Seminal gaming moment

[fasteasyfree]

OoT - pretty much everythign about it.

Jet Force Gemini - running down massive open spaces, tearing everything up with rockets and bullets, then getting into some tunnels and doing exatly the same, all the while the fucking outstanding music is blaring.

Perfect Dark - four players, can't remember the name of the level, but me and a mate pulled off a fucking kick-ass ambush involving laptop guns and shotguns. Makes me smile every time I think about it

Another moment was playing one-on-one against the highest-level sim, with shotguns, and beating him. Just.

[toonfool]

Goldeneye, 2 Vs 1, I was the one. I clocked the two lads together at a balcony, I was at the other end of a corridor. Facing the wall, leaning out, realising they didn't have a clue where I was, shooting one of them once. They then panicked and fired randomly, one of them died by friendly fire, I picked off the other one immediately afterwards.

[___]

Half the goals you score in Libero Grande.

All of Link to the Past.

The allnighter with Mario World.

q2dm1. 56k.

Running up that staircase with the railgun. Someone comes running down it. I jump over them, turn 180 in mid-air and plant a slug right in their back.

All of FFVII.

All of FFVIII.

[Sprite Machine]

Back in ninteen-ninety-something-or-other, Final Fantasy VII, I had finished a pretty much all-nighter at the Gold Saucer battle arena, and acquired the Omnislash Limit Break. Mucho coolness. Then, upon leaving the area, I took my airship down to what I thought was a piece of red materia in the desert around the Gold Saucer. It wasn't, of course, it was Ruby Weapon and it killed me. I hadn't saved the game.

I vowed revenge on Ruby, and so I trained for weeks, devising strategies to beat him, working out Materia combinations. It felt hopeless until I finally 'downed' Emerald Weapon, acquiring some much-appreciated Master materia, experience points and a boost of confidence. I had beaten its brother, I would soon have my revenge on Ruby too.

The big day came at last; I was as prepared as I could ever be. Checking my equipment one last time, I set off in the airship and headed for Ruby... the battle began....

After what seemed like an eternity of strategically knocking out my own characters to avoid the sand pools, summoning those Knights of the Round, 'Miming' everything I could, destroying its tentacle things and generally holding on for dear life, Ruby began to whittle down my defences. MP levels got too low to compensate for, my stat attributes were wearing off, one - then two - of my characters were lost in the sand-pools, leaving me with just Red XIII, no MP, a tiny amount of health and the only strategy available to me... using Mime. I had to keep miming the last move (Knights of the Round) because I couldn't re-summon it anymore and it was the only move strong enough to deal sufficient damage. I summoned them once more... still Ruby stood, not phased by my attack. His ATB gauge un-doubtedly filling up, ready to attack. I cast KotR again, sitting anxiously, waiting for the over-drawn animation to finish, and then waiting.... he remained standing. I was attacked from behind! My health now reading critical (yellow) levels... 400/9999 HP left... one more attack would finish this completely. I couldn't Cure now as it would break the Mime cycle - I had to hold on! Just one more time, it had to be just one more... Ruby couldn't possibly take another 15,000 or so HP attack like that... could it?

My ATB gauge approached half-full... everything seemed to be happening in slow motion.. The last half and hour would be for nothing if I didn't get this attack out when it filled up... Three-quarters full, still Ruby didn't move. Would I pre-empt him? Would I manage to get this one last final attack in?

The gauge filled, I instinctively mimicked my last action, selecting Mime and hoping against hope that it would kick in - it did!!

Those knights were brought out of hiding one last time, slashing and chopping away from all directions. The numbers filled the screen (7000s and 8000s everywhere) and then... the final blow.

But had it worked? I knew this was it, this was the best I could possibly ever do. All those weeks of training, devising strategies, working out how to get around Ruby's seemingly impossible defenses couldnt be bettered. This had to work.

The animation finished... and the following seconds seemed to pass like hours. I witnessed the scene; Red XIII standing, on his last legs, no health, no magic, not a chance of withstanding anything now... towering above him, larger than life, was Ruby. The scene seemed frozen as I looked up, expecting to see him do something, epecting to see the camera shift around to witness him initiating a finishing blow.

