The people over at Mazda have just launched the ‘Mazda Thrillseekers‘ campaign, and it got me thinking… What are the most thrilling moments we’ve had in our years playing PC games? What are the moments that have just taken you breath away, or had you giggling like a excited little kid? These are GeekTown’s top 5 most thrilling moments in PC gaming!

Left 4 Dead

5. The Zombie Apocalypse (Left 4 Dead)

Really, if your going to talk about thrilling experiences in PC gaming, it’s pretty impossible not to mention the awesomeness of fighting of wave after wave of flesh eating zombies in Left 4 Dead/Left 4 Dead 2!

The shear panic the first time your knocked to the ground, desperately trying to survive, praying one of your fellow teammates manages to make it to you in time! Oh… and the first time you meet that witch…

T-Rex

4. Meeting the local wildlife in Un Goro Crater (World of Warcraft)

So there you are… happily wondering around, collecting a few seeds, plants and crystals, plus slaughtering the occasional raptor that decides to cross your path.  Sudden the ground appears to shake… Interesting… and probably not good…

You see, what you might not have realised, those lil’ raptors you’ve been bludgeoning, have some rather larger cousins… At this point it’s probably a good idea to check behind you as it’s more than likely there’s a GIANT FREAKING LIZARD running towards you at full pelt!

The Cake Is A Lie

3. Best End Credits Ever (Portal)

You’ve been put through hours of tests by Aperture Science’s deranged computer AI, GLaDOS. You finally reach her core. And after a hard fought battle, she is finally defeated… Or so you think. The end credits roll and… wait… is that GLaDOS? Singing? But, she’s… oh no… nooo…

She’s Still ALIVE!

Quite possibly the most awesome, thrilling end credits anywhere, ever!

KotOR

2. THAT Reveal (Knights of the Old Republic)

Despite being lumbered with Carth Onasi (one of the whiniest little bitches in all gamedom), you’ve managed to battled your way through the galaxy, chasing down the evil sith, Darth Malak. You finally come face to face with your hated enemy, only for KotOR to throw in it’s very own ‘No. I am your father’ moment as (WARNING: SPOILER)…

…you discover you are actually his long lost apprentice Darth Revan!

1. Stepping out of Bestine Spaceport for the first time (Star Wars Galaxies)

Bestine (SWG)

SWG was my first MMO (pre all the NGE debacle). I didn’t really have any idea what to expect, other than the few bits my friends who had suggested I bought the game had told me. So I created my character, and went through the (at the time, pretty basic) training space station, and got a text from my friends to meet them on Tatooine. Bestine was the closest port to their town, so that’s where I told the nice man on the training station to drop me there. So I land on Tatooine… and my inner Star Wars geek, begins to freak out a little… Look! There are Jawas running around! And Wookies waiting to board shuttles! I step outside the port… Hundreds of people running around, training skills and trading good. Selling droids and offering services. I turn a corner and find a freaking AT-ST and a squad of Imperial Stormtroopers!.. Despite all it’s faults (and it did have quite a few), i don’t think i’ve ever found an MMORPG that really felt as much like a living, breathing world as Star Wars Galaxies did the first time i stepped into it.

DC Universe Online

SOE (Sony Online Entertainment) have confirmed the release date for their upcoming MMORPG ‘DC Universe Online‘, and it’s set fly/super-jump onto PS3 and PC in November 2010.

DC Universe Online allows players to build their own custom superheroes (or villain) inside the DC universe, to work along side (or against) DC’s heroes like Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and many more. Gotham City and Metropolis are 2 confirmed locations, with many more places in DC’s world also being accessible.

As i’ve mentioned before on the blog, i’ve always been more a DC Comics fan than Marvel (who’s own MMO is stuck in development hell), so i’m so looking forward to this release. It’ll be interesting to see how (if at all) the game fits into DC continuity as, judging my the screenshots, it’ll be Bruce Wayne as Batman, rather than Dick Grayson (as it is in current continuity). DC are planning a 52 weekly comicbook called DC Universe: Legends to run along side the game.

For more information, see the DC Universe Online website.

2 brilliant bits of news this morning!..

1. Steam has now been released on Mac and…

2. The FANTASTIC Portal is been given away FREE on Steam till the 24th May 2010!

Woohoo! Lunchtime office Portal sessions here we come!

Download it now from http://store.steampowered.com

I’ll place this video here, just to remind you of Portal’s awesomeness…

Doctor Who Adventure Games!

Control The Doctor

I’ve always wondered why we’ve never had a decent Doctor Who game before, and now the BBC have taken the time to create, not just 1 game, but 4!

Being released for free from the BBC website in June, you’ll be able to guide The Doctor (in new Matt Smith guise) and lovely assistant Amy Pond through 4 Doctor Who based adventure games. All the voice over work is being provided by the original actors, the music provided by Who composer Murray Gold, the stories written by Who writers Phil Ford & James Moran, and the whole thing overseen by Who head-honcho, Steven Moffat. It’s all genuine Who.

Who Exec Producer Piers Wenger is quoted as saying  “There aren’t 13 episodes of Doctor Who this year, there are 17 – four of which are interactive. Everything you see and experience within the game is part of the Doctor Who universe: we’ll be taking you to places you’ve only ever dreamed about seeing – including locations impossible to create on television.”

The Doctor and Amy

And the games aren’t some cheap, dodgy, browser based affair, but full blown, downloadable adventures. Development of which has all been controlled by game guru Charles Cecil – the man behind classic adventure games such as ‘Beneath a Steel Sky‘ and the ‘Broken Sword‘ series.

If your hoping for the games to appear on consoles, sorry to say, don’t hold your breath. They’ll only be available on PC and Mac because console releases would result in the BBC having to fork out for Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo licensing, which understandably, they won’t do.

So, free Doctor Who PC games, from the BBC, developed under the watchful eye of a adventure gaming giant? That can’t be a bad thing!

This fantasic bit of machinima popped up on YouTube recently. It’s a mash-up of the brilliant Team Fortress 2 and the not quite so brilliant Gerard Butler movie, Law Abiding Citizen. This is why you don’t get on the wrong side of a TF2 engineer…

Stargate Worlds Cancelled

Stargate Worlds is no more

I’m sorry to say Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, developers of Stargate Worlds, has finally had to call it a day. It’s been on the cards for a while, but after months of stories about finacial trouble, and having to file for Chapter 11 last month, they are now officially closing down.

The Stargate: Resistance shooter they put out last month in an effort to help the bank balance has been sold on to Fresh Start Studios, but all development on the Stargate Worlds MMO has ceased.

Sad news, as we’ve said a number of times on this site, Stargate is the perfect universe for an MMO setting, and as massive Stargate fans we’d hoped they’d pull through. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be.