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100 – Quest for Glory I: So You Want To Be a Hero
Release Year: 1989
Okay I probably cheated a bit by having this game on the list but it is one of my favourite games of all time so it would've been a travesty not to at least include it on the Top 100. While the other judges (Luke, Choona and Lanna) probably don't remember this game as fondly as I do, I honestly think the game was a precursor for games like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect which makes it pretty damn important in terms of its influence on modern RPGs. Quest for Glory was probably the first game I played where you could play multiple classes (meaning the game was slightly different each time you played) as well as including the ability to save your character at the end so you could import it in the game's four sequels. That's right. You could have the same character across five games which is pretty epic. For the reasons just mentioned, that's why I think this game deserves to be on the list.
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99 – Battlefield 4
Release Year: 2013
Battlefield 4. The most recent addition to the venerable Battlefield series – well unless you count Battlefield Hardline but I'm not :). D.I.C.E. tried to do the right thing by reintroducing Commander Mode which hasn't been seen since 2005's Battlefield 2 but it turned out to be not as much fun as it was in Battlefield 2, nor does it seem as potent or essential for victory. The game is also plagued with bugs (even to this day) and had a rocky release, so why on Earth is it in the top 100? Despite its numerous flaws, there's something always enticing you back for more and it's still probably one of the most visually impressive and immersive shooters out there.
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98 – Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising
Release Year: 2009
Two of the judges have never played Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising and one of those judges is me. While I've been badgered numerous times to get the game I think I missed the bus. From what I've been told though the game is a great game if you're looking for a true military shooter co-op experience. I've heard a lot of humourous anecdotes relating to the game so it seems the perfect game to concoct war stories.
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97 – Commandos 2
Release Year: 2001
While I've dabbled a little bit with the first Commandos game, an isometric, squad-based, WWII stealth game, I've never played the game's sequels. I can definitely appreciate how those who love stealth games could fall in love with this series and one of our judges absolutely loved the second game in the series (saying it was by the far the best one). All I can remember is the bad voice acting by the diver (who is meant to be Australian): "Coming sir." "Coming right over… sir"
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96 – Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War
Release Year: 2004
This was another clear favourite for the one of the judges. It probably helps that he's really into the Warhammer 40,000 lore although this isn't the only reason he likes it – it's also a really good Real-Time Strategy (RTS) game to boot. Relic Entertainment, a Canadian developer behind the critically acclaimed space RTS Homeworld, hadn't developed a land-based RTS before 2004 making Dawn of War their first. This laid the groundwork for several expansions and sequels as well as another critically acclaimed WWII RTS series called Company of Heroes. So even if you're not into Warhammer 40,000 or you've never played Dawn of War, you have to pay your respects to the game since without it there'd probably be no Company of Heroes (unless you hate Company of Heroes of course – then no respect required :P).
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95 – Curse of Monkey Island
Release Year: 1997
Curse of Monkey Island is the third game in one of the most loved point ‘n' click adventure game series of all time, Monkey Island and while two of the judges had never played the game before, the other two have fond memories. Curse was actually the first Monkey Island game that didn't involve Ron Gilbert (the original creator of Monkey Island) but the game is arguably the best one in the series when it comes to its beautiful, stylised cartoon graphics and its high quality soundtrack (the main theme even being performed live by orchestras). It's also the first where the protagonist, Guybrush Threepwood, has a voice thanks to the efforts of Dominic Armato.
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94 – Team Fortress
Release Year: 1996
Yes I keep harping on about this but many people don't realise that there was a Team Fortress before Team Fortress Classic (and frankly I think it was better). In fact, if you search for "QuakeWorld Teamfortress" on Wikipedia nowadays, you no longer get a page dedicated to the mod but it instead redirects you to Team Fortress Classic (WHHHHYYY??). The original Team Fortress started off as a mod for the 1996 First Person Shooter Quake but eventually became so popular that it spawned 1999's Team Fortress Classic and 2007's Team Fortress 2. Team Fortress is important since it's probably one of the first (if not the first) class-based internet multiplayer FPS ever. This was back in the 33.6K modem, pre-ADSL days and thanks to mods like Team Fortress, Internet multiplayer games soared in popularity. Team Fortress is what got me into online gaming and I also formed my first clan in Team Fortress called "AQC" (which stood for "Another Quake Clan" – creative, I know). Consequently, while the other judges haven't played the game, I still believe it's important enough to warrant it a spot on the Top 100.
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93 – Transport Tycoon
Release Year: 1994
Transport Tycoon seems to be one of those games that everyone remembers – even my friends who aren't into gaming anymore fondly remember this 1994 game by Chris Sawyer where you manage a transport company in the hopes of generating enough profit to be labelled a "Transport Tycoon"! It's sadly not as high up the Top 100 list as I'd like but that's mainly because none of the other judges have played the game extensively. I had to include it though since I believe it's quite an important game considering there really hasn't been anything that has emulated its excellent gameplay since. There have been pretenders (such as Cities in Motion) and there was even a 2004 spiritual successor in Chris Sawyer's Locomotion, but nothing ever felt as good as the original. It's probably why people to this day still play Transport Tycoon but in the form of OpenTTD (an open source remake of the game) despite the original now being over 20 years old.
In recent years, Chris Sawyer has resurfaced and so has Transport Tycoon but now as a mobile game for iPhones and Androids.
Also, never get me started on the jazzy soundtrack. John Broomhall is a genius.
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92 – Wing Commander
Release Year: 1990
Wing Commander is yet another game that I think deserves to be higher up the list but it's probably lucky it made the list at all due to only me having played the original game. This is the game that made Chris Roberts a household name and without the huge success of this 1990 space combat sim, we wouldn't have people throwing over $85 million away to fund another called Star Citizen. Despite what looks like very crude graphics by today's standards, back in 1990, Wing Commander's graphics were phenomenal. The soundtrack was also fantastic thanks to the efforts of George "The Fatman" Sanger and his band called "Team Fat". The game was also ahead of its time with respect to its campaign which has a branching narrative that is dependent on your mission performance. For example if you fail to protect an escort sending valuable supplies to a colony, it will fall to the Kilrathi (the feline antagonists in the game). If on the other hand you were successful, you're rewarded with a victory cinematic where the colony defeats the invaders. Overall, it is a good game and one I hope Star Citizen's Squadron 42 is modelled off.
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91 – Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
Release Year: 1985
I never actually played the original 1985 version of Carmen Sandiego but a couple of judges on this panel have fond memories playing it. In fact, apparently many Australian schools had the original game installed on their PCs which meant a lot of kids got to enjoy the educational benefits of the game. The goal of the game is to chase criminals around the world and eventually arrest them. The educational part takes the form of a geography quiz of sorts; determining where your suspect has flown to next involves reading pun-laden clues provided by the locals. It is a simple game mechanic but one that didn't make it feel like you were actually doing a geography test and that's why I think Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? was so popular with not only kids but schools as well.
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