5 Games that Won't Die!
March 6, 2009
By Joel Durham Jr.
The vast, huge majority of games wither quickly on the store shelves, long forgotten only months or even weeks after their release. Such is the fickle cycle of offering games (or pretty much anything) to the shopping public. Other games, however—the rare, few, proud titles that become classics—enjoy life long after they seemingly should have disappeared from the public consciousness.
The list of such titles is too large to present here, but includes gems like Falcon 4.0, Freelancer, Baldur's Gate, WarCraft III, Counter-Strike, Allegiance and many, many others. What makes games like these stand the test of time? They generate massive amounts of user loyalty via a number of routes: Excellent gameplay, ease of modding, support from the developer or publisher (which in turn creates goodwill), and probably a host of other factors.
Today we look at a batch of such games: Games that just won't die. These are titles from times long past, especially in terms of the digital realm. To help you enjoy them, we tested to see if they work on Vista (64-bit, even) in their currently patched form, and reported on what it takes to get them to comply. Continued… Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Will it Run on Vista? Yes
Still Available? Yes
Widely hailed as the greatest action RPG of all time, Diablo II has legions of clones and followers, but none have come close to gripping the enthusiasts as much as Blizzard's powerhouse. You can get both Diablo II and its expansion, Lord of Destruction, plus strategy guides, at the link above for $40.
The game features five character types, each with its own range of abilities, but it's the interface that made Diablo II, and its predecessor Diablo, what they are. So move, you simply click. To attack, click. You can access various functions like a map or your special abilities through hotkeys—or you can click.
While Diablo had something of a story, Diablo II is far more plot-driven, involving taking on evil itself, and takes place throughout four acts. Lord of Destruction adds two character classes, a new campaign, and much more to the mix. Keeping Diablo II alive, besides its core gameplay, is a host of mods. You can find them all over the Web simply by wielding the power of Google, but a good place to start is Diablo II Sector's Mods directory. You'll also find hacks, bots, and many more downloadables for the game.
Of course, single-player gaming only goes so far, and Blizzard still supports Diablo II multiplayer via Battle.net. And there's still a thriving Diablo II community, playing and trading items with their Realms characters (as opposed to "Open" or locally-stored characters).
Even as Diablo III is in development, don't look for Diablo II to fade away just yet. The upcoming sequel doesn't yet have a release date. If you crave action-RPG clickety-click frenetic gaming, look no further than Diablo II. Continued… Developer: FASA Studio
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Will it Run on Vista? Yes, with some tweaking (see below)
Still Available? Yes
Mech games haven't been the same since MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries. The BattleTech franchise fizzled after its release, though it should be noted that Smith and Tinker, a company founded by FASA pioneer Jordan Weisman, bought up all of the rights to FASA IPs from Microsoft.
That said, the community has kept MW4M alive and kicking, or stomping as the case may be. The giant-fighting-robotic-vehicle genre isn't dead yet, thanks to mods, mods and more mods. The biggest mod studios are NetBattleTech HardCore, and MekTek.net Development. The latter's MekPak 3 features more than a score of new mechs, new weapons, new maps, and lots of other goodies to keep the dream alive.
The main game itself isn't anything of a slouch, either. Set during a civil war in the BattleTech universe, the protagonist, played by you, earns a living by doing jobs for different factions. While it's not exactly a sandbox game, you do get some control over your mission choices, and how you act as you play makes a difference. The more good guys you harm, the fewer honest, upstanding missions will be available to you.
MW4M multiplayer features up to 24 players duking it out per server, though the statistics engine (Zonestats) is no longer available. Tournament play is sporadically available at MechWarrior Leagues.
While it works fine in Windows XP SP2, to get MW4M to work in Vista 64-bit we had to set the Compatibility options for the executable to XP SP2. To do this, find the executable wherever you install(ed) it (it's called MW4Mercs.exe), right-click it, click Properties, click Compatibility, fill the top checkbox, and select Windows XP (Service Pack 2) from the drop-down list. Continued… Developer: SSI
Publisher: N/A
Will it Run on Vista? Yes
Still Available? Yes (Free)
The news page of the People's General site hasn't been updated since 2002. You can, however, still get the game and a number of mods at the link above. Note that most of the links at the site linked above are dead, but the downloadables are still available.
People's General was created by defunct, legendary strategy game developer SSI, and further developed by a gang of others loyal to the cause. It's a 2D wargame with lots of different scenarios available, it's friendly enough to jump into with minimal documentation, and it's detailed enough to please the mighty wargaming grognards who still search for the perfect addiction.
Each of the downloadables you'll find contain links to a number of scenarios and campaigns from the US Civil War to World War II and more—just jump in and start playing. You can right-click units for details about them. Left-click to select and again to move them, and if they're in range, click on an enemy to attack.
Purely turn-based, People's General demands strategy, and lots of it. If you plan to win against the surprisingly cunning AI, you'll need more than RTS reflexes to get it done. Check out the strategy guide, and the FAQ, to learn more about the game, and how to beat it. Continued… Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Will it Run on Vista? Yes
Still Available? Yes
It's StarCraft; what more is there to say about it?
Blizzard overhauled the languishing RTS genre with this amazing sci-fi magnum opus. Instead of featuring two or three mostly-similar races, it went way out on a limb and made the factions extremely different: the Terrans, Protoss and Zerg require unique thinking to master. Some observers, however, have noted the curious resemblance to some of the races from Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 universe.
It's remained alive since its release in 1998 through pure passion, a successful expansion called Brood War, and mods galore. You can find a handful of mods at Strategy Informer.
StarCraft was played in professional gaming tournaments for years after its release. Blizzard is working on StarCraft 2 (finally!) but doesn't have a release date just yet. That'll keep the masses returning to the original.
While other games have tried to ape its uniqueness by offering diversity in the warring factions in their RTS titles (most recently came Universe at War: Earth Assault), none have done anything even remotely like the Zerg Swarm or the bizarre Protoss. It's as if the Terran were only included there so new gamers, coming off Command & Conquer or Total Annihilation would have some semblance of normalcy through which to adjust to the unfamiliar climate. Continued… Developer: Interplay Productions
Publisher: Black Isle Studios
Will it Run on Vista? Yes
Still Available? Yes, also Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics
Fallout isn't Fallout 3. The original is a top-down RPG with very few action elements. While the two share the same funky, post-apocalyptic spirit, the original still has a number of loyal followers. We tracked one down and chatted via IRC to find out why, oh why, would you still play the old, graphically inferior original when Bethesda's masterpiece is so popular?
Steve, who declined to provide his last name, typed, "the original is a pure RPG. There's no action, no reflexes, you're outside the body not inside."
But Fallout 3 did carry VATS over to soothe the demand on reflexes, didn't it? Steve said, "it works, sorta, but you gotta let it recharge and dodge or aim or whatever while it does."
What else keeps Steve coming back to the long-remembered original? "Just the feel, it's different if you really play the two. Plus back then it was so original and not like what we saw before except maybe some really old 8-bit games like Roadwar 2000 or whatever."
This guy's been around.
Fallout certainly was an amazing achievement. Setting a game after a nuclear war, and then populating the world with believable characters and a compelling narrative, while also making it somewhat of a sandbox game, was genius, and it shows by the fact that the game is still popular. In addition, it sports a dark humor that seems to be lacking in Fallout 3. So however good the new game is, the old one still draws in new users.
Share your favorite, old games that you still play alone or with friends in the forums!
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