What are the must-play PC games of the last 10 years?

[Kinthalis]

@Left_Hand_of_Dorkness

Honestly, as much as I enjoyed the Baldur’s Gate series, Neverwinter Nights 1 and 2 both left me cold. The NWN expansion, Mask of the Betrayer or something (the one that starts at level 14 exploring the madman’s dungeon), was pretty great, I admit–but I didn’t like the basic storylines for either game. In fact, I played NWN2 up to what I think was the final series of encounters, an area with no sleeping allowed, and given my choice of a wizard for my main character got so annoyed that I quit.

I think you meant the Hoard of the Underdark expansion for NWN 1, and yeah that was probably the best campaign for the entire NWN series.

The strength of the NWN games aren’t really it’s main campaigns, its the toolset and community. It’s the only place I’m aware of where I can play through an entire set of classic D&D modules, everything from Undermountain, to the sliver marches, to Pool of Radiance, never mind some of the more interesting original adventures the community has come up with. I still fire up once in a while just to play the newest mods.

[Illuminatiprimus]

@FoieGrasIsEvil

I wish they’d do a remake of Zork.

This isn’t about games from the last 25 years!

[FoieGrasIsEvil]

@Illuminatiprimus

This isn’t about games from the last 25 years!

Then its really overdue then, isn’t it?

[Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank]

@FoieGrasIsEvil

I’ll third Bioshock, and mention that Battlefield 1942 was an important game for its groundbreaking online play, as well as just being a damn good game in its own right.

I’ll back the BF42 suggestion. The Desert Combat mod for it was excellent as well.

Battlefield 2 had it’s issues, but I think it was fantastic the way it introduced teamwork elements into the Battlefield series. Communication, squads, commanders, spotting, healing, ammo-supply, and coordinating to take a point, or simultaneously take multiple points all grabbed me in a way few other games did, and forever killed simple deathmatch for this former Unreal Tournament 2004 fan.

Player classes, vehicles, and 64-players on a vast battlefield offered something for almost everyone - vehicle whores, snipers, campers, run & gunners, etc. Something for every FPS mood.

[Dave_Hartwick]

Oasis, IMO, deserves a mention, at least the category of board game-like or abstract strategy. Oasis thought it was an interesting take on the 4X school. Unfortunately, I can’t think of another good abstract strategy game-- Darwinia or Defcon might count but I haven’t played them. I have played Republic: The Revolution, and while it was an interesting game, it was also badly flawed.

For builders, I guess I agree with the nomination of Zeus. Caesar 4 and Children of the Nile are good building games, but not must play. There’s a few modern builders I haven’t got around to yet, such as City Life. I was unimpressed by Sim City 4.

I’ll mention The Movies as a “should try” management game although The Sims clearly dominates the category. Another flawed game, though-- too easy by half in the early days and lacked late game achievements.

I’m not a big RTS buff but the best I’ve played from the last 10 years were Kohan II and Rise of Nations. I remember both getting quite good reviews-- Gamespot in particular seemed to think RON was a revelation-- but I suppose they failed to get a multiplayer following or something, because they’ve seemed to nearly disappear from memory. Both were good for single player and the short game. A decent AI can beat me so I don’t need a human opponent. I also find the campaigns in strategy games generally unappealing, at least the sort where you have a bunch of scenarios strung together.

To add another category, just so I can fit in a mention of Disciples 2, there’s turn-based fantasy themed strategy. IMO Disciples was worth playing just for the artwork, and was a solid game. The competitors that come to mind are Heroes of Might and Magic IV and V, and I’ve only played IV and found it good for a few plays, but it really depended on map design as the strategic AI was weak.

Thinking back over the RPGs that I’ve played, I enjoyed Planescape and Diablo II, but I prefer Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup and I’ve easily put the more time into and got more fun out of it than any other RPG. I don’t know when the original Linley’s Dungeon Crawl came out, but Stone Soup is a different version with a different dev team. I think Dwarf Fortress should get a mention as well. Hm, I wonder what the most recent version is like?

[YamatoTwinkie]

@Kinthalis

I think you meant the Hoard of the Underdark expansion for NWN 1, and yeah that was probably the best campaign for the entire NWN series.

Mask of the Betrayer was quite good on its own right. It has one of the best storylines since Planescape:Torment.

[Balance]

@FoieGrasIsEvil

I wish they’d do a remake of Zork.

Zork: Grand Inquisitor, released in 1997, was a great game and entirely faithful to the spirit of the original Zork games. Unfortunately, it falls a bit outside the window for this thread and will therefore be summarily totemized.

[Illuminatiprimus]

@Balance

Zork: Grand Inquisitor, released in 1997, was a great game and entirely faithful to the spirit of the original Zork games. Unfortunately, it falls a bit outside the window for this thread and will therefore be summarily totemized.

That game was great - both a fantastic game in its own right as well as being an homage to the original series. Had loads of fun playing it.

@Dalbozz of Gurth

The underground underground. It’s a transportation system, it’s a political movement - it’s a transport system AND a political movement!

[Rysto]

I was introduced to BF1942 at a “gaming cafe” that had 60+ top of the line PCs(we literally played the demo --just Wake Island! – for an entire night. It was awesome). After playing that game on a screaming-fast LAN, online play was ruined for me.