Great Eye Candy games for gamers who suck

The Game Room
#1

Now I’m all stoked about the new computer I got, which has way more power than the old computer from 2002 it replaced. It runs WoW with every setting maxed at a smooth 60fps. But WoW is really designed (wisely I think) to run on almost any computer, and while parts of it are quite nice, it’s not the best example of eye candy.

Now, I’ve been reading games reviews, and I see a lot of games that mention amazing graphics. However, most of these games are FPS or RTS or another genre that requires quick reflexes to play well. And I suck. I’ll admit it. My reflexes are as sharp as a marble. I’ve never in my life beaten a game requiring any skill whatsoever without cheating my ass off. I’ve generally stuck with turn based strategy games, or bioware type RPGs that are kinda turn based. I do fairly well at those types of games, but they seem to miss that eye candy factor.

So, anyone have some suggestions for some games to show off my new computer, that either don’t require a lot of quick reflexes to play?

#2

Homeworld II, while a little older, can still have the graphics turned all the way up to 11 and look beautiful. Medieval II: Total War takes a fancy graphics card to really shine, too.

#3

Geometry Wars is always a visual orgy. If it looks good on the consoles, I imagine it would look great on the PC.

#4

That depends on what your new 'puter’s specs are.

Well, if you’ve got a reallllly beefy computer (I’m talking top-line quad-core, SLI 9800s, 4 GB DDR3 1200 ram) a cool, easy game is MS Flight Sim X. Beautiful graphics, and you can drop in on any spot on the globe with a variety of aircraft.

However, on a computer like mine (no slouch - AMD X2 4800+, Radeon X1950 XT, 2GB DDR2 800 ram) it runs like a damn slide show on anything but ultra low settings.

Otherwise, there’s always game demos - you don’t have to be super good to play the first 5 minutes of a game like Bioshock or Crysis, but it’s long enough to wow the kiddies. Or get the full games and find the ubiquitous godmode cheat (hey, I do it!).

Also, since you’re into WOW - it’s an older game, but Elder Scrolls: Oblivion has a texture update pack that I’ve heard looks pretty slick.

#5

Probably wise to mention those … I picked up a dual core 3.0 Gz CPU, with a Radeon 4850 and 4 GB ram. Based it on a budget gaming build I’ve found on the net somewhere.

I didn’t even thing about trying demos out, I might have to give a couple of those a try. As for using godmode cheats to play FPS … I’ve been doing that since my doom days. The problem is that cheating completely kills any challenge, and turns it to a long demo. It’s still fun the first time, but not so much after that.

#6

Mass Effect is a very, very beautiful game. Its still partially a FPS, but it relies more upon its RPG elements than its FPS elements. You can even pause it at any time, aim your gun at something, unpause, and fire.

Neverwinter Nights 2 is also rather good looking, and plays pretty much like KOTOR or NWN.

If you like Diablo/D2, Titan Quest is a very good looking game, and pretty damned fun to boot. Unlike d2, theres hardly any blood and gore though.

There are also more cheats in FPSs than godmode. Extra health, unlimited ammo, etc… There are several Bullet Time mods for Crysis, which are cool, but make the game almost stupidly easy for me since it pretty much gaurantees a headshot for me every time. Might be the ticket for you though, and if its eye candy you are after, nothing does it better right now than Crysis.