But he didn't. A red transparency effect replaced the Ruby Weapon 3D model.. it shook violently, faded, and then was gone. The death animation - never having looked prettier - signalled the end. I had won, I had had my revenge and done what I had considered impossible.

It was the most satisfying, tooth-skinningly close victory I had ever managed to achieve, and that made it all the sweeter.

[Qazimod]

Completing a song on a dance game without missing a beat.

Racing to safety after collecting the six items and making it back on land on the final Staunton Island mission on GTA3 (well, final one before Shoreside is unlocked...)

[Sprite Machine]

I suppose perfecting Gitaroo Man level 4 on Masters mode was quite a thrilling achievement, too. Totally 'in-the-zone' stuff where I wasn't even thinking... [star Wars]"Just feeling"[/star Wars].

[Jack]

1. My Pet Dungeon in Dungeon Keeper 2. I spent AGES on the first dungeon alone, just building it how I like, and letting in the occasional hero. It's like The Sims, but with less violence.

2. Entering the world of PSO for the first time. I entered a lobby, and checked the list of games currently open for joining. “f1 2 r3 then ttf”, “en4”, “mu3”? What are these strange acronyms? Scrolling further down, “Recruiting Newbies” pops up. Aha, there’s a space left, I’ll join that, I thought. Once inside, a huge smiley face picture pops up, waving and greeting me with “HI!”. “bloody hell how did you do that” I hastily typed. “Hit Y, then X!” comes the reply. Who’d think such pleasure could be garnered from spamming smiley face pictures?

It turns out that the team I’d joined had been waiting for an extra man to make up the numbers. “We’re going into the forest”, they said. “If you need any extra equipment, just ask”. Needless to say, I accepted their generous offer. After kitting up (One man’s trash, another man’s treasure?), we entered the forest. I spent the first few minutes getting used to the controls, following their directions on how best to attack enemies. “Time to put this into practice!” I ran straight through the gate, thinking nothing could stop me. One smack from a huge bear left me lying on my arse. “Ouch”, I said. “LOL”, they said. Under their guidance and with their support spells, I was quickly kicking arse left right and centre. “Here’s the boss arena” I was informed. A large red transporter slowly hummed as it awaited our entry. “Think you can handle it?” “FUCK YES” came the roared reply. “OK, here we go.” Hands shaking, brow dripping, we entered the transporter. A brief pause, then a truly screen filling Dragon lands, roars, and charges us at top speed. The team ran head on to meet it, and started slashing, firing and casting spells all at it. Eventually, it trips over, leaving its head vulnerable. “diediediediediebastardgitarse” I scream, stabbing it repeatedly in the head. It gets up, flails about in its death throes, and eventually collapses and fades away. “LEVEL UP” flashes in the corner of the screen. I’m left silent by just how amazing the last battle was. And I’m told that there’s a whole host of battles like that waiting to be fought. This is going to be special.

Flash forward two years. The once wide eyed, wet behind the ears boy wonder is now a master of the game. No enemy stands in his way without being subject to a hail of machine gun fire. He’s currently sitting in the US ship Antares, waiting for friends to arrive. A player enters the lobby who I’ve never seen before. “how do u use mags” he says. “lol wtf noob” the other players say. “They increase your stats”, I tell him, ignoring the barrage of comments from the goons of the lobby. We get chatting, and I invite him to join me in the forest. I take some useless-to-me items and give them to him, telling him “Here, I don’t need these, but you might”. “wow thanx man” he says. We spend a few minutes getting him used to the controls, then run off to find the Dragon. And I look back to that rainy February day two years ago, and I think “This was me once”. Twenty minutes later, the Dragon lies dead, and “LEVEL UP” has flashed in the corner of the new guy’s monitor. I tell him there’s a whole host of battles like this waiting to be fought. And I just know he’s thinking, “This is going to be special”.

3. As soon as you play the Oath to Order on Majora's Mask, and the Four Giants appear. Everything from this point on is absolutely fucking AMAZING. Everything before that, in fact.

