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Initially revealed in 2020.
The great factor about this query is there’s actually no improper reply, as a result of yearly is a superb yr for PC gaming. Possibly you are particularly a fan of 2007’s Orange Field, Bioshock, and Crysis, otherwise you actually love 2015 as a result of it introduced us The Witcher 3 and Metallic Gear Stable 5, otherwise you assume Half-Life 2, World of Warcraft, and The Sims 2 helped make 2004 the very best yr for PC gaming ever.
Like I mentioned, there is not any improper reply!
However it’s nonetheless one thing to debate and argue (hopefully politely!) over: What was the very best yr for PC gaming? Under you will discover solutions from our employees in addition to some from the PC Gamer boards (opens in new tab). Tell us your favourite yr, and why it is the very best, within the feedback under.
1999
Evan Lahti: ’99 is a spiritual second for aggressive FPS gamers over the age of 30. Quake 3 and Unreal Event shaped a brand new period for aggressive FPS. You would possibly consider them as the same type of recreation, however they had been constructed on opposing philosophies. Quake 3 was outlined by its purity: its weapons had been easy, however within the arms of athletic gamers, they had been paintbrushes for ache that could possibly be mixed with a chic motion system. In distinction, UT seems to be just like the Canyonero (opens in new tab): a rocket launcher stuffed inside a grenade launcher, an attack-and-defend mode that performed out like a fort siege, mutators, low gravity railgunning, Chainsaw Melee, a gun that lobbed piles of poison goo.
Throw in Group Fortress Basic and Counter-Strike (the mod, a minimum of), and 1999 is definitely the primordial pool from which most present aggressive shooters had been spawned. I assume another stuff got here out that yr too: System Shock 2, Everquest, Planescape Torment, Homeworld, Age of Empires 2, Alpha Centauri, and C&C: Tiberian Solar.
2007
Jody Macgregor: You possibly can make a straightforward argument for 2007 on the energy of The Orange Field, Supreme Commander, Crysis, BioShock, and STALKER, however that is actually a private choose. It is the yr that obtained me again into PC gaming after the price of upgrading and shopping for video games right here in Australia had stored me away for a number of years. Portal and Group Fortress 2 helped win me again, however so did loads of glorious low-spec video games like Recettear (nonetheless the very best JRPG I’ve performed), Peggle, Deathworm, and Osu! I spent loads of 2007 enjoying The Shivering Isles enlargement for Oblivion as effectively.
1998
Andy Chalk: 1998 is the yr all of it started for me. Thief: The Darkish Undertaking, Baldur’s Gate, Fallout 2, Half-Life, and StarCraft (which I wasn’t actually into, but it surely most likely deserves a point out) all confirmed up in ’98, which makes it not solely a seminal yr for gaming, but in addition a launchpad for thus many greater and higher issues. Excluding Fallout 2, which deserved so a lot better than it obtained, every of those represents the start line of collection that had been deeply formative on a private stage: The Thief and Baldur’s Gate collection nonetheless share the highest spot on my all-time finest listing, and regardless that I am not as passionate about Half-Life as I was, Half-Life 2 set an ordinary for shooters in a manner that is by no means been replicated. With out 1998, none of it occurs—that makes it a hell of a very good yr in my eyes.
2002
Tyler Wilde: I am tempted to go together with ’96 or ’97 for Quake, Quake 2, Diablo, Zork: Grand Inquisitor, and different of my all-time favorites, however the begin of the brand new millennium feels extra notable to me. In 2002, video games felt greater than they ever had earlier than: I may stand on the wing of a airplane in Battlefield 1942 whereas another person flew it, see the Command & Conquer world from a unit’s perspective in C&C: Renegade, go jetpack snowboarding in Tribes, and discover a complete island in The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind. It wasn’t as if massive 3D areas had been unprecedented on the time, however that yr stands out to me because the yr we might actually escaped hallways. Tony Hawk’s Professional Skater 3 and Grand Theft Auto 3 additionally got here to PC in 2002.
In the meantime, Medal of Honor: Allied Assault stays one in all my favourite shooters ever—my digital M1 Garand abilities won’t ever be higher than they had been then—and the discharge of Warcraft 3 marked the start of a short interval once I went to gaming cafes and drank Bawls (plus it is among the many most influential video games of all time, largely as a consequence of its mod scene). No One Lives Ceaselessly 2, Neverwinter Nights, Dungeon Siege, and Mafia assist seal it for me. I want there have been some indie hit I may level at to attain extra factors—Cave Story was 2004—however I suppose yearly cannot be consultant of all the pieces. Good yr, although!
