To me, Core Design’s 2001 sci-fi action/adventure Project Eden was a pretty killer game back in the day on PC and PlayStation 2, but I bet many of you have never played it or even heard about this gem. Anyway, it was a team-based game where you controlled four characters (one at a time or with up to three other live players) as they attempted to find some missing workers inside the Real Meat factory after a little “incident” that turns into a real mess as the team goes deeper inside the structure. It’s basically an action/adventure game with shooting portions and awesome environmental puzzles that revolve (sometimes literally) around getting the team from one end of the level to another. Core’s coolness also extends to the cast of characters, which is ethnically diverse without making a single point about it (which is how it should be).

The game also goes from a straightforward mystery about what happens to the missing workers into a sort of “survival” horror game as mutated creatures start popping up in one level. Sure, it’s not the prettiest game these days, but the levels are massive and take some thought to navigate, there’s a nice sense of dread that creeps in when the monsters start increasing in number and some of the puzzles will have you hitting yourself in the head with the game case if you’re not paying careful attention and using the proper characters. I think this needs to get up on GOG.com one of these days so MORE can discover its charms and yes, properly remade, as it’s a great example of how to get four people to play nicely together without resorting to PvP nonsense (although there IS a deathmatch of sorts in the game, it’s kind of lame, as are the Rover “racing” courses )…