Sharon's Computer Games

I like computer games, but I rarely buy new games. Why should I, when there are so many good ones stacked up on my shelves that I haven't even played yet? Playing obsolete computer games is like listening to an oldies station - all the mediocre songs have been forgotten, only the great ones remain.

I also like making lists. Here are a few of them. I have actually written reviews of all the games I've finished and most of the ones I've started. I hope to post the reviews eventually. If anybody who stumbles on this page would like a review or a comment on any of the games listed here, email me and I will happily tell you what I think. But for now, just the lists.

If you like older games but you don't necessarily need to own them forever after you've played them, check out the Used Game Trading Zone. This is a wonderful, stable, well-run site that lets people trade games with each other FOR FREE. You can see my listing of wanted and available games at: http://gametz.com/user/sharoo.html.

Games In Progress (Release Date)

The Sims

Gaming Log
4/26/2002: The Sims is such a dumb game, why can't I stop playing it? Get up, make breakfast, take a bath - ooh, don't forget to go to the bathroom! Oh-oh, too late. Oh, well, let the maid clean it up. (Tip: ALWAYS hire a maid, no matter how entry-level your Sims' jobs may be). Let's invite the neighbors over for hot-tubbing again tonight, hon. You need two more family friends to get that big promotion! Well, off to work. "Soo soo!"

4/26/2002
10:00 pm *blecch* This game is BORING. Let's play Half-Life for awhile. Let's see, where am I? Oh, right, take a ride on the Mine Train Railroad. Hey, look, I can speed up and slow down. Cool. YIPES! One of those poisonous hanging things - duck! wowowowowowoooo - houndeyes! Pull out the machine gun and let 'em have it. Rumble-rumble-rumble-screech - another corner, more houndeyes *BAM BAM BAM* and one of those ick-monsters that spits toxic yellow slime *yeccch*. Hey, the cart stopped. And all the monsters are dead. Can't see any way to get up into the control booth up there. Maybe I'll just creep around in the shadows for awhile. Oh look, there's a ledge alongside the tracks; it goes on and on. Boxes to smash, stuff to find. Lookin' good. What's around this corner? Oh, nooooo... fat head crabs falling from the ceiling! They're everywhere - *smash squish* *ugh* *ouch* - damn, I'm dead. Well, that was unpleasant. I'm covered with slime and dead as a doornail. Should I *sigh* reload and come around that corner a little slower next time? Or....
   Hmm. I wonder how that hot-tub party is going back in Sim Suburb? Maybe I'll by them one of those new pinball machines I downloaded yesterday to liven up the party...

4/27/2002 So, I'm grocery shopping, and come around a stack of toilet paper and there's a big rack of bargain computer games (this is real-life, by the way, not Sim Suburb. The Sims never leave their adorable little houses). $9.99, your pick. Do I need a copy of Dracula: the Last Sanctuary? Probably not, but I'm in a supermarket, for heaven's sake, my defenses are low. So I buy it. Then look at a few unflattering reviews online and get discouraged. So I add it to my "Available" list on the Used Game Trading Zone. Then I take off the shrink wrap and give it a try. It's a pleasant surprise - a lot better than I was expecting. It starts with a fantastic cut scene (apparently the ending of the previous game) that's so much fun I watch it twice. Then a slightly less dramatic cut scene of what looks like a Dracula hand puppet leering and hissing as he gives instructions to his faithful minions. Then I'm off to Carfax House for a little adventuring. I wasn't crazy about the Dracula puppet, but the Creepy Old House graphics are good, and the background sounds are appropriately, well, creepy. It's a Myst-style adventure game. Point-click-move (kchunk). Swivel around and look for the next hotspot. Point-click-move (kchunk).
      I find a mysterious medallion and an old oil-can. Well, that's cool. Finding stuff is always fun. I creak my way into the house and up the stairs. I find more stuff, pull it out of my inventory, click on doors and candlesticks and pieces of furniture. I successfully light a candle, which helps me find a key, which opens a door, and so on. I move a corpse and take a key off his watch chain, and ***KBAMMMM** a big, slavering bat-monster has smashed down the door behind me and is hulking towards me! I pull out my gun (which I had taken the precaution of loading as soon as I found it in my inventory), but bullets have no effect on the thing. I never learn though, and continue to empty my gun into the bat creature while it sloowwwwly advances. Suddenly, it's in my face, incredibly evil little bat-eyes and bat-fangs looming over me, and then I'm dead. Yikes, that was actually scary! Not as bad as Halflife head crabs, though. I repeat the sequence a couple more times, and convince myself that there is no way to kill the bat creature with the gun. I wonder if I'm supposed to have picked up a clove of garlic downstairs or something. Rather than run around looking for hotspots, I download a walkthrough, which gets me through the next 2 steps. (Hey, I never said I was GOOD at these games.) I successfully solve the next coupla puzzles, and feeling quite clever, sign off for the night. I'm actually enjoying this game.

