Top 111 PC Games #80-71

80. Shadow Warrior (3D Realms, 1997)

3D Realms famously abided by a philosophy of only releasing games "When they're done", even to the point of restarting development multiple times to stay on the bleeding edge.  But while Duke Nukem Forever became infamous for this, Shadow Warrior was the first to really showcase it - prototype builds of this game dating all the way back to 1994 were made available on Steam, showing just how much was changed and added as development dragged on. By the time it finally debuted in 1997 it was just a bit too late to impress gamers, as the fully-3D Quake was out by then and Quake II wasn't far off. Still, stuff like voxel models, turrets, vehicles, dynamic environments, reflective surfaces, true room-over-room and multiple firing modes for each weapon were pretty novel at the time, and of course the game is absolutely awash in 3D Realms' irreverent and often juvenile humor. From fortune cookies full of double entendres to pervy anime references to Lo Wang's constant wisecracks (voiced by John Galt doing a bad faux-Asian accent), it's an incredibly ridiculous and fun experience. It's also free to play nowadays, so anyone with an interest in silly '90s shooters owes it at least one go.

79. The Secret of Monkey Island (LucasArts, 1990)

The first entry in what would become a long-running (if not exactly strong-selling) series, Secret of Monkey Island is a humorous point-and-click adventure starring the bumbling Guybrush Threepwood, who is tasked with completing three trials to become a pirate.  These take the form of some brilliantly funny puzzles - the insult-swordfighting is a particular favorite - and eventually culminate in a showdown with the vicious ghost pirate LeChuck, who would become Guybrush's recurring nemesis throughout the series.  The second half of the game does feel a bit rushed, but overall this is still a worthy adventure game and a solid start to a consistently fun and irreverent franchise.

78. Shadowrun: Dragonfall/Hong Kong (Harebrained Schemes, 2014/2015)

The second and third games in the rebooted Shadowrun franchise, and easily my favorite ones so far, expanding on everything the original brought to the table while losing nothing that made it great.  The story is nothing short of brilliant, bringing together a cast of diverse and complex characters to solve the mystery of their friend's death and the underlying conspiracy behind it.  Throughout the game, every choice you make seems to be the wrong one, making you new enemies and seemingly digging you deeper into a pit you can't escape from, while the combat only gets more intense with enemies bringing out bigger guns, setting up nastier traps and summoning bigger monsters to get in your way.  Stellar stuff all around, and a perfect example of how to do a grim, atmospheric game experience right.

77. Grim Fandango (LucasArts/Double Fine, 1998/2015)

Another highly-acclaimed adventure from Tim Schafer and Lucasarts; unfortunately critical acclaim doesn't necessarily translate to strong sales, so they began to wind down their adventure game development shortly after this one's release (only releasing one more Monkey Island game after).  Still, it attracted enough of a fan following to get a remaster and remains acclaimed for its clever premise, inventive art style and strong sense of humor.  Starring Manny Vargas, a "travel agent" for the Land of the Dead, he seeks to unravel a conspiracy and restore the natural order of the afterlife.  It does use tank controls and fixed camera angles so moving and navigation takes some getting used to, but once you get it down you're in for a high-quality adventure.

76. Out of This World (Delphine Software, 1991)

Also known as "Another World", this was a game created from the get-go to be a Dragon's Lair-esque cinematic action adventure on a much lower budget.  Utilizing vector graphics instead of drawn cels, the game's visual design had relatively little detail but very smooth animation, giving it a nicely cinematic flair regardless.  The end result was certainly distinctive and memorable, adding a grim yet beautiful aesthetic to the game and its many, many death scenes.  The gameplay was also quite solid, if heavily trial-and-error based as you tried to solve puzzles, evade enemies and figure out the correct sequence of events in order to survive another melee with aliens and see your way to the end of this strange tale.