4. Escaping from Venom II on Lylat Wars. Andross has exploded. Fox is seemingly dead. The screen is white. The communications screen opens. "Don't ever give up, my son." "Father?!" ...and we're back. Fox is being led by his father. "Follow me, Fox." And you hammer down on C-Left, flames growing ever closer behind the Arwing, you're desperate not only to not die, but also not to let your father down. "Follow your instincts." he says. "FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO", you say. And you make it out, just as the planet explodes. Add to this, the mission on planet Katina. Massive dogfight! Independence Day UFO! "Aim for the core, Fox!"

5. The boss fights in Metal Gear Solid. "Let's go. I'm alive again!" while a fat man squeals. "Now, I will show you why I am the most powerful practitioner of psycho kinesis and telepathy in the world. I am... PSYCHO MANTIS!" while a gimp floats and sets things on fire, mentally. "Gunfire, sirens and screams... they were my lullabies..." as a paced sniping battle takes place in a raging blizzard. "The path you walk on has no end. Each step you take is paved with the corpses of your enemies..." as a giant man hauls an anti tank chain gun about. "Where death is entreated... the battle is decided!" as one man takes on a giant mech all by himself.

Shooting a granade towards a robot in metal arms.

The upper body exploded. His legs were running around with no body. It was absolutly class. Superb. I hit him just right, and I had laugh.

Similar thing happens in Fed vs Zeon. Hit an MS full on with a shell weapon, and its upper body explodes, and the legs walk backwards for a while. Then explode. It looks funny as hell.

[Spacehost]

SPOILER, Deus Ex:

Here's one- in Deus Ex, when Page- backed into a corner- sends his best agent up a lift you've just walked up to. Walking calmly back behind a pillar just before he arrives, lackies in tow, I select my GEP gun, my bullet-proofing, my super-strength and my agressive defense aug, and step out. Before he can even say "there he is!", I plug the him in the face with a GEP round and calmly finish off what's left of his collegues with the Dragon's Tooth sword and a few throwing knives, all without breaking my virtual stride.

Enter lift, doors close. The Matrix has nothing on that.

[Sidewaysbob]

Another one for PSO online here. Having spent weeks leveling up to about 5 i think i braved it online and loved every minute of it. The wife didn'yt like the phone bill though

The Easter holiday, where the lobby before planet fall was ful of big easter eggs was pretty special.

Hacking around with, Durham red, sabreman, jimmysavile, was pretty special, oh and Mugla of course. Durham red was like a paticularly hard bounty hunter who would turn up and give you loads of ace stuff then disappear just as suddenly. If you where lucky he/she would let you join a run through the mines.

ahh happy days.

[glo]

I'll give you three:

1) The gurgling kung-fu scream that came out of my telly the first time the loading screen for 'The Way of the Exploding Fist' on the C64 flashed up...

2) Opening the front gate outside of Ryo's house shortly after the beginning of Shenmue and stepping out into the world for the first time...

3) Beaming aboard one of the ships in Phantasy Star Online on the DC for the first time, watching in amazement as those little white names above the other characters popped up one by one, excitedly realizing that they were actually other Dreamcast-owning dudes all experiencing the same sense of wonder as I was, wondering up to one of them and saying 'hello' using one of the little yellow faces inside a speech bubble that I'd designed earlier, the other person saying 'Hi' back to me, a couple of others joining in, and then four of us setting off to have a scrap somewhere down on Ragol...

None of those three moments will ever be trumped, I'm afraid.

Wholeheartedly agree with all these, 2 & 3 especially. Even my girlfriend was amazed the first time I was online on PSO and she doesn't even like video games.

Would also add...

The Beach Landing/Assault on the Silent Cartographer level of Halo.

Driving round Edinburgh (know it quite well) for the first time on PGR2.

Fighting the armoured guys after retrieving the master sword in WindWaker in Hyrule Castle.

Getting to the top of the windmill and beating the plant boss in Mario sunshine

[fasteasyfree]

2. Entering the world of PSO for the first time. I entered a lobby, and checked the list of games currently open for joining. “f1 2 r3 then ttf”, “en4”, “mu3”? What are these strange acronyms? Scrolling further down, “Recruiting Newbies” pops up. Aha, there’s a space left, I’ll join that, I thought. Once inside, a huge smiley face picture pops up, waving and greeting me with “HI!”. “bloody hell how did you do that” I hastily typed. “Hit Y, then X!” comes the reply. Who’d think such pleasure could be garnered from spamming smiley face pictures?