4/29/2002    It occurs to me that if Cheryl takes the day off and spends the entire day schmoozing, the Blakes may actually end up with enough friends to get promoted! I bring up the Sims, and buy the Blakes a virtual reality toy, just because it is such a hoot watching them wander around the house waving their hands in front of them and talking to themselves. Hot-tubbing is still the best way to win friends in a hurry, though.
   Eventually my husband wanders in, and I pop in the Dracula CD, just so he can watch the movie sequence at the beginning. It's now the third time I've seen it, but it's still fun.

**Gaming Log**
4/26/2002:	The Sims is such a dumb game, why can't I stop playing it? Get up, make breakfast, take a bath - ooh, don't forget to go to the bathroom! Oh-oh, too late. Oh, well, let the maid clean it up. (Tip: ALWAYS hire a maid, no matter how entry-level your Sims' jobs may be). Let's invite the neighbors over for hot-tubbing again tonight, hon. You need two more family friends to get that big promotion! Well, off to work. "Soo soo!"
4/26/2002 10:00 pm	blecch This game is BORING. Let's play Half-Life for awhile. Let's see, where am I? Oh, right, take a ride on the Mine Train Railroad. Hey, look, I can speed up and slow down. Cool. YIPES! One of those poisonous hanging things - duck! wowowowowowoooo - houndeyes! Pull out the machine gun and let 'em have it. Rumble-rumble-rumble-screech - another corner, more houndeyes BAM BAM BAM and one of those ick-monsters that spits toxic yellow slime yeccch. Hey, the cart stopped. And all the monsters are dead. Can't see any way to get up into the control booth up there. Maybe I'll just creep around in the shadows for awhile. Oh look, there's a ledge alongside the tracks; it goes on and on. Boxes to smash, stuff to find. Lookin' good. What's around this corner? Oh, nooooo... fat head crabs falling from the ceiling! They're everywhere - smash squish ugh ouch - damn, I'm dead. Well, that was unpleasant. I'm covered with slime and dead as a doornail. Should I sigh reload and come around that corner a little slower next time? Or.... Hmm. I wonder how that hot-tub party is going back in Sim Suburb? Maybe I'll by them one of those new pinball machines I downloaded yesterday to liven up the party...
4/27/2002	So, I'm grocery shopping, and come around a stack of toilet paper and there's a big rack of bargain computer games (this is real-life, by the way, not Sim Suburb. The Sims never leave their adorable little houses). $9.99, your pick. Do I need a copy of Dracula: the Last Sanctuary? Probably not, but I'm in a supermarket, for heaven's sake, my defenses are low. So I buy it. Then look at a few unflattering reviews online and get discouraged. So I add it to my "Available" list on the Used Game Trading Zone. Then I take off the shrink wrap and give it a try. It's a pleasant surprise - a lot better than I was expecting. It starts with a fantastic cut scene (apparently the ending of the previous game) that's so much fun I watch it twice. Then a slightly less dramatic cut scene of what looks like a Dracula hand puppet leering and hissing as he gives instructions to his faithful minions. Then I'm off to Carfax House for a little adventuring. I wasn't crazy about the Dracula puppet, but the Creepy Old House graphics are good, and the background sounds are appropriately, well, creepy. It's a Myst-style adventure game. Point-click-move (kchunk). Swivel around and look for the next hotspot. Point-click-move (kchunk). I find a mysterious medallion and an old oil-can. Well, that's cool. Finding stuff is always fun. I creak my way into the house and up the stairs. I find more stuff, pull it out of my inventory, click on doors and candlesticks and pieces of furniture. I successfully light a candle, which helps me find a key, which opens a door, and so on. I move a corpse and take a key off his watch chain, and *KBAMMMM a big, slavering bat-monster has smashed down the door behind me and is hulking towards me! I pull out my gun (which I had taken the precaution of loading as soon as I found it in my inventory), but bullets have no effect on the thing. I never learn though, and continue to empty my gun into the bat creature while it sloowwwwly advances. Suddenly, it's in my face, incredibly evil little bat-eyes and bat-fangs looming over me, and then I'm dead. Yikes, that was actually scary! Not as bad as Halflife head crabs, though. I repeat the sequence a couple more times, and convince myself that there is no way to kill the bat creature with the gun. I wonder if I'm supposed to have picked up a clove of garlic downstairs or something. Rather than run around looking for hotspots, I download a walkthrough, which gets me through the next 2 steps. (Hey, I never said I was GOOD at these games.) I successfully solve the next coupla puzzles, and feeling quite clever, sign off for the night. I'm actually enjoying this game.
4/29/2002	It occurs to me that if Cheryl takes the day off and spends the entire day schmoozing, the Blakes may actually end up with enough friends to get promoted! I bring up the Sims, and buy the Blakes a virtual reality toy, just because it is such a hoot watching them wander around the house waving their hands in front of them and talking to themselves. Hot-tubbing is still the best way to win friends in a hurry, though. Eventually my husband wanders in, and I pop in the Dracula CD, just so he can watch the movie sequence at the beginning. It's now the third time I've seen it, but it's still fun.

