We’re
sneaking ever closer to the present year and what better way to do that, than
by bringing you the Top Ten Games of the year that comes next after 2002 –
that’s right it’s 2003. Like with the 2002 list I’m going to give you some hints
and stats about 2003’s list.
Firstly
the MBG disclaimer: Some of these games came out on multiple platforms,
therefore that is why the amounts of release dates and platforms don’t add up
to 10. Some of these games could be defined as having multiple genre’s, that’s
ok, that’s why I’m here. And lastly, some of these games, although yes might
have come out on multiple platforms, you might see that some of them aren’t
mentioned. Well that’s just because say Game “X” came out on the PC in Nov 03,
the port for the PS2 and XBOX might not have been released until Jan 04,
therefore it will just show as coming out on PC on my list. This will mean as
well that Game “X” will not be listed on 2004’s Top Ten Games. It’s just not
right to throw it into 2 top ten lists. Last part of the disclaimer, these are
all based on European release dates – not North America or Japan
Well,
firstly the least popular genre for a second year on the bounce was – Sports.
There wasn’t a single sporting game that came to mind or through my research
that I felt was worthy of a Top 10 spot. That being said there was no stand out
popular genre but there was 2 of each of the following: Racing, FPS, 3rd
Person Shooter and Action/Adventure. Despite this, the No. 1 game is none of
those – although it could be defined as a 3rd Person “Shooter” or
Action/Adventure game, it’s much more of an RPG than either of those.
The
most popular 2 months for these games releases were (shock horror) November and
December – right in the build up to Crimbo. The most common Developer in the
Top 10 is Ubisoft, well kind of if you include as 3 Ubisoft Montreal (No. 10),
Ubisoft Montpellier (No. 6 PS2) and Ubisoft Milan (No. 6 PC). Otherwise it’s a
mix ranging from Big Huge Games to Vicarious Visions to Nintendo. However for
publishers you have 2 of each from Microsoft Games Studios, Activision,
LucasArts and Ubisoft with EA, Nintendo and Rockstar Games making up the
numbers.
The
most popular format was PC, with 8 of the 10 titles being available in 2003 on
the PC. Followed by half was the XBOX, with 4 of the 10 titles being on
Microsoft’s console in 2003, PS2 followed shortly thereafter with 3 of the 10
and joint bottom was the GameCube and GameBoy Advance with 1 out of the 10
titles each being available on those formats.
Well
without further ado, I take you off to the dawn of Civilization…well imagine a
kind of RTS version of Civilization…
10. Rise of Nations – PC (May 03) – Real Time
Strategy
Developed
by Big Huge Games
Published
by Microsoft Games Studios
From
Brian Reynolds, one of the brains behind my much loved Civilization II, comes
Rise of Nations. On the face of it, just another RTS game. However, take that
average RTS game and slap a dose of Civ II into it and you get – Rise of
Nations. Taking you from the starts of Civilization with your chosen nation, to
the Space Age; Rise of Nations is a wonderfully full and rich game to explore
and play with for more time that you really have spare. Given a few Best PC and
Best RTS awards in 2003, this game constantly scored an average of around 9/10
(90%). With various ways to beat the game, and using the methods from the Civ
series such as the evolution of the military and Wonders, this game can
captivate you and keep you locked in for hours at a time. Well worth a look,
and well worth your time.
Next
we have a golden oldie renovated for the 21st Century…
9. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time –
PS2 + GBA (Nov 03) PC (Dec 03) – Platformer, Action/Adventure
Developed
by Ubisoft Montreal
Published
by Ubisoft
Nope,
not Frogger not this time, but the Prince is back and he’s all 3D and what not!
Personally I love the original 1989 Prince of Persia, remembering how scared I
used to get as a toddler watching it…but this game is NOT a flop remake, the
film may have been a bit, but this isn’t a films reviewing blog. If you want
that, then go away! The game feels like a fluid definite next step for the PoP
series, definitely banishing to the shadows the Prince of Persia 3D that was
released in 1999 on the PC and Dreamcast. It received a number of GotY awards
and multiple super-high (9+/10 or 90+%) scores and rightly so. The gameplay was
fantastic, and as I mentioned really did feel like the true successor of the
series. The game was so highly thought of that Hollywood stuck their oar in and
made a film of the game in 2010 starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Ghandi…I mean Ben
Kingsley. Your best bet would probably be to get it on the PS3 or PC now to
taste a slice of this awesome game.
