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Complete PS1 Games Under $20 in 2021

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 10/05/2021

Posted in: PlayStation (PS1), Retro Consoles, Sony. Tagged: activision, ea, fps, need for speed, playstation, Sony, spyro, syphon filter, tomb raider. Leave a comment

Game collecting has skyrocketed due to the lockdown of COVID and the general boredom of a new generation of gamers stuck inside. With the easy access of information from YouTube, Wikipedia, and various streams and let’s-plays, retro gaming is seeing a renaissance. To collectors this is usually a bad time to buy up games. A game that was once maybe $30 can easily shoot upwards above $100 because of it’s obscurity, rarity, or going viral on a popular YouTube channel. You may think you want to pick up Tekken for $5, but you might look on eBay and see $60 price tags and go, “HUH?!” Your favorite childhood PS1 game like maybe Symphony of the Night isn’t a quick $20 steal and the different versions matter. Original black label releases always cost more than the Greatest Hits versions. This is because the black labels were a smaller print run because the games weren’t popular yet. Don’t fret though. Your favorite game may not be cheap but there are so many fantastic games you and others have never heard of that are worth playing. You won’t see any survival horror here as that genre is highly coveted because of its niche. The PS1/PS2 era of survival horrors are considered mostly cult classics. You won’t see a lot of Mega Man games, JRPGs, or a lot of obscure and rare titles either.

The PlayStation is one of the most diverse 32-bit systems when it comes to genres and overall games available. The system saw numerous entries for any genre imaginable and it can be intimidating to start collecting today. I’m going to cover games that you can pick up complete in box for under $20 to help start your collection. These may not be rare, or even popular, but they’re interesting and fun for sure. These are actually all games in my personal collection so I’m going to stick with that rather than research every single PS1 game and find prices on eBay…that would take months.

Akuji the Heartless – Crystal Dynamics/Eidos Interactive – 1999

Akuji is a game I have played all the way through and it’s from the creators of Tomb Raider. It looks good and has a great atmosphere, but it does feel a bit clunky in spots, but not to the point you can’t finish the game. There are a few frustrating mechanics at play, but if you want a good looking action game then pick this up.

Animaniacs: Ten Pin Alley – Saffire, Inc./American Softworks Corporation – 1998

Ten Pin Alley is one of the best bowling games on the system and who doesn’t love Animaniacs? It isn’t stuffy like most pro bowling games and has great animations and one-liners from the triplets. It has great sound effects and just feels like the show in general.

Army Men: Air Attack – The 3DO Company – 1999

This is a fun Choplifter clone starring the green toys. It has tight controls, fun objectives, and just plays well overall. It can get a little repetitive, but the miniaturization of everything is great and is one of the best Army Men games made in this era.

Asteroids – Syrox Developments/Activision – 1998

It’s Asteroids but in THREE DEE. This was a common thing to bring back 8-bit games into 3D and some succeeded while most didn’t. Asteroids is fun and fast paced and looks modern, for the time, and it’s one of the cheapest games you can pick up on the system complete.

Ballistic – Mitchell Corporation/Infogrames – 1999

It’s a Zuma clone before Zuma. It’s the best way to explain this. A lot of people compared it to Puyo Puyo at the time, but it’s obviously nothing like it in reality. It’s a fun match three puzzle game that’s dirt cheap and will provide tons of fun.

Black Dawn – Black Ops Entertainment/Virgin Interactive – 1996

Black Dawn is a great looking helicopter sim with great controls and a lot of fun missions. These types of games were clunky in the 32-bit era, but Black Ops managed to make a helicopter sim on a home console playable. PC was where all of the flight sims were home to back in the day, but a few managed to make it on consoles.

Bust-A-Move 99 – Taito Corporation/Acclaim Entertainment – 1999

Bust-A-Move is one of my favorite puzzle games of all time. I still remember beating the grim reaper boss on the SNES version and getting past that 100th level. The music is great, the graphics are colorful, and the puzzles are addictive and the difficulty slowly ramps up. The PlayStation version is a great puzzle game just like the classic and you can’t really go wrong here.

C-12: Final Resistance – SCE Studio Cambridge/SCEA – 2001

C-12 was released late in the PS1’s life cycle, in fact, just after the PS2 launched. The game looks fantastic and pushes the system to its limits, and it’s a very entertaining action game. It didn’t sell well due to the hype of the PS2 and a lot of consumers were over the 32-bit era by now. It plays similar to Syphon Filter and has a great sci-fi atmosphere. It’s very underrated and overlooked by most. I believe this was the last first party title developed on the system.

Championship Motocross 2001 Featuring Ricky Carmichael – Funcom Dublin/THQ – 2001

Another late releasing PS1 game, Motocross 2001 is a solid circuit style dirt bike racing game. It had great physics and looked good with some excellent sound in there as well. This was one of the best dirt bike games before the MX series came along. The game also feels fast paced despite slightly slippery physics. The system couldn’t do too much and Gran Turismo was about as realistic as you could get on the system, but that was years spent studying the hardware.

Codename: Tenka – Psygnosis – 1997

Most FPS games are coveted on 32-bit systems because it was the era just before they became mainstream on 128-bit systems. Tenka is an odd Doom clone set in a sci-fi universe with over 20 missions. It’s hard and sometimes frustrating due to poor checkpoint placement, but it requires patience and slower movement than Doom. It’s a great alternative with full 3D graphics, while not the best FPS on the system, it is still a lot of fun for the low price of entry.

Colony Wars: Vengeance – Psygnosis – 1998

Psygnosis were masters at their craft during the 32-bit era both on consoles and PCs. Colony Wars: Vengeance is considered one of the best games on the system and it’s surprising it’s so cheap despite this claim. While it didn’t sell too well space combat lovers will get a lot of fun out of this. The game looks fantastic, has a lot of variety in missions, and just feels good to control. This was actually one of the first PS1 games I ever bought that kick started the collector in me. I didn’t own a single PS1 game outside of Mortal Kombat: Trilogy and this was a must have.

Darkstone – Delphine Software/Take-Two – 2001

Another game released late into the system’s life, and a Diablo clone of all things. Now this game is something that you either love or hate. It’s still one of the best Diablo clones on any console system as these just didn’t really exist back in the day. It has a decent story, lots of loot, and looks pretty good. It may feel clunky compared to later games like Champions of Norrath, but it’s well worth the time it takes to get into it.

Descent Maximum – Parallax Software/Interplay Productions – 1997

Descent is considered one of the best PC games of the 90’s and this is probably one of the best PC ports to home consoles at the time. This is essentially Descent 2, but was put in a new engine and had 36 levels retooled for the PS1, so essentially this is a PS1 exclusive Descent game. You play in a first person view and can rotate 360 degrees and you shoot down things in mines and tunnels. It’s fast paced and a lot of fun. You can’t go wrong here.

Descent – Parallax Software/Interplay Productions – 1996

Probably a little better than Maximum, Descent has players trying to find a reactor core in each level and you get 45 seconds to find the escape hatch afterwards. It’s a lot of fast paced fun and was one of the best PC-to-console ports of the time. It takes advantage of the DualShock controller and looks great in the process. Even the longbox version of the game is cheap right now.

Destruction Derby 2 – Reflections Interactive/SCEA – 1996

This is one of the best games on the system and is so cheap because of how well it sold. There’s a lot of copies out there. The game looks great for being an early title on the system and is more of the same but just tweaked and improved upon. Pit stops are a thing now and there are more tracks with more cars. More is always good, right?

Driver – Reflections Interactive/GT Interactive – 1999

Brought to you by the creators of Destruction Derby, Reflections were some of the best out there when it came to fast paced arcade racers. Driver went the more realistic route with one of the best looking games of the entire era and had an open world with excellent driving mechanics. Some may find it boring, but some may love just how modern it feels. It’s not for everyone, but if you want something that was really genre defining for the system then this is it.

Duke Nukem: Time to Kill – n-Space/GT Interactive – 1999

Duke Nukem made a strong presence on PS1 and was the only console ever to have this much mainstay. Duke Nukem had a series of games set in the third person and Time to Kill was probably the best of them. It had the same fun humor, multiplayer, and great controls and level design. If you want a great third person shooter, this is one of the best on the system.

Final Fantasy Origins – Square Enix – 2002

So this is a weird one. You can still find sealed copies of this game, the Greatest Hits version, because it was one of the last PS1 games ever released. I picked up a sealed copy a few years ago for $20 and was shocked. It contains great ports of Final Fantasy I and II for a low price. While these aren’t the best games in the series, this is great for those who want to play the older NES/SNES titles in a higher resolution with slightly upgraded visuals.

