Looking Back: Games That Were Before Their Time

Written by kube00 Thursday, 14 April 2011 05:00

Video games come and go. Over the years many are forgotten, just like books in a library. But, there are at least a few titles from yesterday that still stand out. Those that have wowed gamers and serve to remind others that once in a while a great game comes along that was before its time. Just to name a few examples; games like Shenmue, Halo, Metal Gear Solid, Call of Duty 4, Crash Bandicoot and Goldeneye all come to mind.

Most of these games are from the mid-to-late 90's with the exception of CoD 4 and Halo. In regards to Metal Gear Solid for the Playstation, there really hadn’t been a game on any platform like MGS. People who bought it at launch couldn’t put the game down. The stealth and action elements blended well along with the intricate story. For fans and newcomers of the series this was the game to have.

Crash Bandicoot by Naughty Dog was quirky and fun. It was one of the first 3D platformers to come to the Playstation and it has still held up after all these years. The controls are tight and there was much detail crammed onto the screen at one time; this was unheard of back in the mid 90's.

Goldeneye for the N64 was a 4-player FPS that showed the world that a console could handle FPS games. Rare really gave gamers an unexpected treat. Granted, today the game hasn’t held up, but back then who knew an FPS on the N64 could look that good and play like a PC game. Goldeneye brought FPS games to console gamers.

Although the Dreamcast was short lived, Shenmue is one of the greatest games on the console, as well as from that gaming generation. Shenmue took adventure games to the next level. The cut scenes and in-game graphics were gorgeous. The game’s budget was in the millions. It was a free-roaming adventure game with a great story, graphics and music; a combination many games lacked at the time.

Halo deserves to be on this list for a few reasons. It gave console gamers a chance to experience what PC gamers had been playing for years: an online FPS game. The graphics in Halo were good, but it was the unique story and co-op game play that had me running back for more. Without Halo, gamers would not have many of the great FPS games we have today. Halo was the game to make PC gamers buy consoles.

Call of Duty 4, goes on the list for a few reasons. One, there were very few successful modern combat games at the time. Most games focused on WWII or Vietnam. Call of Duty created a world that gamers could relate to. It spun this interesting tale utilizing somewhat real life experience to immerse gamers. Without CoD, gamers would have never gotten to enjoy Black Ops, Modern Warfare 2, World at War or Nazi Zombies.  CoD has created the semi perfect design for FPS games.

No matter what, there are plenty of games that were before their time. Dune 2 created the RTS genre. Tribes molded mass multiplayer FPS and squad-based gameplay. Both are essential to what gamers enjoy today. Super Mario 64 even showed gamers that 3D truly was the next step. Even as games and consoles change there will always be those games that left their mark in one way or another.