Our
next game is a gritty crime sequel. Close your eyes, feel the rain beating down
on the dirty, cracked sidewalk. Enter the world of Rockstar’s…
8. Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne – PC
(Oct 03) XBOX + PS2 (Dec 03) – 3rd Person Shooter
Developed
by Remedy Entertainment (PC) and Rockstar Vienna (PS2 & XBOX)
Published
by Rockstar Games
Remedy
Entertainment brings us the 2nd instalment of the Max Payne series
of games, following our beloved hero Max as he returns to the Police force as a
detective investigating a series of murders by the group known as The Cleaners.
This is much of the same from the 1st game in the series, albeit
with a shorter storyline. It was highly rated by reviewers and received a few
Editors’ Choice Awards, however the sales were poor and MP2 never reached the
heights of it’s predecessor (which had it not been for the mega hits Halo and
GTAIII would have walked into top spot in 2001) but it’s still a very fun, very
engaging game with a style that is very Frank Miller (Sin City, 300) in the way
it’s carried out. Definitely worth a punt on the PC and should also be
available on XBOX Live as an “XBOX Original” to download.
From
the dark, dirty, rain-soaked streets of Max Payne, to the arcade style racing
game that makes me think of Batman…
7. Project Gotham
Racing 2 – XBOX (Nov 03) – Racing
Developed
by Bizarre Creations
Published
by Microsoft Games Studios
PGR2
is a phenomenal racing game, much like it’s predecessor was in making the XBOX
a “must have” console. Developed by UK
From
the streets of Project Gotham we slide around the Hillys to…
6. Beyond Good and Evil – PS2 (Nov 03) PC
(Dec 03) – Action/Adventure
Developed
by Ubisoft Montpellier (PS2) and Ubisoft Milan (PC)
Published
by Ubisoft
If
you’ve played BG&E then you’ll get the reference to the Hillys, the
fictional location of the game at No. 6. From the French guy who brought the world
Rayman, Michel Ancel brings us BG&E a fantastically beautiful game which
definitely feels continental. Does that make sense? I’m not making sense.
Basically the game hasn’t got the best graphics in the world – even by 2003
standards – but the story and gameplay make this one of the top games of 2003,
and really does leave us all wanting that damned sequel!!! The game is made up
of a good narrative and also is made up of various elements, such as
mini-puzzles and stealth missions. Making your way around the maps in order to
gain photographic evidence of certain things going on with the Alpha Sections
and DomZ. Anyways I must press on with this list!
From
the Hillys we travel to a Galaxy…far, far away…
5. Star Wars: Jedi Knight – Jedi Academy
Developed
by Raven Software (PC) and Vicarious Visions (XBOX)
Published
by LucasArts and Activision
Star
Wars: Jedi Knight – Jedi Academy…or SWJKJA…or Jedi Academy was an amazing game
for the PC and XBOX definitely living up to the achievements of it’s
predecessors in Dark Forces, Jedi Knight and Jedi Outcast. I always enjoyed
playing as Kyle Katarn in the games, and this is one thing that is slightly
different – you play as Jaden Korr a new student arriving at Luke Skywalkers
Jedi Academy
From
mastering an elegant weapon for a more civilized age to managing the water
supplies of your city and wondering just where would be best to put that darned
power station…
4. Sim
City 4 – PC (Jan 03) – Construction
and Management Sim, City
Building
Developed
by Maxis
Published
by EA
So
addictively fun it should come with a warning, and with some SimCity news just
around the corner this is definitely worth downloading from your chosen games
provider – be it Steam or Origin. It’s the exact same premise as those that
came before, but done so amazingly right that Maxis were able to focus on their
Sims games for another decade before the imminent arrival of SimCity in
February 2013. The way the game plays is very intuitive, and easy to pick up.
