PC game recommendations

Battlefield 2 springs to mind, also Age of empires 3 ( i still perfer AoE 2 though) and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is ment to be 'da ****'
 
Theres also the various GTA's.

If you like the strategy stuff, Rome Total Way owns. Also Civilisation 4 was a fantastic reinvention of the franchise - it makes Civ fun again.

Bit old now, but possibly available cheap, you got Warhammer 40K:Dawn of War.

Freshly Squeezed Ork never gets old.

Far Cry still looks beautiful. However I haven't been familiar with any of the recent shooters now for a while.

Haven't been gaming much lately so I am not totally familiar with what is right new. If you got a leet machine you will probably want to invest in something new and pretty to really show it off.

Massively overlooked by everybody, but excellent and genuinely funny: Psychonauts.

Theres also stuff a bit like it, that while they are console games, they are good (like Beyond Good & Evil and Lego Star Wars). Should be available cheaply.
 
Hmmm.....

If you're in to the Whole RTS thing, then I suggest Empire earth. It's kinda like AoE, only it spans 500,000 years of humanity, from the stone age right up to the nano age. you can utilise many kinds of troops, from guys who throw rocks, to Airports, which let you bomb the hell out of your opponent with nukes. Also It has Mechs.

You can't go wrong with Neverwinter NIghts either. All the fun of D&D, on your own!
 
Thanks for all the ideas! I think I'll look into Age of Empires 3 and Neverwinter nights.

I'll get Psychonauts for my Xbox - it's one of the games I'm waiting for to go dead cheap.

Oblivion is a tad overrated and I didn't really like Morrowind for my trusty Xbox!

Are there some underrated classic PC games? I don't mind what genre as long as they are good. I like a bit of obscurity :D
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South park forum
 
errr.... Half-Life 2: Episode 1 when it's released at the end of the month. Assuming that you're saying not to suggest Half-Life 2 because it's a given, rather than because you've played and don't like it :p. And then go back and play Half-Life 1 if you haven't. And the Opposing Force and Blue Shift expansions (which you get for free just for owning HL1 these days). They've aged, but fairly well. Don't bother with Half-Life:Source. Get the proper version.

Unfortunantly, I've pretty much used the PC as a shooter machine for the last few years and little more :p I used to dig strategy games like Homeworld (absolutely brilliant) but I don't really like what strategy anymore* and I generally just don't have the time for it. That and RPGs as well, but then I always found PC RPGs really dry. I could tell there were dice being rolled somewhere, and that put me off a lot. Shooting stuff is a great stress-reliever, hence why I do a lot of it! Other shooters that are good: Doom 3 is SCARY but the "ooh that monster hid behind that door" and "ooh that closet opened really quick and a monster came out" tricks get old QUICKLY. Far Cry is... kind of coolish. The story and characters are absolutely bloody awful, but those big island crawling, mercenary battles are pretty amazing. Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay is a suprisingly good stealthy type game, but you need to stomach being Vin Diesel. Quake 4 is another shooter that's kind of good. Scary, gory, nasty, but a bit too familiar.

Online shooter wise, Unreal Tournament 2004 is my personal fave... but... not to sound harsh, the game is 95% likely to suck if you do :p I've been playing an unhealthy ammount of these games in my lifetime, and I still get obliterated routinely in 9 out of 10 UT2004 games. Some people out there play inhuman ammounts, and accordingly, their skills are inhuman. All in all, it's not very forgiving to beginners, and because it's been around for a little while, most servers are full of experienced players and it's hard to find somewhere a beginner or even intermediate player can enjoy themself. The bot mode is competent, but who really wants to play these games against computer controlled opponents? As with anything with the PC, download the demo, see if you like it first. Unless you're dialup, in which case you should probably priortise getting running water in your home.

Oh, and another factor to consider when playing FPS games, or most PC games for that matter: You can't mind being a guy or be put off too much by the things that routinely happen to guys in games (fending off Alyx Vance's advances with a crowbar for instance. Though I don't imagine that will be as much of a problem with you :p). The only game that springs to mind where you can choose to be a girl is in Deus Ex: Invisible War, a game that wouldn't recommend that highly because it sucks. Oh and you can be a girl, alien or robot in most online shooters. Except Counter-Strike which is drenched in testostorone. Well, except those 14 year olds that haven't quite done that maturity thing yet.

OMG GHEY FAG HAXXOR

neptune2venus said:
Are there some underrated classic PC games? I don't mind what genre as long as they are good. I like a bit of obscurity :D

To end the list, a few classic games which can be tough to get hold off but are well worth it: System Shock 1 and 2 rock. The original is extremely dated, getting it to run on a new PC is a marathon, but it's a really deep game that just superficially looks and plays a bit like the original Doom. The Sequel was just... wow. Scary, inventive, not all about shooting. Then you've got the original Deus Ex which was all political and ****, with some cool roleplaying and stealth elements. The Thief games were great for stealth too, even Deadly Shadows which just looks kind of naff. Nice fantasy setting completely lacking from the predominantly sci-fi mentioned above.

