I bought my last computer at the same time as Fred Flintstone and now I’m getting a new one with blazing speed and much belss and whistles.
I haven’t been able to buy a computer game off the shelf for about 2-3 years now and had to be careful with requirements for 1-2 years before that.
I’m so out of it that the last high end games that run on the old computer are CIV2, Panzer General 2, Alpha Centari and Red Alert and some of those are pushing it but this gives you the idea of the time difference here.
I need to have recommendations on good computer games. I hate spending money and time on crappy ones. Come hither and leave your suggestions.
…disregard the fact that I completely glossed over the mention of Civ2, PG2, AC, and Red Alert.
If you liked Civ, and ever thought to yourself “Wow, I wish there were a game like Civ, but with a college degree, and on crack,” then you should go get Europa Universalis II. You can read a pretty decent review on it if you want.
Let’s see … what’s currently in my fun-playing-game-list-of-fun-games.
Return To Castle Wolfenstein. Fun single player, and the best multiplayer I’ve ever seen. (Of course, I condition that with the fact that I play multiplayer with a team of eight to ten RL friends, coordinated with microphones and headsets.)
Aliens vs Predator 2. Decent FPS, but I’d wait until it drops to the $30 range to buy.
Tropico. Like, uh, SimCuba, I guess. It’s down to the $20 range, and there’s an add-on (Paradise Island) available for it. It’s campy, it’s comical, it’s a blast.
Escape From Monkey Island. This game’s a little older - came out in fall 00, I think - but I’m a sucker for anything Monkey Island-related, and this game made me laugh long and loud. (All previous Monkey Island games apply as well - get all four at once, if you can, and have never played them before.)
And you may want to check out The Sims. It’s a game that some people love and some people hate, but the original game itself is dirt-cheap now. Buying all the add-ons will set you back something fierce, though.
NO NO NO NO FOR THE LOVE OF GOD NO STAY AWAY FROM POOL OF RADIANCE
That’s all I’ll say on that.
Civ3 … they made some radical changes. I have no real complaints about anything they added, removed, or changed, but I’m still stuck in my ways. I prefer Civ2 to Civ3 - possibly because I like the minimalist interface. The graphics of Civ are secondary to gameplay, imo, and having lush lavish textures and unit animation and this and that just detracts from the game experience.
I second Tropico—the game’s quite a blast. If you’re still indecisive you can download a demo first.
You might give Freedom Force a shot. It’s an RPG, but with heavy tactical elements. Think 60’s Golden Age comic book heroes.
Can’t think of anything else recent you might like. If you’re into FPS action games, you might want to give Jedi Knight 2 a shot. If you want a really good RPG with jaw-dropping graphics and gameplay, Morrowind is coming out soon (in a month or two?).
If you’re into the RPG scene I’d have to highly recommend Arcanum. It’s been out for a while, and aside from a pretty good storyline this game is one of the most original RPG’s out there. It has a victorian flair to it as well as a unique character creation system (you create as you play…)
I thought Heroes III kinda sucked. It got old for me real fast, since your success or failure in each level depended 100% on how the game set it up beforehand. It was pretty fun for a while, but replayability is low.
Get Fallout and Fallout 2. Should be able to get both for ~$20. Great, great, great groundbreaking CRPG.
Can’t believe I forgot about Rollercoaster Tycoon. Another vote for that.
Homeworld … beautiful concept, great execution, but overly complex. That’s a game where you should have half a dozen people on each side coordinating their moves, rather than one person trying to keep track of everything in a huge 3-d space combat. Didn’t stop me from playing it religiously, though.
I feel I should stick up for the “run around killing things” crowd . I’ll star the older games you should be able to get for a bargain.
[ul]
[li]Half-Life. Yes, it’s 3 years old, and still being sold for US$40. It’s that good.[/li][li]Got a good net connection, and like multiplayer games? I’d recommend Command and Conquer: Renegade.[/li][li]Unreal Tournament*, unless you have something against severed heads bouncing down the hallways. Some people do.[/li][li]System Shock 2*: Hard to find, nowadays… But quite possibly the most frightening game I have ever played.[/ul][/li]Some less (graphically) violent games, that are nonetheless great:
[ul]
[li]Fallout* and its sequals (FO2*, and Tactics): Great fun, great RPGs, though Tactics is pretty much totally combat-oriented (in an XCOM and Jagged Alliance) vein.[/li][li]Arcanum: Plays much like the Fallout series, but much bigger, in almost all respects.[/li][li]Sacrifice*: Colorful, bouncy graphics and a campaign of wizards fighting alongside deities for the souls of the slain. Featuring Earthworm Jim![/li][li]If you like adventure games, pick up the Gabriel Knight series (1* and 2* may be hard to find, but 3* is lying forlornly around at my local Fry’s for a song). All have humour, tremendous voice acting, engaging puzzles and great stories that may be slightly sacreligious.[/li][li]Worms World Party*: If you have friends over often, get this - 4 can play on one machine quite nicely, and blowing away cartoony little arthropods with exploding sheep is a stress-reliever.[/li][/ul]
I suppose you can figure that I have a lot of time on my hands. Don’t forget Progress Quest!
Do you like superheroes? And knocking down entire buildings? And the thought of tearing lampposts out of the ground and using it to send thugs armed with baseball bats flying through the air, where several will bounce off buildings across the street, fall into the street after bouncing, and get run over by passing cars? And dealing with the next group of dastardly evildoers by picking up one of those cars and hurling it at them? And doing all of the above and more in a bright, relentlessly fun and surprisingly deep tactical combat system? If the answer to any of those questions is “yes!” or even “I’m…strangely intrigued!” then do yourself a favor and run, do not walk, to a store and pick up Freedom Force.
Do you like superheroes? And knocking down entire buildings? And the thought of tearing lampposts out of the ground and using it to send thugs armed with baseball bats flying through the air, where several will bounce off buildings across the street, fall into the street after bouncing, and get run over by passing cars? And dealing with the next group of dastardly evildoers by picking up one of those cars and hurling it at them? And doing all of the above and more in a bright, relentlessly fun and surprisingly deep tactical combat system? If the answer to any of those questions is “yes!” or even “I’m…strangely intrigued!” then do yourself a favor and run, do not walk, to a store and pick up Freedom Force.
Serious Sam: The Second Encounter!! $20, and it’s got the best “Kill billions of enemies at once” interface ever. Storyline is campy as all get out, but everything is dealt with so lightheartedly you won’t notice (East Clintwood training academy? If you fail, you’ll wind up taking pictures of bridges for the rest of your life? Bwahahaha!).
I really liked Fallout so Arcanum sounds interesting. I like CRPG but many degenerate into boredom like the might and magic ones. I’ll have to look at Freedom Force and am printing out this thread to take to the store with me.
You mean this is it? I haven’t played a new, real game in three years and this is all I missed?
Serious Sam is great. It’s not one of those FPS games where you run back and forth over the whole darn level looking for the keycard - it’s very straightforward. It knows what it’s going for and has no pretensions about it. I laugh when I play it.
Stronghold is pretty fun, too. Like, uh, SimCastle, I guess crossed with Command & Conquer RTS-style gaming. I loaned my copy out about three months ago and I’m resolved to get it back by this weekend.
Just as a thought…If this new computer that you are getting will have Windoz XP on it, you may want to check the game you are considering to make sure you can even play it.
Don’t forget 