14th Oct 2009

Best PC Game #5: Civilization 2

Not only is Civilization 2 one of the best PC Games ever, it is probably one of the best, if not the best turn based games. When it comes to turn based PC games, it’s hard to compete with the Civilization games, in particular, Civilization 2. This is a classic and has been around for a long time, but it still ranks very high among PC games.

You start off with one settler, or two if you’re lucky, and are given the opportunity and challenge to colonize a new world. You have many choices of maps from the real world, but the most common type of map is a random map. This makes the game different each time and provides a little more challenge and interest. You can set the difficulty level from very easy to very hard. The harder difficulty levels are definitely difficult and you’ll have to be pretty good to beat the computer players. Civilization 2 also supports multiplayer options. You can play a hot seat game with 2 or more players all on one computer. Each person takes his turn and rotate back and forth. You can also play online, which adds another dimension to the game.

There are many aspects to the game. You can declare war on other civilizations and wipe them out, or you could be more peaceful and have alliances. If you are not at war with a neighboring civilization you have the option to trade with them, either money or technologies. Technologies are very important in this game because you advance your civilization through discovering technologies. The technology tree is vast and very comprehensive. There are many different kinds of units that can be created. You start off with warriors holding wooden swords and you end up with nuclear missiles and SDI Defense networks. You can have entire navies with aircraft carriers, battleships and submarines. On land you can have tanks, marines and howitzers. In the early stages of the game you have Roman legions, chariots, archers and all types of military units.

You can also improve the land by using your settlers or engineers to build roads, railroads, farms and irrigation. Your cities can even build different wonders of the world from the pyramids to Hoover Dam. The options and possibilities with Civilization 2 are almost endless. You really should be able to see why this game has been such a popular game and why I am including it as one of the best PC games ever. If you have never played it, you really should go out and buy it right now!

Posted by Posted by Sam Jones under Filed under Best PC Games Comments 2 Comments »

12th Oct 2009

Best PC Game #4: Age Of Empires 2: Age Of Kings

This is one of the classic real time strategy games and cannot be omitted from the best PC games list. I’m gonna come right out and say that this is one of my personal all time favorites as well. Who knows how many countless hours I’ve spent razing buildings and creating massive armies to obliterate my enemies.

In Age of Empires 2: Age of Kings, you have the choice between 13 civilizations from which you can build a great empire and dominate anyone who stands in your way. Each civilization has different unique attributes. Some civs have access to certain warriors and others have access to another set of warriors. Everything is very balanced in the game and no one civ has a definite advantage over the others. Each one can be used effectively to wipe out any of the others. This is the beauty of such a complex game. It would be so easy to have a lopsided civilization, but instead the equilibrium is kept. Each civ also has their own unique unit that only that civ can get. This makes you want to play each of the 13 civs just to see what they have to offer.

You can choose to play from the very beginning in what is called the Dark Ages. You go through 4 different ages as you progress, getting better and better fighting units. You build a wide range of buildings from farms and town centers to castles and fortified walls. You are able to build ranged units that fire projectiles and also hand to hand combat units. You can even build ships such as fishing boats and giant war ships. The game is incredibly varied and that is part of why so many millions of people enjoy playing it.

One of the best parts is the multiplayer aspect of the game. There are giant online communities devoted entirely to Age of Empires and clans compete against each other to see who is the quickest to advance through the ages and destroy the competition. You can easily get addicted to the game and spend hours on end fighting it out with your friends in an LAN game at home, or over the internet with strangers.

Because of the variability of the game, the complex easy to learn but hard to master, really fun multiplayer, and just overall greatness of the game, I have absolutely no qualms in pronouncing this as one of the best PC games ever. It definitely makes the list and I’m proud of it.

Posted by Posted by Sam Jones under Filed under Best PC Games Comments 1 Comment »

08th Oct 2009

Best PC Game #3: Sim City 2000

Sim City 2000 is a game that I spent countless hours playing. It was such a good game that I became quite addicted to it. You have the ability to build a city from scratch and be in control of every aspect of the city from building roads and buildings to setting the taxes and even sending aliens and hurricanes to destroy your city you worked so hard to build. There are few who would disagree that this is one of the best PC games of all time.

You get to deal with crime and fire and other problems that a regular city has to deal with. To combat these you build fire stations, police stations and schools. To make the citizens happy you can also build parks and other types of entertainment places. You’ll need to plan well though because you might not have enough roads and they will become too congested. To help you with all the daily issues that you will have running the city you will get several advisers to help you out with the different areas of influence that you possess.

Sim City 2000 adds a bunch of new playability options that the original Sim City didn’t have, and yet the game doesn’t become bogged down and difficult to play. You’re able to trade with your neighboring cities, change the terrain there are loads of new building types.

One of the reasons that games get ranked as the best PC games ever is because they are replayable. Many games can only be played through once and then when you “beat” the game it ceases to be as fun and generally you don’t play it as much or at all. Sim City 2000 is definitely a replayable game and will have you playing for a very long time. It is easy to understand but extremely difficult to master, or even get good at. There are a lot of thing to think about as you go about creating your city. After you do get past the learner’s curve however, you’ll find yourself creating a giant city, or cities, and you’ll greatly enjoy seeing what started off a small town develop into a sprawling metropolis.

It’s hard to pick out the best games from the thousands of games out there, but I feel no hesitation and nominating this game as one of the best games ever.

Posted by Posted by Sam Jones under Filed under Best PC Games Comments 1 Comment »