Mark's Pick: Sacrifice
It
was a weird year for Shiny. Going from Messiah to Sacrifice is like
eating lunch at McDonalds and then having dinner at the Ritz-Carlton.
Sacrifice is a hard game to pin down. As an RTS, there are better
ones out there. As an action game, again, you can do better. But
there is no action-RTS hybrid quite like this. Its quirky.
Its inventive. Its charming. It has great 3D graphics
and good camera control. Its more polished than the Marquis
de Sades boots. Get this game and get your mind out of the
gutter and stop thinking about what goes on at the Marquis
place. Sacrifice is more fun.
Tom's Pick: Majesty
On
the surface it might look like a conventional RTS, but what you
really have here is the spiritual heir to Populous. In Majesty,
you are the prime but not the sole mover. You set
things in motion, but the little people and elves and gnomes in
your kingdom cobble together their own destinies, sometimes following
your lure, sometimes slaves to their own natures. Very few games
have the courage or design acumen -- to limit the player's
involvement without making him feel left out. But Majesty is a fascinating
fantasy-themed fishbowl, not unlike being a Dungeon Master or a
minor deity.
The Best Game of 2000
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