Net Ten: The Ten Best Apocalypses in Gaming (page2) Subscribe to this RSS feed

#5 Resident Evil: Outbreak - [ PS2 ]

Is there anything worse than being stranded after the apocalypse? Surprisingly, yes. A zombie apocalypse. Not only are you basically alone, but you're taunted and horrified by the murderous human-like creatures that roam the world--kinda like high school. The Resident Evil series has been waist-deep in zombie apocalypse for quite some time, but it was most apparent in the PlayStation 2's Outbreak series, where you controlled one of a group of survivors, coordinating with other online players.

#5 Resident Evil: Outbreak
73% average
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#4 Road War 2000 - [ PC ]

Somewhere in the rulebook of gaming, it's been stated that all car combat games must take place in a post-apocalyptic setting. It's believed that this game, released in 1987 for a variety of PC platforms, is the basis for said rule. Compared to much darker fare like Twisted Metal and Auto Assault, the setting for Roadwar may not be as dire--dark and depressing was tougher to create back then--but the game deserves credit for pioneering a new setting and genre... or at least ripping off Mad Max first.

#4 Road War 2000
N/A average
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#3 Aheron's Call - [ PC ]

The Asheron's Call MMORPG series made a calling card out of its game-ending Apocalypses. When the beta for the original came to a close, the world was ravaged by a comet. When the sequel couldn't meet sales expectation, a comet was again summoned to destroy the online world. In both cases, the harbinger of doom was visible to players for weeks (think The Simpsons episode "Bart's Comet"), and they could do nothing as the formerly persistent virtual world was ending. Creepy.

#3 Aheron's Call
75% average
critic
score

#2 DEFCON - [ PC ]

This real time strategy game (subtitled "Everybody Dies") may not have had the 'splosions and gore you expect from the End of Days, but it was frightening in its own way. By presenting the action from a Pentagon-esque military radar perspective, you are presented with a view of the entire Earth as each of its nations bombed each other to hell and back. If you wonder what the world's end looks to the men with their fingers on the button, here's the best approximation.

#2 DEFCON
85% average
critic
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#1 Missile Command - [ Playstation ]

The Atari 2600 version Missile Command may have had a primitive-looking imagining of the end of the world, but it was easily the scariest. Basically, once all of your stations were destroyed, the screen would flash a series of bright colors with accompanying explosion sounds (and pretty much every sound produced by an Atari 2600 was scary as hell to begin with). The fear was usually compounded by the fact that games of Missile Command were usually lost due to weapon depletion, meaning you were usually helplessly awaiting the Atari Armageddon.

#1 Missile Command
57% average
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