X-COM: Apocalypse

Live Alien spotted.

They came from space, they came from the sea, and now they're coming through teleporters hovering above our megacities, infiltrating corporations to take over what's left of the world from the inside out.

That's the backstory to X-COM: Apocalypse in a nutshell, and it's more than I knew before going in. I know of X-COM, of course, but didn't know that it would go on to become what Apocalypse is, and what Apocalypse is is more of the same, sure, but also a whole lot more.

The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery

When the point and click fans go marching in...

Do you think I'm the kind of person to know of the Grabriel Knight series of point and click adventure games? I'm not the kind of person to know that Gabriel Knight is a name that is even associated with video games, let alone that it's the name of the lead character in a bunch of point and click adventure games.

If I don't know that, then there's no chance in Hell that I'd know that The Beast Within, the second game in the series, went down the full motion video, interactive movie route, putting blue-screened actors inside digital photos where, somewhere, there exists the thing you need to click on to progress the plot.

After reading that it was indeed a point and click with real people, I was interested in playing it. The introduction movie gives me no ideas as to what's going on, but what's new there? It's got fire and German folks in it, that's about all I gathered before being introduced to Gabriel Knight himself.

BioForge

An Interactive Movie

Imagine a world where Alone in the Dark didn't look like a cartoon, was set in space and starred a cyborg with so little human flesh remaining that even Darth Vader or a Dalek would seem more of a human. That's BioForge. A mysterious adventure game that tasks you with regaining your memory, escaping evil and struggling with tank controls. What fun!

It looks really rather good, and I've got no knowledge of what it is beyond what's written about it in the 1001 book. So, let's tell you the story of how I've come to be holding a severed arm...

Ultima VII

I shall be your companion... your provider... and your master!

Somewhere, many years ago, I caught sight of Ultima VII on YouTube - one of the versions at least. I don't know whether it was The Black Gate, Forge of Virtue, Serpent Isle or The Silver Seed, but I am definitely aware that Ultima VII is an interesting looking top down role playing game.

The 1001 list expresses this title to be the peak of the Ultima series, with designer Richard Garriott holding it as one of his favourites - though with two parts, each with an expansion, there's a lot of Ultima VII that players should find something to like, right?

Let's dive right into The Black Gate and see what's what.

Alone in the Dark

"I have freed hellish forces and now the price must be paid."

I never imagined Alone in the Dark to be so bright and colourful. It's plot certainly isn't. Jeremy Hartwood has committed suicide, though some people think there's something else going on at his mansion, and a couple of them are prepared and determined enough to find out first hand.

You play as either Edward Carnby, the private investigator, or Emily Hartwood, Jeremy's niece in a fixed camera 3D survival horror game that, as I said, is bright and colourful.

What's going on here?

Alter Ego

How did you turn out?

Back in the day, a few friends of mine kept banging on about what they did in The Sims. While it was often humorous, I didn't have a PC good enough, nor an interest strong enough in playing it to see what the fuss what about.

Fast forward ten or so years, and I'm travelling back thirty years to play Alter Ego, a life simulation text adventure hybrid that allows you to live out an alternative life, just like The Sims, only without the graphics and the mods and the ability to choose anything more than a few options.

It even came in two versions, Male and Female, just like life itself - the black and white binary world in which we live, with its clearly delineate-oh who am I kidding, having only two versions was acceptable in the 80s.

I know nothing of this game, and a little more than nothing about life, so it's about time to dive right in.

The Bard's Tale

The song I sing will tell the tale of a cold and wintery day...

Sorry Omar...

I believe I've only ever known of The Bard's Tale as a 3D action RPG, and being faaaiirly certain that the Bard's Tale I know wasn't released as early as 1985, that meant having to track down the original Bard's Tale.

Luckily, it and its two sequels come bundled with the PC release of The Bard's Tale that I am familiar with, so let's dive right in.