10 Forgotten Nintendo 64 Gems You Need To Play In 2022
5. WinBack (1999)
WinBack, also known as Operation WinBack or WinBack: Covert Operations in Europe, is considered to be one of the progenitors of the third person shooting genre. Popularized today by the likes of Nathan Drake and Lara Croft, it’s interesting to see where this style of gameplay originated.
Though Konami’s Metal Gear Solid predated WinBack by about a year, WinBack elevated its combat to heights which the former game couldn’t. While MGS was focused on stealth, WinBack was all about action.
The shooting controls are remarkably refined for a game made in the twentieth century, and, in some ways, WinBack is to third person shooters what The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was to action adventure experiences.
With smooth cover shooting mechanics and well-designed snap aiming functionalities, WinBack is about as good as it gets in terms of shooters on the platform. Even Goldeneye 007’s famous first-person take on gunplay doesn’t feel quite as refined.
It may sound silly to praise such an outdated title, but modern games owe quite a lot to WinBack, and, even in 2018, it deserves some recognition.