moho_00 Curator Backer Posts: 6844 Registered: 6/10/2011
moho_00
# 1 - Posted on 11/11/2015 23:08:06

I was blown away when I saw Impossible Creatures was released on Steam today! I thought for sure that game was forgotten and possibly in copyright limbo (and without a fanbase like System Shock to get it out of limbo). But here it is!

This is a game I've wanted to play for a loooong time, ever since I was hooked on the demo when it first released. I didn't pick it up then and by the time I did, it didn't really work on my PC. Supposedly they have fixed compatibility issues (I'm installing now), so we'll see.

Anyways, in honor of this unexpected, yet awesome release, I'm going to gift someone a copy of the game! There weren't any takers on the X games yesterday, so I'll try to give this one away ;)

All you need to do to "enter" is list an older, underrated (and relatively unavailable) gem like Impossible Creatures and say why it deserves another chance in the spotlight. You have until 11/13/15 at 11:59PM EST to post and then I'll randomly select someone :D

dhobo Curator Backer Posts: 1965 Registered: 1/5/2015
darwinsocialism
# 2 - Posted on 11/12/2015 1:07:18

I remember playing this game ages ago making crazy whale-squirrel hybrids or something goofy along those lines to attack my enemies. Had some good potential, but iirc had some balancing issues.

Hardly underrated, but definitely falls under unavailable are the No One Lives Forever games. I only had the chance to play the first one, but it was really well done. Stupid thing is, they could literally be re-released tomorrow, all the work's been done to get them running on modern operating systems, but the games are stuck in copyright hell since no one seems to know who owns what. Meanwhile, the TPP will make sure that kind of nonsense can keep going for 150+ years or whatever length of time it's up to now. (Life + 70 years I think? Absurd)

Post Edited on 11/12/2015 1:08:22
moho_00 Curator Backer Posts: 6844 Registered: 6/10/2011
moho_00
# 3 - Posted on 11/12/2015 13:57:01

No One Lives Forever was GREAT! I played through a good chunk of the second one, but I got sidetracked at some point and didn't finish it. It was pretty good, but I preferred the first one. Perhaps there is some hope since the System Shock games were once thought to be lost in copyright hell, but they made it out. I would gladly re-buy them from GOG or Steam.

There's also the spinoff game, Contract J.A.C.K. I played through that one and it was alright. Definitely not as good as the two main entries, but it had an enjoyable few hours of gameplay. It had a more traditional shooter feel, which I'm totally fine with :D

dhobo Curator Backer Posts: 1965 Registered: 1/5/2015
darwinsocialism
# 4 - Posted on 11/12/2015 16:09:18

Yeah, the problem is that it's the guys who did the System Shock games are the ones who did all the footwork to bring the NOLF games back into being. They got blocked out of it by Warner Bros, who are suspected to be the primary copyright holders. Kotaku did an article about the whole crappy affair.

http://kotaku.com/the-sad-story-behind-a-dead-pc-game-that-cant-come-back-1688358811?trending_test_d&utm_expid=66866090-62.YkETBcIMTk2uX1oytHipyg.4&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.ca%2F