back into PC gaming

danr

finally bit my lip/wallet, drew blood, and replaced my Pentium 2 450 : P4 3.5ghz, geforce 6600, lots of plastic things with wires coming off them.

Now for all my best intentions to use this moneysucker creatively (i got a huge HD for video editing and everything ), i just know i'm going to spend whacking great swathes of my weekends locked away playing some arse-kicking games. Only thing is, i haven't bought a PC game for about 4 years, or indeed read a magazine or even browsed the shelves ...

so lets have your recommendations. Obviously, the missus is having Sims 2 and i'm having Half-life 2 when i get the broadband connection sorted ... but other than that, i've not much clue. Rome : Total War looks like my kinda thing. Ideas?

sal_manilla

Old standby's....that Polycount now has a server for....Unreal Tournament 2004 and Battlefield 1942 w/ Desert Combat Mod. Doom 3 was kickass and a lot of peeps are enjoyin' Halflife 2. And of course we still frag away with Quake 3 but you prolly had the horsepower for that with your old machine. As you may have noticed I'm into shooters. I'm sure you'll hear from other guys on RPGs and stuff.

MoP

Morrowind was a fun RPG, if you can get past the characters looking like ass.
Deus Ex (the first, not really the 2nd) had a great storyline and was a fun stealth/FPS.
Half Life 2 goes without saying.
Rome is a pretty good game, I didn't play it that much but Medieval was good and Rome seems like more of the same, but better.
Warcraft 3 and the Frozen Throne expansion pack is a pretty much must-buy, it's an awesome game, great cinematics, enjoyable and most of all, it's got good longevity.
Call of Duty was actually pretty good... more fun multiplayer than singleplayer though, I reckon.

Now that I think about it, I haven't really played anything since HL2, or much before then... and I'm a Quake fan... so probably not the best person to listen to

thnom

Avoid doom3, you'll lose all faith in PC games from the bat if you play that..

Both Max Paynes are nice, CoD was very good,mmhmm

Generally any games that have sort of background to them, minus doom3

Seyiji

Beyond Good & Evil = Great Game
Max Payne 2 = Great Ending Tune (and something about a fun game in there too)
Unreal Tournament 2004 = Decent Multiplayer
Half-Life 2 = Uh....I liked the Gravity Gun (Beware of Bukkake and Tenticle rape on front page)

JKMakowka

Some lesser known games that are great and can be picked up really cheap:

Gothic2
Vietcong
(both with expansion packs)

Oh and Armies of Exigo is quite nice if you are into Warcraft3 like games.

Last but not least, if you get UT2004 you MUST download the RedOrchestra Mod for it.

Edit: Don't listen to the guy above, Doom3 is a great game

lkraan

Even though I am not a big RTS fan I really enjoyed Lord of the Rings "Battle for Middle Earth".

danr

ikraan - i was just considering that one, i used to be a big fan of strategy games backin the days when my PC would run them. I've heard tell though that it's not very hot on the actual battlefield strategy, units not behaving as you'd expect and so forth. Is it more of a slightly arcadey pick-up-and-play particle-fest?

lkraan

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Is it more of a slightly arcadey pick-up-and-play particle-fest?

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That's probably why I enjoyed it

If you were really into RTS games then you will probably like Rome Total War and Earth 2150. The last one is a couple of years old already but still looks very good. Earth 2160 should come out in the 2nd quarter.

ndcv

Rome Total War = oh yes

if you like RTS games plus Civilization, this is a really fantastic game. You actually get to see each individual soldier on the battlefield and see them react appropriately (pikemen leveling their weapons against a cavalry charge, flaming catapult shots blowing your enemies into the air, rebelling peasants being trampled underfoot by your charging horses... ahh satisfying).

I have been waiting a long time for a game like this to come out There are still some funny parts, like sometimes your people take weird paths or turn around at the wrong time. The biggest disappointment is that you can't play out naval battles, and that the AI isn't terribly impressive. But it's still freakin' awesome. There is a demo around somewhere if you want to see how it plays.

KDR_11k

Perimeter, Anachronox, Pontifex II, Spellforce, Unreal Tournament 2004, Total Annihilation, Diablo II, Quake 1, Freespace 2, Frogger, Descent 1&2, Half-Life (for mods only). If you said Gamecube I'd have picked more recent ones but on the PC... Forget it.

Although I've got a nice big PC that could handle any game I've noticed myself becoming less and less interested in PC gaming, the PC lacks interesting games, most are just minor increments over the stuff you've already played for years. Almost all of my recent (well, okay, the last few years) PC games were from the bargain bin and those few that weren't made me wish they were (most notably Doom 3 and HL2, neither worth more than maybe 30 bucks, HL2 already went off my HD, Doom 3 is only on there for development). That's also why I can't recommend many games because I haven't found any standout games for the PC lately (except for Perimeter). I'd recommend no longer upgrading your PC and investing the money into consoles instead, those offer a lot more for the money and have a much broader range of gametypes. I think the games I've used my GeForce 6800 on are worth less than I paid for the card itself.

RageUnleashed

I haven't played a mindblowing single player FPS game in awhile, my favorite being Deus Ex, System Shock 2, and Operation Flashpoint for their really well done open-ended gameplay.

Other than that there's been some really well done solid FPS games lately, but imho, when it comes to replayability, they all tend to not make me care to go back and play through them again. All the big name ones, you shouldn't pay more than say, $25-30 for.

But that's SINGLE PLAYER, multiplayer-wise, UT 2004 was worth the $50 and then some.

JKMakowka

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I think the games I've used my GeForce 6800 on are worth less than I paid for the card itself.

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Send it to me then But you are kinda right... I just can't see any outstanding games on any consoles either.

sundance

UT2004 is pratically a legal requirement
halo is good, unless you've got it on egg-box in which case, don't bother.
CoD is really good, plus you can get the 'deluxe' edition with CoD GOTY edition and the United Offensive add-on pack for about 30-35 quid

need for speed underground is pretty swish for a racing game, or you can go with the newer sequel...

danr

well, i just attempted to "install" and "play" the Half-Life 2 demo. Seeing the piss-ridiculous turn setting up a computer game (not even a full game, just a demo) seems to have taken, i set light to the room instead.

Ryno

Call of Duty, definitely. Singleplayer is very dramatic, but a bit linear. Multiplayer is a blast.

Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory is free on the internet, and is really fun. Online multiplayer only. And you can't beat FREE!

Steve

RPG / adventure-
Vampire: Bloodlines
Knights of the Old Republic
Both fabulous fun, all the 20 sided dice stuff is "under the hood" as it were, so even non rpg fans might like them.

Strategy-
WH40k: Dawn of War ( only if you like multilayer, singleplayer = not much cop imo )

Shooter/fps-
Deus Ex1
HalfLife2 (obviously)
FarCry ( not in the same league as Dex and HL2, but it'll look so damn nice on your shiny new system..)

Spacesim-
Freespace2

rolfness

get a broadband connection and play planetside and Lineage 2