Final Fantasy VIII – Square – 1999

This is an instant classic, but also a lot of people’s least favorite in the series. It did a lot of things different like the stupid magic system for one, which I can’t stand, as it’s based on cards instead of mana. However, the story, characters, setting, and overall atmosphere are memorable. Just be prepared to sink nearly 40 hours into this game as it’s long and only for diehard JRPG fans. The pre-rendered cut scenes look fantastic and overall it’s a great looking game.

Frogger – Millennium Interactive/Hasbro Interactive – 1997

This is a game I spent a lot of time on as a kid. My sister got this from a game store used and we sunk so many hours into it despite it being hard as balls. If you didn’t like the classic arcade Frogger you won’t like this one here despite the 3D graphics. It doesn’t look the best, but it’s challenging platforming fun.

G-Police – Psygnosis – 1997

Hey it’s them again. G-Police is a helicopter game set in the distant future. You are tasked to destroy things, follow suspicious packages, maneuver through billboards and skyscrapers, and it’s rather fun despite being a really dark looking game. It’s one of the better flight games on the system and a must have for anyone who likes this genre.

Gran Turismo – Polyphony Digital/SCEA – 1998

Ah yes, the game that actually made me care about cars and allowed me to identify EVERY single car on the road just by tail lights, badges, or silhouettes. That’s how good Gran Turismo is and the amount of detail this game sucked out of the PS1 is astounding. It took the world by storm and for once PC gamers were jealous of console players. This was the most advanced racing sim of the generation and it was on a puny console? I spent dozens of hours trying to get gold in the license trials and doing 100 lap endurance runs. It’s a fantastic game, but of course you can just get the sequel instead unless you want to see how the series progressed.

Gran Turismo 2 – Polyphony Digital/SCEA – 1999

Yep, more of the same but better-er. It somehow looked better, had more cars, tracks, upgrades, modes, and was just the best racing sim of the entire generation. It came out late in the console’s life and would pave the path for Gran Turismo 3, the single best console racing sim of the 2000’s. Unless you want to see the series progression just pick this one up as it holds up surprisingly well today. I can easily pick this up and spend an entire day racing and having fun.

Grid Runner – Radical Entertainment/Virgin Interactive – 1996

This was an early title for the system and unless you like capture-the-flag don’t bother. It’s fun and challenging as you run along the paths of different levels and requires some strategy. It’s mindless fun and great in short bursts and it’s super cheap. It has a weird art style and isn’t the best looking game, but it’s also fun with another person.

Grind Session – Shaba Games/SCEA – 2000

Probably one of the best Tony Hawk clones, Grind Session offers some slightly different gameplay, skaters, and levels of course. While not quite as polished it’s still fun. It’s only competitor at the time was the first Tony Hawk and Thrasher. It also featured a fantastic licensed soundtrack and just looked good with smooth frame rates as well. Sadly, due to Tony Hawk‘s popularity, this game wound up in the bargain bins as a rip-off and nothing more.

Gubble – Actual Entertainment/Mud Duck Productions – 1998

Umm, what the hell is right. I’m sure no one has heard of this game at all. It’s a fun puzzle game in which you break apart levels to free your race from invaders. It’s kind of like a tower defense game, but different. It’s super weird, looks ugly as sin, but that’s kind of the charm with this game. If you want a quirky puzzle game then look no further.

Hot Wheels: Turbo Racing – Stormfront Studios/EA – 1999

This is seriously one of the most fun games I have played on the system. It’s face paced, colorful, there are a lot of imaginative tracks and cars, and it feels like a Hot Wheels game should be. The framerate is also pretty smooth and also includes a heavy metal licensed soundtrack. It’s such an underrated arcade game on the system and is always overlooked for Need for Speed or Wipeout.

The Italian Job – Pixelogic Limited/Rockstar Games – 2001

This came out towards the end of the system’s life cycle and while it looks fantastic it isn’t for everyone. It’s a checkpoint based arcade racer with realistic physics and art. The game has you evading the mafia, police, and others as you race through twists and turns in the city. It doesn’t have much variety, but it plays well and is a fun alternative if you’ve burned out all the popular racers.

Jet Moto 2 – 989 Studios/SCEA – 1998

A fun jet ski game and there aren’t many of those. This was a racing series Sony milked for the longest time but never saw an entries past the PS1. It’s fast paced, fun, and looks great and runs at a steady framerate. It at least does have a good sense of speed, but the physics may feel wonky if you aren’t into jet skis.

Jet Moto 3 – Pacific Coast Power & Light/989 Studios – 1999

It’s more Jet Moto if that’s your thing. This time Sony gave up the publishing rights and it was created by a new studio. This is by far the best entry in the series and one of the best arcade racers on the system. It has a whopping 19 tracks and you can now race across land and use a grapple to take turns. It runs smooth and looks great. A must have if you love arcade racers.

Lemmings & Oh No! More Lemmings – DMA Design/Psygnosis – 1998

Lemmings an acquired taste and mostly PC gamers will remember this from back in the day. It’s developed by what would become Rockstar Games, the same team who made GTA. It’s a reverse tower defense in which you must manipulate the levels around you to guide the lemmings to safety. There are a ton of levels and a lot of different lemmings to use. This is probably one of the best console ports for the system. It’s slow paced, so if you want a cerebral puzzle game then go for this.

Mass Destruction – NMS Software/American Softworks Corporation – 1997

This is a top down shooter in which you drive a tank and blow everything up. It looks kind of ugly but plays well and has a good sense of speed. It’s one of the earlier titles for the system and didn’t garner much sales. If you want some quick jump-in-and-play action then this is for you.

Medal of Honor: Underground – DreamWorks Interactive/EA – 2000

While the first game was great the second game is even better. It plays a little better, improved graphics and more varied missions. You could say this was the birth of the modern military shooter and you can see the blueprint here. It’s a great game to play through and is probably one of the few good 3D FPS games on consoles in this time. It was a late PS1 release thus it didn’t see as many sales as the first game, but it’s still impressive nonetheless.

Medal of Honor – DreamWorks Interactive/EA – 1999

I remember seeing a demo of this at a local gamestore when I was a kid and was blown away by the graphics and just seeing a PC FPS game on the PS1. I had played Quake before this and was just surprised. This game revolutionized first person shooters on consoles. It felt modern, close to PC versions, and just looked and handled really well. It was also the birth of the modern yearly shooter releases we have grown to loath over the years. While Steven Spielberg sold the rights to EA after the release of Underground, the formula and blueprint staid with the series with Allied Assault being considered the best entry in the series. While not as good or as polished as Underground is a cheap way to discover the birth of modern FPS on consoles.

Moto Racer World Tour – Delphine Software/Infogrames – 2000

This game just looks amazing for the system. The detailed cockpit view is astounding and the tracks look great. It’s no surprise as this was released late in the console’s life so most developers were pulling every trick in the book on the PS1. It has great bikes, physics, controls, and has a great sense of speed. It’s fun for any motorbike fan.

Ms. Pac-Man: Maze Madness – Namco – 2000

This is a great 3D remake of the original classic. It looks the part, sounds great, and has well designed levels. You just can’t go wrong here as it’s one of the better 8-bit remakes of the time. There are a lot of levels and it features a stupid story even. Gotta love it!

N2O: Nitrous Oxide – Gremlin Interactive – 1998

This is a fast paced on rails tunnel shooter and man is it hard and exciting. While the tunnels are kind of boring the enemies are fun and the game is a blast to play through with varied levels. The game is all about taking down real world insects so if you are afraid of bugs you probably won’t want this. Power-ups and items to find as well. It’s a fun take on the vertical shooter.

Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit – EA – 1998

Of course everyone knows this series. While it did get better during the next generation of consoles, Hot Pursuit is considered by many the pinnacle of the series. While it looked best on PC, the PS1 version is no slouch. A good amount of modes, high speed real-world cars, great tracks, a good sense of speed, and nice physics all add to a top quality arcade racer. This is some of the best the generation had to offer.

Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed – Eden Studios/EA – 2000

Handed over to a different developer this time around, Porsche Unleashed is all about, you guessed it, Porsches. There are a whopping 80 cars and two completely different game modes to go through. Race as usual or become a test driver for Porsche. The physics model is updated once again and is such a fun time all around. This is still where the series peaked and is one of the best racing games of the generation.

Norse By Norse West: Return of the Lost Vikings – Blizzard Entertainment/Interplay – 1997

Yes, this was developed by the good Blizzard. This is an action puzzle game where you play as 3D sprite Vikings. It doesn’t look super pretty, but it’s fun and has some interesting levels to play through. It’s also slow paced, so don’t go into this expecting Jazz the Jackrabbit stuff here. If you want something to just chill out to and love puzzle solving then this is a great pick up for you.

