Recommend a game!

The Game Room
#1

Hi everyone,

I’ve been recently looking to start a new PC game. The sky is the limit in terms of gfx intensity, as I just completed my new rig a few months ago.

Games I enjoy/have enjoyed:

Dragon Age: Origins
Dragon Age 2
Borderlands (FPS w/ progressive RPG elements)
Normal shooters (multiplayer is essential)
MMORPGs (though ones that avoid Time Sink Land)
Diablo 1/2

That said, I’m mainly looking for an RPG that I can complete on my own, but 2+ players is always welcomed. Shooters aren’t out of the question either.

MMOs also aren’t out, as I’d prefer something that has “lasting” appeal, but it shouldn’t require playing 10 hours a day to compete (PvP or otherwise). Played WoW for 3-4 months, got bored. Good PvP is essential.

Also not opposed to RTS, though I’d like it if they avoided Civ’s approach (turn-based). I prefer Age of Empires-esque which is truly real-time.

Discuss! Any ideas/questions are welcome.

#2

I don’t fully understand the definitions, so what exactly is a RPG? I know it stands for Role Playing Game, but you play a role in nearly all games, hence the lack of understanding.

I am happy to recommend Dead Space 2, and based on what I’ve played so far - Crysis 2.

Going back a few years - I recommend Fallout 3 + all its DLC (or just FO3 without DLC. It’s still awesome - the DLC just extends its life somewhat)

To a lesser extent - Fallout New Vegas (Didn’t ‘do it’ for me like FO3, but still good)

#3

Eh? I’m just going by what label is given to a game by its developer. Yes, you “play a role” in every game you play, but certain games are placed into the RPG genre based on their gameplay. They usually include progressive elements (leveling up, questing, etc), but not always.

I’ll look into Dead Space 2. I just started tinkering with Crysis 2, so we’ll see where that leads. It just seems like a normal shooter with some neat features, but time will tell.

I tried Fallout for a time and was never impressed. People always had good things to say but it’s a personal thing I guess.

#4

Arkham Asylum is supposedly excellent, and will be the next game I buy, and is sort of a cross between 3PS and RPG, if I understand correctly (that is, has a lot more story than most 3PS games, but a lot fewer leveling-up things than RPGs).

Also, if a game is turn-based, it’s not RTS by definition, but that’s just me being a pedantic schmuck :).

#5

I’m enjoying Titan Quest (basically a Diablo 2 clone) when I feel like just running out and killing stuff instead of clicking through a lot of conversation trees a la Dragon Age. It’s not the newest & flashiest of games but should be pretty cheap on Steam. (I got it during one of their sales when it was five bucks or so; it’s probably more like 20 at full price.)

#6

Torchlight! The multiplayer sequel is due out soon.

#7

Mass Effect!

It’s another great Bioware RPG. I think it will be right up your alley. Personally, it’s second only to the Baldur’s Gate series and I’d put it above Dragon Age:Origins.

I would also suggest you grab a copy of Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. Just make sure you add some nice mod goodness to it. This is a large open world RPG with a ton of quests and lots of loot!

#8

I’ve just finished Arkham Asylum and couldn’t recommend it highly enough. No shooting, more a stealth combat game with RPG elements (in that you gain XP and can trade them in for some upgrades to your kit). The best thing it has going for it though is its atmosphere - I’ve not played a game since Resident Evil 4 that does such a good job in developing tension/a sense of unease. Well worth playing and should be available cheap given it’s a couple of years old.

#9

“I’m enjoying Titan Quest…”
I tried that but it seemed like I’d want to play it with a friend for it to be any good. I’ll have to ask my buddy! We both LOVED D2 and played it for more hours than I’d like to admit, so I’ll have to let him know.

“I would also suggest you grab a copy of Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. Just make sure you add some nice mod goodness to it. This is a large open world RPG with a ton of quests and lots of loot!”

This is actually what I was looking at most. It seems to have everything I could want for several hours of solid gameplay. I’ll check it out!

“Torchlight! The multiplayer sequel is due out soon.”

Yep! The fiance and I are waiting (impatiently at best!)

“I’ve just finished Arkham Asylum…”

Thanks for the idea! Anytime a FPS/3PS has a stealth level or element, I always fail horribly. I think I have trouble dealing with the slow, stealthy aspect and I just want something to do as soon as possible, so I charge in (trying my best to “stealth”) and it blows up in my face.
Thanks for the ideas everyone. I’m leaning towards Elder Scrolls.

#10

Pretty much every RPG fan should play Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. It plays kind of like Deus Ex, except you’re a recently created vampire trying to make it in the (under)world, and try to survive the double-dealing machinations of the various vampire clans and factions. Detailed non-cliched setting, great story, quirky humor, and the ability to drink humans… what more could you want?

#11

Eh, if I had to give Arkham Asylum a genre it would be an action adventure game. Most of it is standard adventure game fare, and a good chunk of it is spent brawling. The stealth sections really foul up the genre classification, but it really just seems to be an extension of an adventure game tropes (solving a puzzle in a self-changing system rather than a system only you affect). It has RPG elements, but everything has RPG elements nowadays.

#12

It’s also very buggy, unfortunately, but there are a great deal of community patches out which solve a lot of the problems. (Tip: For kicks, start a Malkavian character with the lowest possible intelligence.)

If graphics isn’t a priority, Mount & Blade has great combat, but poor graphics. There’s also a multiplayer version out, Warband, and there’s a sequel/expansion pack - With Fire & Sword - coming.

Crysis 2 was a lot of fun, but still has some problems. If you’re running an AMD multi-core GPU I’d recommend waiting for a few weeks until we can be sure they’ll patch out the flickering bugs and add DirectX11 support.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is a pretty awesome game - and way longer than I’m used to from modern action adventure games. It has some RPG elements and a lot of brawling, but it’s definitely a story-driven game with great focus on atmosphere and acting. The sequel - Arkham City - is coming out this year, IIRC.

Did Red Dead Redemption ever come out for the PC? If so, I can’t recommend it enough. With all the DLC added since the release, it probably deserves all the Game Of the Year awards it won back in 2010.

#13

Just started playing Dead Space 2, 10 hours in, and I can’t recommend it enough. It is not as good as the first one, that one had the advantage of suprise (I’ll never enter an elevator the same anymore), but it is really, really scary. Those little kids… brrrr…