The only thing I’d say is pace yourself – Rome
wasn’t built in a day, and your new
City
Next
we go to our Bronze medal winner for 2003, winning hearts and causing arguments
and stroppy losers the world over…
3. Mario Kart: Double Dash!! – GameCube
(Nov 03) – Racing
Developed
and Published by Nintendo
Let’s
be fair now – any Mario Kart game is going to be in the top ten. And this is
the only reason why we still have a GameCube in the house. Playing split screen
Grand Prix’s or playing on 2 teams of 2 this is an amazing game at bringing
together members of a house who’s primary interest is in gaming. It’s one of
few games where the parents are as eager to play as the teenager, who in turn
is as eager to play as his younger brother, who in turn is as eager to play as the
younger sister (even if she can’t manage to turn corners properly) who asks on
a daily basis if she can play the game. I would go as far as the 2 year old but
at the moment, she just gets annoyed that she doesn’t understand why everyone
is shouting and laughing at the TV when SpongeBob is nowhere to be seen. MKDD
takes what makes the Mario Kart games amazing and carries it onto the GameCube.
Personally, I believe this to be the last great Mario Kart game ever made,
since the newer ones on the Nintendo Piss just don’t have the same soul and
spirit as the older variants. With unlockable items coming with gold wins on
various CC, and the personal belief that the Red Shell car with Wings is
totally better than the Yoshi Head car…even though I’ve since discovered there
isn’t the massive-est amount of difference in any of the cars when it gets down
to the nitty gritty. But still you cling-on to your belief. Massively addictive
game, incredibly fun game play, and dedicated to old-school multiplayer –
sitting next to your opponent instead of being on the other side of the world.
MKDD is such a good game, I fully endorse you finding a GameCube on eBay,
buying 4 controllers, and a copy of this game and enjoying it in all it’s
splendour. Go on right now. I’ll wait here for you to continue.
Now
if you have a good idea about games since the turn of the century you could
probably make a good educated guess as to what will come next. Our Silver Medal
for 2003 is a title that is all to familiar in games these days, but in 2003 it
was all just beginning…and good holy fuckery didn’t they do well??
2. Call of Duty – PC (Nov 03) – FPS
Developed
by Infinity Ward
Published
by Activision
COD.
Do you need me to continue? Actually I probably should, most COD fanboys these
days think of COD as Modern Warfare…sigh. Firstly MW is good, but they cannot
hold a candle to the games that started it all off. Think of how amazing Band
of Brothers was...is- it’s timeless really. Well think of that, now turn that
into a computer game. Right, now make that game easy to learn, hard to become
an expert. Are you there? Right now package it and call it Call of Duty. Let’s
not get ahead of ourselves here, just think of what it’s called – Call of Duty,
as in when asked, will you answer the Call of Duty? For your country? For
Freedom? Not COD: MW oh look I’m just another American soldier in Afghanistan Afghanistan
It
follows along the same lines as the newer spawns, in that you don’t just play
as 1 character, you play as an American paratrooper, an English SAS operative,
and a Soviet Conscript. The battles are intense, the locations attention to
detail simply stunning, and the multiplayer? Get outta here, one of the best MP
experiences of my life. The game has a good narrative, and follows closely in
the footsteps that the real guys took during that bloody conflict. Historically
accurate, you feel like you gain a better understanding for what those brave
men did in real life after playing this game.
A
worthy silver medal, fuck that a worthy gold medal, however the game that comes
next is by far and away the No. 1 for 2003. When I first thought of making
these lists, I knew before I did 2000’s list what would be Number 1 for 2003.
And we must go a long, long, LONG,
time ago…in a galaxy just as far away as before…
1. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Developed
by BioWare
Published
by LucasArts
Firstly,
picture if you will a timeline. Picture Star Wars Ep. IV: A New Hope Battle
Right
you have your starting out point – 0. Now imagine all that happened 19 years
previously in the year 19 BBY. Anakin Skywalker was seduced by the Dark Side of
the Force. All but a handful of Jedi Knights survived Order 66. And C-3PO was
about to have his memory wiped before being handed over to Captain Antilles.
Seems
like a whole lifetime apart…well I suppose it was really. Right, go back even further
to 32 BBY and you’ll have the Invasion of Naboo by the Trade Federation. It all
seems like quite a large chunk of time from 32 BBY having the Galactic Republic
and a young Darth Vader being a little annoying American kid to eventually 4
ABY when the Galactic Empire get’s pwn’d by a bunch of tree-dwelling teddy
bears.