It turns out that the team I’d joined had been waiting for an extra man to make up the numbers. “We’re going into the forest”, they said. “If you need any extra equipment, just ask”. Needless to say, I accepted their generous offer. After kitting up (One man’s trash, another man’s treasure?), we entered the forest. I spent the first few minutes getting used to the controls, following their directions on how best to attack enemies. “Time to put this into practice!” I ran straight through the gate, thinking nothing could stop me. One smack from a huge bear left me lying on my arse. “Ouch”, I said. “LOL”, they said. Under their guidance and with their support spells, I was quickly kicking arse left right and centre. “Here’s the boss arena” I was informed. A large red transporter slowly hummed as it awaited our entry. “Think you can handle it?” “FUCK YES” came the roared reply. “OK, here we go.” Hands shaking, brow dripping, we entered the transporter. A brief pause, then a truly screen filling Dragon lands, roars, and charges us at top speed. The team ran head on to meet it, and started slashing, firing and casting spells all at it. Eventually, it trips over, leaving its head vulnerable. “diediediediediebastardgitarse” I scream, stabbing it repeatedly in the head. It gets up, flails about in its death throes, and eventually collapses and fades away. “LEVEL UP” flashes in the corner of the screen. I’m left silent by just how amazing the last battle was. And I’m told that there’s a whole host of battles like that waiting to be fought. This is going to be special.

Flash forward two years. The once wide eyed, wet behind the ears boy wonder is now a master of the game. No enemy stands in his way without being subject to a hail of machine gun fire. He’s currently sitting in the US ship Antares, waiting for friends to arrive. A player enters the lobby who I’ve never seen before. “how do u use mags” he says. “lol wtf noob” the other players say. “They increase your stats”, I tell him, ignoring the barrage of comments from the goons of the lobby. We get chatting, and I invite him to join me in the forest. I take some useless-to-me items and give them to him, telling him “Here, I don’t need these, but you might”. “wow thanx man” he says. We spend a few minutes getting him used to the controls, then run off to find the Dragon. And I look back to that rainy February day two years ago, and I think “This was me once”. Twenty minutes later, the Dragon lies dead, and “LEVEL UP” has flashed in the corner of the new guy’s monitor. I tell him there’s a whole host of battles like this waiting to be fought. And I just know he’s thinking, “This is going to be special”.

Now that is fucking great matey

[Vemsie]

Just beautiful. I remember sitting on the floor with my girlfriend next to me. The two of us were speechless at how amazing it looked.

You're not talking about your erection again, are you Phelan?

[phastie]

You're not talking about your erection again, are you Phelan?

Now that's a 'seminal' gaming moment!

(tumbleweed...)

[Phelan]

You're not talking about your erection again, are you Phelan?

Not until I saved the game

[Unofficial Who]

2. Entering the world of PSO for the first time. I entered a lobby, and checked the list of games currently open for joining. “f1 2 r3 then ttf”, “en4”, “mu3”? What are these strange acronyms? Scrolling further down, “Recruiting Newbies” pops up. Aha, there’s a space left, I’ll join that, I thought. Once inside, a huge smiley face picture pops up, waving and greeting me with “HI!”. “bloody hell how did you do that” I hastily typed. “Hit Y, then X!” comes the reply. Who’d think such pleasure could be garnered from spamming smiley face pictures?

It turns out that the team I’d joined had been waiting for an extra man to make up the numbers. “We’re going into the forest”, they said. “If you need any extra equipment, just ask”. Needless to say, I accepted their generous offer. After kitting up (One man’s trash, another man’s treasure?), we entered the forest. I spent the first few minutes getting used to the controls, following their directions on how best to attack enemies. “Time to put this into practice!” I ran straight through the gate, thinking nothing could stop me. One smack from a huge bear left me lying on my arse. “Ouch”, I said. “LOL”, they said. Under their guidance and with their support spells, I was quickly kicking arse left right and centre. “Here’s the boss arena” I was informed. A large red transporter slowly hummed as it awaited our entry. “Think you can handle it?” “FUCK YES” came the roared reply. “OK, here we go.” Hands shaking, brow dripping, we entered the transporter. A brief pause, then a truly screen filling Dragon lands, roars, and charges us at top speed. The team ran head on to meet it, and started slashing, firing and casting spells all at it. Eventually, it trips over, leaving its head vulnerable. “diediediediediebastardgitarse” I scream, stabbing it repeatedly in the head. It gets up, flails about in its death throes, and eventually collapses and fades away. “LEVEL UP” flashes in the corner of the screen. I’m left silent by just how amazing the last battle was. And I’m told that there’s a whole host of battles like that waiting to be fought. This is going to be special.

