What is the first game that really drew you in and fascinated you?
- Thread starter Branithar
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Goose4291
Banned
Such an oft overlooked gem.
Kennedy Approach, I guess. M.U.L.E. too. And Silent Service - was kinda the time when "Das Boot" was filmed and released.
verminstar
Banned
Not counting the twitch shooters like the Unreal tournament series along with quake 3 arena...as fun and addictive as they were, they werent sandbox type games and didnt really inspire the imagination beyond high frag counts and spawncamping.
First game that came to mind on seeing the question didnt come along until the mid to late 90s in the form of Freelancer. Of course, before this we had the original grand theft auto games, not to mention the flop that was GTA london but those never really fascinated me in the way Freelancer did.
Eve comes a close second...spent 8 years there almost constant with very few breaks longer than a month or two. Love it or hate it, any game that can induce an 8 year addiction must be doing something right.
The fact that any frontier game doesnt get so much as a mention is because I never played any frontier game until this one, so I really cant claim their earlier games had any influence on me whatsoever. I walked a different path to get here so in many ways, elite is the new kid on the block fer me that so far hasnt managed to rival past games in terms of time spent. 3 or 4 years here is roughly the same amount of time I spent in freelancer but I played FL much harder with three times the hours played in that timeframe.
Ask again in a couple years time and maybe ED might feature in the list...but regardless its far from the first ^
First game that came to mind on seeing the question didnt come along until the mid to late 90s in the form of Freelancer. Of course, before this we had the original grand theft auto games, not to mention the flop that was GTA london but those never really fascinated me in the way Freelancer did.
Eve comes a close second...spent 8 years there almost constant with very few breaks longer than a month or two. Love it or hate it, any game that can induce an 8 year addiction must be doing something right.
The fact that any frontier game doesnt get so much as a mention is because I never played any frontier game until this one, so I really cant claim their earlier games had any influence on me whatsoever. I walked a different path to get here so in many ways, elite is the new kid on the block fer me that so far hasnt managed to rival past games in terms of time spent. 3 or 4 years here is roughly the same amount of time I spent in freelancer but I played FL much harder with three times the hours played in that timeframe.
Ask again in a couple years time and maybe ED might feature in the list...but regardless its far from the first ^
ELITE
Also loved CITADEL, SENTINEL and CASTLE QUEST on the BBC.
Then LASER SQUAD and X-COM after that.
But we're drowning in great games now but I also love the modern XCOMs.
Also loved CITADEL, SENTINEL and CASTLE QUEST on the BBC.
Then LASER SQUAD and X-COM after that.
But we're drowning in great games now but I also love the modern XCOMs.
I saw the original film in Berlin in 1977...no idea when it was released internationally.
Played the early Atari console games like Space Invaders & Missile Command. On the Speccy, it was really Elite (84) that held my attention for a long time, although I must mention Julian Gollop's 'Rebelstar' too. Fantastic turn-based tactics game that I still occasionally play.
I remember playing 'The Last Ninja' on my cousin's Commodore 64 and loved it! I bought a C64 just on the strength of that one game.
I remember playing 'The Last Ninja' on my cousin's Commodore 64 and loved it! I bought a C64 just on the strength of that one game.
One of those black and white tennis/football games. Interaction on a screen for the very first time.
Same here Think it was a Binatone iirc.
Damn I'm old.
But waaaayyyyyyyyy wayyyyyyyy back I was at a church fete as a wee nipper which was being opened by none other than Dr Who himself Tom Baker while he was the Dr.
there was an Atari 2600 which you could play Space Invaders on and he gave me 10p so I could have a go and I said "Thanks but I've already got 10p" (What a pillock) and later I won a raffle prize and he presented me with a jar of marmalade.
True story dat.
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Not exactly "the first game" (can't remember the first game that really grabbed me, or the best) but speaking of Thief. Thief: Deadly Shadows. And in particular: Shalebridge Cradle.
Yowza.
Admittedly, I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to tension and jump-scares. But this level scared the pants off me. It's one of the only game levels I've seen which has its own discrete wikipedia entry and even a 11-page PC gamer review. Backstory: you're exploring a dilapidated old ruin, of an orphanage which was turned into a orphanage-insane-asylum (exactly!). At the time, it was one of the creepiest atmospheres I'd experienced in a game. The beauty of it - for the 1st half of it, nothing happens. You're bracing yourself for something to jump out at you, but all you see are darting shadows and creepy, worrying sounds. So you explore deeper, and deeper into the building.
When I played it, it was late at night, the sound was up, and I was primed to leap off my chair if someone said "boo". Finally, I saw someone limping about in one of the wards. I thought about shooting them (but ammo in the game is INCREDIBLY scarce, so you really have to be careful when you use it), so I just approached them slowly and they didn't seem to pay any attention to me. But then it charged at me. Aaaaaaaaaah.
Now: there's an unwritten rule in most combat games, that you can out-run any enemy (unless it's a "you're locked in this room, kill them to escape" scenario). I don't know if that's deliberate, or just a symptom of bad pathfinding AI, but you always can escape combat by running. I ran and ran and ran, around the corner, through a doorway, found a quiet room where "it" wouldn't find me. Turned around and "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH" "it" was right behind me and lunged at me. I jumped out of the seat and hit the console reset button. Felt a bit foolish, then went to bed.
Ooooh, you are old, I prefer my favourite Doctor, Patrick Troughton.
Wait, he was number 2 and Tom Baker was number 4. Damn, I'm probably older
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Ooooh, you are old, I prefer my favourite Doctor, Patrick Troughton.
Wait, he was number 2 and Tom Baker was number 4. Damn, I'm probably older
Yup.
The TV version released in 1985. That is the version I initially saw. read the book right after and was made for sub-simming ever after.
Edit: The movie initially released 1981, you may have confused it?
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I've been gaming since the late 80s, but it took until 2005 before was truly hooked on a game.
Silent Hunter III really grabbed me, to the point I would even do realtime patrols that took weeks with my pc running 24/7, I'd dive and sit on the ocean floor while i was at work or sleeping.
I ended up spending a massive amount of time (and money) making mods for the game, remodelling and adding additional submarine interiors.
Sadly as with any game, my interest tapered off eventually, haven't played since around 2011
+Of course, Elite drew me in, but not quite to the same extent.
Silent Hunter III really grabbed me, to the point I would even do realtime patrols that took weeks with my pc running 24/7, I'd dive and sit on the ocean floor while i was at work or sleeping.
I ended up spending a massive amount of time (and money) making mods for the game, remodelling and adding additional submarine interiors.
Sadly as with any game, my interest tapered off eventually, haven't played since around 2011
+Of course, Elite drew me in, but not quite to the same extent.
Original Elite and Way of the Exploding Fist and Jet Set Willy.
Amberstar on Atari ST. Too bad the sequel never got ported to PC and the company went bankrupt.
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Jenner
I wish I was English like my hero Tj.
Yeah, the Dig is an awesome game. Loved that one.
Ah, the glory days of LucasArts were indeed glorious.
Did he have the scarf?
There were quite a few 'wow' games early on (I was a big fan of the Infocom text based adventures), but the first for me was the original Wizardry. I was a big D&D geek growing up, and this being a video game incarnation of a D&D world felt amazing.
Others of notable mention are Starflight, and Ultima.
Others of notable mention are Starflight, and Ultima.