Now
go back a little further than the 32 years to Episode I. Ok, 57 BBY – Obi Wan
Kenobi is born. No further, go further. Right then, 98 BBY, the natives to the
planet Tatooine, the Sand People, attack Fort Tusken for the first time,
earning them the nickname – Tuskan Raiders.
Further
you pussy. Ok, 350 BBY – the Trade Federation is founded. FURTHER!!!
1000
BBY. Ok we’re getting a bit closer – Darth Bane established the Sith “Rule of Two”
mentioned in the films – “only 2 there are, a Master and an Apprentice”. But go
on, go a bit further back, you know what no. I’ll do it.
Go
back to 3956 BBY. Now let me put that in perspective. 3956 years before the
Battle of Yavin. Surely they must be like, technologically like we are now?
Right? Nope, they are just as bad-ass and awesome as ever in that Galaxy.
Whereas over here…what has happening 3956 years ago in 1944 BC? Well it was
roughly the time the Minoans were not just at the height of there civilization,
but just starting it. It was when the Babylonians were just developing Maths
and when the first potato was grown in South America .
There had been no Jesus, Judaism was just starting as a religion, Rome wasn’t even a collection of villages and Europe was smack in the middle of the Bronze Age.
Seems
like an insane length of time before us now eh? Well Those clever fuckers at
BioWare (Drew Karpyshyn especially) created a whole new saga in the Star Wars
Universe set this far before the events of that original film. And trust me,
this saga is one helluva rollercoaster.
You
are the protagonist of the game, and your gender and class is up to you. There
are some kinda parallels/opposites from KotOR and the original Star Wars films.
Firstly there is a massive twist. Epically massive, I mean shit the bed, get
your dick caught in a mangle, shove a deckchair up your nose massive. Secondly,
there is a little droid who is helpful and beeps. Thirdly Tatooine is
extensively visited. There is also things like the Ebon Hawk, your trusty –
albeit knicked – starship, which is the “fastest ship in the galaxy”, and
referred to as crap by your travelling partner, the posh-ish Bastilla Shan.
Bastilla, like Princess Leia adopts an “Atlantic” accent, meaning that it’s North
American, but sounds almost English – much like Kelsey Grammer, he’s a perfect
example of someone with an Atlantic Accent. Anyway I’ve started talking about
Kelsey Grammer in a KotOR bit…
There
are also things like HK-47. HK-47 is one of the greatest video game characters
of all time, he is what C-3PO dreams he could be. HK-47 is an assassin droid
who lovingly refers to all organics as “meat-bags” and has a psychopathic need
to kill. You have Carth Onasi, who is like your Han Solo of the group, but not
a smuggler or a scruffy looking nerf herder. He’s a career soldier in the
Republic, but definitely a bit of a cool dude to have around.
KotOR
is a fantastic game, taking you all over the Galaxy and with a feel to it that
is unmistakably Star Wars, it is nothing like the films. Better than the
prequel trilogy and a good rival to the original trilogy, Bioware takes its
first steps into space with a safe territory before expanding their own sci-fi
epic a few years later.
The
gameplay is smooth, the music is masterful, – what you’d expect from Bioware
and Star Wars - the dialogue is brilliantly written and the story is fantastic.
Still available in good games stores, and is well worth dusting off your
lightsaber for.
I
can and probably will at some point go into a lot more detail about the game in
a separate post. But for now, I’m fine with the introduction being longer than
the piece! SW: KotOR – is a must have in any computer gamers collection and is
definitely worthy of the No. 1 Gold Medal Spot for 2003, and in my opinion is a
high contender for game of the decade. Bioware at it’s best, pulling the
twists, directing the play with the hint of player choice thrown in, and with
gameplay that is phenomenal.
Epilogue
Well
that was 2003 in Gaming – ish, there are some notable mentions to other games
I’m sure but I can’t be fucked to go into them. They didn’t make my Top 10 so
they don’t deserve a mention right now. The next Top Ten Games list will
funnily enough, come from 2004 where I’m sure we can expect an exciting trip
down memory lane, as we get closer to the present day. Happy Gaming!
Toolbox 24
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