PC Gamer - October 2011

REINS TALL
CLASSICS OF PC GAMING REVISITED

OTHER1998 GAMESWE

MYTH II: SOULBLIGHTER Logan: Myth II drew me in by slicing away the RTS mechanics that frustrated me, then made me watch in horror as my brave little dwarves were reduced to pulpy stains across the moors.

“hey baby” crap. Do a porn movie andmost guys love you, but the hookersniff and spit—as opposed to salivatingover a male stud. Become a Made Manas either gender, though, and theguards who previously gave you troublesuddenly can’t wait to suck up. Little,dynamic details like these do more formaking a world feel “real” than athousand carefully coded AI routines.

What happens in Reno
F2 ’s real genius, though, is that there’s
no assumption that you have to win
every fight or see every possibility.
Sure, if you come to New Reno sporting
stolen power armor, you’ll be a force to be reckoned with. More likely, however, you’ll arrive as just another schlub, easily put down if you go around starting fights with the wrong people. Not being the ultimate badass changes everything. What little power and influence you accumulate in Ne w Reno is earned, and it’s more meaningful because of it. And that’s

just the start.

You see, as a wanderer, you can never find home. You don’t have to set foot in New Reno to finish Fallout 2, but if you do, you’ll eventually have to leave. As with all the other towns you visit, however, your decisions have power. Who controls the streets? What happens to the drug trade? War may never change, but the world of Fallout 2 definitely does, and the one thing you can guarantee as the final credits roll is that however low New Reno sinks into depravity, nobody there will ever forget you—the hero or villain they only knew as Arnold Swollenmember. ■

JAZZ JACKRABBIT 2 Lucas: Playing the shareware version of this game entertained me for hours on end as a youth. Jazz was OK, but Spaz, his red rabbit needs-to-switch-to-decaf brother, he was my JAM!

HALF-LIFE Tyler: Valve’s debut title crowbarred into my heart with its unparalleled scripting and level design. Shortly after, a couple mods called Counter-Strike and Day of Defeat came along and changed my definition of “free time” forever.

They’ll be smiling on the other side of their asses when you’re best buds with the Boss. Bumping into a pack of radscorpions can only end well. For the hungry radscorpions.