13. Giants: Citizen Kabuto
Planet Moon | Interplay | 2000
A sci-fi comedy in three parts, each casting you as a different oddball alien and mixing three genres: shooter, adventure and real-time strategy
What made it so great?
It's funny. There's masses more to like about Giants: it's a genuinely good action game and the superb story and incorporation of base-building elements make it much more than just a shooter, but the rarest quality is that streak of genuine belly-laughs. The Meccs, the tiny-headed British astronauts you start the game playing as, are deliciously dry-witted and irreverent, and even after you become a fifty-foot high monster - Kabuto himself - the humour keeps pace. Once you've snacked on your fill of crushed foes, you can store more for later by impaling them on your horns.
Becoming the beast is a unique pleasure. Your foes are the very same creatures you've been playing as just moments before, but now you're trampling them in their dozens, chomping their heads off and growing all the time. When you've eaten enough to grow to your towering maximum size, munching more Smarties and Sea Reapers eventually allows you to birth two mini-Kabutos to do your stomping for you.
Get ready to play
Giants is tough to find first-hand these days, thanks to lackluster sales on release. But you can pick up a used copy for just a few dollars, either on eBay or from EBgames.com's used section. A steal at twice the price: Giants will give you hours of fun.
Been there, done that?
Then you need to play Beyond Good And Evil next. It's also a colorfully offbeat sci-fi adventure, with charm and wit to spare. It's not as funny as Giants, but the story is every bit as rich and ultimately quite moving.
