THE TOP 10 NON-ADVENTURE GAMES OF ALL TIME – Welcome to Just Adventure + – Articles — Part 4

Articles

THE TOP
10 NON-ADVENTURE GAMES OF ALL TIME

Article
by Agustín Cordes and Michal
Necasek




October 3, 2003


2.
System Shock
– Origin, 1994

System Shock - Origin, 1994Imagine
yourself trapped inside a huge space station with most of its crew
turned into mutants not happy with your presence, robots gone crazy
and somewhere in cyberspace, the master computer Shodan, now self-aware,
wanting to take over the world. That’s System Shock
a perfect blend of light-hearted RPG and furious 3D shooter. The
complex – and slightly cumbersome – interface allowed the player
to crawl, lean while hiding behind a wall and shoot the enemies
(and thus adding some strategy to the combat), throw objects, install
and configure cybernetic modules and more. It was a landmark achievement
in many ways – to this day System Shock features
the most impressive level design ever seen. One of the areas
that even its sequel couldn’t surpass. Winding corridors and claustrophobic
corners in big levels. Also, Shodan stands out as one of
the most memorable villains the gaming world has ever seen – a
megalomaniacal, vile computer that makes HAL 9000 look like a TI-59
calculator. A special mention goes to the awesome and varied techno-music
soundtrack. Those who thought of this as a mere Doom clone
missed an important chapter of gaming history.

The
Number 1 Non-Adventure Game of All Time…

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.