Games in Progress Games that have no end - and have devoured many hours of my life! Next on the List

Half Life
Messiah
Dracula: the Last Sanctuary

The Sims [current obsession]
Roller Coaster Tycoon
Sim City 2000
Sim Copter
Streets of Sim City
Creatures Tetris
Gubble
IceBreaker
3D Ultra Pinball Shanghai
Knight Moves
Freecell

No One Lives Forever
Thief / Thief II
System Shock 2

Games that I have played all the way
to the end, and my ratings (on a scale of 10) Games that I played quite a bit of,
but never finished, and probably never will Just Dabbled

1. 1996 Myst                      8.1
2. 7/96 GK1-Sins of the Fathers   8.0
3. 1997 Zork Nemesis              8.0
4. 10/97 Shivers                  8.0
5. 10/97 Shivers2                 8.0
6. Fall 97 Consulting Detective 6.3
7. 11/97 Rose Tattoo              5.0
8. 12/97 Day of the Tentacle      6.0
9. 12/97 Azrael's Tear            8.3
10. Q1 98 Torin's Passage          5.2
11. Q1 98 Toonstruck               5.7
12. 3/98 Amber: Journeys Beyond    4.8
13. 7/98 Pandora Directive         7.3
14. 7/98 Obsidian                  8.3
15. 8/98 Bladerunner               5.0
16. 10/98 Realms of the Haunting   7.3
17. 11/98 Under a Killing Moon     7.2
18. 7/99 Overseer                  7.3
19. 8/99 Full Throttle             5.5
20. 10/99 Sanitarium               6.3
21. 11/99 Beast Within             6.8
22. 10/01 Deus Ex                 10.0 Last Express (excellent)
Dark Earth (very good)
Space Bar (extremely creative)
Monkey Island 1 (classic)
Monkey Island 2 (exactly like #1)
Grim Fandango (very good)
Curse of Monkey Island (derivative)
Callahan's Crosstime Saloon (good)
Starship Titanic (terrible)
Black Dahlia (intriguing, but slow)
Timelapse (resoundingly mediocre)
Koala Lumpur (very clever)
Broken Sword (well-produced)
Lighthouse (terrible)
Case of the Serrated Scalpel
Broken Sword 2: Smoking Mirror
Unreal (almost finished!)
Temujin (very slow)

Maybe I'll go back to these some day

Riddle of Master Lu
Freddy Pharkas, Frontier Pharmacist
Laura Bow: the Colonel's Bequest
Woodruff and the Schnibble
Sam & Max Hit the Road
Indiana Jones & the Fate of Atlantis

A little bit was enough

Riven
9: The Last Resort
Alone in the Dark
Return to Zork
The 7th Guest
Zork Grand Inquisitor
Discworld 1 and 2
Afterlife

Game Reviews - completed games
Just capsule reviews for now. Games are listed in order of how much I liked them. But remember, I liked ALL of these games enough to finish them. Even the lowest rated game on the list is still a very good game in my estimation.

Game (release date) my
rating Capsule Review

Deus Ex (2001) 10.0 Simply the best action-oriented computer game ever made.

Azrael's Tear (1996) 8.3 A brilliantly written, spell-binding action-adventure, tragically underappreciated. By far the best of the Knights Templar story games.

Obsidian 8.3 A quirky, minimalist masterpiece. It's a simple Myst-style adventure game. But the artwork is beautiful, the puzzles are absolutely unique, and every one of them is solvable through a mixture of logic and intuition.

Myst (1995) 8.1 Beautiful, haunting, brilliant. Launched an entire genre of computer games, and hooked my family on PC gaming.

Gabriel Knight:
Sins of the Fathers (1994) 8.0 Another game that created a whole genre. I think it's the first serious story-driven adventure game set in the more-or-less real world. The graphics are old-fashioned, but the story is first-rate. Also, you learn heaps about the history of New Orleans voodoo.