Nuclear Strike – EA – 1997

This is a top down helicopter flight game that is fast paced and looks really good. The levels are varied and the gameplay has multiple objectives to complete. It controls really well to and has a good sense of speed. It’s honestly one of the best top down helicopter games of the era and shouldn’t be passed up.

O.D.T.: Escape…or Die Trying – Psygnosis – 1998

See, that name showed up again! Psygnosis made some great classics or underrated gems. ODT is an action adventure platformer with some light puzzle solving. It has a sci-fi settings and controls fairly well despite not being super fast paced. It’s fully 3D and looks pretty decent too. I actually picked up a copy of this still sealed a few years ago for under $20. These were over produced as Psygnosis thought they had their next Tomb Raider on their hands and it was just lost in the shuffle. 1998 was a major year for game releases as we were in a mature stage of the 32-bit era.

Pac-Man World – Nacmo – 1999

Pac-Man World is actually a fairly good series spreading out on the PSP and Xbox. It controls well, it’s a lot of fun, and doesn’t try to stick to the Pac-Man formula too much. Pac-Man World 3 even has an insane plot that takes itself really seriously. It’s not the best platformer on the system, but it’s still a lot of fun if you like Pac-Man.

Pitfall 3D: Beyond the Jungle – Activision – 1998

Pitfall made it’s 3D platformer debut here and it’s actually not bad. The animations are good, the levels are varied, and it feels like a modern Pitfall game. You gather crystals, complete levels, and enjoy the platforming. You don’t even have to like the original game to enjoy this one either.

Pong: The Next Level – Supersonic Software/Hasbro Interactive – 1999

It’s Pong, but in THREE DEE! It’s actually quite good with great animations, fun levels, and varied takes on the series. This is probably the best Pong remake ever made and it’s one of the cheapest games on the system you can pick up. Usually less than $5 complete. lt’s more fun with other players, and even supports the multitap, but it’s great pick-up-and play to kill an hour or two.

Project Overkill – Konami – 1996

One of the earlier releases on the system, this is an isometric action shooter and is actually quite fun. There’s around 50 levels and you just run around mowing every one down. It’s a lot of fun, and while looking a little rough, it still plays well. You think something this obscure and “hidden” would be more expensive, but I guess people haven’t caught on yet.

Quake II – id Software/Activision – 1999

This was one of the best console ports around. It featured every level and even multiplayer and was just solid and ran at a good frame rate. I sadly only had the N64 version which wasn’t as good, but I still played this game to death and even more so once I picked it up years later. If you haven’t experienced the perfection of Quake II this is a great console port and one of the best FPS games of the generation.

RC de GO! – Taito/Acclaim – 2000

A late release for the system, but the miniature car top down racer is a lot of fun. There are over a dozen tracks and cars and it just runs well, has great visuals, and a good sense of speed. If you don’t like top down racers from the 16-bit era than pass this up, but the camera does a good job keeping up with the action.

Rampage World Tour – Game Refuge/Midway Games – 1997

This is Rampage, but 3D! It actually plays very close to the arcade classic with nice cartoony graphics and tons of levels and power-ups to use. It’s a lot of fun and you can easily get addicted and sucked into the game for hours. If you don’t care much for the simplicity of arcade games then pass this up, but otherwise it’s a must have.

Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2 – Midway – 2000

While not as polished as the PS2 version this is still a great version of the game. A boxing game with funny over the top characters and Michael Jackson. It’s hilarious and is a lot of fun in short bursts especially with others so you can laugh together at the humor. The game feels more like a regular fighter than a boxing sim so don’t take it too seriously.

Ridge Racer – Namco – 1995

This was a launch title for the system and it shows. It looks really rough and is really simple, but it’s fast paced racing and worth a pick up just to see how the series progressed over time. While Ridge Racer 2 is much better this one is incredibly cheap and fun to play through for a few hours.

Road Rash 3-D – EA – 1998

Road Rash was one of the best racing games on the Sega Genesis and it transitioned to 3D really well. The game is fast paced, looks good, and has a lot of tracks and bikes to choose from. At this time EA pretty much dominated the console arcade racing scene and they were at their prime here. Road Rash is a must have for any fan of arcade racers and the combat just adds a layer to the already sweet cake.

Road Rash: Jailbreak – EA – 2000

A late console release, Jailbreak was a little more arcade like than 3D, but still fun nonetheless. It pulls the camera back some and adds a few changes to the formula, and while not as good as 3D, it’s still a lot of fun and worth owning. All the 3D Road Rash games actually turned out great and that’s kind of a surprise honestly.

Rollcage – Attention to Detail Limited/Psygnosis – 1999

While this was just published by Psygonsis, it’s still an insane arcade racing game in which you can drive on the wall and ceiling. The sense of speed is incredible and I was blown away by this game as a kid, however, the controls take some getting used to as they can be quite finnicky at first. Once you master the controls the levels look good and the game is just a blast. There’s no other racer like it on the system.

Rollcage Stage II – Attention to Detail Limited/Psygnosis – 2000

A late release for the system, Stage II adds more tracks, improves the visuals, and even the handling. You can now double up on power-ups, but the tracks are shorter this time around. It’s overall a little easier than the first game, but both are worth picking up because of the difference between the two.

Sentinel Returns – Hookstone/Psygonsis – 1998

This is a…um…well, it’s a game. This is one of the weirdest games ever released on the system. This is one par with weird Japanese PS1 games. You play in a first person view and you must absorb objects and build a robot tower that can defeat the evil Sentinel in the center of the level. The eye rotates and absorbs things other than trees and that includes you. It’s something that requires explaining the from the manual and takes getting used to, but it’s one of the most interesting and original games ever released on the system.

SimCity 2000 – Maxis Software – 1996

Well, it’s a good port of SimCity 2000. It’s pretty much just a straight port and it works surprisingly well on a controller. If you don’t like SimCity or sim type games then this will bore you to death, but the key here is being patient and spending a few hours learning the ins and outs of the game and then it becomes addictive and hard to put down.

Sled Storm – EA – 1998

If you don’t like snowmobiles stay far away! Honestly, it’s the only game of its kind and it’s actually really solid. It’s not super fast paced, but there’s tricks, it controls well, and it’s a lot of fun. The snow looks boring, so there’s not much to look at, but it’s another solid racer by EA at the time and shouldn’t be passed up unless you have a thing against snowmobiles.

Soviet Strike – EA – 1996

An early release for the system, and doesn’t look as good as Nuclear Strike, it’s still a solid helicopter action game and these were the last of their kind honestly. You mow things down, complete objectives, and mow more things down. It’s fun to play through it in an evening and just have a lot of fun.

Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels – Key Game/EA – 1996

Yeah, EA owned the Warhammer license at one point. Scary right? Well, there’s more reasons for you not to play this game, but it’s not for everyone. It’s slow, and early release title, probably really for only Warhammer fans, and it’s weird and confusing to understand. It’s a mix between tactical planning and an FPS. Yeah, it’s hard to get into, but once you do there’s a surprising amount of depth to be had. Don’t go in expecting an 3D action game or even a full strategy game port as Warhammer Dawn of War wasn’t a thing yet at this point.

Spyro the Dragon – Insomniac Games/SCEA – 1998

Well, this game doesn’t need an introduction. It’s one of the most iconic games of all time, and sure you can play the new remake, but the classic PS1 versions are solid and hold up well today. While the first game is rather simple and easy it has a lot of charm and it’s fun to play through each game and see the progression of the series. The controls are solid, the game looks great, and it’s Spyro man!

Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage! – Insomniac Games/SCEA – 1999

Better than the second in terms of scope and level design. The game just feels bigger, has a more involved story (still don’t care about it) and has more characters. All three games are solid on their own and should be owned and played by any PS1 collector. These are just must haves and icons in the gaming industry.

Spyro: Year of the Dragon – Insomniac Games/SCEA – 2000

Believe it or not, these used to run upwards of $40 each shortly after the remake was released and right after it was announced. Yes, it was a late release, but helped the PS1 go out with a bang! This game is full of so much content. Mini-games, skateboarding, better graphics, more levels. It’s just the best Spyro game in the entire series outside of the GBA games. So yeah, this is seriously one of the best games on the system.

Star Trek: Invasion – Warthog/Activision – 2000

A late system release, but it looks damn good and is one of the best Star Trek console games ever made. It plays similar to Colony Wars because it’s made by the same devs so you know you’re in good hands, and is narrated by Michael Dorn and Patrick Stewart and not some knock-offs. If you are a Star Trek fan this is a must own and is one of the best space sim games on PS1.

