{"id":158,"date":"2026-10-14T18:57:07","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T18:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.theicealphawolfden.com\/?p=158"},"modified":"2026-10-14T18:57:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T18:57:08","slug":"a-flying-tank-and-ten-unproven-promises-pc-gaming-worlds-2005-action-adventure-ranking-revisite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.theicealphawolfden.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/14\/a-flying-tank-and-ten-unproven-promises-pc-gaming-worlds-2005-action-adventure-ranking-revisite\/","title":{"rendered":"A Flying Tank and Ten Unproven Promises: PC Gaming World\u2019s 2005 Action-Adventure Ranking Revisite"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I have played Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas<\/em>, Alan Wake<\/em>, a little Hitman: Blood Money<\/em> and Call of Juarez<\/em>. Put those games into a magazine top ten and it might sound as though somebody has found a list made for me. Then I remember how quickly Alan\u2019s flashlight lost me, how little I liked most of Hitman<\/em>, and how much the bloody bicycle controls annoyed me in San Andreas<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cAction-adventurespil\u201d ranking in Dansk PC Gaming World<\/em> issue 7\/2005 puts those games beside Prince of Persia<\/em>, Lara Croft, street fighting, medieval monsters and tanks. It is a list of expectations from 2005, with release forecasts and short sales pitches. Looking back at it means looking at both the games that eventually arrived and the ones I actually bothered playing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think I tried the third Prince of Persia<\/em>, but never really played it. I do not think I played Tomb Raider: Legend<\/em>. Condemned<\/em> is another one I do not remember playing, even though I own it on Steam. Crime Life: Gang Wars<\/em>, Knights of the Temple II<\/em> and Panzer Elite Action<\/em> never got played.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ten games sharing a very loose category<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAction-adventure\u201d stretches a long way on this page. A stealth assassination game, a Western first-person shooter, a psychological thriller and a tank action game are competing for the same numbered positions. The kind of player who wants to study guards and plan a murder is not automatically looking for the same thing as somebody who wants to drive a tank through a battlefield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The descriptions do not establish a common test. Some entries sell a famous name. Some sell graphical technology. Alan Wake<\/em> gets a pointer to the DVD. Prince of Persia<\/em> gets a quotation about the prince\u2019s mood. A number beside those paragraphs looks much more authoritative than the explanation underneath it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eight of the ten PC forecasts were early<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Rank and game<\/th>Printed forecast<\/th>Original Windows release period<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
1. GTA: San Andreas<\/em><\/td>10 June 2005<\/td>10 June 2005 in Europe<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
2. Alan Wake<\/em><\/td>2006<\/td>February 2012<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
3. Hitman: Blood Money<\/em><\/td>Q3 2005<\/td>May 2006<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
4. Prince of Persia 3<\/em><\/td>November 2005<\/td>December 2005, as The Two Thrones<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
5. Tomb Raider: Legend<\/em><\/td>Q4 2005<\/td>April 2006<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
6. Call of Juarez<\/em><\/td>Q1 2006<\/td>September 2006 in Europe<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
7. Condemned<\/em><\/td>Q4 2005<\/td>Spring 2006<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
8. Crime Life: Gang Wars<\/em><\/td>Q2 2005<\/td>November 2005<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
9. Knights of the Temple II<\/em><\/td>Q4 2005<\/td>Late 2005 in several European markets<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
10. Panzer Elite Action<\/em><\/td>Q4 2005<\/td>Spring 2006<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Eight of the ten reached Windows after the month, quarter or year printed here.<\/strong> These are original PC release periods, including European launches; regional dates varied. Later store reissues and console releases are separate. Condemned<\/em>, for example, reached Xbox 360 in late 2005, while Windows players waited until 2006.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alan Wake<\/em> is the biggest gap. The forecast says 2006. The original console game arrived in 2010<\/a>, and the PC version followed in 2012. The magazine was ranking something that remained years away from its readers\u2019 computers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publishers can move a date. A preview cannot promise that development will follow the schedule. But that uncertainty ought to matter when a magazine puts ten unfinished prospects into a confident order. This page tells me what the editors were excited about; it gives me very little basis for treating their order as a verdict on the finished games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. GTA: San Andreas: I played it, but the size did not win me over<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The first-place paragraph promises \u201cN\u00e6sten ubegr\u00e6nset frihed\u201d: almost unlimited freedom. It adds missions, 85 songs, vehicles and action, then says the PC version is almost finished. The date underneath the title is 10 June 2005. Rockstar\u2019s launch announcement<\/a> confirms that European PC date. The paragraph catches the game just before its release, even though the issue carries a July cover date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Recreated<\/a>
PC Gaming World<\/em> 7\/2005, rank 1. Recreated layout with the printed wording and forecast retained. Untouched original photograph<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I have played San Andreas<\/em>, but I do not think I ever completed it. I also own it on Steam. I have most, if not all, of the GTA<\/em> games that have been released there. That does not mean I am waiting for the next one. I will never play GTA VI.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My attachment to GTA<\/em> starts with the original on PlayStation. I liked looking down at those tiny cars and heavily pixelated streets. The phone-box missions are one of the clearest things I remember. Hear the phone, take a job and see how much trouble I could cause. There was a mission involving a truck and a building too, although the details are much less clear now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had GTA: London<\/em> on PlayStation as well. Starting it meant putting in the London disc, swapping to the original GTA<\/em> when asked, then putting London back. That disc-swapping routine stayed in my memory. GTA 2<\/em> never appealed to me as much as the first game. The gangs and different presentation did not make it the one I preferred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then GTA III<\/em> arrived and the move into 3D looked ridiculous. I remember reading about it in a PC magazine and trying to understand how the hell a computer was going to handle a whole city around the character. I played the PlayStation 2 version, with its disappearing roads and the times I remember falling through the map. Being able to stand beside the buildings was still an enormous change from looking down at them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I spent plenty of time causing chaos around the police station, fighting the police and shooting at the helicopter when it turned up. The Rhino tank belongs to those memories too: firing its cannon backwards and getting the thing airborne. Sensible driving was clearly not the attraction. That sort of ridiculous messing about stayed with me far longer than a list of features.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I remember the beach side of Vice City<\/em> better than many of its individual missions. I played GTA IV<\/em> too, but did not finish it; I believe a bank robbery was where I got stuck. With GTA V<\/em>, I completed the story once on Xbox 360 and never finished another run. I have returned to these games without wanting to repeat every campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

San Andreas<\/em> added a lot. Three cities, countryside, character skills, exercise, food and more ways to travel gave Rockstar a huge amount to advertise. I can appreciate that work. The opening bicycle still irritates me. Getting CJ to pedal faster by repeatedly working the control is a poor introduction for somebody who already dislikes that input routine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"CJ<\/a>
Cycling in the original PC game. Screenshot published by Cubed3<\/a>. \u00a9 Rockstar Games.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The character systems had a similar problem for me. Food, muscle, stamina and skills made CJ more changeable, but they also gave me more things to maintain or improve through repetition. I did not want every extra system to become another job. The magazine\u2019s \u201calmost unlimited freedom\u201d sounds wonderful until some of that freedom is time spent doing something I find tedious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"San<\/a>
The gym\u2019s muscle indicator, power meter and repetition count. Screenshot from GTA Wiki\u2019s archived image<\/a>. \u00a9 Rockstar Games.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I wrote more about my history with San Andreas and the parts that annoyed me<\/a> in my separate article. Here is the beginning of my own PC gameplay:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n