Zork Nemesis 8.0 The best Myst-clone ever made. A deep, haunting story-line; logic-based puzzles; great art; characters you care about (although most of them are dead before the story starts) and a quasi-3D movement system.

Shivers 8.0 Purely a puzzle game, but just a delight to play. The bright colors and imaginative score are a great change of pace from the dreary palette in most of the Myst-style puzzlers. Good kids game - not too scary.

Shivers II 8.0 Much like Shivers1, but better. Some technical improvements, more of a plot. I think I gave Shivers 1 extra points for its innovative look and feel, which is why the ratings came out the same. Spookier than Shivers1, but still ok for kids.

Realms of the Haunting 7.3 This game changed me forever. When I started playing I was an adventure gamer with a bias against shooters. Now I'm playing HalfLife. I was drawn in by the complex historical-horror plot, immersive 1st-person perspective and beautifully drawn monsters.

Pandora Directive 7.3 The Tex Murphy games are in a class by themselves. Why aren't there more FPAs (First Person Adventures)? I just love having the ability to walk, run, climb and crawl my way through a mystery adventure. Tons of interesting characters, well-acted FMV cut-scenes, and immersive story, although plot is weak towards the end.

Overseer 7.3 Probably the best-written of the Murphy games, but I was so irritated by the unreasonable system requirements that I took points off for it. It barely moved on my Pentium 133, but I finished it anyway, which says something.

Under A Killing Moon 7.2 The precursor to Pandora. Technically inferior (much shorter, for one thing), but the plot actually holds together better, so it's pretty much a wash. Game designer Chris Jones' debut as Tex Murphy in the FMV sequences.

Gabriel Knight:
the Beast Within (1996) 6.8 A disappointment after GK1. The presumed technical improvements (especially the FMV) are intrusive and slow the game down. The story line is very good, but the environment has less detail and the characters are not developed at all. Gabe keeps smirking and tossing his hair back. I liked him better when he was pixellated and voiced by an overacting Tim Curry.

Sherlock Holmes:
Consulting Detective (1993) 6.3 A surprisingly diverting little game. It's old and the technology is primitive, but the mysteries are great fun to solve. The main caveat is that it's short: at most 6 hours of gameplay per "volume" (there are 3 volumes).

Sanitarium 6.3 Very creative horror-adventure with an unusual setting. I was disappointed that the plot never quite gelled, however. I think that it could have made a lot more sense without sacrificing the impressionistic atmosphere. High creepiness factor - not recommended for kids.

Day of the Tentacle 6.0 My favorite of the comic LucasArt adventures. The gags just keep on coming, and there's a kind of loopy cartoon logic behind the puzzles, ridiculous though they are.

Toonstruck 5.8 An underrated adventure game in the classic mode, made by people who love cartoons. Excellent animation and consistently good inventory-driven, wacky-logic puzzles. I didn't find it particularly funny, however.

Full Throttle 5.5 Your basic LucasArt comic adventure with a slightly more serious plot. The formula works better with a more comical plot, but this is still fun.

Torin's Passage 5.2 A beautifully animated, very well-produced fantasy-adventure. Hackneyed plot, but lots of comical side characters, and tons of inventory-based puzzles, ranging from utterly delightful to extremely tedious. Excellent kids game.

Sherlock Holmes: Case
of the Rose Tattoo 5.0 The most frustrating game that I have ever actually finished. The writing was pretty good, the recreation of Victorian London was delightful, the linearity of the puzzles was aggravating, and the sloowwwwness with which the characters twitched and fidgeted their way across the screen was infuriating. Still, I'm glad I played it.

Bladerunner 5.0 As an interactive movie, it's a masterpiece. As a game, it's only mediocre. Fantastic visual/aural recreation of the look and feel of the Bladerunner movie. Interesting plot (although with some lapses). Unfortunately, the game kind of plays itself - the gamer has few decisions to make. Could have been so much more.

Amber: Journeys Beyond 4.8 A fun little game, but very short and simple. It's really just 3 interactive ghost stories, rather movingly presented. You solve a little puzzle and you get the next chapter of the story as a reward. Recommended for kids.