Street Sk8er – Atelier Double/EA – 1999

Don’t go into this expecting a Tony Hawk clone. It’s more of an arcade style game with racing events, half-pipe events, and things like that. The trick system is more basic and it doesn’t feel as fluid and tight as Tony Hawk or even Grind Session, but is a fun alternative if you are tired of the Tony Hawk clones. This one is from EA as they wanted a piece of that late 90’s skateboarding pie. It still has a rocking licensed soundtrack though.

Supercross 2000 – MBL Research/EA – 1999

This isn’t the best motocross game on the system, but it’s a fun arena racer rather than outdoor tracks. It’s more realistic and serious than other games like Motocross 2001, but still solid nonetheless. It’s also slower paced and more physics based. If you are fine with other motocross games and have your favorite then you can pass this up. It’s just less than $5 complete and worth a pick up.

Supercross Circuit – 989 Studios/SCEA – 1999

Again, the same as above except this one is outdoors and faster paced with less realistic physics. It plays more like a kart racer, but don’t let that discourage you. It has tight controls, but still not the best the system has to offer. It’s just these late console release motocross games were the best on the system and there’s at least a variety from various studios to choose from.

Syphon Filter – Eidetic/989 Studios – 1999

The best game for the system hands down. Okay, that’s just my love for this game talking but it’s my personal favorite for the entire system and one of the best that still holds up today. Clever and amazing level design, fantastic controls and gun play, and it honestly was the game that got me to recognize real world weapons. Gabe’s voice is also iconic and while the story itself isn’t very interesting the game has a great pace of stealth and action. It also has insane replay value and I actually play this through once a year.

Syphon Filter 2 – Eidetic/989 Studios – 2000

A late console release, but it helped the system go out with a bang. Y2K was a great year for the PS1. Syphon Filter 2 is probably the best game in the series. It came on a whopping 2 discs and has the same excellent level design and you can play as Lian in this as well. The graphics are improved and the story is expanded upon with better pre-rendered cut scenes. Good times were had for me as a kid because my late father and I spent countless hours perfecting our runs of this game and rented it many times. I even remember we had a “birds and the bees” talk on the way to the mall to pick this up when I was 10.

Syphon Filter 3 – Sony Bend/SCEA – 2001

Oh man was this a fart in the series. I imagine a timeline where this was pushed back a year or two and released on PS2 and Gabe didn’t look like Dan Aykroyd. It’s not a terrible game, but it was released so late in the console’s life and the PS2 was hot on the scene. It has worse level design and just doesn’t feel as good overall. It plays just fine and all that, but it’s not my favorite. Still, it’s worth a play if you already played the first two. Funny enough, this was the damn game I got when I picked up my used PS2 in 2002. The price had dropped to $200 and I just had an N64 for the previous three years. I wanted to play this so bad and was kind of let down. Sad times man.

Tempest X3 – High Voltage Software/Interplay Entertainment – 1996

If you haven’t experienced vector graphics from the 80’s than you’re missing out. It’s an iconic thing to look at and IS the 80’s Tempest was a popular arcade game featuring these graphics and is hard as balls and also addictive. It’s a top down shooter where enemies climb up a tunnel and you kind of spin around on the rim and shoot down. It played well with the pseudo 3D of the vector graphics back in the day and X3 is one of the best version so this game.

Tenchu: Stealth Assassins – Acquire Corp./Activision – 1998

This was a huge hit back in the day. So much so, that while I didn’t understand the game and it was too hard for me I remember my dad talking about it with co-workers at his job. We even picked it up from one of his friends to borrow it was such a big deal. It’s a fantastic stealth action game with a grappling hook mechanic. The levels are well designed and varied and it looked great. It’s a must have if you like Metal Gear Solid or other early stealth games.

Test Drive 5 – Pitbull Syndicate Limited/Accolade – 1998

Test Drive was a very weird game in which it was all over the scale in terms of quality with each release. Test Drive 5 is probably the best in the series and I fondly remember a friend’s little brother playing this on a portable PS1 back in 2001 and was hooked by the fast paced racing and licensed cars. While it may seem generic compared to classics like Need for Speed or Ridge Racer, it still had it’s own feel and it was big on track variety, nearly 20, and licensed cars which Ridge Racer didn’t have.

Time Commando – Adeline Software/Activision – 1996

This is a slow paced PC port and if you have the patience you might have something super deep and fun to get into. The game has pre-rendered backgrounds and plays similar to Alone in the Dark, but this isn’t a survival horror. You warp through time to different periods and you fight enemies, level up, and solve puzzles. It’s clunky, but fun once you get into a groove. One of the more obscure and brave titles on the system and released early in its life.

Tomb Raider – Core Design/Eidos – 1996

It’s clunky, feels slow, and is old. It’s not the best in the series, but worth a play through if you want to see how the series started. It’s not a terrible game but the improved upon sequels just show how old and clunky this game is. You can skip this if you aren’t a die hard Lara fan, or want to jump into the better games.

Tomb Raider II – Core Design/Eidos – 1997

Tomb Raider II is a great jumping in point as it controls better, looks better, and overall doesn’t feel as experimental as the first game. Unless you want the entire series to collect this is a great start. The game is classic, iconic, and one of the best in the series.

Tomb Raider III: Adventures of Lara Croft – Core Design/Eidos – 1998

Well, it’s more Lara. This game is still up there as some of the best in the series and it looks much better than the previous two games. Lara is less polygonal looking, controls better, and the overall series has just progressed in a positive way. This is also a good jumping in point if you want a better looking and playing Lara game.

Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation – Core Design/Eidos – 1999

This is probably still up there with the best and might be the best playing on the system. While the gameplay is more or less the same it’s still rock solid and looks even better if you can imagine that. Lara Croft was probably the only character to see so many sequels on the same system. The game has a larger level design this time around in which you must complete puzzles in one area to access another. New ideas are good right?

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 – Neversoft Entertainment/Activision – 2000

While the first one is also cheap, I don’t own it, and it just feels clunky compared to this one. This is the best in the series outside of THPS3 so you might as well just jump in here unless you want to see where the series started. Yes, you can play the remake, but the PS1 version here was one of the best sports games ever made. While the Dreamcast version superseded this one it’s a great game to pick up. Now, if you don’t care for skateboarding then obviously don’t bother. I spent countless hours on the N64 version, yeah I didn’t have a PS1 for very long as a kid, and the soundtrack is fantastic as well.

Warhawk – SingleTrac Entertainment/SCEA – 1995

Yes, it’s an early adopter, but man is this game awesome even today. It feels so face and fluid and controls so well. If you like arcade flight games like Heat Seeker for Afterburner than you want to pick this game up. It doesn’t look super pretty, since it released shortly after the PS1 launched, but it still looks clean and the level design is great.

Wild 9 – Shiny Entertainment/Interplay Entertainment – 1998

This was created by the brilliant minds who made Earthworm Jim. It has a similar art style and is a fun 2.5D action platformer that isn’t Earthworm Jim 3D, so it has that going for it. The game’s gimmick is an electric lasso that you can use to whip enemies and move objects. It’s really fun and a hidden gem for the system (God that term is overused in this day and age isn’t it?).

World’s Scariest Police Chases – Unique Development Studios/Activision – 2001

This was released way late in the system’s life and it’s no wonder it didn’t sell anything. You have to take down criminals with your car, bullets, or other means. It’s a more open world type of game and is a lot of fun once you figure out what to do. If you like Driver you will really like this one.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 05/08/2020

Posted in: Microsoft Consoles, PC Reviews, PlayStation 4, Sony Consoles, Xbox One. Tagged: activision, call of duty, campaign, cod, first person shooter, fps, hd, modern warfare 2, remake, remastered. Leave a comment

Publisher: Activision

Developer: Beenox

Release Date: 03/31/2020 (PS4), 04/30/2020 (PC, XONE)

Also Available On

Well, what a treat! Modern Warfare 2 is considered the best game in the earlier series and the campaign was most definitely the best and the most memorable. The game takes place right after the end of the first game with the Russians invading the United States for World War III. You play as various soldiers in this war and bounce back and forth trying to stop the bad guy, Makarov, but the story takes a crazy twist at the last mission.

The question here is there anyone asking for these games to be remastered? Most people usually only stick around for multiplayer and it’s rather strange to only remaster the campaign and release the multiplayer section later. Most Call of Duty players skip the campaign and only bother with multiplayer, and it’s not like the Call of Duty campaigns are anything to write home about. Sure, they’re entertaining and exciting, but they don’t last long and the story is a trite modern military train of nonsense, so who is this game for?

