And any justifiable doubts about the afterlife should be wiped out after you've been taken there a number of times, and bestowed with magical powers that you immediately start using. Although Prey has a number of memorable moments, the Cherokee-in-denial and protagonist Tommy provides precisely none of them. You know a character has failed to engage you when you gleefully kill your own love interest.
NUMBER 5
THE BEST
Hardy bullet sponge that she is, you still felt protective, and when she pranked you with her torch, you really did want to slap her. In Episode Two she may as well have been replaced with a talking keyring that says "Thank goodness you're alive", "I thought... for a minute..." and "This way!", but the final sequence reminded everyone why they cared so much...
THE WORST
The prince has gone 'bad', he's 'rogue', and he's got 'problems' he doesn't want to talk about - look, just check his MySpace. He was embarrassing at the best of times, but the latest game pushes the envelope by delivering dialogue that's on par with that bit in Spider-Man 3 where Peter Parker went emo. Still, it made impaling him on spikes that little bit more fun.
NUMBER 4
THE BEST
We're introduced to Cohen's madness with a brilliant scene in which a tortured pianist struggles to bang out Cohen's masterpiece without fault - ultimately failing and incurring the full brunt of Cohen's lunacy.
Andrew Ryan lead the best scene, Atlas has the best lines, Tenenbaum was a vision of maternal loveliness juxtaposed with unethical genetic experimentation (everything got juxtaposed in BioShock), but Cohen's relentless theatrics in the face of desolation bowled us over.
THE WORST
The way he talks as he wistfully stares out of a plane is like he's on Dawson's bloody Creek, while cutscenes are like watching members of an obscure cult coughing up the more mundane parts of a dictionary. The games may be well meant, and you can't fault the historical accuracy, but if the American GIs that kept on chasing after your gran during WW2 had voices this cloying then the reason she refused to put out is clear.
NUMBER 3
THE BEST
Comments
20 comments so far...
Waste_Manager on 23 Feb '08 said:
Now I remember why I subscribe to PCGamer instead.
Mogs on 23 Feb '08 said:
Great feature.
I particularly liked this part:
Spot on.
Very well considered choices and I agree with most of them. Having not played the System Shock games, my vote goes with Andrew Ryan for best. His philosophy almost convinces you and his sense of morals and integrity is tangible and real - shockingly so. Sander Cohen was great too (as were all the characters in Bioshock), and the Fort Frolic part of the game was my favourite, but as a character, Ryan is the best in my opinion. A complex man that you just get.
Worst...Jack of Blades from Fable. Nuff said.
gothchild on 23 Feb '08 said:
Haha, me too, but it wasn't so bad.
I do love the additions of Psycho (he was a dick, wasn't he?) and Marcus Fenix, even if it will have all the 360 fanboys screaming "but hes BADASS!"
Alyx Vance really should have been higher though
twistedfiend on 23 Feb '08 said:
Hattie Jaques? A sex kitten? Are they mad? And I loved the last series of 24. Can't argue with the characters though, even if the logic is a little screwed
Anonymous on 23 Feb '08 said:
im a little surprised everyones favourite beacon of originality in master chief didnt make the list. for good or bad, but most likely bad.
other than that i would've moved alyx ahead of the bioshock guy, but id say its a pretty good list either way.
Anonymous on 23 Feb '08 said:
Simon the sorcerer voiced by Chris Barie should be up there.
darthmelly on 23 Feb '08 said:
Enjoyed that. Good to see Morte and the HK robot in there... personally would have had JC Denton from Deus Ex in there...
SoulChimera on 23 Feb '08 said:
Marcus Fenix was crap. Just another generic "hard man". I think that was why I got bored with the single player mode so quick. There wasn't anything that drew you into the story. I just found myself wanting to finish it just so I wouldn't have to play it again.
froz1_uk on 23 Feb '08 said:
Grace Nakamura from Gabriel Knight: The Beast Within is probably the most cringeworthy character ever!