Flash forward two years. The once wide eyed, wet behind the ears boy wonder is now a master of the game. No enemy stands in his way without being subject to a hail of machine gun fire. He’s currently sitting in the US ship Antares, waiting for friends to arrive. A player enters the lobby who I’ve never seen before. “how do u use mags” he says. “lol wtf noob” the other players say. “They increase your stats”, I tell him, ignoring the barrage of comments from the goons of the lobby. We get chatting, and I invite him to join me in the forest. I take some useless-to-me items and give them to him, telling him “Here, I don’t need these, but you might”. “wow thanx man” he says. We spend a few minutes getting him used to the controls, then run off to find the Dragon. And I look back to that rainy February day two years ago, and I think “This was me once”. Twenty minutes later, the Dragon lies dead, and “LEVEL UP” has flashed in the corner of the new guy’s monitor. I tell him there’s a whole host of battles like this waiting to be fought. And I just know he’s thinking, “This is going to be special”.

Best story here.

The thing that sucks about multiplayer gaming is the dickheads who'll tease newbies and cut them down for kicks.

The thing that makes online gaming special is the special people who share their talents because they know that the more people enjoy the game, the better the game will be.

[Jack]

I actually sent that in to PC Gamer when they were asking for articles.

[Cacophanus]

Fighting and defeating the Stage 4 boss on Solar Striker (GameBoy).

[patriot]

Nice story Jack. Reminds me of my wow adventures.

[Hackign]

Great bump for a great story by Jack.

[Unofficial Who]

Two years ago just playing Battlefield, Battlefield and more Battlefield.

I had my doubts.

I disliked PC gaming.

Hated online games.

However, in one of the first games I played I was torn apart by gunfire when I was flying one of the planes.

I managed to eject and parachute and watched my plane disintergrate above me.

"Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssss!" whooped my opponent.

Too soon it would turn out as his victorious fighter slamed into the still burning wreckage of my craft......

"Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

Battlefield and Desert Combat were the daddies of comedy FPS.

I still miss them today.

[Talk Show Host]

Planescape Torment! All of it! The same goes for OOT, with the graveyard scene being edged in my mind. I can still hear the rain...

Deus Ex: I am playing the game for hours and have lost all connection to reality. Suddenly, JC (i think it was him) has a moment of self-doubt while talking to somenone and he mutters: "What's good is an honest soldier if he is made to behave like a terrorist?" Fuck! I stood there looking at the screen for at least half an hour thinking "wow......"

Halo: First night mission, first time use of sniper. Me and my friend are playing co-op. We enter the Covenant spaceship and we get attacked by those invisible elites. We barely make it alive and all the marines die... My friend tells me he is going to explore the right corridor while i stay back to search for weapons and grenades... After a while he shouts "fuck me!!! There is a Hunter here!!! Come quicky." I glipse at his screen and i am seeing him firing like crazy at an enemy who does not show on screen but is surely coming... "I am coming, hang in there" i shout at him (who is sitting right next to me, ) and i run to his position. I move through the corridor and i see him in the distance taking steps back... I know the Hunter has started running at him to melee him to death... "Where are you", he shouts... "I am out of ammo"... And i see him falling back, and i have to think fast... So, i equip my sniper with only one shot left and i zoom in... I see the Hunter in my scope getting ready to hit him and kill my friend... I shoot... And i hit his back... And the Hunter falls... in front of my mate, who was standing in a corner, ready to die... "Man", he says, "you saved my life..." I still cannot forget the intensity of the moment... It was like a real war or a really good movie...

Ico: When Yorda saves me in the bridge, for the first time switching parts in the game... Marvellous...

