1. Metal Slug (MVS)(Run and Gun)2. Puzzle Link (NGPC)(Puzzle)3. Illusion of Gaia (SNES)(RPG)4. Warhammer 40,000: Rites of War (PC)(Strategy)5. Shadowrun: Dragonfall (PC)(RPG)6. Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss (PC)(RPG)7. Drakkhen (SNES)(RPG)
8. Flight of the Amazon Queen (PC)(Point and Click Adventure)9. Shadowgrounds: Survivor (PC)(Top-Down Shooter)10. Lufia & The Fortress of Doom (SNES)(RPG)11. BioShock (PC)(FPS)12. Jeopardy! Sports Edition (SNES)(Game Show Sim)13. Turok: Dinosaur Hunter (PC)(FPS)14. Thief Gold (PC)(Stealth)
15. Call of Duty 2 (PC)(FPS)16. Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra (PC)(RPG)17. Alone in the Dark (PC)(Survival Horror)18. Silent Hill (PS1)(Survival Horror)19. Sanitarium (PC)(Point-and-Click Adventure/Horror)
20. Gauntlet: Slayer Edition(PC)(Hack and Slash)21. Mortal Kombat 3 (SNES)(Fighting)22. Ultima II (PC)(RPG)23. System Shock (PC)(Action RPG)24. DOOM (PC)(FPS)25. Soul Blazer (SNES)(RPG)26. Slave Zero (PC)(Action)27. Broforce (PC)(Run and Gun)28. Gothic (PC)(RPG)29. Eye of the Beholder (PC)(RPG)30. Outlaws + A Handful of Missions (PC)(FPS)
31. Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi (PC)(Survival Horror)OutlawsOutlaws is amazing. It's a Western-themed FPS, where the story is told through animated sequences, every level features a boss of some kind, and where all the weapons are pulled straight out of the 1800s. You have knives, revolvers, shotguns galore, a rifle that can be scoped to make it the first zoomable sniper rifle in FPS history, and even dynamite that you have to light with your cigar before throwing. The levels are also incredibly impressive, ranging from old forts to abandoned mines to small towns and so on.
I feel like I'm playing a violent cartoon about cowboys playing this game, because the visuals back it up. Your weapons have an animated flair that supports it, and your HUD is an old timey cash register. But what really sells the setting is the soundtrack, which is absolutely phenomenal. Apparently a full orchestra was used, which was rare at the time. It was worth it. This game sounds like an epic spaghetti western, and the sound effects are quite meaty. When you shoot someone, it sounds like it. When you unload a shotgun into them, launch them across the room, and hear them scream with an echo effect, it truly becomes something special.
Three difficulty settings(Good, Bad, and Ugly) add to the challenge; while on Good you can take a beating and can run around easily, you're going down in a single shot on Ugly, so you have to be cautious and stick to cover. Even on Bad, a stray bullet can knock you to half health, so your gameplay style has to change accordingly.
While the base game is only 10 levels long, there is also an added expansion set called A Handful of Missions which give you four new levels(including one which is broken into two parts) as well as Marshall Training, which is a new kind of level where you pick your target and then go hunt them down for points. This adds further replay, though I have varied opinions of the new levels. Some were really cool, such as the Civil War mission, but I loathed the Ice Flow.
Still, if there is one downside, it's that the game has some issues with modern tech. I couldn't use the rifle scope, because the game would crash every time I tried. I compensated around that though, so it's not an impossible thing. I'd just be wary any time I grabbed a scope.
John Romero considers this one of his favorite games, and I'm inclined to agree. I loved every minute of it and heartily recommend it.
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Nosferatu: The Wrath of MalachiI could have labeled this either Survival Horror or FPS because in truth the game is both, though not all of the weapons involve shooting. N:TWoM throws the hero into a castle with randomly generated interiors. You have an hour and a half to go through the castle to try and rescue your numerous family members before they are killed. Succeed, and you're awarded peace of mind as well as whatever items they carried in their suitcases. Some of the family are also required to rescue to open up new areas of the castle to visit, though not all.
Even if you fail to save everyone though, you then wait until morning and take on the rest of the castle at dawn, which is the only time during which you can open the door for the final encounter. But there are numerous foes within the castle, ranging from devil dogs to vampires of various types to ghosts, zombies, gypsy servants of the vampires, killer bats, and even the odd gargoyle. And each of these enemies has different types of strengths and weaknesses, so certain weapons are very effective against them while others are a complete waste of time.
While the randomized nature of the castle keeps things interesting, the game becomes significantly easier once you understand how to deal with each type of enemy. What should you use a cross on, versus what gets a stake? What situation is best for the revolver or the musket? Is holy water overpowered? Yes, holy water is very overpowered, I'm just gonna tell you now. The truth is in fact that much of the threat of some of these creatures is entirely removed once you know what weapon to us, and that's when you discover that you're a bit hampered by the weapon swap controls, which take forever. You also have limited ability to modify said controls, which is a shame; I'd have loved to up my mouse sensitivity, though I guess it isn't necessary.
I won't lie, the game has some problems. It's poorly optimized, so the main central courtyard causes lag. The lack of certain options certainly holds the game back too. Worst of all though are the unskippable cutscenes. I really don't want to watch the 5 minute long intro cinematic every time I start a new game, and while I appreciate the finality of the poem I am shown every time a family member is killed, they all share the same background video. If you aren't any good, you'll be seeing the same thing over and over again. That said, those poems are pretty devastating. My first time through, the main character's father and sister were killed. Seeing "Your father is dead" splashed across the screen was more than a little uncomfortable.
Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi is an entertaining idea, though it's not something I want to go back to. After a while it wears out its welcome as I feel like I've seen all of the enemies it keeps throwing at me and know how to handle them. If you get the machine gun, it's pretty much over, and the holy water freaking eats the bosses. And even with the changing layouts, many of the rooms just feel like the same thing over and over again. I am glad I finally got to play this game, but I don't think I'll be returning to it for a long while.