3057, or perhaps 1995
Wes Fenlon: I do not want a protracted listing of video games launched in a given yr to inform you which yr was the very best for PC gaming, as a result of it is clearly 3057, the yr MechWarrior 2 takes place. As that thirty first century warfare documentary has proven us, future PC gaming can have every of us preventing for our lives in a sweet-ass mech. Sure: sooner or later, all computer systems are inside big robots, clearly.
(Anyway, 1995 was an excellent influential yr: MechWarrior 2, Command & Conquer, Warcraft 2, TIE Fighter, and Darkish Forces all hit the PC that yr).
2004
Steven Messner: Somewhat stunned nobody has beat me to this as a result of 2004 is clearly the very best yr for PC gaming. In that quick span of simply 12 months, a few of the most influential video games of all time had been launched alongside a bevy of actually good video games that did not have fairly the identical lasting enchantment. Clearly the massive one to notice is Half-Life 2, however World of Warcraft additionally launched in that very same yr together with Rome: Complete Struggle (which redefined the collection), The Sims 2, Far Cry, Counter-Strike: Supply, and Unreal Event 2004. This yr additionally had a lot of nice cult classics, like Metropolis of Heroes, Sid Meier’s Pirates!, Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, EverQuest 2, Battlefield Vietnam, Tribes: Vengeance, Want for Velocity: Underground 2.
I may go on… so I’ll. Painkiller, The Lord of the Rings: Battle for Center-Earth, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, Star Wars: Battlefront, Ultimate Fantasy XI: Chains of Promathia (one in all its coolest expansions), The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay, Doom 3 (it sucks however I nonetheless like it), Warhammer 40,000: Daybreak of Struggle. Trying again, that is an absurd variety of actually good video games that would fulfill nearly anybody.
Loopy yr, that 2004.
2015
Phil Savage: If I choose years primarily based on how heated the discussions had been throughout PC Gamer’s Recreation of the Yr course of—and actually, why would not I—2015 is the clear standout. As an RPG fan, The Witcher 3 was probably the greatest video games of the last decade—large, stunning, and stuffed with nice writing. As a stealth fan, Metallic Gear Stable 5 was an intricate sandbox stuffed with toys—all the pieces from the long-lasting fulton balloon to the horse that poops on command. 2015 was the yr that introduced us the very best detective recreation of latest reminiscence in Her Story, the very best city-builder of latest reminiscence in Cities: Skylines, and probably the greatest ways video games of latest reminiscence in Invisible, Inc.
It additionally introduced us 80 Days, Life is Unusual, Rainbow Six Siege, Sunless Seas, Undertale and Pillars of Eternity. It introduced GTA 5 to PC. It wasted tons of of hours with Rocket League. And, look, personally I appreciated Fallout 4, so there’s that. Notably, it is also the final yr (up to now) by which we awarded a 96% rating (opens in new tab)—traditionally, for the UK aspect a minimum of, the very best we give out. Whereas there could also be years with extra historic significance, I would argue 2015 stays the very best of the final decade.
1982
Chris Livingston: That is what occurs while you reply final—you must get artistic. However 1982 was an extremely vital yr for me personally: it is the yr my dad and mom purchased us our first dwelling pc, an Apple IIc. And with it got here Choplifter, my very first pc recreation.
I devoured as many video games as I may that yr, together with Aztec (opens in new tab), which was mainly Spelunky earlier than Spelunky: a randomly generated tomb-raiding recreation full of traps and dynamite, snakes and monsters, destructible partitions and flooring, and a valuable idol to convey again to the floor. Beloved it (opens in new tab).
There have been loads of others I performed that yr: a preventing recreation referred to as Swashbuckler, turn-based technique Taipan!, journey video games Sherwood Forest and Zork 3, all which helped type my early and lasting love for pc video games.
From our boards (opens in new tab)
Frindis: I feel 1993 was the very best yr for gaming and I particularly give Doom that purpose. Doom was one of many first video games to make multiplayer FPS fairly widespread and I keep in mind how cool it was to attend native LAN occasions attempting to get that candy frag. There’s a little slice of entertaining gaming historical past to be discovered when wanting up a few of the biggest Doom gamers previously.