Looking to the future, UT2007, Bioshock, Crysis and whatever valve do next with Half-Life 2 are all things to get hyped about.

* Just thought of an exception: Darwinia. That game is so cool! You have to move your little computer people and fight the bad red virus. All very good fun, available on Steam.
 
Might and magic 6: the mandate of heaven and Might and magic 7: for blood and honour. they are both classics, now published by SOLD OUT! Software. they're quite dated graphics-wise. But tehy're good for a laugh in a stat-building RPG kind of way.
 
i've not really played AoE 3 much as yet but i would recommend it, but i would atill recommend AoE 2 more, i didn't think Empire Earth was to bad either if you are into the whole RTS thing. erm....if your up for an adventure game..i may suggest dungeon seige if your into that kinda game..apart from that i dunno what else to suggest :? i#m not the biggest PC gamer
 
neptune2venus said:
Thanks for all the ideas! I think I'll look into Age of Empires 3 and Neverwinter nights.

I am not a fan of the Age of Empires series - I always found the economy part of it too laborious, and worker management tedious. But I really enjoyed what they did for AoE III, however a lot of AoE fans didn't like it. I especially liked the railroads concept - you had to venture forth early. If you like AoE, Rise of Nations is well better and more fun.

Neverwinter Nights and its expansions rocked though. I think you really need to get the expansions - they open up all of the higher level stuff. Mages are just too much fun. The higher level spell effects are yummy.

neptune2venus said:
I'll get Psychonauts for my Xbox - it's one of the games I'm waiting for to go dead cheap.

Its one of the games thats worth buying at full price, but I am not too familiar with the xbox price curve. It is very rare to see a game with this kind of imagination and the humour is brilliant. Lungfishopolis. Enough said. The best gaming moment I have had since my Rome: TW faction leader became a master of assasins.

neptune2venus said:
Are there some underrated classic PC games? I don't mind what genre as long as they are good. I like a bit of obscurity :D

The PC is loaded with underrated classics. I don't even know where to start. You might want to look up some of the modern remakes done by PomPom, like Space Tripper and i-cant-remember-the-other-one but it was a Robotron remake.

No-one Lives Forever & NOLF2 were classics full of 60s spy movie kitsch. Getting on a bit now, but you should find them cheap, and that crossbow ruled.

Railroad Tycoon 3 is phenomenal, though I would hardly call it underrated. It sold lots, and it was a towering improvement over its already very good predecessors.

You might want to check out abandonware sites, you can get old classics like Master Of Magic, Transport Tycoon and too many other old classics there. Also budget releases tend to have loads of old good stuff like Hostile Waters, Planescape Torment etc.
 
Let's see, SWAT 4 (+addon pack as well) is brilliant if you like your tactical FPS's, or even if you don't. I've been playing it solidly for months now, both online and offline and still haven't gotten tired of it (which is saying a lot). It's the first game in a long time that I've played that doesn't annoy me when I repeat a level a dozen times, largely because enemy and civillian placement is randomised, and the key to success in a mission isn't memorisation of enemy placement but being tactical and thorough in your approach. A single shot can kill you or anyone is your squad, and any room is a potential deathtrap, so the tension level can be running quite high. Play it on hard for most fun (Suspects are FAR less likely to surrender just because you shout for compliance, and need to be tackled much more tactically as a result).

Unfortunately, my PC's an ageing machine as well, so I haven't played much that's recent. I'd easily recommend Fallout 1&2 (awesome open-ended post-apocalyptic RPG's) and Planescape: Torment (which probably has the best writing and storyline in any game I've played to date).

Then there's the other stuff everyones already recommended, Deus Ex, System Shock 1&2, Thief, NOLF etc.

I've heard Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (and sequels) are really good, but unfortunately haven't had the opportunity to try them either.

Dawn of War is a decent RTS, but honestly I'm far more interested in the upcoming Supreme Commander (sort of an unnoficial sequel to Total Annihilation). Starcraft and Warcraft 3 are still played even today so they have active online communities.

Do you do a lot of online gaming? Battlefield 2 might interest you. And I've heard Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter is also very good (both singleplayer and online).

@Manji: Hey, someone else who's played Space Tripper! Most rare indeed :mrgreen: The other-one-you-can't-remember is Mutant Storm, and it's also awesome.

If you like those games, you might also want to try Crimsonland. Try the demo and see what you think.

There's also Shadowgrounds, which supports 4 players on a single PC, surprisingly. I've got to try the demo when I get some time, but the gameplay looks like good retro-actioney fun.

EDIT: Oh, and I just remembered, Resident Evil 4 is hitting the PC in September:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos...8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl/202-0240040-4794202

If you haven't already played it on GC (or PS2), you HAVE to try it, it's a brilliant action game (got me back into gaming in general after a long hiatus). I'd recommend getting a Gamepad though, since I doubt keyboard / mouse control is going to be all that great. Believe it or not, the precision of the mouse is probably something that would detract from the gameplay (unless they've found a good way of implementing the control).
 
subedii said:
@Manji: Hey, someone else who's played Space Tripper! Most rare indeed :mrgreen: The other-one-you-can't-remember is Mutant Storm, and it's also awesome.

