Unavoidable game of the the early 2000s. Bursting with ambition, but it's actually a lot of fun to this day. I spent much more time on this than I initially expected. The story missions tend to be overly disconnected compared to later installments, and the city environments are lacking, but there's something special in the mood achieved here. Despite the humor typical of the series, it feels nihilistic and cynical to the core. Also, the soundtrack is actually original, which is appreciated.

Results:
98% Completion

NES release:
Amazing game and one of my absolute favorite platformers. Early example of tight, near-perfect level design and finely tuned challenge.

Results:
- 1CC (One Continue Clear) twice on the US version
- Best Score: 231900

This is a fantastic game that is perhaps overshadowed by more illustrious releases around the same time. But Unreal is positively brimming with atmosphere and style, and it will keep you occupied for a fairly lengthy campaign. The weapon variety at display is impressive - the arsenal of Unreal Tournament isn't a huge jump from this game. The maps succeed in leading you on a proper journey across a diverse planet, and by the end you will feel like a proper hero to the poor aliens who hail you as a extraterrestrial messiah. The environments of Na Pali are often huge and imposing, even with graphics this old. If there's a flaw worth pointing out, it's that some enemies verge on being bullet sponges - Unreal chooses quality instead of quantity and faces you against nimble and durable targets. I regularly found myself circlestrafing to defeat Skaarj, who appear in increasingly tough varieties until the end of the game.
As far as I'm concerned, this deserves a spot right next to Half-Life as a classic worth coming back to. As a shooter it still feels unique.

Results:
- finished Hard difficulty on .226

Very promising but flawed start to a great series. You can see the developers experimenting here, not every level encourages stealth and sometimes it basically requires glitching the game to avoid killing a bunch of people. It's quite fun figuring out the ideal path, though. Highlight missions are "Lee Hong Assassination" and "Traditions of the Trade", the latter of which is set in a hotel and offers several ways to approach the target. Hitman games, I feel, operate best in public spaces where you can walk around in a suit and consider your way forward. These early installments still force you to navigate heavily guarded military locations, which are inevitably inferior experiences. Still, there's only 13 missions and the game does not overstay its welcome.

Results:
- finished twice on Hard difficulty

Gaming royalty, nothing left to be said. One of the most inspired games of all time, a bottled essence of the 1990s.

Results:
- 1.9 WAD - pistolstarted every map on Ultra-Violence
- Ultimate Doom WAD - ditto

Possibly the best fantasy setting in any game.
The buggy janky mechanics fade into the background against the sheer unique brilliance of Dunmer culture, environment and history.

Results:
- finished the Main Quest in vanilla version once

If, like me, you're addicted to Diablo-likes and need another hit, this is a solid choice. Gameplay mechanics are very similar to Fate (2005) from the same developer, but combat is punchy and polished. Similarly to Fate, the plot is very generic and not worth mentioning. The visual style is cute and has aged well for the most part. Sadly there isn't much to stick around for after you beat the final boss - technically there is an infinite dungeon to explore and farm in, but I gave it up after a few floors of the same thing. Initially it might seem like there is a ton of loot variety, but I noticed very similar drops when playing with other characters.

Results:
Finished the campaign with Vanquisher, post-game is boring

Fascinating to experience for the historical value, this is the next step of RTS design after Dune 2. You can actually select multiple units (as much as four!) and there are two resources to manage. Although there are two campaigns, they are basically parallels of each other - you will play the same maps, just starting on opposite sides. What surprised me is the amount of missions where you can't build anything and have to complete the objective with the units given to you - this is common practice for later games in the genre, but for one released in 1994 I was expecting every map to be a base construction affair. If you're willing to get used to the ancient interface, there is fun to be had in following the simple but effective plot and overcoming entrenched opponents. With regard to balance, this game does not succeed - humans are simply more powerful with the ability to heal units, and indeed the sheer number of healers will be your primary obstacle in the Orc campaign. However, I did find the Orc units undeniably more charming. Charm is, to be sure, the primary currency of this game - the sprites are colorful and units bursting with personality, at least until you're sick of the repetitive voice lines. There is a spark of greatness here, one that is worth uncovering for fans of the genre. Just get used to holding that CTRL key.

Results:
- finished both campaigns

The Wolfenstein franchise doesn't evoke nearly as much love from the gaming public as Doom, but the underlying setting is, at least, pure classic. Nazis and occult phenomena have combined perfectly at least since Indiana Jones. I don't expect the theme to disappear any time soon.

RTCW is a childhood game I've finished so many times that I've lost count, so it's pretty hard to place it in its context. When compared to the deluge of quality FPS games of the early 2000s, this may not be some eternal classic of game design, but it's a solid campaign. The game almost feels like a transition from more traditional shooters to heavily scripted affairs that would become familiar in a few years (there are secrets to be found and nazi gold to be collected, among other things). The enemies will absolutely kick your ass and force you to make use of the quicksave key. Plus, I love the Quake 3 Engine.

Multiplayer is what cemented this game's status for years to come, but after the release of Enemy Territory it's essentially obsolete.