Britain. Brittania. England and Scotland being the only ones to make worthy entries to the land of gaming,( yeh thats right wales) Britain has a knack for producing innovative games, usually on a low budget and creating things truly special that spawn into series we know and love today. Ok heres my Top 7 British games
7: Shogun Total War
What can you say about the first total war game? There is only one word to describe this series. Epic. Taking place in the sengoku jidai period of japan, Total war places you as the warlord of one of japans major clans all battling out for supremecy to become Shogun of Japan. The game featured revolutionary battles, something absolutely amazing in the year 2000 players could battle with huge armies of thousands of men, fighting it out like their baguette was stuck in the washing machine, and ultimately ending in a victory or loss.
In the year 2000, 3D models for each of the units would have destroyed anyones computers, not to mention look pretty blocky and awful, so they chose multiple well animated sprites to use for each unit, with the map being 3D. This was a good decision, as it is fun to play even by todays standards when hardcore pc gamers cant even look at a game without 8X AA and 16XAF, none of which would have been present or needed in that day.
One of the main reasons the game achieved such popularity and spawned the sequels that it did was its campaign map. Featuring the whole of japan split into different territories, gamers could build their cities and castles up in a civilisation/risk style, increasing their defences the amount of "koku" (the games odd currency) it could produce, and different units with more powerful weapons and armour. Their was also a chance to create assasins, spies and diplomats to use against your enemies to kill off important generals and make lovely alliances. This game is more than deserving as going down as one of the most legendary RTS games ever made.
6: Tomb Raider
When the Derby based Core Design released this game in 1996, faith was returned into 32-Bit Gaming. Most of the 3D games released before it were often slow, and didnt look to good. Lara croft came in with her twin guns and oversized bust to show the world how an adventure game should be made. Having pretty nice graphics and wonderful flowinuity for the time, players experienced one of the first true 3D action adventure games.
This game was one of the main selling points for the original playstation. It involved great cutscenes, traps that wouldnt seem out of place in Prince Of Persia, puzzles and fighting a T-rex were all etched into the memories of those who played this brilliant game.
5: Timesplitters - Future Perfect
This game got so much right. An absolutley fantastic story mode featuring Cortez, everyones favourite Timesplitter with his innovative catchphrase "Time to Split!" taught gamers that FPS didnt have to be serious, and could have a pretty funny story line with great characters and hilarious unlockable ones like "Leo Krupps", "Stumpy", "Gilbert Gastric" and "Tin-Legs Tommy"
These unlockable characters could be used in the fantastic multiplayer modes. This game featured so much content, it seems a shame that games today can even so much as have DLC. Many people will remember the challenges modes and the mapmaker both abling you to keep playing for hours on end. Free Radical are now in administration, I only hope they can manage to finish Timesplitters 4 which im sure will keep the bankers happy.
4: Donkey Kong Country
Before Rareware made this games, it seemed as if mario`s first enemy would never return. Turns out he didnt, and the original donkey kong is actually Kranky Kong. This game was incredible. Featuring 3D animations created into 2d sprites, the games graphics looked slick, fluid and just fantaby.
The first thing I notice whenever I play this games is its awesome sound. Everything is in stereo, and couldnt sound more immersive for a 16 Bit game. Everywhere you look in this game you can just tell that a lot of work has been put into it, from great platforming and hidden bonus levels intricately woven into the stages, and nobody could forget the great animals you could find to help you on your quest to get King.K.Rool.
This game is my favourite 2D platformer of all time, and for me it edges out even Mario.
3: Grand Theft Auto 3
Many people are surprised when they learn that this is a British made game, scottish in fact. This game was developed by Edinburgh based Rockstar North (formerly DMA design) and published by Rockstar.
What can you say about GTA3? Everything to say about this game has been said and then some. Featuring a sandbox gameplay not ever imagined before, fantastic graphics gameplay in which you could not be playing the main game for hours and still be having a great time and prostitutes.
Not only was this game revolutionary, it was controversial. Shooting random bad guys turned into shooting policeman and ordinary people, stealing their cars then picking up prostitutes who could restore your health while you looked for the banshee on the first island or the dodo on the third. For me, I will always remember the cheats for this game, especially Riot mode where everybody would be fighting each other with bazookas grenades and other weapons of awesomitude which just added to the coolius maximusness or the main game.
2: Goldeneye
Goldeneye. Spoken about a million times and reviewed even more, your probably well versed to hearing this, this game is more than great.
Many people are not awate, but this was created by a team of developers who all but two, had never made a game before. This meant that they were willing to try things experienced developers may have thought too hard or just not possible, and so that led to a game with many great innovations.
One of the most popular things about this game, apart from its slick graphics and crazy gadgets is its super fun deathmatch mode. People would play this all the time, and the funness would never diminish, if the online revolution was earlier, this would surely have topped the bill.
It is untraditional in the FPS sense, as it was possible to use stealth to take out enemys. Silenced pistols and other weapons could be used to create a game that has been a staplemark of the FPS genre for years to come.
1: Black And White
OMG he put Black and white in front of Goldeneye! whats wrong with him! Well a games only as good as your memories with it, and this is why i think this is the best game ever developed in the British Isles
When lionhead set out to make this game, they knew that it had to be big. The first game that was truly a "god" game, this game had one of the most complex AIs ever created, inexplicably used in such an ingenious way that anybody who played this game knew they were playing something special.
You started off in a small way. Help to build the village by ripping up trees and giving them wood, get food and and build your temple. After this, there were a few quests to do that could progress you further in the game, the most important being the creature one. Getting a creature was simply amazing. You could mold this thing into anything you wanted, and over time it would grow into either a benevolant helper of the people or a destructive fire throwing monster.
One of the funniest things about this game is being evil. Throwing a villager across the island and watch the evil rating going up while they beg for mercy only to let your creature eat them then poo on their houses, while you set fire to their farms. Ultimately, this tactic led to my demise as by the 4th island i had no people left in my village and had to rethink my tactics slightly, killing only the enemys villager.
The first time you hear the booming voice of another god, or a portal being created to destroy your enemy just reminds you that there was no emotion that this game couldnt raise, and truly nothing that could beat it.
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