The 50 Best PC Games of All Time: Part One

The 50 Best PC Games of All Time: Part One

Hello! Rick here. I’m away from bit-tech this month, currently adjusting to the arrival of Player 3 into my life. But I didn’t want to disappear without leaving you something to read, so I’m taking this opportunity to do something I’ve wanted to for a long time – a rundown of my favourite PC games ever. So, each Friday of this month, I’ll be counting down what I believe to be the fifty best PC games of all time, 10 games at a time, over the course of five articles.

This is a personal list of favourites, and whittling it down was far more difficult than I anticipated. Hopefully a lot of your favourites will be included, although I’ve no doubt there will be a few surprises and a few more omissions. If you’re wondering why one of your own favourites doesn’t feature, it may well be due to one of a few caveats that I’ve added to this list, which are as follows:

Sequels:

If there’s one thing gaming is good at, it’s iterating upon an idea. However, there are hundreds of fantastic games in existence now, and I didn’t want this list of fifty to be a rundown of Thiefs, System Shocks, Half Lifes and Deus Exes. PC gaming is very diverse, and I wanted to represent at least some of that diversity. So I decided to only include one entry per series in this list, the game which I believe took that particular series’ ideas and represented them best.

Notable exemptions: Thief, System Shock, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Morrowind.

Games I haven’t played:

I’m sure this is obvious, but it’s worth stating in any case. I’ve played a lot of games over the years, but even when it’s your job, it’s simply impossible to play everything that has ever been created. I tend to avoid MMOs, for example, because I went down that rabbit hole once with Everquest, and am reluctant to do it again for the sake of my own health. Anyway, if I haven’t played it, then it won’t appear in this list. Sorry!

Notable exemptions: UFO: Enemy Unknown, Syndicate, World of Warcaft, Anachronox, EVE Online.

Games that aren’t for me:

Sometimes it’s possible to appreciate what a game does without particularly enjoying it. Maybe a shooter that is stylish and well-made doesn’t gel with your particular rhythms, or maybe you’re simply not all that into 4X games. Regardless, if I don’t become visibly excited when I talk about it, I wouldn’t feel comfortable adding it to this list.

Notable exemptions: Civilization, Dawn of War, Spelunky, Baldur’s Gate.

With that cleared up. Let’s get going!