John Carmack, co-founder of id Software and lead programmer of brutal first-person shooter Doom, had famously said, “Story in a game is like a story in a porn movie. It’s expected to be there, but it’s not that important.” If put in the context of narrative-driven tearjerkers like The Last of Us or Heavy Rain, this line would have been blasphemous. Human beings are emotional creatures, and videogames offer a unique platform for storytelling due to its participatory nature. On the other hand, the purpose of porn is simple and deliberate: to stimulate sexual excitement. There’s a reason why most fictional plumbers in porn films don’t spend the half an hour fixing a broken water pipe; they usually have more, hmm, pressing matters to attend to.
(To be fair, neither does Mario.)
But Carmack’s quote rings especially true when it comes to videogames that feature gameplay so ground-breaking that their plots are relegated to the background. Doom is, of course, one obvious example.
Discover 10 timeless video games from the past that remain absolutely playable today. From Chrono Trigger to DOOM, these classics have aged like fine wine!
Hot damn that's a good list. The only one i never played is AOE2 and i never finshed Chrono Trigger but it was damn good.
Speaking of what's old but holds up amazingly well and plays like a dream.. i played Symphony of the Night for the first time in 2019.. yep that's right. It became one of my favourite games of all time that i replay almost every year. I couldn't believe how good it was. That is almost impossible for me with newer games let alone older ones. Truly a special gem.
The only one I’d disagree with is doom. It shows its age badly I think. After 5 minutes of play these days you put it down.
The video game industry is already so creative, but one thing that can be improved is its handling of space.
After watching Scavengers Reign? The answer is unequivocally yes. I really want something out of left field but I think people are too afraid to shake things up.
It's what I love about Shadowrun and Black Mirror. Love, Death, and Robots proved that there's an audience for stuff that doesn't fit the mold.
Weird games in general we don't get enough of, we need more games like Katamari and Mr domino, things like that
The iconic demon-slaying shooter just got a corporate makeover—perfect for pretending to work!