That’s will be hard to answer, but I’m one of the few who play the campaign first and usually go back for seconds later on. I played the original on Xbox 360 and spent more time in this game’s multiplayer than any other in the series. The maps were perfectly created, and the balance was fantastic, but it’s long dead now so all we have is this campaign. Thankfully it’s only $20 as you get about 4 hours of gameplay out of it. It’s literally fun for an evening and it’s over. The game does have some crazy scenes like seeing a nuke detonate from space and the battle in Washington DC through the White House is pretty awesome. There are more stealth missions with Captain Price this time around, and overall we get a good range of different types of action. The boots on the ground mowing down enemies type, the special ops missions, then the stealth missions.

What I would have liked to see is more on-rails stuff. There are a couple of chase scenes in the game and one helicopter ride in which you get to snipe enemies, but I wanted more of these. They’re exciting and just a lot of mindless fun. I did find the game’s difficulty poorly balanced as I’d blow through a couple of missions and then die over and over in one spot, particularly as Roach in the U.S. Marine levels. There are wide-open areas and they usually have you running around trying to take down vehicles and large waves of enemies. There is never a dull moment however and I had a blast through the whole thing, but it does feel shorter than the first game. The infamous and controversial “No Russian” mission is present but allows players to skip this level entirely. While at the time of release it may not have seemed like such a big deal, mowing down people in an airport as part of a terrorist attack is all too real these days and there are thousands of people in the US who have fallen victim to shootings or have been near one and it can be a seriously sensitive topic, so good on Beenox for adding this option.

The visuals are amazing using modern techniques to make the game look like it was made and released today. Fantastic lighting, textures, models, and other effects that PC gamers will love. It runs flawlessly without a hitch and everything moment was a blast. I will say that there is no reason to go back however and that’s going to be the deciding factor for people. There’s zero replay value here as Battle.net doesn’t have an achievement system and while you can find 45 different intel laptops…what’s the point? There’s no reward for doing so and there are no extra modes either. There’s a neat little museum mode that lets you see various panoramas of each level, but there’s nothing to do besides pressing a button and having all the character models jump at you and attack. It’s neat but seriously pointless that no one will probably bother exploring.

Overall, Modern Ware 2 Campaign Remastered is a blast while it lasts. It’s only 4 hours long with no replay value, extra modes, or a reason to even go back. It’s a game you go back and play every 5-10 years for nostalgia and that’s it. Newcomers will have a blast and may play through a second time, but that’s all your $20 is going to give you: One fun evening. The visuals are fantastic and look amazing, but that’s about it here. It really is the best campaign of the early trilogy, but what does that mean to anyone? I guess it depends on how much you love linear shooters.

King’s Quest: The Complete Collection

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 11/27/2019

Posted in: Microsoft Consoles, PC Reviews, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Sony Consoles, Steam Deck Verification, Steam Deck Verified, Xbox 360, Xbox One. Tagged: activision, adventure, king's quest, sierra entertainment, the complete collection. Leave a comment

Publisher: Sierra Games

Developer: The Odd Gentleman

Release Date: 07/28/2015

Also Available On

King’s Quest is one of the oldest gaming franchises as it dates back to the 8-bit gaming era on IBM PCs and Commadore 64, but it’s not very well known for being a PC-exclusive series. It also hasn’t been updated in a couple decades, so to see Sierra themselves publish this franchise got people excited, but King’s Quest landed in an era when The Walking Dead and Telltale Games’ way of doing adventure games reigned supreme. King’s Quest is a retelling of the life of King Graham and his family and his struggle to rebuild the kingdom of Daventry.

Chapter 1 starts out great with Graham trying to take down a dragon and steal a magic mirror. Graham’s past adventures are told through older Graham telling them to his granddaughter voiced by Christopher Lloyd. The typical adventure game stuff happens with walking around, talking to people, examining objects, trying to figure out which objects go where to progress, and the occasional button tapping and switch pulling. Chapter 1 has an action-oriented beginning segment and then the rest is set in Daventry with lots of backtracking and object hunting which I am not a fan of. I prefer The Walking Dead style of adventure games in which you walk around the immediate area, discover a few things, and have dialog choices and lots of scripted gameplay. Even games like Life is Strange does the exploration just right. I feel King’s Quest relies on this too heavily and it drags the game down in later chapters.

Once you get to Daventry you have to complete a series of trials to become King and you meet pretty much every main character in the game. I found the humor to be nice if not cheesy, the voice acting was great and the art style is decent, but the graphics are seriously dated. I also found some of the object hunting very vague and hard to figure out what to do and this was present throughout every chapter. I also didn’t like how you couldn’t skip dialog and cut scenes in the first chapter only. Outside of the constant backtracking through Daventry, the game is well-balanced and fun. There are a few logic puzzles thrown in for good measure too.

Chapter 2 is where things fall flat with just a giant cave area to explore and you must rescue some of the characters, but it’s not explained that you can lose all the characters for the rest of the game if you don’t do things in a certain order. The object hunting vagueness is never more annoying than in Chapter 2 with the entire chapter completion relying on this solely. I could never figure out what objects were supposed to do what and go where and sometimes I flat out missed objects. You are supposed to sleep every day and each day the characters lose health. I didn’t know this until after day 3 and I lost two characters. Eventually, I found out I did everything completely wrong and was left with one character and the rest are out of the story throughout the entire game. It’s very unfair and difficult and wasn’t really all that fun.

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Chapter 3 is probably the best as it feels more like other adventure games. A little bit of object hunting, but mostly story and action sequences. It was really fun and the story at this point was picking up and felt faster-paced. Then when Chapter 4 hit it slowed completely down with nothing but puzzles. There are about 20 or so puzzles in this chapter some are easy and some just make zero sense no matter how you look at it. It was better than object hunting as this chapter had the least amount of that including backtracking. Chapter 5 mixes everything up as the story concludes but you go back to exploring the same Daventry as Chapter 1 all over again and it’s just so tedious and boring. The ending consists of insanely difficult logic puzzles, a few are fun, but most of them make no sense. Then the game ends with an object hunting epilogue chapter that is also a chore fest.

King’s Quest just couldn’t pick one style of gameplay. One chapter is object hunting heavy, while another is all story and action, and the next is all puzzles. It’s very disorienting and makes the game feel like a chore to play despite the interesting characters and fun stories. I loved hearing Christopher Lloyd speak and there were a few nice plot twists, but nothing too crazy. The story is forgettable for sure but has a nice conclusion that doesn’t have a cliffhanger. But who is this game for? King’s Quest fans for sure, and maybe adventure game fans, but fans of just modern adventure games might be turned off by the old-school shortcomings of this game.

Overall, King’s Quest is a fun 10-hour romp through Medieval times and following the goofy King Graham and co. through their adventures is fun while it lasts. The game suffers from poor pacing, indecisive gameplay choices, dated visuals, and some incredibly vague puzzles. With the small price tag these days, this is a fun weekend play-through if you want something to veg out on or play with someone by your side. I would have wished the dialog choices had more meaning as most of them are pointless no matter what you chose and there is no real way to sway to the story outside of Chapter 2’s character starving mechanic. I enjoyed King’s Quest, but there’s just so much more it could have been.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 11/20/2019

Posted in: Editor's Choice, Microsoft Consoles, PC Reviews, PlayStation 4, Sony Consoles, Xbox One. Tagged: activision, call of duty, cod, first person shooter, fps, infinity ward, modern warfare, online multiplayer, shooter. Leave a comment

Publisher: Activision

Developer: Infinity Ward

Release Date: 10/25/2019

Also Available On

When you’re desperate to bring a franchise back what do you do? Well, two things, you either reboot the entire series into something new or bring the series back to its roots. Activision chose the latter and somehow it just brilliantly worked. See, Call of Duty 4 was something groundbreaking and revolutionary in the first-person shooter genre. With a fantastically cinematic campaign and an interesting protagonist (Cpt. Price) and addictive multiplayer that had you grinding for perks and weapons unlocks, it was fast-paced and fluid with well-designed maps. Infinity Ward had created magic that took the world by storm. Of course, what do you do with a franchise that’s this successful? Milk it to death with yearly sequels for over a decade until it kills itself. That’s actually what happened to Call of Duty, twice! While the peak of the series was with Black Ops 1 the latest Black Ops 4 was a complete disaster. With every iteration was a less than stellar campaign and boring multiplayer. So, all those wonderful memories you had with Call of Duty 4 can now come back as this is a prequel to that game and keep those memories in mind because we’re going to come back to those later.

