I remember thinking that they were odd at first, but got used to them quickly. In any case, I’ve only ever played/seen the PC version, but give it high marks.
I played the PC version and anyone who doesn’t like that game just flat doesn’t like fun.
I played the X-Box version, and I thought it was pretty meh. But that’s a different thread.
In this thread, all you need to know is Thief: Deadly Shadows. That’s it. Thief: Deadly Shadows. Sometimes known as Thief III. It’s pretty high-end: but if your PC can’t run it, it’s all the excuse you need to either A) upgrade or B) go out and buy an X-Box, 'cause it’s on that platform, too, and would make a lovely bundle with Halo and Prince of Persia, which is also a fantastic game that you can get on your PC, even if your PC is getting a little elderly.
But mostly, buy Thief: Deadly Shadows.
An XBox is worth it for any non-Sony games. Most every game that comes out for both PS2 and XBox, the XBox version is a little nicer. In some games, it’s way nicer. GTA, for example, looks as good on the XBox as it does on the PC, whereas the PS2 looks like crap compared to either of them. The exception to this rule is games that use all buttons…the XBox is missing two of the shoulder buttons, and instead has the less-than-ideally located white and black buttons.
Also, XBox ships with hard drives. Not sure if PS2 is up to that point yet. Because of that, you can mod your X#Box to a&llow c(!o$+py%#i@n!g r*e(n%t@)_e+=d g%a^m!~e!s (t&o t%h^e h#)a$r^#d d%ri@v*e#%. Which makes it a billion times better than PS2. Hmmm, my signal seemed to break up there. :dubious:
If you just want computer games, I don’t have firsthand experience with them, but Rise of Nations is supposed to be awesome. I love RTS games…so much so that I can’t play them anymore. (God grant me the strength to throw away my Starcraft CD.) Rise of Nations is supposedly the greatest thing since sliced bread when it comes to RTS games.
If you like multiplayer FPS, give America’s Army a try. Not as good as Far Cry, but still good and fun… you can’t beat the price either = free!
They say HOI is “done”, but I’ve had no experience with it since release. But EU2 is now (with 1.08) the greatest historical strategy game bar none, IMO. For deep historical immersion there is nothing like it.
In the interest of full disclosure: I’m an (unpaid) beta tester of EU2, and run one of the support forums on Paradox’s site.
Buy another copy of Medieval: Total War and apply the Wesmod for thorough realism. It is a hell of a lot harder and more fun.
Fallout 1 and 2 recommend themselves. Fallout Tactics is a little lacking in the storyline department but has great action in the real-time mode.
Heroes of Might and Magic 2 - if you have not played it before, prepare for sleepless nights 
The Heroes of Might and Magic series had a glaring flaw that totally killed it for me: retreat from battle was not an option. If you retreated, your hero would quit in shame, and the troops under his command would be much less effective until you could hire another hero. The troops may have dispersed completely; I don’t remember but in any case it sucked and didn’t make much sense. I would recommend either Disciples II or Age of Wonders II instead. They’re both similar games (fantasy turn-based strategy) but much more engaging. Disciples II has one of the most beautiful art styles you’ll ever see in a video game. I like AoW II a little better, but the network multiplayer mode isn’t very good if you’re looking for that. If you’re not involved in a combat, all you can do is look at a “Battle in Progress” screen until it’s finished.
I recently dusted off Civ III, built my spaceship just as the last game year rolled around, and decided it’s just barely possible I like it better than Civ II after all. Maybe. The only way to make a fair comparison is to play it several hundred more times.
[QUOTE=Paladud]
Buy another copy of Medieval: Total War and apply the Wesmod for thorough realism. It is a hell of a lot harder and more fun.QUOTE]
Seconded.
Although you’ll need Viking Invasion too. But MTW & VI can be bought together, and you should have VI anyway if you have MTW.
Now if WesMod v4 would just emerge…
Knight of the Old Republic was pretty good. I’d recommend it if you like RPing and the Star Wars setting.
The game that sucked away my entire Memorial Day weekend though, is Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind. This game is big. After a good 20+ hours I’m still only barely into the game. It’s a 1st person RPG so if you’re slightly inclined towards those, I suggest you get it. The Game of the Year edition is out so you can get the game packaged with the 2 expansions for only $30. I expect that to work out to 1 cent per hour of playing. A great value buy.
Morrowind is a mighty fine suggestion, especially given its current price. My only complaint is that after several bazillion hours of gameplay, it did get a tad repetitive…
Buy another copy of Medieval: Total War? Save the cash for Rome: Total War? 
Silent Storm has filled a gap in my heart that was created after the completion of Jagged Alliance 2. (Just be sure to get the skills progression fix / hack from their forums, along with the latest patch 
)
Why can’t it be both?
What I’ve been playing:
PC:
Command & Conquer - Generals - a nice RTS that’s basically 100% combat… only one resource to gather, the rest of the game a build stuff and kill things.
Rise of Nations - Great RTS game, very deep. Problem is, until you get used to it the PC whips your ass like a moroccan houseboy.
Civ 3 - my wife hates this game as it is the eater of husbands
Neverwinter Nights - a good RPG, nice graphics, east to control interface, real time combat.
Halo - I love it on the PC for the online play
XBox:
Halo - great LAN action
Project Gotham Racing 2 - love the kudos system, love the online play
Counterstrike - I never had the PC version and the XBox version is a great diversion
Morrowwind - I don’t think I shall ever finish it
Crimson Skies - Alternate universe biplanes blowing up all kindsa baddies with great graphics… and 8 player dogfights on live.
Teemingone, do you have a Playstation2 or Game Cube, or just a PC?
Champions of Norath and Samurai Warriors are both eating up hours on my PS2.
Alright, nobobdy’s said it yet: Unreal Tournament 2004. It’s worth the 5-odd gigs of HD space. And the mod community has jumped on it as well. Someone went and made a mod that turns it into a perfectly ordinary game of golf.
That game alone has made my purchase of a GeForce FX 5200 worthwhile.
Seconded.
If you’ve played the old C&C games, this one has some familiar elements, but also a bunch of new ones. GDI and NOD are back, but there’s a third faction, the Global Liberation Army. They’re terrorists, so they have suicide bombers, pickup trucks, secret tunnels, stuff like that. And their voices are so cute! (“OK! OK! I will work!” “Can I have some shoes?”) You can also upgrade units and buildings with new abilities.
Seconded.
If you don’t have an XBox, don’t buy one just for Halo. Get Halo for PC instead. Four player games on XBox are OK, but 16 player online games on PC are tight. I haven’t seen that much teamwork and coordination in any other FPS.
But be warned: you will need a fast computer and video card for it to be playable at all, and even then, don’t expect to get more than 35 fps.
I own it, and I’m still not sure whether it’s worth the 5 minute wait before each level loads. I haven’t seen such a slow loading game since Sin.
Didn’t they take out Co-Op mode for the PC version, though? Not much point in buying Halo without the Co-Op mode, IMO.
No idea. I’ve never felt the need to play co-op online… slayer, CTF, oddball, and race are plenty. (Actually, just CTF by itself would be plenty.)
I think there are a couple new weapons and maps that aren’t in the Xbox version, but I never played much on Xbox so I’m not sure which ones are new.
Are they any different than similar multiplayer modes offered by pretty much every other FPS on the market? Because, speaking purely personally, all that shit bores the crap out of me after about five run-throughs. More than anything else, being able to play through the main storyline with a friend is what made Halo the must-buy FPS of its day. Otherwise, there’s really nothing to distinguish it from all the other FPS out there. Although, that said, it’s still a very high-quality game. Just nothing special.