My guess is that not many people actually have a clue as to who she is though - put it this way, when you take control of her parts of the game, you have to look around Wagner museums!?! for information on werewolves.
Why no love for Tex Murphy though, was the 6 cds needed to play Under A Killing Moon too many for most people?
Just think how cool an HD quality FMV game like the Tex Murphy games would be today - Hang on a minute, I've just found a good way to fill a couple of those blu-ray disc thingies!
dahsif on 23 Feb '08 said:
What about the roach in Bad Mojo?
sgib1967 on 24 Feb '08 said:
if DMC4 was out in time on pc for tht list then NERO would definetley be in my top 3 for best.Whoever plays his voice was just incredible.without soundng gay lol..he really got the emotion out of the character
Shirt wearer on 24 Feb '08 said:
Where the hell is Murray THE (second) EVIL DEMONIC SKULL ?
Get Over Here on 24 Feb '08 said:
If you did a similar list for console games I'd put any of the cast from Silent Hill 2 (James, Maria, Eddie etc.) and Farah from the first Prince Of Persia on PS.
chiun on 25 Feb '08 said:
I still think of Garrett as my favourite. Nothing quite like playing a bit of thief with old Garrett to cheer yourself up
humorguy on 25 Feb '08 said:
To choose non humans as the top two, and in fact all the other non humans in the list, is just one big cock-up and travesty!
Quite simply, 40 million miles above any of the characters mentioned in this article, is April Ryan, the main character in The Longest Journey, released in 2000. Maybe she was left out because she appeared in a point and click adventure, but if that was the case, it was the biggest crime in gaming!
April Ryan was the first and perhaps last REAL human character in a game. Who changed through the things that happened to her through the game, to the concerns and worries and growth of her character, having to deal with amazing things in a ordinary girls life. In most other games she would have been a born hero. In TLJ she was just born, grew up in a dysfunctional family and was an average teenager that have thing thrust upon her, that as a regular young human female, she had to deal with.
Why this game and this character can be so ignored and treated so badly I will never know. Even FunCom, with the follow-up did not have enough confidence to continue with April as the main character. That fact alone was a huge reason for the utter failure of Dreamfall.
PC gaming. You have been around long enough to know the history of TLJ. You know April Ryan. You know you made a huge mistake in not including her at No.1, or certainly above any skull, robot or AI.
Trahildar on 25 Feb '08 said:
The cake is a lie lol (sigh)
palancas7 on 25 Feb '08 said:
Oh come on, Psycho is alright.
Made me laugh by failing to be funny.
Anonymous on 26 Feb '08 said:
Having not played the System Shock games, my vote goes with Andrew Ryan for best. His philosophy almost convinces you and his sense of morals and integrity is tangible and real - shockingly so.
I've played BioShock and System Shock 2, and I can confirm that Andrew Ryan and SHODAN are the same character. (Not surprising as BioShock is SS2 with a few bits cut off.) Except SHODAN is far more frightening. And interesting. And memorable. And has a better voice. And she doesn't lecture you. And you don't get her confused with the other Big Bad in SS2.
I mean, if the start of SS2's intro doesn't send a chill down your spine, you don't have a spine…
http://snipurl.com/ss2intro
- Richard
(And yes, I am the only member of the PC Zone team who doesn't think BioShock is the dog's dangly bits.)
jvgp100 on 29 Feb '08 said:
Great list, i'd agree with most of it.
If I had to add one, it would be Reverand Ray from Call of Juarez. Best voice acting in any game, ever. Imo.
Jezcentral on 5 Mar '08 said:
Where's Kerrigan from Starcraft? Bah! The UK PC Gaming crowd don't seem bothered by the second best sellling game in PC history. It didn't even feature in the top 100 games PCG did last year. And anyone from Jim Raynor/Zeratul/Tassadar could have appeared in the heroes section. I'm clearly getting too old.