Now, Call of Duty has never been well known for its amazing story, but Modern Warfare tries at least with the game taking place in Russia and the Middle East. You are trying to find out who stole a toxic bio-weapon and you team up with a rebel group in the Middle East to stop the Al-Quatala terrorists from unleashing it on the world. It’s a typical modern terrorist plot, but it’s enough to get the job done. At least the characters are interesting With you playing Adam, Garrick, and Farah. Adam is part of the US Army and Garrick is part of the SAS. Farah is the rebel group trying to break her people free from Al-Quatala and the Russians selling the bioweapons aren’t helping. Each character is actually really good to watch and pay attention to on-screen. Of course, Cpt. Price has this awesome presence that you can’t look away from. His voice acting and motion capture are amazing and it’s nice that they tried to breathe actual life into these characters. Remember when I said to remember those CoD4 moments of nostalgia? Well, when Cpt. Price comes on screen for the first time or you see the ending, you get goosebumps and can’t help but smile and think, “It’s back!”

The campaign is short but sweet. Running in about 6 hours, each and every level is unique and different with a ton of scripted cinematic moments. There’s even a level where you play as a child and have to sneak out of your village. Infinity Ward really tried with this game and the campaign is actually replayable and incredibly fun to go through. The game is familiar to any Call of Duty fan, but you can feel the original’s fingerprint throughout the entire game. From nighttime stealth missions to explosives bombastic firefights, Modern Warfare covers every base and the pacing is spot on and it never gets boring. The shooting itself is very familiar with the first three Modern Warfare games with various real-world military weapons fine-tuned and balanced just right. There’s a play style here for everybody from spewing rounds with the PKM, running around corners with an M80 shogun, or picking off enemies with a Dragunov sniper rifle. The balance of weapons leads to the feeling of movement and satisfaction of bringing someone down. The four-way spread of the reticle when you’re hitting an enemy and the sound it makes to let you know you’re on target to the way you can now slide around corners and mount walls. It’s a formula that only works in Call of Duty and it’s never been better than it has been here.

Once you finish the campaign it’s off to multiplayer which is where the meat of the game is at. This also feels very familiar and brings back old Call of Duty balancing and modes such as Team Deathmatch, Headquarters, and various other modes. This is the first Call of Duty game since Modern Warfare 2 that has had me coming back over and over again for more carnage. The gameplay is perfect and while the weapons are still being balanced through patches, the expensive map packs are now gone in favor of free maps and a battle pass similar to what Battlefield is doing.

Acquiring new unlocks comes much quicker and more steadily than in previous games. Nearly after every match, I was unlocking something whether it was a paint job a perk, or an attachment. There are so many playstyles available for players and the maps allow them all. Hand back and pick off enemies, set up camp in a sniper position, or run around with a shield and shotgun like a lunatic, it’s all up to you. The Killstreaks and Perks are back to basic with UAVs, Cluster Strikes, and Apache helicopters raining havoc down including white phosphorus and the new Juggernaut armored suit. It’s a reason to play better and stay alive as the best Killstreaks are for the elite players who are the best. The game can also seem frustrating at first as you will die a lot and not get any kills when you first start out. Modern Warfare has a special feel to it that every player needs to get down. Learn the maps, every nook, and corner, learn the shortcuts, and how the flow of each map is laid out. That is key.

Speaking of maps the launch maps are rather generic. While they aren’t designed poorly they just aren’t that interesting with just an overall generic feeling to them. While more maps are to come the 10 maps included just don’t feel as memorable as previous games. With a few maps being specific to Ground War which is an all-out huge battle to take over choke points, the smaller maps just leave too much room for campers with blind corners and easy to hide in pockets. Overall, they’re still fun and I don’t have any other complaints about multiplayer than the map quality. I do enjoy the new cross-play feature which is a first for Call of duty. PC, Xbox, and PlayStation players can play together with symbols indicating what system and device the players are using in the lobby before a match starts. It’s a great way to keep longevity alive as PC activity usually dwindles towards the launch of a new game, but with three combined user bases, the game is sure to stay alive for much longer.

The last thing I want to talk about is the visuals in the game. They are out of this world amazing thanks to a new game engine and implementing RTX Ray Tracing on PC for Nvidia GPU users. The lighting is fantastic, and the engine is so well optimized I’m able to get triple digits frames with RTX on and the graphics maxed out in certain scenes. The textures and models look fantastic and the lighting is just incredible. Running through certain scenes and levels just made my jaw drop and this is easily one of the biggest technical marvels of the year, hands down. However, that is just for PC. I did play this on the original Xbox One console and it looks like garbage with tons of blurring, poor frame rate, and stuttering. I’m sure the PS4 looks the same if now worse, and the Xbox One X and PS4 Pro versions are better performance-wise but don’t hold a candle to the PC version.

Overall, Modern Warfare is one of the best shooters in the last decade and the best in the entire series. It took way too long for the series to get back on track, but it’s here and better than ever. With groundbreaking visuals, an addictive multiplayer suite, and tons of maps to come, there’s not much to not like about this game.

Publisher: Activision

Developer: Raven Software

Release Date: 11/04/2016

Also Available On

When a game as big as Call of Duty 4 gets remastered it takes you down a trip of serious memory lane. I remember watching the E3 reveal video of the “All Ghillied Up” level and being blown away. The cinematic gameplay and delivery of CoD4 were unheard of back in the day and helped push that generation of consoles forward. It was a groundbreaking game despite where the series has gone over the years. Each level was carefully laid out with memorable moments and varied gameplay that most first-person shooters didn’t do 10 years ago, and that’s just the campaign. The multiplayer rewrote how first-person shooter online play should be.

That sound you hear when you hit an opponent and the X that appears in your crosshairs when you nail them? That was all Call of Duty. Being able to earn ranks and upgrade your weapons over time? That was Call of Duty. The maps were fantastically designed and the weapons felt amazing to shoot. The movement was fluid, the pacing was perfect, and the opening scene on the ship is something I will never forget. Take all of that, fast-forward 10 years, and then stick the game in a current-generation engine and you have a game that holds up, and is better, than any recent Call of Duty game.

While the campaign only lasts about 4 hours or so, there’s so much variety. From the stealth missions in Pripyat to using the AC-130 and bombing the crap out of Russian Ultranationalists, and even running away from choppers in vehicles. There’s various terrain, weapons, and pacing to make the campaign feel far from boring. While the story is generic and barely interesting, the gameplay isn’t. You play as two separate military teams from the US Marine Corps and SAS. “Soap” MacTavish and Jackson are your two guys, and while it doesn’t really matter gameplay-wise, Captain Price is actually quite a memorable character as he has interesting dialog, cracks jokes, and has such a unique appearance. It seems silly, but Call of Duty 4 was the only game in the series that had anything really interesting or memorable going on.

The multiplayer here is not only groundbreaking but super addictive and fun. There are several different game modes, but my favorite has always been Team Deathmatch. The maps are perfectly designed and are easy to remember every nook and cranny. Upgrading weapons and ranking up is so fun in this game, and you could literally spend dozens and dozens of hours just in the multiplayer alone. Despite how much time you spend on the online portion I just wish the campaign was longer. It’s such an overlooked part of the game and trumps any future Call of Duty campaign.

The visuals have been massively upgraded to the point where current hardware will have a hard time rendering it. The textures look beautiful and have been painstakingly redone to make this game look like it was released yesterday. Lighting, physics, sound, and models have all been redone to look current and it looks amazing. So much so, that you need at least 8GB of VRAM just to see all the textures in the glorious detail and at least GTX1060 to get the game up off the ground at 1080p.

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Overall, Modern Warfare Remastered is a snippet of a game that pushed the first-person military shooter in a new direction, but also shows just how far downhill the series has fallen. Carefully planned out campaigns, and memorable maps are long gone for this tired franchise, but at least we have an upgraded version of one of the best shooters of the last decade.

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 05/12/2018

Posted in: Microsoft Consoles, PC Reviews, PlayStation 4, Sony Consoles, Steam Deck Verification, Steam Deck Verified, Xbox One. Tagged: activision, call of duty, first person shooter, fps, infinite warfare, infinity ward, online, shooter. Leave a comment

Publisher: Activision

Developer: Infinity Ward

Release Date: 11/04/2016

Also Available On

Every time I play a Call of Duty game I expect less and less each time. The game is designed from the ground up for the lowest common denominator and people who have never played games before. Infinite Warfare is no exception being the third game from Infinity Ward this console cycle. I have the give Infinite Warfare some credit as it did surprise me more than the series has since Modern Warfare 2 and that’s saying a lot. The game has excellent acting and surprisingly interesting characters that you kind of care for which scared me coming from such a mindless series.

