20 Great Moments in PC Gaming
FEATURE
Inretrospect,maybeLarashouldhave
become a zoologist instead. I mean, how
much could any ancient cup sell for
compared to a living T-Rex? This is one of
thedefiningmoments of early 3D boss-fights, matched
only by the attack of the first Fiend in Quake. The
T-Rex living in The Lost Valley didn’t just sit there and
take it though, especially in Tomb Raider: Anniversary,
where its claws and jaws were coupled with...
shudder... crap QTE sequences.
Like all the best boss fights, it took its time. You’d
already fought a few raptors before entering its domain
- a sealed-off valley with a non-suspicious corner. Turn
it, and there’s the original Mister T, ready to chew off
Lara faster than you can say, “Oh shit, it’s a—”
At least, until Lara demonstrated why the words
‘endangered species’ now universally translate to ‘any
animal in the vicinity of Ms. Lara Croft’. At least it was
a quick way to go. And the last of its, presumably?
Ha-ha. No. In the next game, two of them showed
up at once.
Stealing an Elder
Scroll in The Elder
Scrolls IV: Oblivion
By Wes Fenlon
Oblivion was my first Elder Scrolls game,
and I didn’t know much of anything
about the series before I started playing.
Most importantly, it never occurred to
me that the Elder Scrolls were actually a
thing. It just seemed like a good name
forafantasygame. Elder gods, old paper, yada yada. There
I was, taking orders directly from the Gray Fox, the
mysterious leader of the Thieves Guild, when I’m told I
need to steal a damn Elder Scroll. From the Imperial
Palace. It’s that moment when a character in a movie says
the title, except instead of groaning (The World is Not
Enough) I was full-on, hell yeah into it (Snakes on a
Plane). It’s really all in the execution.
It felt like I was about to steal the original Ten
Commandments tablets or something, a holy object I had
previously assumed was pure allegory. The timing was
also perfect. This was my first guild, I was still low-level,
and the stakes of this mission conveyed an anything-is-
possible sensation. And it was intense as hell, because
Imperial guards could wreck me if I got caught.
The thing that really cemented it for me was that I did
get caught, which meant I was running in terror from a
small army of Imperial guards, the most treasured relic of
the Empire tucked in my inventory. Somehow I made it to
the secret chute in the fireplace and survived the fall with
the special boots I was given. I made it!
There are many ways that mission can go, and it won’t
impress as much if you can sneak by the guards with ease.
Do it early, by the skin of your teeth, and it’s a thrilling
heist – one of Oblivion’s most memorable moments.The T-rex in Tomb Raider
By Richard Cobbett
Trolling the villain of
Jagged Alliance 2 by
sending flowers ByRichardCobbett
It’s the little things.
Jagged Alliance 2 is a
game of wonderful
details. You don’t
assembleyour team via a boring
menu, but a series of fake internet
pages. Every mercenary you hire for
your mission to free a small island
from its tyrannical dictatorDeidranna has their own personality,
relationships and skills...
...and even that flower shop has a
purpose. Not, as you might think,
because it’s covering for some
high-tech weapons plant. No, it sends
flowers. And it lets you send them to
the villain. You don’t get high-class
trolling like that in many games.12
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