Live your best Y2K self!
Live your best Y2K self!
In 2003, the whole world of video gaming changed. Valve, the forward-thinking studio behind Portal, Half-Life, and Team Fortress 2, launches an online software client for you to purchase and download their games. A couple years later, they opened the platform up to start selling games from third parties, and, today, they are the largest distributor of PC games, storming ahead of itch.io, battle.net, the Epic Games Store, and so many more.
Today, Steam hosts tens of thousands of games spanning any genre you could possibly think of. They’re always tons of incredible new games hitting Steam’s system every day, but that’s not necessarily what we always want.
Even if we weren’t there or weren’t interested at the time, for the nostalgia to hit today, older games can be super fun! There’s so many communities today still dedicated to playing these sorts of games. Let’s take a look at some old games that still hold up today and are available right now on Steam!
If you like the Fallout series recently, or won a game that’s been received better than Fallout 76, look no further than the installment in the series that started at all: Fallout 1. If you’re a Fallout fan reading this article, you most likely got into the Fallout series from Fallout 3, Fallout 4, or the infamous 76, but there had to be a one and two before those. Look no further than the original game.
Before Fallout was praised for its expansive, in-depth open world map, it was a three-quarter perspective turn-based strategy game. In it, you play as a vault dweller entering the remains of human society years after a massive, global nuclear war that wiped out most of the world. Now, you have to go from settlement to settlement, scavenging for weapons and food and uncovering quests.
Also, if you love the first Fallout game, it has two similar sequels: Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics.
There is, of course, a plot, but even that discovery is part of the mystery. Can you survive the dangerous world of fallout?
Purchase Fallout here
If you’ve never heard of Garry’s mod, you’ve probably been living under a rock the size of a continent. Gmod is one of the absolute classic Valve games. It’s essentially a digital sandbox where you and your friends have free rain over the famously-wacky valve physics engine, which is the engine that Portal and Half-Life were built with.
Gmod, itself, isn’t actually much of a game. It’s mostly just a physics engine with built-in controls. Where it shines is its custom content. Garry has made it unbelievably easy to import custom 3D models into the game. This has launched several thriving communities of Gmod content creators, who make tons of buildings, skins, maps, and game mechanics that you can download for absolutely free. The Gmod steam workshop page houses, no exaggeration, almost 1.9 million add-ons. These span pretty much any fandom and community, and both Gmod’s fan base and staff still diligently work to keep this incredible game alive.
Purchase Garry's Mod here
I know this is coming a little bit out of left field, but bear with me. If you’re a fan of classic sci-fi, or just an American literature canon fan in general, you’ve probably heard of Harlan Ellison‘s famous 1967 short story, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. If not, you may recognize some of Ellison’s other work, like the classic Star Trek episode, The City on the Edge of Forever, which is often considered the greatest Star Trek episode of all time. One of The United States’ greatest writers penned this story, and, about 30 years after its original publication, it got a visual novel adaptation.
I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, the game is an expanded version of the original short story still written by the original author, Harlan Ellison. The story picks up after a fictional Third World War. Different countries' computer systems have become advanced enough that, rather than fighting wars themselves, they create elaborate, artificial intelligence programs to carry out battles for them. These robots are programmed to experience certain emotions, most notably pain. The AI’s, rather than continuing to carry out their wars, turn on their creators and wipe out all of humanity, save for five people.
I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream is the story of this main robot, AM, and the five last humans left alive, who AM has made cyborgs in order to keep them alive for as long as possible so it can continue to torture them. Is this story horribly bleak and depressing? Absolutely. Is it also incredible? 100% yes…and Harlan Ellison voices AM. If you’re looking for a classic piece of sci-fi literature, in a more visual and expanded format, this game is for you.
Purchase I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream here
On a more lighthearted note, let’s talk about the many joys of transport infrastructure!
I promise this game is fun! OpenTTD is an early 2000 remake of the mid-90s classic, Transport Tycoon Deluxe. In open TTD, you play as a city planner. Your job is to make sure this city, and all of its many kinds of vehicles, run smoothly. If you’re into any sort of city builder, management sim, or automation sim, OpenTTD is probably worth checking out.
The place OpenTTD really shines, though, is in the first word of its name: open. OpenTTD is both free and open source, so, like Garry's Mod, it’s had a thriving fan base of both players and creators since its release. There’s always something new to discover in the amazing world of OpenTTD.
Purchase OpenTTD here
Whether you’re looking to relive some of your younger memories or just refuse to let the Y2K fashion trend from a couple years ago die, there’s definitely a game out there for you. Hopefully, there are a few games on this list you haven't heard of, but if you really want more, Steam has an option to sort by “old school“ games, so there are always more to check out.
