30 Classic PC Games That Still Rule
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#1. Baldur's Gate 1 & 2
There have been many, many electronic variants of Dungeons and Dragons, and the Baldur's Gate games were by no means the first. They were, however, the best. They succeeded in capturing the pen and paper experience most accurately. Even though later games set in the Forgotten Realms (and beyond) have fancier, 3D graphics and more recently rule books, none approach the epic majesty of Baldur's Gate.
The game begins with the creation of your character, who then finds him or herself in an inn. From there, you are quickly bid to leave the city, along with your childhood friend Imoen. From there, the meticulously detailed fantasy D&D world awaits. The Sword Coast is to be explored, and along the way you'll recruit new members to your party, battle monsters with the real-time (though pauseable) interface, and add to your character's inventories, stats and abilities. It's a complex, involving RPG with perhaps the greatest storyline in gaming.
#2. Fallout 1 & 2
Fantasy is the default theme for RPGs, so it's great when developers break from it. Fallout went for the post-apocalyptic theme, and executed it beautifully. Coming from Black Isle, the same team behind Baldur's Gate, you know they have the role-playing elements down pat. The character system is superb, and allows you to create most any character you like, from an ox-like brawler to a brainy scientist to a glib charmer. This allows for multiple paths through the game, and thus for fantastic re-playability.
The game starts off with the player emerging from, respectively, their underground Vault or tribal village on a quest to scour the Wasteland for the technological means to save their people. The nuke-scoured badlands are all that remains of America, a dark world, where what little remains of society has mutated (often literally) into a kind of Wild West. Some high technology remains, but for the most part it's a primitive, third world Hell of violence and desperation.
Fallout's environments are huge, with seemingly endless potential for side-quests and exploration. Dialogue and characters - recruit-able or otherwise, are flawless, and the combat system works well. You can't ask much more from an RPG really, and these first two titles in the Fallout series stand as monuments to gaming excellence.
