Marathon (1994)
Genres:Shooter
Themes:Action, Science fiction
Game modes:Single player, Multiplayer
Story:You are far in the future on a colony ship deep in outer space. A security officer on the mission, you are the last hope for defending the ship as hostile and intelligent aliens prepare to destroy every living thing…
Vote to bring this game to GOG and help preserve it.2 012
An interesting Halo precursor that quietly sits somewhere between Doom and System Shock in the rapid evolution of the FPS genre of the 1990s. You can clearly see where the DNA of Bungie's Halo series would come from in this initially Mac-centric series.
The games are freeware, open-source, and community maintained via the efforts of the Aleph One team. The trilogy deserves a storefront spotlight & community like GOG's that can appreciate their contributions to PC/Mac gaming history.
This doesn't need to be preserved (unless people specifically want it DRM-free), Steam recently released all three games in the series for free. But still, for the sake of DRM-free release, I support it.
I don't have a personal memory of Marathon, it was slightly before the peak of my gaming era, but it was the precursor to Halo, one of the all-time legendary and iconic FPS games of the last 25 years, so it definitely deserves a place in history.
Conker's Bad Fur DayHumorous action-platformer that does away with the tedious item collection found in most games in the genre. Instead, BFD employs a combination of standard jump, run and explore mechanics and context-sensitive gags and actions. For instance, in the beginning of the game, by pressing the B button on the first pad he encounters, Conker drinks some Alka-Seltzer to wipe out his hangover, at which point players can proceed forward. Later on these pads are used to activate a slingshot and throwing knives; to turn Conker into an anvil and drop downward; to shoot automatic, double-handed guns; to activate a The Matrix-inspired slow-motion effect and flip through the air shooting enemies; and much, much more.Action Fantasy Comedy
TresspasserTrespasser is an action-adventure first-person-shooter video game released in 1998 that was billed as a "digital sequel" to the 1997 film "The Lost World: Jurassic Park". The player assumes the role of Anne, who is the sole survivor of a plane crash on InGen's "Site B" one year after the events of The Lost World. With only a single arm and limited weapons, Anne must escape the remote island by solving puzzles and evading the dangerous dinosaurs.
The game is noted for the involvement of the film's director, Steven Spielberg, and actors Richard Attenborough and Minnie Driver. Trespasser's game engine was also very advanced for its time, showcasing large outdoor environments, real object physics, an advanced AI system, destructible objects, an advanced LOD (Level-of-Detail) system, and the first ever use of ragdoll physics and inverse kinematics for dynamically generated animations. The gameplay is very atmospheric with no visual HUD of any kind except for a heart-shaped tattoo on Anne's left breast to represent her health points and speaking out loud how much ammo is in each weapon.
Tresspasser was one of the most highly anticipated games of the 1990's. Unfortunately, problems arose as soon as development started. The development team was newly formed with inexperienced management and artists who were unfamiliar with basic game development processes and 3D modeling. After a very welcoming and positive reception from early demos and concept art from E3 1996 and PCGamer, the team got overconfident about their skills and started putting in one of the worst forms of Feature Creep imaginable. The game was being delayed and going overbudget as new and never-before-seen experimental features were added or changed with an immobile release date set into the Fall of 1998.
While the game was originally conceived as a Survival Horror title, it was turned into an Action-Adventure as the dinosaurs were incapable of doing advanced AI tactics or going near structures without getting stuck on building geometry. The dinosaur models themselves would cause severe slowdown for the PC due to the attached physics boxes to every raptor, along with the blood particle effects. (Recommended specs for Tresspasser at the time called for a 166 MHz Pentium II.) The models would constantly warp, twist, and compress in broken ways due to the animations and physics boxes attached them, making almost every creature stumble around in an incredibly drunken manner. The AI also had an advanced mood and emotion system for each of the dinosaurs where they could potentially hunt Anne or other dinosaurs depending on their mood. It was the earliest time a 3D game tried to create a living world using AI and emergent gameplay. Due to a bug where the AI switched so quickly in the extremes, it caused the dinosaurs to stop moving or responding altogether. A hard-coded fix was put in place where the aggression and hunger levels were set to maximum while all other moods and emotions were set to zero, turning almost all the creatures into mindless hunters. Due to an oversight, only very few raptors in the game (mostly in the Industrial Jungle level) had this emotion system still turned on. The raptors would go up to Anne to follow and sniff her curiously, until they were injured in some way.
Tresspasser also conceived a "very immersive" arm system where players could interact with the world through their mouse and keyboard to inspect and look at objects close up. Anne only has a right arm to interact with the world that's capable of being manually turned in 360 degree movements that are impossible to do in real life. While it can pick up and hold objects, Anne be constantly dropping objects she's holding in her hand when bumping into structures, invisible boundaries, and dinosaurs. A left arm was scraped due to time and technical issues.
Other similarly weird visual bugs, severe slowdowns, and crashes are a constant feature.
Tresspasser had to be pushed out in a very unfinished and unpolished state with a lot of features, content, and several levels cut\merged. Some of which are still found within the game's files. It ultimately received mixed to negative reviews at the time and disappointed many reviewers, with some declaring Tresspasser as "the worst game of 1998". It ultimately sold somewhat over 50,000 copies with the CD-ROM being very rare today.