Yeah thats it! Would play them more, only I dont have no-cds for them.
 
Ohh so many recomendations, so little time to trawl brain. Some of the ones that have been metioned first:
Prince of Persia- Sands of time (plus others) - The 1st game is a truly beautiful game, in both backdrops, the way the prince moves inovative tricks and a very lovely plot, voice acting & script. Only quible was it was short. Way to short. The second game lost a little of the charm and seeming fluidity of the 1st and haven't loaded up the last one yet (and its also good you can get . all three at once
GTA's - What can i say that hasn't been said already? Not much really. Bigger and better every time. Flying is a nightmare on the keyboard however.
Civ 4- Best, bar one, turn based stratergy game ever. Crack on optical media as my brother once put it.... just ....one ... more... turn.
Deus E- one of the few games that allows you to play however you like, kill no one, kill everyone. Upgrade guns so a pistol can be as good as a sniper rilfe. Why can't they make more games like this?
Now for some games that have't been mentioned
Knights of the Old Republic 1&2-nothing beats the feeling of duel weilding lightsabres. great game, great action great plot (if somewhat butched in 2). One of the best RPG's availble.
Morrowind- Think of an online multiplayer game, without the other people playing. So big and allowing for such free form play that once I forgot what the actual main plot was and just went about doing 'side' missions. Oblivion looks the same but better but my copy hasn't arrived yet.
Sid Miers Alpha Centauri - THE BEST TURN BASED STRATERGY GAME EVER. Just about everything is customisable, from units to goverment types to factions, the factions are different to each other, and i mean DIFFERENT. They have strenghts and weaknesse that can be exploited or used. They also have a good 'plot' which is picked up with tech advances, or pages of text when you reach a certain level. and of course .... just ....one ... more... turn.
One or to games that I have got yet but look good Oblivion (see above, The Movie (play god with actors and make your own movies), Psychonauts - intresting little platformer.
 
Lerion said:
Might and magic 6: the mandate of heaven and Might and magic 7: for blood and honour. they are both classics, now published by SOLD OUT! Software. they're quite dated graphics-wise. But tehy're good for a laugh in a stat-building RPG kind of way.

Ive always preferd III actualy, good old hot seat multi player game that I still play occasionaly to this day 8)
 
Laughing Manji said:
Yeah thats it! Would play them more, only I dont have no-cds for them.


You don't need NO-CD's for them, you just need to patch them.

Remember, the game's are available to purchase and download direct from the website (which is how they were originallyt sold), so the patches are designed for those versions. The patches overwrite the executables, which is where the CD check is hidden. Apply the patch, the .exe gets overwritten, and then it's just like the download version. I didn't try it with Mutant Storm (since I bought that off the website), but it definitely worked with Space Tripper.

hopeful_monster said:
Sid Miers Alpha Centauri - THE BEST TURN BASED STRATERGY GAME EVER. Just about everything is customisable, from units to goverment types to factions, the factions are different to each other, and i mean DIFFERENT. They have strenghts and weaknesse that can be exploited or used. They also have a good 'plot' which is picked up with tech advances, or pages of text when you reach a certain level. and of course .... just ....one ... more... turn.

He speaketh the truth!

It's certainly my favourite game in the Civ series (yes I know it's not technically part of the civilisation series), but my favourite turn based game overall would probably have to be Jagged Alliance 2.

Jagged Alliance 2 (which anyone should try if they haven't) is another 'underated classic'. Basically a squad level, turn based strategy game. You take control of a group of mercenaries fighting through cities and wilderness trying to take control of a fictitious island nation from it's oppressive ruler. Think XCom, but without the sci-fi bent and the research. Weapons, ammunition and equipment are largely scrounged from the battlefield but it's also possible to order stuff off the 'in-game' internet sites. Mercenaries are hired / fired from agencies (one merc is "yours" so you get to decide the starting stats), skills level up with use (which largely works quite well in-game), and you recieve funding by capturing and controlling specific cities and mines.

It's all quite tactical, and definitely worth trying. I'd recommend trying the demo at least.
 
I've just been playing the demo of a fun game called "Shadowgrounds", which is avaliable on Steam. It's a third person shooter with an "alien outbreak" kinda theme going on..
 
Thanks everyone for your suggestions! There's quite a lot there to look into! I'll have to get some money first but a few games does sound interesting. I don't know whether to succumb to World of Warcraft because apparently it's like being on 'crack' with the addiction level.
A game can't be that great..can it? :shock:
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New mexico dispensary
 
Oh man, I just got back into Rome Total War in a big way.

I always used to auto-resolve the battles, but thats no good on the higher difficulty levels. Now I am slowly getting into the tactical maps for fights where it matters, you can ruin large size armies and single out the faction members leading them.

Using those tactics I managed to utterly rout one neighbours main army, and achieve significant victories in a 2 front war.

I just love the way that you can use seapower in this game, and now that I have found a good guide on how to develop your faction mambers I am about to start some long overdue parenting.
 
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