The Westwood Studios Appreciation Thread!

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

I adore Westwood Studios.

Their stuff was always excellent, yet hardly celebrated among my digital sea-faring peers, who flocked to the Sierras, the LucasArts, and the Broderbunds of the Abandonware world as if completing a rite of passage.

It really kind of bothers me how little of the limelight the company got, even though it made massive contributions to our favorite hobby.

I mean... if you have ever enjoyed an RTS, you'd have Westwood to thank.

Their groundbreaking design for Dune II went on to become the blueprint for the whole genre, and bits of its DNA can still be seen in new releases. And if that wasn't enough, they doubled down on it by refining and expanding upon it through their award-winning and record-setting Command & Conquer series.

But it was actually their "Legend of Kyrandia" series that won my heart.

Even though I had to reboot my PC into DOS mode to run it (which my dad was VERY not cool with), I loved the hell out of that first game — and how could I not? It combined the charm and wit of LucasArts stuff with the dry humor and mild hatred for the player most commonly associated with Sierra, the other juggernaut of the point-n-click era. It was the best of both worlds!

What I find most fascinating about this particular developer is not so much that they tried their hand at everything, but that they were good at it — whether it was stuff they built themselves or licensed properties, they knocked it out of the park time and again.

Sadly, Westwood ceased operations after yet another EA takeover, joining the ranks of Bullfrog and Maxis as another gaming pioneer mismanaged into the ground, but that's another story.

What's your favorite game by these guys?

 

[Majora Fi]

I only know The Lion King (and nothing else).

 

[Mopeybloke]

I enjoyed watching Accursed Farms cover Legend of Kyrandia, and that's the only thing I knew them for.

 

[Scotty Scotty]

I only know The Lion King (and nothing else).

Same.

 

[secreto7]

Wow I didn't knew they did The Lion King!
I liked Kyrandia 1 and 2, and played a bit of Dune.
There's also Eye of the Beholder and Lands of Lore.

 

[Anoobis]

Due to their work on Dune, I always count House Ordos among the great houses. I was waiting for it to be added to Dune: Spice Wars, but that clearly isn't happening. I'm honestly surprised that this thread doesn't primarily know Westwood from Command & Conquer. That feels like knowing Black Isle but not remembering Fallout.

 

[TruxtonTatsujin]

I watch someone play Lands of Lore a while back, looked pretty cool. Other than that I don't have much knowledge on the company. American computer games are kind of a blind spot for me.

Just realized they developed these old D&D games, so I guess I have played some of their games. They also developed Command and Conquer.

 

[flamesoul32]

command and conquer red alert 2 was my personal favorite of theirs. I really enjoyed that crazy alternate earth timeline

Edit: Wait they did Warriors of the Eternal Sun? I played that game so long ago and had no idea they made it.

 

[bombatomba77]

These guys introduced me to computer games a decade before I had one. Hillsfar (NES, technically they didn't do that port but it was still their game), Eye of the Beholder (SNES), Dune: Battle for Arrakis (Genesis), Warriors of the Eternal Sun (Genesis), Order of the Griffin (T16), C&C (PSX). I owe them a lot

 

[ConanTheDestroyer]

I would always appreciate them for making one of my favorite games of all time based on one of my favorite films of all time, Blade Runner. It's amazing how well the game compliments the film with locations from the film recreated so well along with some of the actors from the film returning to voice their characters. They even recreated Vangelis' great soundtrack for the film too.

Takes place parallel to the film and doesn't detract from it in any way. Best thing about it is how replayable it is, aside from having multiple endings and their variations, in every new playthrough certain things get randomized particularly which character is a replicant.

On that note it also recreated the Voight Kampff test from the film so well too, allowing you to even skew the results of it if you wanted. Not only one of the best point n click games but also one of the best cyberpunk games out there. Westwood definitely deserve a lot of appreciation.