…computer games were all text and we liked it. We loved it.
Seriously, I’ve seen a lot of sites posting their “Best Computer Games of 2000” lists, and frankly most of the games featured are crap. Several magazines and web sites put Shiny’s Sacrifice on their list. Phuleeeze. The game is incredibly gorgeous, but pretty much unplayable due to interface problems. Diablo II? I guess if you were one of the lucky folks who didn’t have your character nerfed or assassinated.
I don’t know if it was the best game, period, but the best game I played in 2000 was EA Sports’ Front Office Football 2001. You want graphics? Go play Madden 2001. FOF2K1 is almost entirely text. It does have some pretty splash screens and interface, but a lot of fans of the game actually used third party tools to rip out the graphics.
What FOF2K1 does have is the best sports management simulation to date. Draft players, deal with free agents, try to get fickle fans to turn out to the stadium, try to work within the NFL’s impossibly difficult salary cap formula. There’s a great deal of possible automation — you can turn scouting duties over to your scouts, hire coaches to draw up game plans, but realistically if you’re going to get this detailed into football you’re going to want to do it all yourself. This is the sort of game where you’re going to spend 45 minutes in the training camp screens deciding which plays you want your team to concentrate on.
One of the best things about FOF2K1 is the reporting. You want stats? This game has stats everywhere. The only drawback is there is no online version yet so you can’t go head to head with people over a few seasons — EA is developing an online version, however, as part of a content deal with AOL.
The real amazing thing is that the game is largely the work of a single programmer, Jim Gindin. He’s currently at work on a much anticipated college version of the game, and perhaps other sports (suggestion — while there are baseball management simulations, there has yet to be a decent basketball game in this genre). I can’t wait to get my hands on that.