Renegade: The kneeling and beating the enemy's face... Right, left, rigth, left...

Pong in my black & white TV.... Yes i was around at that time, thank you...

And many more... I will continue when i have the time...

[Unofficial Who]

Deus Ex on the PS2.

Sneaking through a warehouse I'm spotted by a sentry droid.

I run in panic but he's already strafing me...I dive into a guard tower and shut the door.

My health is blinking low, however the odd clink from spent droid shells makes me cautious of sneaking out.

I find a terminal and hacking in I can see the droid waiting for me to step out.

I hack in a little further and overide the sentry guns on the tower and set them to attack anything that moves.

Result, the next time the droid twitchs it's riddled with lead death. The explosion draws the attention of at least two more droids and a guard which quickly meet the same fate.

Even the drab looking PS2 port of Deus Ex is one of the best games of all time.

[Kayin Amoh]

Jack's story brought a tear to my eye.

I don't have time to type out such awesomeness however, so I'll link to a video of the time I found out this tactic against Doku in Ninja Gaiden. Eat death, flame face. (15.9 meg)

As soon as I found this out I just had to tape it. It's not perfectly executed and the sound in the video messes up halfway, but you can probably feel the somewhat destructive sense of discovery I felt at the time.

[Laters]

Battlefield and Desert Combat were the daddies of comedy FPS.

I still miss them today.

Agreed, one of the most underrated games of all time surely?

Nice PSO story, if only there were more people like you online mate.

[angel]

I find these come around less and less these days, but here's a few of my favourites (may contain slight spoilers)

COD2

The village in normandy on COD2, on veteran. Finally managed a rock hard section where i had to survive until reinforcements arrived. When that clock hit 0:00, orchestral music kicked in and all the red dots on the radar (enemies) started to dissapear. A convoy of Sherman Tanks rolled into the village as me and my comrades all ran alongside them to the extraction point. Fucking ACE.

Silent Hill 2

After doing the usual puzzle errands in the Lakeside hotel, i wandered around a burnt out kitchen and some weird rooms. Met Angela (the girl with the knife, name maybe wrong) who then did her final speech before walking up a flaming staircase to her own death. Then i came across the famous save point of 9 saves. Deep breath, open door, witness Maria being MASSIVELY DAMAGED by 2(!) Cunty Mctriangles. They were so bad ass they didnt even die from my bullets, they impaled themselves on their own stakes.

Halo

Just owning my own Xbox and sitting in a Pelican approaching Silent Cartographer. Also knocking a Banshee out of the sky and having it actually fall on me, not just explode into nothing.

[Jack]

Nice PSO story, if only there were more people like you online mate.

There will be in WoW once this massive demo finishes downloading. Nearly three gigs! 512k never felt so slow until now. Good thing I'm moving to 3 meg in a week.

[blipwoo]

The whole start of half life 2, right up until you get your crowbar; for the first ten minutes or so you can't shoot anything, but it doesn't matter because the world you've just found yourself in is amazing.

[Qazimod]

One of my favourite bits in Half-Life 2 was in "Anticitizen One" when Dog makes his debut proper. The animation of the thing and the way it deals with the Combine is completely brilliant.

Oh, and I also love the airboat fights in "Water Hazard", if only for their brilliant pace and action.

[joeplus]

embarrasing, but here's how i figured out how games worked:

my first console was the NES. (i actually had a speccy, but we never got it to work until after i learned on the NES). i got it, aged maybe six or seven, in a bundle with TMNT.

i load it up, read about the controls in the manual, and dive in. it's so cool. i go through the title screens, enter the first sewer. BANG! i slash a little bad guy with leo's sword. HA! i jump in the air and leonardo does a flip. BOLLOCKS! i'm stuck. there's a platform, and it's above and in front of me. i jump. i walk. i jump again. i begin to get upset.

and then it hits me.

"A & across". I CAN JUMP FORWARD! OH HELL YES!

from then on, i loved video games.

still never finished that game, though. it was a total bastard.

[Lorfarius]

An obvious one but just thinking back to this one moment in gaming still brings a shiver to my spine. Stealing Epona in Ocarina of Time and jumping over the fence at the ranch, escaping with her for the first time into Hyrule Field. Bliss.