90s retro games (PC)

Game: Bioforge

Developer: Origin Systems

Year: 1995

Genre: Sci-fi, Survival Horror, Cinematic camera

Available: (Digital) GOG (Physical) E-bay, Amazon

Typical 90s sci-fi goodness: Cyborgs, monsters, a crazy scientist, cybernetic experiments, frozen cyborg Velociraptors, huge half crab half bear things lurking in tunnels, ED-209 rip off... Worth playing? Yes: Old school Cinematic camera gameplay a la Resident Evil, an engaging story for people who love 90s sci-fi, cheesy acting, great atmosphere “multiple endings” 

Game: Normality

Year: 1996

Developers: Gremlin Interactive

Genre: Adventure

Available: (Digital) Gog, Steam, (physical) Amazon, E-bay

Normality, a 1st person perspective adventure game created by Gremlin Interactive set in a dysfunctional dystopian nightmare where any expressions of emotions are prohibited by “the norms” a police force for a totalitarian regime who is in control of the city Neutropolis. You play as Kent Knutson (try not to misspell that) on your “quest” to go about your day meeting resistance members, doing odd and quirky quests and apply for a job at the plush factory breaking furniture which will eventually lead you on a real quest to overthrow the dastardly and quite cowardly dictator...erm... Paul.  The game plays like a typical FPP (First Person Perspective) with a click and point style interface where the verbs are parts of a doll of the main character. Just like a typical Point ‘n’ click adventure you’ll be combining items, talking to weird and wonderful characters and quite a bit of backtracking. For it’s time the visuals were good, plenty of detail and quite a lot of interactivity. There are two versions out there: the Original UK version and the US version which had the actor Corey Feldman voice the main character Kent to appeal to the American market. Which didn’t work out as well due to the poor sales overseas. Does Normality hold up today? yes and no... Yes if you love a bit of 90s nostalgia and old school adventuring, No due to the awkward controls that you can’t remap!  NOTE: The version on GOG and Steam is the UK Version. For the US version find a physical copy on ebay or digitally on the Internet Archive. Score 7/10 

Full walkthrough can be found here on my Retro games channel