Even with the negative reception, Tresspasser still has an active cult following to this day with various fixes, mods, and several potential remakes on modern engines. The game was the main inspiration of Valve's Half-Life series and many of Tresspasser's other ideas would later realized in other future games.Open world Action Survival
Medal of Honor™ Warfighter Digital DeluxeA direct sequel to EA's 2010 franchise reboot, Medal of Honor: Warfighter once again puts Xbox 360 gamers in the role of elite Tier 1 operators as they battle the world's most dangerous terrorists in places like the Philippines, Bosnia, and Somalia. The single-player story follows the life of Tier 1 soldier Preacher as he struggles to readjust to civilian life, only to have his world rocked when a massive PETN bomb goes off on U.S. soil. Players then join familiar characters Stump, Mother, and Voodoo as they attempt to track down the source of the explosives.
Though the game is still built on EA DICE's Frostbite 2 engine, Danger Close Games handled all development of Warfighter, including the new Fireteam multiplayer mode in which two players join forces to share health and ammo during battle. Gamers can select special Tier 1 soldiers from ten different countries, including Germany, South Korea, Russia, and three different branches of the U.S. military, and then choose from the Assault, Sniper, Demolitions, Point Man, Heavy Gunner, and Spec Ops character classes. As many as 20 players can compete across eight different maps in a variety of modes, including Combat Mission, Team Deathmatch, and Sector Control.Warfare
Mass Effect: AndromedaA new adventure awaits in the Mass Effect universe. With stunning visuals and a new galaxy to discover, BioWare delivers the next generation of space exploration.
Commander Shepard's story may be over, but there are many more stories to tell in the Mass Effect universe. Mass Effect Andromeda will be set in a new galaxy, with new characters, new quests and a whole load of new consequence-laden decisions to make.
Mass Effect: Andromeda takes you to the Andromeda galaxy, far beyond the Milky Way. There, you'll lead our fight for a new home in hostile territory - where WE are the aliens.
Play as the Pathfinder - a leader of a squad of military-trained explorers - with deep progression and customisation systems. This is the story of humanity’s next chapter, and your choices throughout the game will ultimately determine our survival in the Andromeda Galaxy.
As you unfold the mysteries of the Andromeda Galaxy and the hope for humanity lies on your shoulders – You must ask yourself… How far will you go?
Key Features:
Return to the Mass Effect universe. Lead the first humans in Andromeda on a desperate search for our new home. In this new chapter of Mass Effect, meet and recruit all-new, interesting characters caught up in an epic space saga filled with mystery and galactic conflict.
Fight for survival. Battle with your Pathfinder team against terrifying enemies and creatures. New additions like destructible environments, boosted jumps for added verticality, and all-new weapons and Biotics make combat more thrilling than ever.
Build your hero. Create a formidable hero with amazing weapons, powers and tech. A much more flexible skill and weapon progression tree means you can replicate your play style to make you unstoppable against new, powerful alien enemies.
Explore a new galaxy. Chart your own course in a dangerous new region. Unravel the mysteries of the Andromeda galaxy as you discover rich, alien worlds in the search for humanity’s new home.Action Science fiction
BladeYou're blade, Gothic City's baddest vampire hunter. When rival vampire clams ignite a deadly feud, you go deep to do some serous demon killing. Stalk the undead through 24 gothic locations, then waste an arsenal of intense weapons. Plan on staying up late tonight 'cause and even greater evil awaits.Action Horror
Rare ReplayRare Replay is a 2015 compilation of 30 video games previously developed by Rare and its predecessor, Ultimate Play the Game, in their 30-year combined history. The emulated games span multiple genres and consoles - from the ZX Spectrum to the Xbox 360 - and retain the features and errors of their original releases with minimal edits. The compilation adds cheats to make the older games easier and a Snapshots mode of specific challenges culled from parts of the games. Player progress is rewarded with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews about Rare's major and unreleased games.
GoldenEye 007 is added to the game library of anyone who purchases a digital copy of Rare Replay.
Upon GoldenEye 007's release on Xbox One/Series consoles, it was retroactively added to the game library of anyone with a prior purchase of a digital copy.Action Comedy Science fiction
Mega Man XNear the end of his life, Dr. Light succeeds in creating the first of a new series of robots which will change the world. Able to think and make decisions, this new robot holds great danger as well as great possibilities. Fearful of the possible consequences of unleashing his creation on the world, Dr. Light decides to seal him in a capsule and test his systems until they are totally reliable. The future will have to decide his fate...
Released from the capsule by Dr. Cain, "X" is born into the world of the future where the robot rebellions are a thing of the past. But when Dr. Cain tries to implement Dr. Light's designs into a new series of Reploids, something goes hideously wrong. Now the future lies on the brink of destruction and a new Mega Man must emerge to face Sigma and his forces before the human race is wiped from the planet!Action Science fiction
Magnum Kiki Ippatsu: Empire City 1931In Empire City: 1931 which is set in 1931 you are a federal agent that has to eliminate all criminal activities in New York City. You must hunt the criminals down and shoot them one by one. To locate a criminal you just have to follow the arrow on the left or right of the screen. Killing criminals is done by moving the cross hair over them. A countdown timer will start counting down if a criminal starts shooting at you. You must kill the criminal before the timer reaches zero or you'll loose a life. New bullets can be collected by shooting at the bullet boxes that regularly appear in the game as other useful objects. The criminals sometimes take hostages for protection. Rescue these hostages for additional points.New Action
War of the Dead Part 2The second installment to the War of the Dead series.Action Horror
PredatorA side-scrolling action/shooter based on the 1987 Schwarzenegger movie Predator. It was published by Activision for many home computers, though its NES incarnation plays slightly differently.Action Science fiction