When you beat games quick, you tend to beat a lot of games. This year's Summer Games Done Quick speedrunners tore through dozens of PC games, and even if you had the stream on all week like we did, you probably missed some amazing runs. Below we've compiled a selection of our favorites: mostly classic PC RPGs and shooters, capped off by an inspiring one-handed run by Halfcoordinated.
Deus Ex in 39:25
Full of ‘hot’ dance parties, impossible jumps, and advanced AI manipulation, the Deus Ex run may be the most entertaining run of SGDQ. Heinki is incredibly entertaining to watch, cracking jokes as often as he pulls off ridiculous technical tricks.
Dishonored in 35:44
With intelligent ‘mana pathing’ this runner is able to keep his magic meter up while darting through the map in a series of lightning fast, acrobatic blinks. The run is so fast that they’ve come to a point where unskippable dialogue sequences nearly make up the majority of it.
Cloudbuilt in 25:34
Cloudbuilt was designed with speed and advanced platforming tricks in mind, which makes it a perfect challenge for speedrunners. It’s hard to keep track of exactly what’s going on in this run, but it looks impossible, which is all the comprehension necessary to know it’s impressive.
Star Wars: Dark Forces in 23:56
If you like Star Wars and old school Doom-era shooters, then this run is one to watch. The commentary is quick and clear, detailing the technical tricks at play while Stormtroopers whiz by. Luke should take notes.
Fallout 4 in 1:05:09
This one’s worth a watch to see how runners turn the notoriously buggy Gamebyro engine inside out. It’s especially interesting to see such a relatively new game—an experience that promises dozens, possibly hundreds of hours of play—get turned out in just over an hour. Who knew traffic cones held such power?
System Shock in 12:54
Yes, that is an insanely fast time to finish System Shock. That's the beauty of this run: watching runner Fearful Ferret pull off a skip that cuts out most of the game. Short and sweet.
The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall in 30:19
Puri_Puri breaks Daggerfall wide open, with teleportation glitches and a whole lot of floating outside the world boundaries to shortcut around. A fun example of an old game being bent to a speedrunner’s will.
Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight in 31:58
The one absolutely must-watch speedrun of SGDQ isn’t a classic PC game or full of groundbreaking exploits. It’s simply an inspiring performance by speedrunner Halfcoordinated, who plays all of his games with one hand due to a disability that limits the use of his right hand. Throughout the entire run he’s entertaining and good at explaining what he’s doing in Momodora, and at the end he says a few heartfelt words that draw a standing ovation from the audience. Absolutely the highlight of the week.
