GOG Patron
Blake Stone was the first PC game I recall beating. I was on the ninth level of the STAR Institute with my Dual Neutron Disruptor, blasting my way through waves and waves of Dr. Pyrus Goldfire's special forces when I had finally noticed my escape craft. I entered it, and the game had told me I won! It truly was a glorious moment for me, as a young child. Finally beating this game I had played for many months. I still have as much now as I did then. Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold is a classic. Aliens of Gold is a game featuring the Wolfenstein 3D engine, and it is employed spectacularly well. It's what you'd expect from a Wolf3D mod, typical shoot-'em-up action, well designed levels, and a rockin' soundtrack. You play as special agent Blake Stone, whose backstory is explained very well in the game's story menu. In short, your mission is to take down the evil scientist Dr. Pyrus Goldfire from taking over Earth, by destroying key facilities crucial to Goldfire's mission. Each facility has nine levels which Stone traverses through, looking for a key to gain access to the higher levels of the building. Many enemies are found on each of these levels, including Sector Patrol, Star Troopers, Experimental Mecha-Sentinel and Experimental Genetic Aliens. Along with a variety of enemies, there are several weapons Stone can wield. Some of these are his infamous Auto-Charge pistol, Rapid Assault Weapon, and the ever-devastating Plasma Discharge Unit. On each floor level, Blake can get in contact with informants disguised as scientists, who can then aid him by supplying food tokens, information, and ammunition. Over the course of going through the levels, Blake can encounter Goldfire himself, and attempt to take him down. But it is always in Goldfire's favor, who teleports away when he is about to be obliterated by Stone. Bobby Prince offers yet another fantastic entry to his repertoire of quality video game soundtracks in Aliens of Gold. From the heavy and badass synth bass tones of the theme song, to the classic song heard during Blake Stone's first level, they are all quality tracks, and are a staple of the MIDI/Adlib era of PC gaming music. Overall, Aliens of Gold is a great purchase from GOG. It still remains as one of my favorite FPS games, and I can't give enough recommendation to it. Five STARs!
A problem often arising with playing older games is the issue of nostalgia; is the game actually relevant nowadays, can I have fun playing it? In answering this question for Rise of the Triad, it's a little difficult. When I was a young one playing numerous shareware titles released by the wonderful Apogee Software, Rise of the Triad was always a fun one to go back and play for me: its over-the-top "ludicrous gibs", campy humor, and incredibly memorable soundtrack were, and still are, the best parts of that game. But are they relevant now? I give that question a big maybe. The story is simple: you play as an agent of a special forces team sent to an island filled with cultists plotting to destroy Los Angeles, and you have to stop them. Running through a series of very similar levels, you mow down the crazies with dual pistols, MP40s, and bazookas, among many other weapons. It was always wonderful finding that second pistol and shooting all those enemies pleading for their life on their knees with a bazooka, shooting ludicrous gibs all over the world, jumping on trampoline platforms, evading flame balls and lava columns. All to the wondorous tunes of Lee Jackson and Bobby Prince. Yep, always wonderful. Always wonderful... in 1995. In 2009? Again, a big maybe. For someone that has never played this game to appreciate it would most definitely require them to put themselves in the mindset of a PC gamer in 1995, and learn to appreciate the design that went into this game. For the community of GOG, I don't expect that requirement to be hard to fulfill. Overall, Rise of the Triad is a good purchase from GOG, but I feel it has fallen victim to "nostalgitis". I highly recommend it if you want to play as god or a dog, flying in the air, while on shrooms!