best pc games?

[Arden]

hey guys, i havent been able to play pc games for yrs...just been kickin' along on low settings of halo1...but in a week or two that will all chagne :santa: :santa: :santa: my question is what games should i get for pc...im planning on:

half life two
splinter cell da
americas army

any other good ones?

[DaveW]

Oblivion, Dark Messiah of Might and magic...boy, you have some catching up to do. Not having played Half Life 2...i think the FBI can take you away for that now.

-Dave

[AKA_RA]

...i think the FBI can take you away for that now.

-Dave

Only in certain states. I think some southern states are a bit behind on that.

:D

Either way, you need to put it on your "to-play" list. I suggest getting a steam account. Through that you can purchase classic series' like Half-Life(each comes with the corresponding version of CS), Day of Defeat, Call of Duty, etc.

If your looking for MMORPG, you can't pass up World of Warcraft. The Burning Crusade Expansion for World of Warcraft is coming out sometime Q1 next year, January I believe. I guess Everquest 2 also fill that gap, though I was never a fan myself. Oblivion is a straight forward RPG, looks incredible on high end machines.

Then of course you have Battlefield 2142, Need for Speed: Carbon, and a slew of other "big-name" franchise games who just released a more recent, more graphically intense version of the same game they released 2 years ago. Some are surprisingly good despite of how quickly they dished it out.

[DaveW]

Battlefield 2142

Most of the guys from the Comp Sci department are currently hooked on this game. You can tell who because they look like death every day due to giving up sleep to play. During the day, we have too much work to do. At night, it's either gaming time or sleeping time.

It must be good, but i don't think i want to get hooked on it quite yet. Maybe after i've done all my work.

-Dave

[ESX]

HL2, CS:S, Prey, NFS:Carbon was quite fun, TOCA3

[Airbozo]

Most of the guys from the Comp Sci department are currently hooked on this game. You can tell who because they look like death every day due to giving up sleep to play. During the day, we have too much work to do. At night, it's either gaming time or sleeping time.

It must be good, but i don't think i want to get hooked on it quite yet. Maybe after i've done all my work.

-Dave

Didn't know you could see through my webcam Dave!

Yes it is addictive. I am truly impressed with the improvement in load times and smoothness of the game. Better out of the box than BF2 is after all the patches.

Splinter Cell is always good. I usually have to do the missions twice so I can see all the detail without the night vision goggles.

[d_stilgar]

Boy oh boy, "best" is a hard thing to put your finger on. For RTS games you have to get Lord of the Rings, Battle for Middle Earth. You also need to get the sequel, MfME2 and its expansion, Witch King.

Lego Star Wars II is a sidescroller/platformer that had me hooked for a while. It is a very refined game.

Halflife 2 is a must. While you are at it you might as well get episode 1, episode 2 is supposed to be better but isn't out yet.

Day of Defeat, Call of Duty. If you are looking for a really good game, get Maniac Mansion or Another World. They are pretty much the best ever. haha.

[Kabniel]

i'd say for RTS, go for Dawn of War (http://pc.ign.com/objects/802/802065.html). Specificly the latest expansion, Dark Crusade. Instead of a story line like most RTS games, it gives you a more Risk-esque experience. There are stories for the races, but it isn't what really drives the game. You'll be able to play all races in single player, but only the two newest online if you don't have the other DoW titles.

But I wasn't a big fan of LotR:middle earth.

Evil Genius (http://pc.ign.com/objects/567/567017.html) is an often over looked little gem that you can find for $5 nowadays. Similar to Dungeon Keeper. You build your base, send out henchmen, etc, all while building up to your doomsday device. Agents try to stop you, etc, etc. Alot of fun if you like the building type games.

Supreme Commander (http://pc.ign.com/objects/755/755287.html)is coming out next year. The Beta is going on right now. Possibly the most complicated RTS game ever. The scale is incredible. Check out the trailers and pics. please. i can't justify it in words. when i play... i'm sure my brain is going to melt from trying to keep up.

