With GameSpy randomly pulling servers for old games if the developers don't pay up exorbitant new contract fees, that isn't entirely the case. Although I'm sure most games will let you direct connect (same goes for tunneling console games), server browsing/hosting is being killed in many classic games as we speak, including games that still have 200+ simultaneous players. That said, this being PC, I think the guys who have been running Neverwinter Nights servers for this long and the community that frequents them will figure something out to keep things going, whereas tunneling is all you get with console games (and if they don't support system link, not even that).
From my understanding Gamespy just hosted the master server that you query when you are searching for servers to get on. Easy enough to get around if you still want to play these games.
Then there are also tunneling options, like you mentioned, as well as faking LAN connections, and plenty of other options to gain multiplayer access.
I'd love some Crimson Skies. I remember that stage where it was always raining and the lightning was coming down. Dogfighting it out. I've only got that type of joy from the Snoopy game this generation.
I think it holds up alright. I wouldn't mind taking a trip through it again on my Xbox.
Keep in mind those shots are downsampled from a ridiuclous resolution with AF, AA, and AO on top of that.
The xbox version will look nothing like those shots.
With that said, I had a lot of fun with this game. Fable didn't look like a game from the original xbox with the downsampling and other graphical options, and the gameplay held up really well.
I really recommend the dodge ability. It allows you to teleport behind an enemy and attack them, dodging any attacks that were going to hit your original position.
This made some of the later fights with some of the tougher enemies incredibly fun trying to dodge all of their attacks and rack up a higher multiplier.
I remember when I played through the game in the past, I would level up the Time Slow technique. I would stay away from this one, its fun but really breaks the game.
