five divisions. Players must investigate crime scenes for clues, follow up leads, and interrogate suspects, and the player's success at these activities will impact how much of each case's story is revealed.
The game draws heavily from both the plot and aesthetic elements of film noir—stylistic films made popular in the 1940s and 1950s that share similar visual styles and themes, including crime and moral ambiguity—along with drawing inspiration from real-life crimes for its in-game cases, based upon what was reported by the Los Angeles media in 1947.
The game uses a distinctive colour palette, but in homage to film noir it includes the option to play the game in black and white. Various plot elements reference the major themes of detective and mobster stories such as The Naked City, Chinatown, The Untouchables, The Black Dahlia, and L.A. Confidential.Show more
Vote to bring this game to GOG and help preserve it.6 404
Age of EmpiresAge of Empires (AoE) is a history-based real-time strategy video game developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft. The game uses the Genie, a 2D sprite-based game engine. The game allows the user to act as the leader of an ancient civilization by advancing it through four ages (the Stone, Tool, Bronze, and Iron Ages), gaining access to new and improved units with each advance.Top Historical Warfare
FreelancerEight hundred years prior to the start of our story, bitter conflict divided all of mankind. A handful of colonists struck out on their own to begin anew - far away from the Earth and its turmoil. Several ships were launched with enough equipment and supplies to give the hundreds onboard a fighting chance - but since the area around far-off Sirius had never been surveyed, no one really knew what to expect. What they found was a new frontier of free-flowing natural resources, unexplored territories, great wonders and lurking dangers. Each ship, representing the clusters of people and their earthly place of origin, settled into different parts of the galaxy pre-selected by their ship-board computer to give them the best chance of survival.
Life was hard in the beginning, but over the 800 years the different colonies prospered and expanded their territories, claiming more and more systems for their own. Survival and propagation eventually led to growth and profit as each of the colonies developed specialties and fostered commerce. As the colonies grew and time passed their connections with their roots on Earth dwindled and they lost their memories of the conflicts of the past. Soon their attention was dominated by new, more immediate conflicts. Feelings of lost ancestral connection spurred anachronism in the look of the great cities, and created a somewhat distorted image of each colony's cultural heritage. In the ever-expanding outer edge of the territories, frontier lawlessness prevailed.
The Houses: Each shipboard colony that left Earth carried some memory of its origins in its name. The Liberty carried Americans, The Bretonia flew from The United Kingdom and surrounding territory, The Kusari from Asia, and the Rheinland launched with Germanic cargo.
As each ship settled and colonies began to expand, they knew little about each other and their advancing development. Finally, little by little, the individual colonies found each other and began to set up trade routes to link their systems for commerce and solidarity.
Today, with each colony firmly rooted in its respective corner of the galaxy, the colonies rely heavily on each other for trade and industry but also compete for resources and new territories in the Border Worlds. The colonies mandate member governments in "The New Alliance" within the Sirius sector. To control conflicts, each colony has forged alliances and treaties with others as they have grown. Competition remains fierce, however. Struggles rage for supremacy in business, commerce, resources, power and control. There can be tenuous peace between colonies' political agendas, but the grabs for holdings constantly unsettle the volatile frontier.Our Pick Top Trending Science fiction Sandbox
Breath of Fire: Dragon QuarterBreath of Fire: Dragon Quarter is a radical departure from the previous titles of the Breath of Fire series, and in some ways from standard Japanese-style role-playing games in general. The game is built like a huge dungeon crawler, with no overworld map. The combat is tactical: each character has action points (AP), which can be used to move around the screen during an enemy encounter, and perform a variety of combo attacks. There is no magic in the game, and many of the items found in dungeons are random. All the enemies are visible on screen. Depending on who first initiated a physical contact, the party or the enemies get an extra turn in battles.
The game allows (and even encourages) the player to restart it from the beginning, keeping the items and the party experience. The game also features a special counter - Ryu can use his traditional dragon transformation abilities, but the counter raises with each such transformation, and when the counter reaches 100, the game is over. Raising the D-ratio allows characters to access new areas every time the game is replayed.Fantasy
Dark SoulsDark Souls is an action role-playing game developed by FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Released in September 2011 as a spiritual sequel to Demon's Souls, it is set in a dark, medieval fantasy world. It is renowned for its challenging gameplay, intricate level design, and deep lore. Players control a customizable character known as the Chosen Undead, embarking on a perilous journey to uncover the secrets of the cursed land of Lordran.
Dark Souls is known for its punishing difficulty, requiring players to carefully manage combat, stamina, and resources while navigating hostile environments filled with dangerous enemies and formidable bosses. The game features a unique multiplayer component, allowing players to leave messages for others, summon allies for cooperative play, or invade other players' worlds for PvP combat.
The original release of Dark Souls received critical acclaim for its atmospheric world, innovative mechanics, and rewarding gameplay, solidifying its place as a seminal title in the action RPG genre.Action Fantasy
AvowedWelcome to the Living Lands, a mysterious island filled with adventure and danger.
Set in the fictional world of Eora that was first introduced to players in the Pillars of Eternity franchise, Avowed is a first-person fantasy action RPG from the award-winning team at Obsidian Entertainment.
The Living Lands is a place that feels foreign yet somewhat intrinsic to you as it feels the island itself is calling out to you for help. Explore an island home to many different environments and landscapes, each with their own unique ecosystem.
Mix and match swords, spells, guns, and shields to fight your way. Dig into your grimoire for spells to trap, freeze or burn enemies, bash them with your shield, or use range bows to attack from a distance.
Companions from a spread of species will fight alongside you, with their own unique set of abilities. From a former mercenary to an eccentric wizard, they will be part of your journey with your choices shaping them as you help them with their quests.Action Fantasy
Warcraft II: The Dark SagaWarcraft II: The Dark Saga is the console version of Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness and its expansion built on. It is the same as the original product but with new features.Fantasy
Triangle StrategyThree nations battle for control of the dwindling resources of salt and iron in this HD-2D adventure tactical RPG. Featuring deep gameplay full of choices and consequences, strategically survey the battlefield to gain the upper hand.Fantasy
Warcraft III: Reign of ChaosWarcraft 3: Reign of Chaos is an RTS made by Blizzard Entertainment. Take control of either the Humans, the Orcs, the Night Elves or the Undead, all with different unit types and heroes with unique abilities.Play the story driven single player campaign, go online to play default- or custom maps against people around the world or create your own maps with the map creation tool.Top Fantasy Warfare
Warcraft II: Tides of DarknessWarcraft II: Tides of Darkness is a Strategy video game published by Blizzard Entertainment released on 1995 for MS-DOS. Warcraft 2 is a successor of the popular Warcraft real-time strategy game. The game contains many improvements over the previous version in graphics, sounds and playability. The Multiplayer was also greatly improved allowing up to 8 players in the marvelous multiplayer skirmish.Top Fantasy
Warcraft III: The Frozen ThroneWarcraft III: The Frozen Throne adds a host of new features to the game, including four new campaigns that take you across the frozen continent of Northrend. Explore new maps and master new units such as the Troll Bat Riders, the Blood Elf Spell Breakers, and the destructive Mountain Giants.Fantasy Warfare