The Year of Legends - 10 Best Games Released in 1997

Table of Contents

• The Year of Legends - 10 Best Games Released in 1997
• Fallout
• Grand Theft Auto
• Quake 2
• Final Fantasy 7
• Dungeon Keeper
• Age of Empires
• The Curse of Monkey Island
• Ultima Online
• Blade Runner

Quake 2

Quake 2, Activision Blizzard, 1997

In reference to the part where the author suggested to buy Quake 2 even if it would be our only purchase during the year, it is worth mentioning that this text appeared in the January issue, already in 1998. The author was certain that nothing more perfect would probably appear. The players were still stunned by the FPP shooter revolution at that time, which had only really started a few years earlier with Doom, but then the first part of Quake moved everything into real 3D without flat sprites. Sequel on the other hand surprised everyone, because it actually wasn't a Quake with only the genre and shooting mechanics remaining as common elements. Even the title was supposed to be completely different.

The creators abandoned the dark fantasy atmosphere in the style of Lovecraft in favor of science fiction, imposing on us the role of Bitterman, a marines soldier sent to the planet of aliens - Stroggs. The goal of our mission was to attack the planet first, in order to stop a possible alien invasion of Earth. But does anyone even remember this anymore? Pretty good campaign and well-designed, huge levels were quickly put aside, because Quake 2, like the predecessor, quickly started to live with a great 32-player multiplayer mode. All its advantages, such as beautiful graphics, shooting mechanics, or completely new weapons, delivered ongoing fun - not only for the duration of the campaign and subsequent mission packs. Multiplayer ruled so much that the next Quake was exclusively a network title.

1. More about the Quake 2 game