Top 10 PC Exclusives

IT’S CHRISTMAS!!! And you know what that means don’t you? It’s time to whip out your wallet and hand over your hard-earned cash for some seriously good games. In this special series of VideoGamer.com Top Tens, we list the best exclusive games for each of the major seven platforms. Today, it’s the PC’s turn to shine. Want to know what the best games exclusively available on the PC are? Scroll down and find out.

10. No One Lives Forever – 2000

It’s true, no-one lives forever – but if you make a big impression, people tend not to forget about you. So it was with wonder spy Cate Archer – the Liz Hurley-like star of No One Lives Forever. With its tongue wedged firmly in its cheek, NOLF owed more to Austin Powers than to James Bond. Your arsenal included lethal perfumes, exploding lipsticks, and a robotic poodle that could seduce guard dogs, but the game had other tricks up its sleeve too – notably an AI system that allowed enemies to hear your movements. At the time, this seemed pretty darn impressive. Technology has moved on, but NOLF’s pithy script and sharp humour has leant the game a certain timeless quality.

9. Company of Heroes – 2006

The real-time strategy genre isn’t for everyone, but that hasn’t stopped Relic from having a jolly good go at making it so. Company of Heroes, set during World War II, is easily one of the greatest RTS games of all time. It’s simple to grasp and easy to use – two qualities the genre isn’t well known for. The lack of resource gathering might put off some hardcore fans, but everyone else will be too busy marvelling at the game’s stupendous brilliance to care. The explosions are spectacular, the action is fast and frantic, and there’s never a dull moment. The RTS for non-RTS players.

8. Diablo II – 2000

It’s nearly a decade old, but Diablo II still kicks hellish lumps out of most modern-day PC games. The premise is simple: you point and click your way through an endless procession of dungeons, hacking and slashing and casting spells left, right and centre. Your reward is loot. Lots and lots of loot. This is why Diablo II is one of the best PC games around. Once you get the loot bug, that’s it. There is no cure. All you can do is feed your burning hunger for shiny new stuff by playing the game for hours on end. As with all Blizzard games it’s easy to learn, hard to master, and polished to within an inch of its life. And don’t worry about multiplayer, either – there are still loads of people playing the game online.

7. Baldur’s Gate II – 2000

Baldur’s Gate II is so more than one of the greatest PC games of all time. BioWare’s epic fantasy adventure was a formative experience for so many gamers that it’s regularly cited as the greatest game of all time. It’s hard to argue with such praise: the game doesn’t look great by modern standards, and the isometric perspective might perplex some younger gamers, but it’s still as epic and engrossing as any “next-gen” role-player. The party system is joy to behold, and the combat always challenges you to think before you fight. Baldur’s Gate II’s influence can not be understated. Its success paved the way for BioWare’s own Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and then the shooter/RPG Mass Effect. PC gaming at its very best.

6. Warcraft III – 2002

Warcraft III is still played by millions of real-time strategy fans years after its release because it is perhaps the most balanced, rewarding RTS ever created. The Humans, Orcs, Night Elves and Undead are playable races so cleverly realised that no single army dominates. But that’s not all WC3’s got up its loin cloth. Unlike most RTS games, it includes an engrossing single-player experience, with superb cut scenes and a captivating story packed with political machinations, drama and tragedy. Blizzard games have always had a magical evergreen quality that defies the normal ageing process (Ryan Giggs was, in fact, a Blizzard-developed footballer). WC3 and its subsequent expansions are no different.

5. Football Manager 2010 – 2009

Who’d of thought a database with a few visual bells and whistles would prove so popular? Back in the day all you had was an updating text commentary of key events, but even with annual iterations and technical improvements (we’ve now got a 3D match engine) the reason for playing remains the same: you want that feeling of guiding your club to victory, be it a hard-fought local derby at a club fighting for survival in the lower leagues or seeing your captain smash in the winner against Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League final. The franchise isn’t without competition – EA’s FIFA Manager and the Eidos-published Championship Manager are gaining ground – but as it stands Football Manager 2010 is the only game playing in the Premier League.

4. Counter-Strike – 2000

On the dusty streets of an abandoned town, somewhere in the Middle East (or what we imagine it to look like), two groups are fighting to the death. One side are the boo-hiss terrorists, on the other are the righteous counter-terrorists (who probably come from a country that sold the terrorists their weapons in the first place). However, the real battle is one you face alone: will you finally go to bed now, or will you stay up for one more round? With Counter-Strike, there’s always one more round. If Amy Winehouse played video games, this would be her poison. And when she inevitably over-dosed, we would bury her withered frame in de_dust2, laying her down for eternal rest next to bomb site B.

3. Crysis – 2007

If you own a high-end PC, and you like showing off to your mates about your machine’s prowess, the chances are you own a copy of Crysis. So strong is the game’s reputation for graphical excellence that it’s very name has become a by-word for the high water mark of PC gaming. But aside from being drop-dead gorgeous, Crysis is also a top class shooter. Your AI foes are hard as nails, while the high-tech nanosuit allows for all sorts of stealth and gung-ho tactics. Okay, so the plot leaves a little to be desired – but there are plenty of mods to spice things up when you get bored of the main game. If you’ve not done so already, check out the Back To The Future DeLorean mod. It’s mental, mental, chicken oriental (to use the technical term).

2. Deus Ex – 2000

It’s the end of the world as we know it, and agent JC Denton feels fine. Half the world is dying of an alien plague, while the other half is wrapped up in some form of sinister conspiracy, but good ol’ Denty isn’t bothered. He’s got five billion dollars worth of nano-technology under his skin, it’s dark, and he’s wearing sunglasses. Deus Ex is his story, but it’s also your story: if you want to be a Sam Fisher type, creeping your way to the truth with a Predator-like cloak, you can be; if you want to be a walking tank with the power to eat bullets, that can be arranged, too. Deus Ex is a sci-fi masterpiece, packed with robots, secret governments, and electronic deities; look past the aging graphics (or download a fan-made texture patch) and you’ll find a thrilling adventure that you’ll never forget.

1. World of Warcraft – 2004

How can 12 million people be wrong? World of Warcraft is easily the greatest massively multiplayer game of all time, and our pick as the greatest PC-exclusive game ever created. No game, console or otherwise, has revolutionised its genre with such speed and ferocity. More importantly, WoW’s mainstream like Nintendo’s mainstream. Your mum knows about WoW. Jonathan Ross knows about WoW. And there’s a good chance that your dog knows about WoW, too. This being Blizzard though, WoW’s got the gameplay to back up its stellar popularity, with epic dungeons, slick classes and vivid environments. Playing WoW is like eating really expensive Marks & Spencer chocolate: it’s delicious, silky smooth and dangerously addictive.

Check back tomorrow for our run down of the ten greatest PS3-exclusive games.