by Chuck Hoodak

Created on: April 25, 2008   Last Updated: April 03, 2012

As a PC gamer for some time, I have played a lot of games. In the early 1990s, most games that I played had to be ones that ran with the archaic PCs that I managed to own, but later as the machines got better, the quality of games that I got to experience were better.

Some games were recommended by word of mouth, like Sid Meier's Civilization for example. After playing this game for a few days you could see why it was so popular. Never the same game twice, Civilization let you play out any scenario you wanted. Conquer by clever diplomacy or the iron fist of your military might. I think that I managed to only win the game once, but I didn't mind as it was always fun going through your history and watching events unfold. This is truly a classic game and I had a lot of fun playing it.

With the onset of the Internet, gaming exploded as more developers got their games exposed to people in a larger fashion: the trial version or demo. Some of these demos could make or break a game and I cannot think of a game demo that had a more profound impact on me than LucasArts, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II. The single level demo that you could download was outstanding. This was one of the many levels in the game and it was so cleverly done that I played the demo over several times just to experience different parts again. I had to buy the game without question. The demo was just the tip of the iceberg as the full game had some great features like choosing the side of the force that you wanted: either the light or dark side. Using force powers sounded fun, but it was even better to execute the powers while vanquishing foes. As you played the game and your choices guided the character Kyle Katarn down the path of good or evil, there was a nice cinematic movie that filled in the gaps between levels. Just having this game prompted me to install a better graphics card and monitor so I could play it again.

Around the time that Dark Forces II came out, the game Battlezone was launched. Battlezone has the elements of both a FPS and RTS, and it combines the two features brilliantly. Anyone who has played this game can testify to what I am saying. Set in the future, Battlezone has you adventuring across our solar system as you attempt to stop the Soviets from resurrecting an alien weapon that may destroy all mankind. You controlled everything from inside your vehicle. From piloting your tank to constructing a base, you managed it all with a simple mouse click. The missions were

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