A trip back to 1997 in gaming history (Part 2)

Along with the first Harry Potter book being published and NASA’s Pathfinder landing on Mars, the gaming industry also managed land some pretty significant titles that year. Some of which I've already covered in the first part of this post, while lining up all noteworthy games released in 97' I realized that it is just not possible to reasonably fit them all in one post and even now, writing this I am not sure whether I will have to make a "Part 3", but we'll see.

Before I carry on with this I'd like to note that it'd be really cool if you reading this would share your thoughts and opinions on the games I highlighted below as I (and probably most other people) am not well familiar with all of them and might have totally missed the awesomeness of some or even generally missed to mention some cool games released that year.
Some other years I already covered, be sure to open them up in a new tab while reading this one.
A trip back to 2000 in gaming history (Part 1)
A trip back to 1999 in gaming history (Part 1)
A trip back to 1999 in gaming history (Part 2)
A trip back to 1998 in gaming history (Part 1)
A trip back to 1998 in gaming history (Part 2)
A trip back to 1997 in gaming history (Part 1)
A trip back to 1996 in gaming history (Part 1)
A trip back to 1991 in gaming history

Having that out of the way, let's get serious!

• Redneck Rampage

A hillbilly-themed FPS about two brothers, Leonard and Bubba who are trying to rescue their prized pig Bessie. The game is filled with all sorts of obscure humor and unusual weapons to put down your enemies with.

• Grand Theft Auto

Needless to say that this is a landmark title, a game that has gone this far and will surely be surprising players all around the world for years to come.

• Fallout

Hands down one of the best RPGs ever made. Black Isle Studios set their names in stone of gaming history thanks to this game. It would deserve a post of it's own and there already are thousands of them out there, so I won't go into details. Legend!

• Gran Turismo

1997 also marks the birth of the "Grand Turismo" franchise, brought to us by Polyphony Digital.

• Quake II

The top rated FPS of that year!

• Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter

A new X-Wing game released by LucasArts, the next one, released in 1999 will be the last on in the series. (so far?)

• Blood

A grim first-person shooter released by Monolith Productions, as I remember it was criticized at the time for being too heavy on system requirements (16 MB RAM, not that's something!)

• Final Fantasy Tactics

This game takes place in the same universe as Final Fantasy XII, but in a different time - many centuries later.
As strange as it may seem, personally my favorite title from the franchise and heavily underrated. (Did you have a chance to play this, what do you think?)

• Dungeon Keeper

Like I once said earlier, "You just have to love these Bullfrog games!" this one is not exception.
The games's slogan is - "It’s good to be bad!"

• Carmageddon

A famous vehicular combat game, which (you've got to hand it to the devs) did an outstanding job of not being "just another one" among "Twisted Metal", "Interstate '76", "Vigilante 8" (released one year later, but still) and similar ones.

• X-COM: Apocalypse

The last installment in the classic UFO series.

• Hercules: The Action Game

A game based on the Disney "Hercules" cartoon.

• Herc's Adventures

Another game about the brave Greek hero, this one has nothing to do with the cartoon and was released by LucasArts.

• Warlords III: Reign of Heroes

The third installment in the Warlords series.

• GoldenEye 007

A game based on my favorite "Bond" movie - Golden Eye. And just tell me you did not enjoy killing pixel faced Sean Bean in the end!

• Dark Colony

An RTS developed by GameTek.

• Dark Reign: The Future of War

• Hexen II

An FPS created by Raven Software with some help from id Software themselves.

• Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee

This game is simply a marvel! Starting from the game mechanics, story, atmosphere - everything seems polished nearly to perfection. It challenges your logical thinking like nothing else and with time you truly start caring for the creatures living in this odd world.

• Ultima Online

One of the first MMORPGs out there, which we should that Richard Garriot for.

• Age of Empires

The very first game in the series.

• Atlantis: The Lost Tales

A "clone" of the once popular quest series "Myst".

• Postal

• Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero

A spin-off that focuses on Sub-Zero.

• Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II

An FPS that tells us a story of a Jedi - Kyle Katarn.

• Blade Runner

A game based on Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner".

• Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back

Another delightful "Crash" game from the folks at Naughty Dog.

• The Curse of Monkey Island

As Ron Gilbert had left LucasArts by then - the third part was worked on by Larry Ahern and Jonathan Ackley.

• Tomb Raider II

And that's it for 1997, I might have missed some games, as this was an extremely eventful year for gaming - so if you find something that is worth to mention missing from here, please let me and everyone know so we could discuss those titles too. As well as that be absolutely sure to share your thoughts about the games noted above.
If you would like to have some specific year post, let me know and you will see it among the next ones.

A trip back to 2000 in gaming history (Part 1)
A trip back to 1999 in gaming history (Part 1)
A trip back to 1999 in gaming history (Part 2)
A trip back to 1998 in gaming history (Part 1)
A trip back to 1998 in gaming history (Part 2)
A trip back to 1997 in gaming history (Part 1)
A trip back to 1996 in gaming history (Part 1)
A trip back to 1991 in gaming history

And thanks for reading!