Hired Guns was a futuristic RPG that, in the style of the 1987 game Dungeon Master, showed the action via a first person perspective viewport. (Although earlier games such as Bard’s Tale and Ultima had done this, Dungeon Master was, to my knowledge, the first to eschew a turn-based game for a realtime approach as adopted by later games such as Eye of the Beholder it’s various rip-offs). What set Hired Guns apart, however, was that it provided a single viewport for each member of your four strong squad, allowing them to do their own thing and several of the puzzles required co-operation between 2 or more of the squad.

The reason this game made my top 20 is mostly because of nostalgia and associated memories. I remember playing this over a quiet christmas break listening to Butthole Surfers and Foetus (which I had just been introduced to). That’s not to say that I don’t remember anything about the game although it’s the best part of 15 years since I played it. A lot of inspiration came from the movie Aliens - which is no bad thing - even down to the monsters that not only hatched from egg-type things but also looked a lot like albino versions of H.R. Giger’s famous creation (but nothing like the Newborn in Alien Resurrection I hasten to add). Your arsenal even included automated sentry guns which were much more useful to you than they were to the survivors on LV-426.

Unlike previous first person perspective RPGs, levels in Hired Guns were 3D - you could go up and down stairs and use lifts which made a change from games were each level was exactly that - level. Between levels you were shown a nicely designed map of the type that would resurface years later in Quake 2, charting your progress across an alien planet. The downside is that I have absolutely no idea what the hell the story was about and I vaguely recall that the ending was a bit of a let down too. I think some sort of thermonuclear explosion might have been involved, probably launched at the site from orbit - it’s the only way to be sure. Gameplay I seem to recall as being satisfyingly solid with good graphics, impressive sound effects and an excellent soundtrack.

It’s not all nostalgia on my part - Hired Guns was developed by DMA Design who had previously created Lemmings and went on to develop a little game called Grand Theft Auto and it’s various sequels, so the RPG comes from good home and has excellent pedigree. Of course, it was probably the last of that type of game as a mere 6 months after its release, First Person perspective games took a step forward with the release of the seminal Doom. Nothing would ever be the same after that. Perhaps one day DMA (or Rockstar North as they’re now knowns) will revisit Hired Guns and develop a sequel using today’s technology. I can but dream.