The 101 Best PC Games Ever, Part Four

CVG has posted the fourth installment to their “The 101 Best PC Games Ever” feature, this time recognizing Diablo II (#25), Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn (#23), Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (#22), Fallout (#21), World of Warcraft (#15), The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (#13), System Shock 2 (#7), The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (#4), and Deus Ex (#1). Their blurb for Morrowind:

Ooh, aren’t we controversial? Yes, but constant bickering among the PCZ team has left the Vvardenfell lobby victorious. The argument runs thusly: Morrowind is a better game than Oblivion, if only for the things that Bethesda sacrificed in their pursuit of making the latter that bit more action-orientated. Consider that moment three hours into the game when you realise you’ve covered only a minute fraction of the map – the sheer scope of Morrowind’s world is breathtaking even by today’s standards. It focused on creating a rich, deep back-story for every faction and race, and its lore and fantastically varied environments were more enjoyable to delve into than Oblivion’s.

You were also more attached to your character and his role in the story. More practically, the taxi-like Silt Striders were infinitely better for RPG gameplay than the adventure-impeding Fast Travel feature, while the levelling system made you feel like you were actually getting progressively stronger and pushing further into the game’s wilderness. The absence of voice-acting allowed characters to move beyond the somewhat restrictive vocal talents of Oblivion’s actors. In retrospect, the combat was pretty crap, but hell, we stuck with it regardless, and if that’s not a measure of this game’s brilliance we don’t know what is.

Agreed.