There are a lot of classic games that all gamers should experience

Jul 26, 2014 16:03 GMT  ·  By

Video game backlogs are something that every player should recognize and have, even if their existence is not something to be proud of and could also be seen as one symptom of the biggest issue associated with the industry at the moment.

But summer is such a depressing season for new game launches, especially between the end of E3 and the start of Gamescom, that most players tend to find a number of titles from the past that sound more appealing than newly-launched ones.

The Steam Summer Sale, which I successfully managed to avoid, also makes it easier for players to become acquainted with the classics and to gain access to them.

Personally, I know that I will use at least part of my summer to finally play Wolfenstein: The New Order, a game that impressed me during demos but which I never actually found the time to complete and thoroughly enjoy.

I would also like to spend more time with the recently launched Divinity: Original Sin, which I have seen at conventions for two years but I do not currently have time to play because of my obsession with cycling and Pro Cycling Manager 2014.

I also have a long-term project to replay all the Half-Life titles, not because I expect Valve to launch the full third installment in the series any time soon but because I want to re-evaluate them now that I am older and somewhat wiser about games and how they are designed.

Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight has been one of the first titles I bought via Steam and I have not even finished one of its main campaigns that were included.

There are even more games that I have never finished or have not explored enough in the Steam list, but listing them all would be kind of depressing and would require a lot of space on the site.

Even if I were to use all my vacation days for the coming two or three years and abandon all social activities, all reading and all TV series binging, I have no hope of ever clearing all of them.

So I will spend whatever free time I have trying to make a dent and at least engage with the most important titles, like Wolfenstein, while dreaming of a better world where all gamers have all the time they need to finish games and never deal with a backlog.