Giants: Citizen Kabuto

Giants: Citizen Kabuto from 2000 is one of the strangest and most original games of its time – an action adventure combined with strategy elements, in which the player gradually becomes all three warring factions of the story. First you play as the surfing adventurer Reznor, then as female warriors of the Meccaryn tribe controlled from a bird's-eye view similar to an RTS, and finally as a giant alien creature named Kabuto, who devours everything in his path and literally grows with every bite. This alternating view of the same conflict from different angles was utterly unique at the time of release, and players gradually pieced together the mosaic of the same island from three completely different perspectives.

Each of the three campaigns offered a different play style and pace – action shootouts, tactical unit command, and destructive environmental devastation by a giant monster – and the game managed to switch smoothly between them without losing cohesion. The graphics engine was very demanding for Windows 9x computers of its time, but it offered a colorful, tropical island setting and convincing animations, especially for the giant Kabuto. The game's humor was strikingly black and self-deprecating, with sharp dialogue and parody of gaming clichés.

Critics praised Planet Moon Studios' courage in experimenting with three genres in one game and the technical side of the title, though some players complained about uneven difficulty between the campaigns. The music and voice acting gave the whole story a cinematic feel that contrasted with the often grotesque and exaggerated action on screen. Giants: Citizen Kabuto never became a commercial smash, but it earned a reputation as a cult classic that fans remember as one of the most original games of the turn of the millennium. Even with the passage of years, its inventiveness and genre-bending daring feel surprisingly fresh.