75. Blood (Monolith, 1997)

The Build engine may have looked just a bit dated by 1997, especially since Quake was the hot new game on the market, but Blood proved that superior design could more than make up for older tech.  Blood is a master class of horror elements, with a grim, creepy atmosphere and enemies like giant spiders, gargoyles, cultists and flame-spewing cerberus dogs, all with the same immersive and surprisingly realistic level design that made Duke Nukem 3D work so well.  The weapons are equally inventive, with mundane options like a shotgun and tommy gun taking a back seat to weapons like a flare gun or a spray can/lighter to ignite enemies, a voodoo doll that inflicts extra damage to undead/magical enemies (but will damage you if you stab it when no enemies are onscreen) and a crazy-looking skull staff called the Life Leech that doubles as a stationary sentry gun.  The game was exceptionally tough (not aided by a bug that would cause the difficulty level to cycle every time one loaded a save), but the sheer inspiration behind its design is something that must be seen.  Oh, and grab the Deathwish map set too, which is a fantastic fan-made addon that rivals, if not surpasses, the main game in quality.  It's just a shame the sequel (Blood II: The Chosen) was such a mess.  As for the sequel's expansion pack... well, "avoid at all costs" is about the most apt thing that can be said for that.

74. Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game (Interplay, 1997)

Drawing heavy inspiration from their earlier hit "Wasteland" (with the license having fallen to EA years prior), Fallout's creators set out to create a bleak post-apocalyptic landscape for the player to explore, and did so admirably, combining a grim atmosphere with a sly sense of humor throughout.  What really sold the game, though, was the sheer amount of thought put into its story and design - rather than encourage the player to just mindlessly blast everything as so many RPGs of the time were wont to do, the player is given many choices to deal with every questline put before them - a combative approach, stealthy approach and even pure diplomacy will work in almost any situation.  Hell, it's even possible to complete the game without firing a single shot or witnessing a single death.  The first in a great series of games.

73. Beyond Shadowgate (Zojoi, 2024)

It took a decade to get done, but 2014's Shadowgate reboot finally got its sequel - Beyond Shadowgate.  Bearing virtually no resemblance to the action-adventure Turbografx-CD title of the same name, this is based on the originally pitched design document is very much a callback to the point-and-click style titles of the '80s, even recreating the familiar interface, dry sense of humor and pixel art with very limited animation of the classic titles.  There are also numerous callbacks to those titles, from lines of dialog to straight-up cameo locales returning, which I quite liked as a long-time fan. Thankfully they also avoid a lot of the annoying trappings of frustrating old '80s adventures, with logical puzzles and no ways to make the quest unwinnable (none that I could find at any rate).  If you're a fan of the classic ICOM titles, this is one you don't want to miss.

72. Heretic II (Raven Software, 1998)

Most people know about Heretic, but not too many people know it had a sequel.  Mostly because it didn't sell particularly well and owing to a dispute over rights to the game, it has not resurfaced on any digital distribution stores.  Which is a shame, as it's quite a unique and fun experience in its own right.  A third person action game that takes a few cues from Tomb Raider, with some polished platforming mechanics and a bit of focus on puzzle solving.  It doesn't lose sight of what made the original popular, though - after all, it's built in the Quake II engine, which lends itself perfectly to fast-paced projectile-slinging action against hordes of monsters.  Even melee brings some clever mechanics, with sweeping blows that deal heavy damage (and gory finishers) to enemies and even letting you use your staff to pole-vault, which both serves as a longer jump and a powerful mobile attack.  Heretic II is far less famous than its predecessor, but no less fun.

71. Heretic (Raven Software, 1994)

As popular as Doom was, it was little surprise that it would get a number of spinoff games and engine licenses.  Heretic is definitely one of the more memorable ones, taking the basic monster-blasting, puzzle-solving format of Doom and putting a coat of dark fantasy on everything.  Golems, axe-throwing skeleton knights, sorcerers and demons, among many others, stand in your way, while you get several weapons like a magic staff, a triple-firing crossbow, a fireball-launching mace and my personal favorite, gauntlets that launch lightning at your enemies.  More than that, though one could actually pick up many powerups and use them when needed, rather than being forced to activate and use them right then and there.  From temporary flight to powering up all of one's weapons to simply restoring a bit of health on-demand, they were all quite handy to have.

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