A Brief History of Video Games Part3

Resident Evil flung survival horror to the forefront, with limited resources taxing your efforts against a biological hazard.

The gothic brown hues of Quake saw id further push the boundaries of the FPS, with a fully modelled world and early support for 3D acceleration play casino games in Ireland.

1997 saw perhaps the first successful console FPS, with the much-loved GoldenEye 007 from Rare: the four-player splitscreen deathmatch a particular highlight. The racing sim genre enjoyed the polished work of Polyphony's debut Gran Turismo: with a diverse set of cars and tracks making for a definitive driving experience. Rockstar North, then known as DMA Design, found a controversial hit in Grand Theft Auto: a top-down open world game in which larceny and murder are common currency.

Valve established their early reputation in 1998 with the expertly crafted science themed shooter: Half Life. The silent vent-crawling exploits of Gordon Freeman took the player on a fascinating and eventful tour of the Black Mesa research facility.

Similarly science fiction and an important milestone for the RTS genre is Blizzard's Starcraft: transposing the earlier Warcraft into a futuristic setting with 3-race interplay. Adventure games were in decline by the late 90s, but one beautiful swan song was the artful neo-noir tale of skeletal redemption in Grim Fandango. The Legend of Zelda entered the third dimenson with Ocarina of Time for the N64, universally loved and one of the highest-rated video games of all time.

1999 was a very good year for the FPS fan - with two competitive arena shooters facing off one another: Unreal Tournament from Epic, and id's Quake 3 Arena. By this point, 3D graphics were starting to mature, and so fast-paced polygonal action didn't need to compromise on graphical fidelity. First emerging as a mod for Half-Life, Counter-Strike boasted tense shooting action that would retain a huge audience to this day - and would go on to influence the later popularity of modern military shooters.

--- The new millennium saw both the PS2 and Gamecube launch, with the Xbox not too far behind. While these new consoles found their footing, PC gaming enjoyed some notable exclusives - for instance, the loot-fueled satanic exploits found in Diablo II. Cyberpunk RPG Deus Ex was met with much in the way of critical acclaim - with its open-ended approach to your character's goal, the game permitted the player to navigate their own way through dystopian conspiracy. Of a lighter tone, the virtual dollhouse of The Sims had universal appeal, with daily micromanagement taken from earlier sim titles and to the indulgence of pool-stair removing sadists everywhere.

2001 saw the return of the controversial Grand Theft Auto series, with the third entry broaching the third dimension with an ambitious open world. Microsoft acquired Bungie to secure exclusive rights to the Halo franchise as an Xbox launch title, in a deft move that would provide the platform's killer app.