THE TOP 10 NON-ADVENTURE GAMES OF ALL TIME – Welcome to Just Adventure + – Articles — Part 3

Articles

THE TOP
10 NON-ADVENTURE GAMES OF ALL TIME

Article
by Agustín Cordes and Michal
Necasek




October 3, 2003


10. Heroes Of Might And Magic III – New World Computing/3DO,
1999

Heroes Of Might And Magic IIIProbably the most
popular in the HoMM series of strategy games, which
itself is an offshoot of the Might & Magic RPGs.  A
purely turn-based strategy game set in a fantasy world, with the
missions and campaigns wrapped in a relatively thin story.  HoMM is
a classical strategy game based on resource management and combat.
You can control several different races, each with specific units
and capabilities: Humans, Elves, Wizards, Barbarians, Undead and
more. There are several campaigns in the game, each split into roughly
5-8 missions. The goals of the missions are varied – usually elimination
of all enemies, sometimes capturing an artifact or defeating an enemy
hero. At the beginning of each mission, it is usually necessary to
build up cities and secure a supply of resources. Then you build
armies and recruit of heroes who can serve as leaders for the armies
and roam the land in search of conquest. Battles are also turn based,
heroes may use spells but do not engage in combat themselves, though
their abilities reflect on the armies. The game system is relatively
simple, easy to learn and easy to play. The artwork is excellent,
with luscious graphics and pleasant music. The result is an enjoyable
and extremely addictive game. Very difficult to quit once you’ve
started playing.

Number
9

Agustin Cordes

Agustin Cordes

Did you ever have that feeling when you realize something that will never change? I mean, do you remember when you realized your girlfriend would be your wife for the rest of your life? Oh, you're not married, I see - me neither. But anyway, my point is: the first day I played King's Quest back in 1987, I knew I'd be forever in love with the genre. Seriously, after entering a castle, climbing up a tree, exploring a cave and finding all kinds of treasures, I realized that was the kind of game I loved - with King's Quest I felt the sense of adventure in all its splendour and, while now it seems a bit bland after all these years, I still remember it as an enlightening experience. That's right - after King's Quest, I was an avid adventure gamer. Years passed, more adventures were played and the internet appeared. Somehow, I needed to find a place where I could gather more information about adventures, where I could satisfy my adventuring needs. Of the small bunch of sites dedicated to the genre, only one stood above the rest with loads of info and quality. Even better, where in most sites adventures were covered like a mere day-job, in this site the staff showed a whole-hearted love for the genre, just like me - that's how I knew about Just Adventure. More years passed, even more adventures were played and lots of visits to JA were payed. One day, the JA forum opened and, without intention, I was sucked in. Next, I could write a line like "less games were played, lots of posts were made" but I guess that's getting pretty tiresome by now. Cut to the chase: one day I started a topic about unfinished adventures with several comments, Randy liked it, he asked if I wanted to write an article about it and that's it - I'm in! Now a little about me. I'm 23 years old. As you may have guessed from my spelling mistakes, English isn't my native language. I'm from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Right now I'm working as a programmer in a communications-oriented company. Also, I'm carrying on my Electronic Engineering career, which I'm liking a lot. When I'm not working and studying, I usually try to sleep - when I'm not sleeping it's because I'm playing games. I'm a huge fan of sci-fi and horror, genres I love on books, movies and games. Lovecraft is my most favorite writer. I'm a weird guy - people close to me know I'm a slightly deranged person. I often enjoy things most normal people don’t, like Monty Python (I really love British humour) and bizarre, low-budget, badly-acted horror movies. As for my favorite games - Wasteland, Fallout and System Shock are right at the top of my list. Yes, I know what you're thinking, "after that initial speech, this guy is telling me his favorite games are RPG's?!". Well, while those are the games I most enjoyed for several reasons (being a post-apocaliptic nut for two of them), that doesn't mean the adventure genre isn't the most I like. In fact, I've played and enjoyed so many adventures that it's very difficult for me to pick a few single favorites.