Top 10 Awesome PC Games You Probably Forgot About
Welcome to WatchMojo and today we’re counting down our picks for 10 awesome pc games you probably forgot existed.
#10: “Dark Messiah of Might and Magic” (2006)
7 Times Dark Souls Infiltrated Other Games
This superb 2006 title has all the makings of a classic RPG, albeit with linear level design. You complete objectives and earn skill points to build on your melee, magic or stealth abilities, you can explore vast, fantastic locations, and you get to battle hordes of overpowered enemies. Oh, and it’s all based around the same game engine as Half-Life 2 - which is a big plus. But it’s easy to see why this fantasy title was overlooked - it’s not quite Skyrim, World of Warcraft, Dishonored or Assassin’s Creed - it’s kind of all those titles rolled into one. Those who remember playing it will no doubt have loved the intuitive pop-up inventory menus, the go anywhere FPS style gameplay and eerie atmosphere it had to offer.
#9: “Ghost Master” (2003)
Top 10 Spooky Ghost Hunting Video Games
Next up is a ghost game that manages to be challenging and creepy, without taking itself too seriously. Imagine playing The Sims, but instead of controlling the gibberish-talking Sims themselves, you assemble a group of ghosts and try to terrorize them and get them to leave the premises as quickly as possible. Sort of like the opposite of Ghosbusters. The objective is to scare people out of a location as efficiently as possible. You get to control a variety of different ghosts, upgrade their scaring abilities and also do cool things like possess people, free restless spirits and exploit people’s phobias. It’s dark humor at its finest, and is genuinely fun to play.
#8: “Thief: Deadly Shadows” (2004)
In a lot of ways, the Thief series was a victim of its own success. Many gamers swerved the third installment in the franchise - Deadly Shadows - because they felt it didn’t measure up to Thief I and II, what with its omission of classic weapons like the blackjack and rope arrows, and the numerous bugs and lengthy loading screens. But Thief: Deadly Shadows is still a solid title, and it introduced some new, exciting game elements, like the ability to explore the city and visit merchants and complete side quests. It has an interesting atmosphere and setting to it that’s really fun to explore, and it’s definitely with a look if you’re a fan of the first two games, or similar titles like Assassin's Creed.
#7: “Evil Genius” (2004)
10 CENSORED Moments in Resident Evil Games
We’ve got another evil puppet master-like game next, and in Evil Genius, you get to play a Bond villain-like menace with their own secret lair. In this game, you’ll have to fend off attacks from spies and super agents, all while managing your droves of minions and your World Domination screen. You get to choose from three different evil geniuses and you can also vary the difficulty level, in case you just want to have fun while taking over the world. Sure, you get to indulge in all the bad guy cliches, but the base management aspect of Evil Genius is super fun - and apprehending an intruder never gets old. It’s essentially Dungeon Keeper, but you take on the role of Dr. Evil - what’s not to love about that?
#6: “Oni” (2001)
10 Games You FORGOT Had Multiplayer
It was easy to jump into this third person shooter and feel totally overwhelmed by its intricate hand-to-hand combat system. But once mastered, it made the gameplay super satisfying. Oni felt very much ahead of its time, with slick animations, a blend of genres and a convoluted, government cover-up style plot that even Hideo Kojima would be proud of. Oni’s release was somewhat overshadowed by the Halo franchise, launched by the same developer less than a year later, but for those that appreciate games with a unique personality and distinctive setting, Oni is a must play. And for many of us, it was possibly our first experience of a sophisticated video game.
#:5 “Condemned: Criminal Origins” (2005)
Top 10 Video Games with Amazing First Person Melee Combat
The terrifying atmosphere that this game creates is no joke. Its design takes inspiration from movies like Silence of the Lambs and Seven, and is every bit as gritty and unnerving. You play as FBI agent Ethan Thomas, hot on the tail of a serial killer. Along the way, you’ll have to fend off psychopaths in extremely close quarters combat with whatever planks of wood or lead pipes you can find. There’s more nuanced sections of the game where you’ll be playing detective and collecting DNA samples, but these are bookended by moments of pure horror and claustrophobia. It’s a hoot - and traumatizing - and it served as a springboard for many of us to seek out other horror titles.
#4: “Jade Empire” (2005)
Released by developer BioWare in 2005, Jade Empire got somewhat lost among its other excellent releases - including Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect. It had all the trappings of a fun RPG - NPC side quests, an intricate combat system with bullet time-like manipulation and the choice of different dialogue paths - and it combined those qualities with third-person gameplay and a refreshing setting inspired by Chinese mythology. Whether it’s your cup of tea or not, there’s no denying that Jade Empire felt different, and it yet combined elements of super successful, more mainstream games from the developer.
#3: “Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines” (2004)
This is another solid game that champions the Half-Life 2 engine, and it’s arguably the only vampire game that properly fleshes out the concept of what it would really be like to be a blood sucker. The game’s plot is nuanced, having you play as a vampire in a world where vampires have their own laws, and have to watch their backs for vampire hunters in a human society. This game has tons of locations to explore, loads of collectibles and weapons, a great plot and some excellent multi-choice dialogues to be had with some real nuanced characters. It feels like stepping into the world of the Blade series, and exploring its dark and dingy alley ways and nightclubs - all while trying to avoid Blade himself.
#2: “System Shock 2” (1999)
Top 10 Sega Master System Games
This is a classic example of a hybrid FPS and RPG game. It has the extensive inventory and plentiful exploration of an RPG, but with a strictly linear level design. And although it doesn’t have NPC-triggered side quests, you do get to choose what kind of military character you want to be at the start of the game - be it a member of the marines, navy or OSA - and then you get to upgrade your character with everything from hacking to telekinetic abilities. It feels a little like Dead Space, with plenty of horror elements, but really, it feels much more nuanced than that. And there’s just something about the visuals that feel engaging and timeless, a bit like 2001: A Space Odyssey.
#1: “Clive Baker's Undying” (2001)
If there’s one game that can challenge the underwear-spoiling terror of the aforementioned Condemned: Criminal Origins, it’s Clive Baker's Undying. The game sees you play as a paranormal investigator, visiting a ghostly estate in order to help his friend rid his family of a curse. It might not be as gritty and as photo realistic as Condemned, but it makes up for it with its spine-chilling sound effects and soundtrack, and settings which can only be described as being ripped right out of a nightmare. If this game was ever remade with modern graphics, I’m not sure I’d want to play it, in fear of having a total mental breakdown.
