What is the PC Game of the Year 2003?

[Potatoman]

My top picks would have to be:

Dominions II
Deus Ex: the Invisible War
Soul Calibur II

Other than that... I think 2003 was a pretty poor showing for gaming in general. The only games I purchased the entire year were Dominions II, Deus Ex, MOO3, Soul Calibur II, and some older used software (Freedom Force, System Shock 1, etc.; good stuff for mere pocket change). Nothing else is even interesting enough that I'd buy it bargain bin at >$10 prices.

Despite my stinginess I didn't feel ripped off by either Deus Ex: IW or MOO3; I cut more slack to games that aim high but are brought low by flaws than ones that are mediocre to their rotten cores.

[ceremony]

DomII is a sequel and hard to name over an otherwise good "new" game. KotOR is one of those good but not great games that'll be forgotten as soon as the next bit of halfway decent fluff hits the market. HttR, on the other hand, is an amazingly different game that suffers only from it's limited scope.

Highway to the Reich is also a sequel (to Airborne Assault: Red Devils Over Arnhem). That was the game with limited scope (no XXX Corps, no 101st or 82nd Abn). I assume you mean by HttR's limited scope that it has no grand campaign.

I preferred Korsun Pocket to HttR.

[Breschau]

I'm trying to recall exactly what I bought in 2003. To be honest, it wasn't a very good year for me and computer games.

I don't play many action games (used to, but they fell by the wayside) and didn't buy any in 2003.

RPGs are one of my favourite genres, but again didn't buy any in 2003. Not that I can think of any RPGs that I've really enjoyed since BG2.

So it's down to tactical and strategy games. Bought a few that turned out a real disappointment (UFO: Aftermath), though I wasn't that disappointed by MOO3 so much as I was the lack of continued support for it - I actually kinda enjoy the game. Also bought a few that I just couldn't get into, and may retry sometime (Republic the Revolution, Galactic Civilisations).

So the competition for best of 2003, based on my own purchasing/playing experiences, is not very steep. It's basically a decision between Dominions II and Age of Wonders: Shadowmagic. I'm gonna go with Dom2 because, although I'll probably ultimately get the same amount of enjoyment longterm from each, Dom2 brings the kind of game I've been wishing someone would make.

So Dominions II for me.

[aldin]

Originally posted by ceremony:
Highway to the Reich is also a sequel (to Airborne Assault: Red Devils Over Arnhem)...I assume you mean by HttR's limited scope that it has no grand campaign.

I preferred Korsun Pocket to HttR.

A sequel? I did not know that, thanks for the info. The absence of a grand campaign OR using the engine for additional campaigns/battles is what I meant by limited scope. It seems to me that the engine would make a great Afrika Korps game. Korsun Pocket was a great grognard style game also, too, as well

~Aldin

[Sammual]

Originally posted by Andy:
Dominions II is also my favourite PC game of 2003, followed by Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic

Same here.

Sammual

[Jasper]

Dominions 2, Soul Calibur 2, and Tron 2.0 stick out most in my mind. Combat Mission: AK would as well, but I haven't had time to play it.

2003 was full of a lot of cool games that simply didn't live up to their potential.

[Arryn]

Originally posted by aldin:
I preferred Korsun Pocket to HttR. A sequel? I did not know that, thanks for the info. The absence of a grand campaign OR using the engine for additional campaigns/battles is what I meant by limited scope. It seems to me that the engine would make a great Afrika Korps game. Korsun Pocket was a great grognard style game also, too, as well

~Aldin

I hardly think it's fair to knock HttR for not having its engine used in other titles when the game just came out in December 2003. The engine would be excellent for things such as D-Day (one map per target beach), Sicily, Crete, Tobruk, and many other interesting battles at that approximate map scale.