You play Lieutenant Reyes who is part of the USDA trying to protect Earth from the SDF who are a bunch of rebels living on Mars and want to wipe out all of Earth. It’s a typical war plot with basic objectives, but the chatter in between is quite entertaining and kept me hooked. I actually sat through the entire game in two long playthroughs which I have never done for a Call of Duty. They usually get boring after the second mission or so. I do have to mention that the use of Kit Harrington (Jon Snow in Game of Thrones) is wasted on a villain that is rarely seen in the game and whose character never evolves or gets the potential to grow. Why did they use him for a half dozen lines of dialog? I know Call of Duty is famous for using celebrities in its games (Ghosts being the worst use) but this seemed rather pointless with having almost no face time.

Reyes’s partner, Lieutenant Salter, creates a strong duo that helps drive the game forward. I actually was able to figure out what was going on at all times and the story never got convoluted or overly complicated. The game also changes pace quite often which keeps it from getting boring despite these changes being the same and just shuffled. Outside of boots-on-the-ground combat, there is some zero-G combat and space combat in a jet. The space combat is great and the Jackal has buttery smooth controls and feels very cinematic and challenging. The only objectives here are to destroy other fighters and larger ships while keeping missiles off of you and staying out of danger. Locking onto other jets puts you in an auto-pilot mode where the game will automatically follow the jet and you just have to shoot it down.

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Zero-G combat is used the least but is still quite fun. You can tether to objects for cover or grapple enemies and initiate pretty awesome melee kills. The environments are rather beautiful with a lot of detail and massive objects in the background. This is not an ugly game by any means. Once you get indoors though the game is boring and stale with metallic corridors, generic monitors, and the same crap we’ve seen over and over again. There are a few small moments outside of all this such as when you can call in certain weapons or airstrikes to turn the tide. It feels good to use them and they always come in handy right at the last moment.

One thing that really surprised me was the use of side missions that you could optionally go to. According to the Trophy listing, most people never played these as they are rare achievements, but it helps divert people away from the main story if they just want to finish real quick and move on. These missions include a few stealth ops as well as flying the Jackal and rescuing hostages. This was a nice mixed bag of gameplay that was fun to play through. The main reason to go through these is to take down top officers from the SDF that is part of the “card system” which is a series of “hits”. It’s pretty meaningless and just one more reason to unlock an achievement.

Once you finish the campaign (about 6 hours) there is the multiplayer suite, and honestly, the campaign is stronger this time around. The multiplayer is very safe and doesn’t do a single thing different from what we’ve seen before with the same type of maps and modes that we’re used to. Is it worth grinding through Prestige levels? Probably not, but there is Zombies mode which is even starting to show its teeth these days.

Sadly, Infinite Warfare just doesn’t have any personality despite all the pluses it brings to the series. At its core, it’s still a generic space shooter that has strayed so far away from what made Modern Warfare great that it’s laughable. With the fake made-up guns (which are actually interesting) robots, and spaceships this could have been any other name and it would have still been a good game. The Call of Duty branding seems to only hurt the game more than help it these days.

With that said, Infinite Warfare doesn’t’ deserve the flack it has gotten from fans and is surprisingly smart and entertaining and at least tries to do some new stuff that we haven’t seen before. The multiplayer is passable, but at a bargain bin price, you are in for an entertaining day of shooting robots and saving the planet.

Call of Duty: Ghosts

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 12/20/2014

Posted in: Microsoft Consoles, Nintendo Consoles, PC Reviews, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Sony Consoles, Steam Deck Playable, Steam Deck Verification, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One. Tagged: activision, call of duty, fps, ghosts, Microsoft, Nintendo, playstation, ps4, Sony, wii u, xbox. Leave a comment

Publisher: Activision

Developer: Infinity Ward

Release Date: 11/15/2013

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Call of Duty has come a long way since 2003. From World War II to the Afghan war, there’s a lot going on with this series. While it has had its ups and many downs, Ghosts seems to have picked the series up a little bit and the transition to next-gen consoles may have helped that.

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The story in Ghosts is actually quite interesting and probably the only story in the series that’s even somewhat memorable. This is a huge feat for the series in itself. You play as a Ghost named Logan who is following his brother Hesh around trying to stop a global crisis. I think why the story is so great is because it’s fictional. This is a made-up apocalyptic scenario that seems too close to being real. A former ghost named Rorke is using a satellite weapon that can destroy entire continents in minutes. The game starts out with Logan and Hesh talking with their father when these missiles start hitting. Later on, you learn more about Ghosts in flashback missions and then eventually become one yourself. The voice acting and character modeling is fantastic and helps hold the story together and keep you interested.

One of the many reasons why Ghosts’ campaign is so interesting is that each mission is completely different. Sure you are always shooting bad guys but the entire campaign is constantly turned up whether you’re driving a tank, mounting a mini-gun in a helo, or fighting underwater. New ideas and better pacing are brought to Ghosts which is exactly what this series needed. One addition is the dog, Riley. You would think this would get overused but he’s used just right. He’s only available for maybe 5 missions through the whole game but it’s the way he’s used. New gameplay elements are introduced with Riley with each mission and after the first third of the game, he’s mostly absent which is a good thing. This makes you care for Riley and really appreciate his role as a soldier.

With that said the shooting itself is solid which is expected from any Call of Duty. The guns feel heavy and have weight to them and the sound and action on-screen are crisp and really pull you into the drama going on. There’s a good mix of stealth and action as a whole along with the other change-ups the game throws at you. There are quite a few memorable scenes such as the firefight in outer space towards the end and the underwater level as well. However, we are still missing an organic feel that a slower more deliberate pace would bring out. The game is still the same at its core. There still isn’t any gore, enemy AI is still off, and everything still feels rushed and too in your face. Call of Duty can be more intellectual and less ham-fisted with macho violence and action.

With that said the multiplayer is nothing short of fun and has the same core suite of Modern Warfare. The biggest addition is being able to play as a female character and customizing the clothing. Of course, the customization for weapons is even deeper than before with balance tweaks and menu changes, but if you have played a Call of Duty in the last 5 years you know what to expect. I feel that the maps are a little better than past CoD games but I have yet to play any that are as great as Modern Warfare 2.

With all that said Ghosts is a fine shooter and was given a little too much harsh criticism. The visuals are fantastic and the campaign is a huge step in the right direction to pulling the series out of the stereotypical rut that it has been in for years.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 06/08/2013

Posted in: Microsoft Consoles, Nintendo Consoles, PC Reviews, PlayStation 3, Sony Consoles, Steam Deck Playable, Steam Deck Verification, Wii U, Xbox 360. Tagged: 3, 360, activision, black ops ii, call of duty, fps, Microsoft, multiplayer, Nintendo, online, playstation, ps3, shooter, Sony, treyarch, wii u, xbox. Leave a comment

Publisher: Activision

Developer: Treyarch

Release Date: 11/18/2012

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Here we go again, another Call of Duty. When will it ever end? Before you start the hate-mongering, just know this, Call of Duty still has some of the best online multiplayer you can get. At least Black Ops tried to change the series a bit with new modes and experimented with what Modern Warfare established, it also had a much more interesting storyline and decent characters. Black Ops II is the same way, but it’s too late to really matter.

The game picks up from where the first left off if you haven’t played it, good luck figuring it out. Alex Mason is searching for a man named Raul Menendez. This is one sick puppy. This guy is a terrorist and more evil than you can imagine. The story jumps around from Mason’s son, Alex, to David Mason back in the cold war. If you notice something, this game is more futuristic. It’s set in 2025 so there is some cool tech that’s just out of reach for today. Things like cloaking devices, VTOLs, and various other guns. The game just jumps between the first cold war and the second. During the first one you are trying to figure out what made Menendez crack, you later jump to the second one with Mason and Harper using the info you got from a guy who was in the cold war with Mason. It’s a bit confusing and seems pretty boring at first. Later on, the story really picks up and gets really interesting, I actually liked it. It’s not fantastic and it’s no Assassin’s Creed, but it’s pretty good for an FPS.

The campaign is still a shooting gallery, but it doesn’t seem that way thanks to great level design, and a lot of cinematic one-off moments. Moments like jumping on turrets, and driving various vehicles and aircraft, among others. It’s all fun and not a single level feels the same, but the underlying core is still there: shoot everything that moves. The AI is still pretty dumb, but I like how you can customize your loadout before a mission. There are many unique and fun guns, unlike the Modern Warfare series. Later on, you will be able to play through special side missions called Strike Force Missions, which is pretty much just a capture-and-hold mode or siege. Those side missions all feel the same and are pretty repetitive. It’s not as fun as online because of the dumb AI, you have to do everything yourself.