Last updated: 4/30/2002
email me at sharon@kahnhome.org

Game (release date)	my rating	Capsule Review
Deus Ex (2001)	10.0	Simply the best action-oriented computer game ever made.
Azrael's Tear (1996)	8.3	A brilliantly written, spell-binding action-adventure, tragically underappreciated. By far the best of the Knights Templar story games.
Obsidian	8.3	A quirky, minimalist masterpiece. It's a simple Myst-style adventure game. But the artwork is beautiful, the puzzles are absolutely unique, and every one of them is solvable through a mixture of logic and intuition.
Myst (1995)	8.1	Beautiful, haunting, brilliant. Launched an entire genre of computer games, and hooked my family on PC gaming.
Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers (1994)	8.0	Another game that created a whole genre. I think it's the first serious story-driven adventure game set in the more-or-less real world. The graphics are old-fashioned, but the story is first-rate. Also, you learn heaps about the history of New Orleans voodoo.
Zork Nemesis	8.0	The best Myst-clone ever made. A deep, haunting story-line; logic-based puzzles; great art; characters you care about (although most of them are dead before the story starts) and a quasi-3D movement system.
Shivers	8.0	Purely a puzzle game, but just a delight to play. The bright colors and imaginative score are a great change of pace from the dreary palette in most of the Myst-style puzzlers. Good kids game - not too scary.
Shivers II	8.0	Much like Shivers1, but better. Some technical improvements, more of a plot. I think I gave Shivers 1 extra points for its innovative look and feel, which is why the ratings came out the same. Spookier than Shivers1, but still ok for kids.
Realms of the Haunting	7.3	This game changed me forever. When I started playing I was an adventure gamer with a bias against shooters. Now I'm playing HalfLife. I was drawn in by the complex historical-horror plot, immersive 1st-person perspective and beautifully drawn monsters.
Pandora Directive	7.3	The Tex Murphy games are in a class by themselves. Why aren't there more FPAs (First Person Adventures)? I just love having the ability to walk, run, climb and crawl my way through a mystery adventure. Tons of interesting characters, well-acted FMV cut-scenes, and immersive story, although plot is weak towards the end.
Overseer	7.3	Probably the best-written of the Murphy games, but I was so irritated by the unreasonable system requirements that I took points off for it. It barely moved on my Pentium 133, but I finished it anyway, which says something.
Under A Killing Moon	7.2	The precursor to Pandora. Technically inferior (much shorter, for one thing), but the plot actually holds together better, so it's pretty much a wash. Game designer Chris Jones' debut as Tex Murphy in the FMV sequences.
Gabriel Knight: the Beast Within (1996)	6.8	A disappointment after GK1. The presumed technical improvements (especially the FMV) are intrusive and slow the game down. The story line is very good, but the environment has less detail and the characters are not developed at all. Gabe keeps smirking and tossing his hair back. I liked him better when he was pixellated and voiced by an overacting Tim Curry.
Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective (1993)	6.3	A surprisingly diverting little game. It's old and the technology is primitive, but the mysteries are great fun to solve. The main caveat is that it's short: at most 6 hours of gameplay per "volume" (there are 3 volumes).
Sanitarium	6.3	Very creative horror-adventure with an unusual setting. I was disappointed that the plot never quite gelled, however. I think that it could have made a lot more sense without sacrificing the impressionistic atmosphere. High creepiness factor - not recommended for kids.
Day of the Tentacle	6.0	My favorite of the comic LucasArt adventures. The gags just keep on coming, and there's a kind of loopy cartoon logic behind the puzzles, ridiculous though they are.
Toonstruck	5.8	An underrated adventure game in the classic mode, made by people who love cartoons. Excellent animation and consistently good inventory-driven, wacky-logic puzzles. I didn't find it particularly funny, however.
Full Throttle	5.5	Your basic LucasArt comic adventure with a slightly more serious plot. The formula works better with a more comical plot, but this is still fun.
Torin's Passage	5.2	A beautifully animated, very well-produced fantasy-adventure. Hackneyed plot, but lots of comical side characters, and tons of inventory-based puzzles, ranging from utterly delightful to extremely tedious. Excellent kids game.
Sherlock Holmes: Case of the Rose Tattoo	5.0	The most frustrating game that I have ever actually finished. The writing was pretty good, the recreation of Victorian London was delightful, the linearity of the puzzles was aggravating, and the sloowwwwness with which the characters twitched and fidgeted their way across the screen was infuriating. Still, I'm glad I played it.
Bladerunner	5.0	As an interactive movie, it's a masterpiece. As a game, it's only mediocre. Fantastic visual/aural recreation of the look and feel of the Bladerunner movie. Interesting plot (although with some lapses). Unfortunately, the game kind of plays itself - the gamer has few decisions to make. Could have been so much more.
Amber: Journeys Beyond	4.8	A fun little game, but very short and simple. It's really just 3 interactive ghost stories, rather movingly presented. You solve a little puzzle and you get the next chapter of the story as a reward. Recommended for kids.