I’ve pretty much run out of games to play and I’m narked about it. :mad:
My problem is that I don’t know any real hardcore gamers to recommend stuff, and I don’t read magazines or watch TV so I’ve got no idea about up and coming games.
I’m hoping if I share a few of my favorites you guys & girls can suggest some games like them I’d enjoy. Plus I get to yell about how great some of these games are.
I love RPGs a lot. But I also particularly enjoy first/third person RPGs. I loved Deus Ex and Vampire: Bloodlines a lot. Fable too.
Also Baldur’s Gate 2 and the Neverwinter nights games are all time favorites.
I’ve played the Civ series, including Alpha Centauri (Great game)
I’ve hammered the X-Com and the recent “Aftermath” etc series.
I even got Mrs essell to play through Knight of the Old republic by telling her how great it was.
Have I missed any gems among this genre ? Anyone wanna point me in an interesting and psychotic direction ?
Medieval 2: Total War, Rome: Total War, Europa Universalis III, Civilization 4.
The two Total War games (there were two more before them, Shogun: Total War and Medieval: Total War) are very fun and have an impressive scope, especially when you factor in the expansions. There are also a ton of mods that you can download. I’d recomment the Total Realism mod for Rome. It’s like getting a brand new game. Hell, it makes it a better game.
I haven’t played Europa Universalis III, but it is my next PC game purchase.
Haven’t played Civ IV, but I’ve played all the other ones and that one should be golden.
Haved you played Planescape: Torment? It may or may not be out of print, but an ebay/amazon search could probably turn up a copy. It was built with the same engine as the BG series, and came with a much stronger (and more bizarre) storyline. It’s generally considered to be one of the best, if not the best, CRPGs ever made. Worth a look if you haven’t played it already.
Rar, Grossbottom beat me to it!! Yes, Planescape: Torment is unmissable for any fan of Baldur’s Gate. It eschews all the typical knights & paladins vs. trolls & goblins fantasy lore in favor of something darker and crazier and completely fascinating. It’s the first (and only) video game I’ve ever played that I honestly think would make a great book.
Also, if you haven’t played Fallout 1 and/or 2, it’s amazing. My favorite RPG of all time.
edited to add that if you enjoyed KOTOR, you’ll probably like Jade Empire, though I wouldn’t consider it a classic.
For a newer game, check out Overlord. You play a Sauron-type character, in control of a small mob of goblin creatures that obey your every command. You need to rebuild your dark tower, get revenge on the heroes who defeated you years ago, and subjugate the surrounding land. Lots of fun!
Fourthing Planescape: Torment. Adding, hmmm. Have you tried Fallout and Fallout 2? What about Vampire the Masquerade: Redemption? (Warning, it’s OLD but classic. The AI in it needs patience at times though. Luckily you can take off autofollow to go pull.) Diablo, Diablo II (and it’s expansion Lord of Destruction) are still for sale, and are classics as well. Ice Wind Dale has a good storyline, but the AI in it is quite frustrating at times. You have to be very precise to avoid having your party members path stupidly.
Have you played any DungeonSiege games and their expansions? What about Arcanum, or Morrowind: The Elder Scrolls and Morrowind: Oblivion? Pool of Radiance Ruins of Myth Drannor? I’ll also give a mention to a classic I love, American McGee’s Alice. It’s a 3rd person shooter, but not too hard for a non-shooter player to enjoy playing. (Good storyline.) I’m pretty sure you can get most of these at Amazon.com. Some of them may be second hand. It’s cheapest to buy the Diablo boxed set, which is available in the Wal-Marts here. (Diablo is highly replayable because the maps change with each game, and there are quite a few random quests you may get. Diablo II is also replayable, but they took out the random quests, kept the random maps and it has difficulty levels.)
That would be The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, actually. TES: Arena is way old and probably won’t run on modern computers but was loads of fun – early first-person RPG goodness. TES II: Daggerfall was beloved by a few, but not well-liked by the majority. It had a few stability problems.
Morrowind is awesome, especially with a few mods – Better Heads is a must. Oblivion is almost as good, although I don’t like the setting and story as much. There’s a UI mod for Oblivion that’s essential to my enjoyment; the default UI is intended for the Xbox 360 and feels really clunky on a PC.
System Shock and System Shock 2 are great games – spiritual precursors to Deus Ex. Shooter/RPG hybrids with great stories.
I’ll add my recommendation for Fallout and Fallout 2. Great games.
Freedom Force and Freedom Force vs. the 3rd Reich are excellent RPG/pausable RTS hybrids, with superheroes and so-cheesy-it’s-awesome 60s superhero chic.
Well you’re slightly off you’re not getting revenge on those that defeated you but defeated your predecessor. Certainly a fun and engaging game though if a little flawed.
I second anything from the Total War series and Jade Empire is a decent RPG/beat 'em up hybrid though it’s pretty short.
Have you tried Wizardry 8? I’m a bit more than halfway through re-playing it. (Trying to build up a 4-spellbook bishop without powergaming; turns out it’s kind of a PITA.)
If you like strategy games, like Civilization, try Galactic Civilizations II . It’s a very fun strategy game in space, and it is supported by the developers who have come out with over 6 extensive patches to add and tweek the game over the past year plus since it came out. It is stable, and pretty much bug free. And it will run on any resonably modern computer (last 4-5 years at least)
ES IV: Oblivion. Absolutely. I’ve put 300+ hours into it, and I’ve still never completed the main storyline, though that’s more through my own inertia than anything (you don’t have to put that many hours into it, if you don’t want to). You can mod it to fit just about any play style you’d like (more/less realistic, harder/easier, new monsters, treasure, rules, etc.)
On the stragegy games idea, Rise of Legends, Mech Commander 2, Age of Mythology, Warcraft 2, Warcraft 3 and the Frozen Throne expansion, Starcraft (buy the battlechest) and Dungeon Keeper 2 (if you can find it, try Amazon.com) are all good. Mind you, Dungeon Keeper was AWFUL! The Voice of Evil in that game makes you want to KILL!!
I second the Freedom Force games, especially if you are a fan of campy comic books. It isn’t often that a game can be so awesome and make you laugh at the same time.
Firstly, I second Oblivion. An incredibly vast game that one can sink weeks and weeks of nonstop play and not complete it. It’s just beautiful. I, personally, don’t have a reference point to the other Elder scroll games, but this one blew me away in the first hour or so. My buddy designed all the trees and shrubbery for the game.
Secondly, if you can get your hands on the Fallout series, do it! Partly because it’s an awesome game, but also because Fallout 3 (for those that have missed it, Fallout Tactics is not fallout 3) is being released in about a years time and I guarantee you that it will be one of the monster hits of the past decade. It’s being developed by the same company that made Oblivion (Bethesda), so you know it’s going to be good.
I second this game. It’s one of those "easy to learn/hard to master’’ games. Paradox Plaza (the makers) are very customer friendly. The developers of the game are active participants of the message board and suggestions made by the players are taken seriously.