After you finish the entertaining story it’s multiplayer time! The old Black Ops modes return like One in the Chamber and Last Man Standing. Of course, all the others from the entire series are here. Honestly, the biggest change is that killstreaks have been replaced with Scorestreaks which I prefer. It was so hard to get more than 3-4 kills in a row for most players. Now you get streaks based on your score which lets you be able to use the cooler more powerful ones more often. However, I found the maps to be pretty mediocre. I learned to like a few, but they are lacking a bit in some way.

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Zombies returns and is as fun as ever, there are more modes, and 8 player co-op, it also has a full-on online component, unlike the previous game. There’s quite a bit of content here and you will be coming back for hours to come. I just don’t understand why Treyarch couldn’t break the mold a bit more. I like the multiple endings and how choices in the story can change the ending. But there are things here like Jimmy Kimmel’s likeness at one end and Avenged Sevenfold at the end of one. I mean really? Are 14-year-olds really going to buy this because Avenged Sevenfold is in it? I really hate how developers do this and can’t just use their own ideas. It’s a cop-out/sell-out whatever you want to call it. I also don’t understand why the campaign can’t be a bit more intelligent gameplay-wise like Battlefield 3. I blame the young gamer’s instant gratification issue on that, but who knows.

What’s here is a solid game, and hopefully the last of the Black Ops series. The Wii U version looks a bit better than consoles and you can play the whole game on the gamepad which is nice, no shoehorned gimmicks for it. I did notice that the gamepad’s analog sticks are a bit sensitive and I had some trouble adjusting.

Call of Duty 2 – 8 Years Later

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 04/26/2013

Posted in: Mac, Microsoft Consoles, PC Reviews, Steam Deck Unsupported, Steam Deck Verification, Xbox 360. Tagged: activision, call of duty 2, fps, pc, shooter, world war ii, wwii. Leave a comment

Publisher: Activision

Developer: Infinity Ward

Release Date: 10/25/2005

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All those World War II shooters we endured for an entire decade felt like a war on its own. Shooter after endless shooter bombarded our systems, and then there were the really bad ones in between the Call of Duty and Medal of Honor yearly releases. Call of Duty 2 was highly anticipated because it was the actual sequel to the award-winning original. Does it stand out like the first game did? Is it full of cinematic finesse and finely nuanced mechanics? Not really.

There’s not much of a story here because it’s based on WWII. Black and white footage with a dull narrator telling you about different theaters of the war, then there’s the typical journal entry during the load screen, nothing interesting at all, and even when the game came out I was sick of these WWII shooters. What does Call of Duty 2 build on? Nothing, it’s just more of the same, but at least it has high production values and it does the same stuff right. The game has you following three different soldiers from the Russian, British, and American sides. One thing I did like was that you get to play a different side of the Normandy beach storming and that’s the Rangers. They climbed up the cliffside trying to shut down the German pillboxes and various artillery so our troops stopped getting slaughtered on the beachhead. Call of Duty 2 tries to tell the smaller stories in the war which is a nice change of pace.

The same weapons are here that you have shot a million times. Lee Enfield, M1 Garand, Mp40, MP44, Sten, and various others. Of course, not ALL WWII weapons are here, but I wanted to see some of the more obscure ones like the Browning or BAR. At this point in time, it was just about better graphics and who’s weapon textures looked the most realistic. Call of Duty 2 delivers the visuals and was a benchmarker much like Crysis is now back in 2005/2006. It was one of the first games to support SLI and really pushed PCs and made you get those $500 graphics cards. It was a must-have for PC owners and was also a GPU seller. With that aside, the textures look great even today and the visuals really pop. The sound is great as well with gunfire chattering in the distance and soldiers yelling all around you. It may seem dated today, but you can really see how much the Call of Duty series hasn’t evolved. There are striking similarities to the Modern Warfare series because it’s all the same, shoot anything that moves.

Download Call of Duty 2 PC Game (www.Greedy-Gamers.com) (2)

The game can be pretty easy at times, I could just rush into a building and blow everyone away with one clip and survive. I still find it painful to know that grenade physics are still really bad and bounce around like rubber balls. There are various things I just really can’t stand about these shooters and that’s the lack of realism. When I shoot enemies blood doesn’t even come out, where’s the gore and violence? Brothers in Arms was the first WWII shooter to use this violence in the genre, but Call of Duty just feels like some sort of censored theme park ride.

CoD2 had a huge multiplayer following, but sadly no one’s online anymore. Even so, it’s just a typical online shooter and isn’t anything special. I was really disappointed to find that CoD2 wasn’t as cinematic as it could have been and just felt the same throughout the whole game. Blow up this door, defend this position, destroy that mortar nest, kill this Flak 88 crew. It’s the same stuff we play in every single WWII shooter and nothing ever changes. Sure it was mindless fun, but I have come to realize why I was so glad everyone moved on.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 11/03/2012

Posted in: Microsoft Consoles, Nintendo Consoles, PC Reviews, PlayStation 3, Sony Consoles, Steam Deck Unsupported, Steam Deck Verification, Wii, Xbox 360. Tagged: activision, call of duty, fps, guns, infinity ward, modern warfare 3, multiplayer, pc, shooter, steam. Leave a comment

Publisher: Activision

Developer: Infinity Ward

Release Date: 11/8/2011

Also Available On

Modern Warfare gets the bad rep of being the game that sheep flock to. “Only morons play it,” some people say. “The only people online are 12-year-olds”. The problem is that those are true, but it doesn’t mean that it isn’t a fun game. Sure, the game became too mainstream to everyone and their mom has played this, but it doesn’t make it is a bad game or series. What makes the game tiring is that nothing really changes. Modern Warfare 3 feels like Modern Warfare 2.5. Not much has changed from the second game other than the campaign and a visual upgrade. There are even recycled maps from the second game!

The campaign is a disappointment because it just doesn’t feel as awesome as the past two games. It feels like a gallery shooter more than ever and has a very little challenge. The epic set pieces aren’t as grand as previous games and have great potential at first, but no climax ever happens. Levels are really short without the varied gameplay clips that are thrown in. The story is confusing if you haven’t followed the games until now, but you aren’t missing much. The story between Captain Price and Soap MacTavish is interesting, but it just falls flat in the end. The campaign is entertaining at best and a lot of fun, but it isn’t solid like the past two games. What you are mainly here is for multiplayer because that will keep you coming back for more.

The layout is like all previous Modern Warfare games without much change. You can customize your loadout, callsign, emblem, and unlock new items through ranking up. The only new additions really are how you score. Things like rescuing people and a few other things. To be honest, the controls and feel of the entire game haven’t really changed much. There are a few tweaks here and there but it doesn’t feel like an actual sequel. The weapons are a little different, but everything is just the same when it comes to how you unlock them. There are a few different killstreak rewards like the IMS and a few others, but if it ain’t broke don’t fix it right? There are a few different perks and that is really it. The maps aren’t designed as well as in the past two games and aren’t as memorable. There are a couple of maps in here from MW2 like the Airport map which is a classic, but the others have to just grow on you. There are a lot more modes in this one, but I was missing the modes from Black Ops which I felt should have been included. One in the Chamber was a favorite of mine, but the whole money system from Black Ops is also missing. I would rather buy upgrades than wait to unlock them, but what can you do?

The graphics received a huge upgrade and look decent on PC, but look pretty bad on the consoles. There’s a slight texture upgrade, some SSAO effects, and anti-aliasing but they are all very minor. You don’t need a powerful rig to run this game maxed out. There are a few cool scenes in the campaign, but overall this doesn’t feel like a true sequel, but more of an expansion. Multiplayer is super fun and most players will pour dozens of hours into the addictiveness of it. There are a few complaints about the multiplayer such as when you start. You are fighting people who are level 80 prestige and have all the best stuff, so don’t get discouraged. Quick scoping is a thing people complain about where you can look down your scope almost instantly which is considered cheating by some. They fixed this by making it a perk, but if you play Battlefield 3 you will notice the difference.

Modern Warfare 3 has a lackluster single-player campaign, and not much has changed in multiplayer. The new maps are fun but not as memorable as past games. There are a few tweaks here and there, but no major changes you should expect. For the low price these days it is well worth it, but just don’t buy it expecting a cinematic campaign, and tons of multiplayer changes like you saw from Modern Warfare 1 to 2. I also have to say that there are a surprisingly large amount of cheaters and hackers due to the lack of dedicated servers, but this only seems to happen at night. Still worth a purchase.