I know there has to have been a favorite games thread before but I hope my variation is a little less redundant.
I’ll start:
Real-Time Strategy(RTS):] WarCraft III
-Like an upgraded StarCraft with an elements of RPGs with great multiplayer.
First-Person Shooter (FPS): Half Life 2 (including Counter-Strike: Source that comes with)
-HL2 has some really great cinematic elements to it that really help with immersion. Great focus to detail and variations in gameplay (I loved the hoverboat levels)
-I can play Counter-Strike for days. I have had days where I would spend half my waking hours playing this game. My computer is acting up’s so I’m suffering from CS withdrawal. Realistic physics and gamesplay with an emphasis on good aim and ability to master real-life firearms.
Role-Playing Game (RPG): Planescape: Torment
-Based on the Baldur’s Gates engine and set in the planescape universe of AD&D, this game plays like a novel.
RPG: Darklands
Turn Based Strategy- X-Com
Flight Sim: Tie Fighter
RTS: Starcraft (though Battle for Middle earth is pretty good too)
FPS: Doom 2 (Jedi Academy coming in second)
Fighting: One Must Fall 2097
RTS: It’s a close call, but I’ll say Rise of Nations
TBS: Alpha Centauri (But when Civ IV comes out… Who can say?)
FPS: Quake II on account of it being the only one I’ve ever played much of
RPG: Quest for Glory I can’t beat the classics
RPG - Torment (heh)
– the only game I’ve played where it really felt like an RPG rather than a dungeon crawl – though Fallout and Fallout 2 came close. Really showcased Baldur’s Gate and BG2’s faults in story, too.
RTS - Rome: Total War (even though I suck at it)
There’s just something about charging a couple of thousand archers with hundreds of cavalry and seeing it all play out in fully animated 3D.
FPS - The Thief Trilogy
I’ve always found pure shooters get a bit boring. Even Half-life 2 has basically the same gameplay as the original Doom. I have much more fun sneaking up on the bad guys and generally feeling like a ninja than having straight up firefights.
Hybrid - GTA: San Andreas
Much more impressive to me than all the glitz of Doom 3 and Half life 2 put together is being able to fly over a city, bail out, parachute into the middle of a bustling metropolis, jump in a car, drive to the marina, jump in a boat, sail to the mission objective, have a firefight, jump on a motorbike, and drive away. All in real time 3D with no loading. If only more games took the GTA approach of content-is-king instead of leaving me with 15 hours of gameplay and no replayability!
Real Time Strategy: Either Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2, or Age of Mythology
Turn Bases Strategy: Civ II (Never played Civ III)
RPG: Neverwinter Nights
First Person Shooter: Half-Life 2
Flight Sim: Tie FIghter, though Privateer is a clsoe second. I like the free form aspect of it.
(adding a new catagory) Adventure Game
A tie between The Legend of Zelda (the original) and Quest for Glory IV (I consider these Adventure games, not RPG, though it does mix elements of both.)
Real Time Strategy: Age of Empires II. I have a weakness for historical games, and I really enjoyed this one.
Turn Based Strategy: Masters of Orion II.
RPG: Morrowind. Though Planescape: Torment was fun, you just can’t beat a completely open-ended RPG in an immersive world, where the main plot was essentially optional, and you weren’t limited to “good” behavior. Playing an evil Telvanni wizard with a fortress of exotic treasures guarded by sphere centurions? Slaying gods after rising to the top of their temple’s hierachy? Priceless.
First Person Shooter: Counter-Strike. I too am an addict of this one.
Flight Sim: I haven’t played a lot of these so I’ll use the only one I’ve played, Hellcats over the Pacific. It was a lot of fun until you tried to land…
Adventure Game: I’ll second the original Legend of Zelda.