Lead programmer John Carmack would additionally make it straightforward for gamers to make their very own maps, thus opening for each competitors and yearly praises of a few of the finest WADS. Whereas not being the primary recreation you could possibly mod, this one positively was the most well-liked, carving the best way for future modding communities. One other factor to say is that with the ability to perceive the sport knowledge additionally opened up for speedrunners to tighten the scores and nonetheless to this date individuals are competing in getting the very best instances.
Oh, I nearly forgot to say it was essentially the most violent and gory fps recreation that yr, how the 2D was made to look 3D, the BFG, kick-ass soundtrack, monsters from hell, erm..story and that Doom lately obtained a megawad: an unofficial sequel to the fourth episode from none apart from John Romero, one of many authentic creators of Doom.
Mazer: Numerous my childhood favourites appear to be clustered in 1997.
Mainstream hits like Fallout, Quake 2, Hexen 2, GTA, Dungeon Keeper, The Curse of Monkey Island, Age Of Empires and so forth. Cult classics like MDK, Interstate ’76, Oddworld: Abes Oddysee, Darkish Earth, The Final Categorical, Delusion: The Fallen Lords, Outlaws, Privateer 2, and Twinsen’s Odyssey. We obtained ports of Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, Shadows Of The Empire and Panzer Dragoon to check our new graphics playing cards, and Carmageddon’s launch in Australia was utterly uncensored in a really uncommon transfer for my nation.
It is also the yr by which the naming conventions of the Darkish Forces collection formally went off the rails with the discharge of Star Wars Jedi Knight – Darkish Forces 2. It is by this logic that I would like to maneuver that we formally rename the ultimate recreation within the collection, Jedi Academy, to now be ‘Star Wars Jedi Academy – Jedi Outcast 2 – Jedi Knight 3 – Darkish Forces 4’.
Zloth: Truly, 2016 was a mighty good yr:
- Witcher 3 got here into its personal with Blood & Wine
- XCom 2 got here out early sufficient within the yr to be in fine condition by the tip of the yr
- Ultimate Fantasy 9 (on PC) – not my favourite FF however effectively value enjoying
- Battlezone 98 Redux – which I actually actually wish to play some day quickly
- 2016 model of Doom
- No Man’s Sky confirmed up and I, for one, actually appreciated it early on
- Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
- Valley – a brief, candy, and really fairly recreation
- Rise of the Tomb Raider was fairly enjoyable
- Dishonored 2 (PC Gamer’s GotY)
- Stellaris and Civ 6 – but it surely was positively too early to play both in 2016, IMHO.
- Dragon’s Dogma: Darkish Arisen confirmed up on PC
- X:Rebirth’s House of Gentle DLC appeared early within the yr so, by summer time 2016, X:Rebirth had gotten fairly enjoyable.
MaddMann: Personally I might say 2004. A few of my all time favourite video games that I nonetheless play to today, and a few which have died, however left me with nice recollections. A few of my favorites from 2004:
- Mafia: The Metropolis of Misplaced Heaven
- Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen
- Ultimate Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
- Metal Battalion: Line of Contact
- Metallic Gear Stable: The Twin Snakes
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six 3: Athena Sword
- Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven
- Far Cry
- Ultimate Fantasy XI
- Battle Night time 2004
- Painkiller
- Hitman: Contracts
- Metallic Slug 3
- Thief: Lethal Shadows
- Doom 3
- Silent Hill 4: The Room
- Name of Obligation: United Offensive
- Fable
- Warhammer 40,000: Daybreak of Struggle
- Katamari Damacy
- Rome: Complete Struggle
- Ace Fight 5: The Unsung Struggle
- Counter-Strike: Supply
- EverQuest II
- Halo 2
- Half-Life 2
- Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines
- World of Warcraft
- Star Wars: Knights of the Outdated Republic II The Sith Lords
McStabStab: For me I would say 2000.
- Diablo 2
- Purple Alert 2
- The Sims
- Deus Ex
- Shogun: Complete Struggle
- Counter-Strike
Kaamos_Llama: Oh man 1998 has Halflife, Starcraft, Baldurs Gate, Fallout 2, Thief Darkish Undertaking, Commandos and Grim Fandango. Video games of that period had a lot affect on future video games.
Trying again during the last 25 odd years although, it appears yearly has an argument. Good instances!
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