06-08-2003, 02:31 PM
Sounds fun. Quite a few of my favourites have been listed (Dungeon Keeper, a zillion SNES RPGs. Diablo.) but there's quite a few gamus obscura in my collection, as well as a couple that others missed.
HardWar (Also Hardwar, Hardw[a]r, HardW[a]r)
Between Elite and Freelancer was HardWar. Essentially a space trading game taking place within a collection of craters on the Titan. Formerly a mining colony, the corporation behind the city of "Optimism" pulled out leaving many of the colonists stranded with no way off. Now every individual of Misplaced Optimism as it's now called (Also MisOp or MO) ekes out a living however they can. While the monorails that worm their way through the collection of craters is fine for pedestrians, the only way you can get from Highrise to Riverside in MisOp is by Moth, a small flying craft so-called because of the fact that it's solar-powered, and is therefore drawn towards light sources such as the massive Lightwells in nearly every crater.
The game is truly open-ended. However you want to play you can. You can either be a vicious bounty hunter, working your way down the Wanted lists of Police stations, or through the Enemies lists of the various factions. You can trade by hauling cargo between various hangers by consulting the Sales and Needs lists available in the many trading centres. If going's a little slow you can either scavenge crap from the moon's surface, or even pirate what you need. Heck, you can even buy your own hangars for storage of excess Moths/goods, or open them up to the public as repair bays, stores, or you can even install your own manufacturing facilities to produce goods for sale or personal use. If you wish to follow the plot, but there's not much I can say without spoiling it.
A damn fine game, and while it was slated for a sequel the company that produced the game (The Software Refinery) went under recently, probably no doubt due to its poor choice of publishers (Gremlin in the UK, who went bust years ago, and Interplay in the US) which pretty much accounts for the game's rarity.
Uplink (US title - Uplink: Hacker Elite)
Another small-time success story. Uplink was, essentially, coded by three former students much in the vein of pretty much every game in the 80s. Uplink is a hacker game. Starting off as a low-end Agent in the Uplink Corporation with access to a very crappy Gateway computer and a $3,000 loan, you must work your way up the ranks (And earn boatloads of cash) by accepting jobs from clients on Uplink's BBS service and then completing your nefarious deeds. Needless to say, your hacking must go undedected, and nothing must lead back to your Gateway lest the Feds find you. Of course, the lower-risk jobs only result in having to pay (Descreetly) a fine to the company you bummed, but as you start ripping the guts out of the systems of the major companies you should be expected to install a motion sensor and self-destruct on your Gateway, 'cause when the Feds come knocking, you'd better start bombing.
Grim Fandango
You've probably heard of this one. If you haven't, then it's a LucasArts adventure in the Land of the Dead. Manny Calavera, travel agent, has to work off a debt owed in the Land of the Living by selling travel packages to recently departed souls for their four-year journey across the Land of the Dead, the quality of the package depending on how good or bad a life they led. Once, he was a good salesman, selling dozens of tickets for the Number Nine (An express train that takes you right to the end in four minutes, in perfect luxury) but now things are drying up. The most his clients deserve to have these days are walking sticks, and for some that's too good. When Manny "intercepts" Mercedes Colomar, a client slated for Manny's high-flying rival Domino, and finds out that, despite living a saintly life she's nowhere near elegible for the Nine, he begins to suspect his employers.
HardWar (Also Hardwar, Hardw[a]r, HardW[a]r)
Between Elite and Freelancer was HardWar. Essentially a space trading game taking place within a collection of craters on the Titan. Formerly a mining colony, the corporation behind the city of "Optimism" pulled out leaving many of the colonists stranded with no way off. Now every individual of Misplaced Optimism as it's now called (Also MisOp or MO) ekes out a living however they can. While the monorails that worm their way through the collection of craters is fine for pedestrians, the only way you can get from Highrise to Riverside in MisOp is by Moth, a small flying craft so-called because of the fact that it's solar-powered, and is therefore drawn towards light sources such as the massive Lightwells in nearly every crater.
The game is truly open-ended. However you want to play you can. You can either be a vicious bounty hunter, working your way down the Wanted lists of Police stations, or through the Enemies lists of the various factions. You can trade by hauling cargo between various hangers by consulting the Sales and Needs lists available in the many trading centres. If going's a little slow you can either scavenge crap from the moon's surface, or even pirate what you need. Heck, you can even buy your own hangars for storage of excess Moths/goods, or open them up to the public as repair bays, stores, or you can even install your own manufacturing facilities to produce goods for sale or personal use. If you wish to follow the plot, but there's not much I can say without spoiling it.
A damn fine game, and while it was slated for a sequel the company that produced the game (The Software Refinery) went under recently, probably no doubt due to its poor choice of publishers (Gremlin in the UK, who went bust years ago, and Interplay in the US) which pretty much accounts for the game's rarity.
Uplink (US title - Uplink: Hacker Elite)
Another small-time success story. Uplink was, essentially, coded by three former students much in the vein of pretty much every game in the 80s. Uplink is a hacker game. Starting off as a low-end Agent in the Uplink Corporation with access to a very crappy Gateway computer and a $3,000 loan, you must work your way up the ranks (And earn boatloads of cash) by accepting jobs from clients on Uplink's BBS service and then completing your nefarious deeds. Needless to say, your hacking must go undedected, and nothing must lead back to your Gateway lest the Feds find you. Of course, the lower-risk jobs only result in having to pay (Descreetly) a fine to the company you bummed, but as you start ripping the guts out of the systems of the major companies you should be expected to install a motion sensor and self-destruct on your Gateway, 'cause when the Feds come knocking, you'd better start bombing.
Grim Fandango
You've probably heard of this one. If you haven't, then it's a LucasArts adventure in the Land of the Dead. Manny Calavera, travel agent, has to work off a debt owed in the Land of the Living by selling travel packages to recently departed souls for their four-year journey across the Land of the Dead, the quality of the package depending on how good or bad a life they led. Once, he was a good salesman, selling dozens of tickets for the Number Nine (An express train that takes you right to the end in four minutes, in perfect luxury) but now things are drying up. The most his clients deserve to have these days are walking sticks, and for some that's too good. When Manny "intercepts" Mercedes Colomar, a client slated for Manny's high-flying rival Domino, and finds out that, despite living a saintly life she's nowhere near elegible for the Nine, he begins to suspect his employers.
When in mortal danger,
When beset by doubt,
Run in little circles,
Wave your arms and shout.
BattleTag: Schrau#2386
When beset by doubt,
Run in little circles,
Wave your arms and shout.
BattleTag: Schrau#2386