- Joined
- Apr 24, 2015
- Messages
- 19,311
https://tallyhocorner.com/2022/06/thcs-top-50-combat-sims/
THC’s Top 50 Combat Sims
- June 17, 2022
- Sims
Put down those Billhooks, Stanley knives, and Jeremy hammers, readers! This is the 21st Century for Pete’s sake. There are better ways to settle “What’s the best [insert game genre here] ever made?” disagreements than mano a mano melees. Cornerite-sourced ‘Top 50’ articles for example.
Remember how, last year, we proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Combat Mission was the finest wargame series 3vAr? Well, I think it’s high time we established once-and-for-all which combat simulation out-brilliances all others.
As the voting system seemed to work pretty well last time, I see no reason to alter it. To participate all you need to do is post a comment listing your five favourite combat sims in order of preference. This act will cast the fifteen votes that are at your disposal (Your top choice will get five votes, your second choice four votes, third choice three votes, and so on). It might take me a day or three to process your comment, but rest assured your ballot paper will eventually get counted.
If you’d like to explain or illuminate your choices with a pithy sentence or two, that would be most helpful (screenshots submitted via tim at tallyhocorner dot com would be very welcome too). As there are sure to be numerous titles on the list that I’ve never played, I’d much prefer to use a quote from a true fan than rely on something desiccated, vague, or silly that I’ve cooked up myself.
In order to keep the list to a manageable size…
If you don’t see a favourite in the table, that doesn’t mean you can’t vote for it. I’ve added 25 potential chart-toppers to get the ball-turret rolling, but expect the list to, at the very least, double in size in the weeks to come.
- My definition of combat sim is fairly pedantic (see below).
- I’ve clustered games into series and families where possible. Please don’t cast separate votes for, say, Silent Hunter 3 and Silent Hunter 4. A single vote for ‘Silent Hunter’ will cover your deep affection for the series. Clarify your votes with footnotes, by all means.
- I’d to re-emphasise that you should cast your votes for the five mil sims that have brought you the most pleasure over the years and not use them to limelight novel/interesting curios. I’m not out to fashion a list of every combat sim, just the cream of the crop.
To be eligible for tabulation a sim must…
* As one man’s hi-fi military FPS is another man’s soldier sim, I’ve decided I won’t exclude a title just because it’s not vehicle-focused.
- Have combat at its core.
- Be historical or reality-based (Sorry MechWarrior, Crimson Skies, Carrier Command etc).
- Offer first-person views.
- Fit more naturally in the ‘combat sim’ genre than any other.*
Games can be sorted alphabetically and by popularity. While the table seems to display fine on a standard PC monitor, you may have problems viewing it on a phone or tablet. Sorry about that.
G