[Vertigo]

When it comes to overlooked "gems" there's a couple that stand out for me in particular. For starters, Arcanum and Planescape: Torment. Arcanum is a semi Victorian Steam-Punk RPG, Magic and Technology trees and a basically classless system where you just explore each tree and make your character as you see fit. Planescape is another of those odd RPG gems that just kinda fell under the radar, it's another D&D game but it was overshadowed by Baldur's Gate 2 and Diablo 2. First off, you can flip-flop between classes as the need arises on the fly. Your main character is a heavilly scarred immortal trying to piece together the loose fragments of his existence and find out who he really is. Along the way you form a part out of strange characters, a Succubus, a floating skull named Morte, even a multi armed Robot.

As for others, I still really enjoy the old Civ games, Civ II still holds its own. Dawn of War as stated above is still one of my favorite strategy games. Mark of Chaos really could be a contender, if Namco had actually shipped a working game.

FEAR of course, and Extraction Point are some definite faves.

[monoflap]

I am truly impressed with the improvement in load times and smoothness of the game. Better out of the box than BF2 is after all the patches. It better be! Bf2 ran horrible on my computer, really buggy. For a good game that nobody mentioned yet, I would get Medieval total war, Its successor was also very good.

[Airbozo]

It better be! Bf2 ran horrible on my computer, really buggy. For a good game that nobody mentioned yet, I would get Medieval total war, Its successor was also very good.

Hehe, funny thing about the BF2 bugs, I never had one of them. All my friends had issues from day one up until the latest patch.

As far as "overlooked gems", I still to this day play Comanche 4 and Delta Force Xtreme. I have also been known to fire up a game of Delta Force Black Hawk Down. If I could find my copy I would also play Incoming.

[bartvandenberg]

hey guys, i havent been able to play pc games for yrs...just been kickin' along on low settings of halo1...but in a week or two that will all chagne :santa: :santa: :santa: my question is what games should i get for pc...im planning on:

half life two
splinter cell da
americas army

any other good ones?


just curious as to why things are changing? gettin an upgrade? what are your specs, and what will they be?


I'd say half life is a definate need to catch up on. i enjoyed call of duty 2, rainbow six:advanced warfighter, bf2, battlefield 2142, fear, nfs most wanted and carbon. Far cry was a kicking game too for a while there.

[Arden]

My list:

Splintercell
HL2
Splinter Cell


Any other big label FPS I should check out?

[Vertigo]

Back on topic:
I really recomend FEAR in your situation. I was kicking around on a crap dell laptop for a couple of years, then built my new rig. First thing I did was buy a couple of games, FEAR is the only one that I haven't regretted in one form or another.

But check out some demos here and there really before you get anything imo, and don't overlook the bargains. I saw a copy of UT2K4 the other day for $10 at GameStop, which is totally worth it imo.

[bartvandenberg]

My list:

Splintercell
HL2
Splinter Cell


Any other big label FPS I should check out?

Half Life 2 and Splinter Cell are a good place to start

Ghost Recon:Advanced Warfighter
F.E.A.R
Call Of Duty 2
Battlefield 2
Battlefield 2142
Far Cry

those are my favourites anyway.

[Mitternacht]

Hey I got Halo for the PC too, best $20 I ever spent. I'm just waiting to see if Halo 2 will be on PC.

[Durrthock]

I hate ghost recon its too dam hard.
Quake 4 is a good game.
I was addicted to it last Christmas
Idk if it was already said

[The Great Destroyer]

BF 2142 (just plain amazing)
Oblivion (low replay value, if you even make it through the story line. great hack n slash nevertheless)
Need for Speed Carbon (awesome customization and graphics)
CS:Source (when you just wanna go and have a quick game of shoot-to-kill)
Americas Army (fun, but all the people whining about camping gets annoying. thats why i refer to it as "strategically waiting")

[.Maleficus.]

Hey I got Halo for the PC too, best $20 I ever spent. I'm just waiting to see if Halo 2 will be on PC.
I have an answer right now.

Yes, it will be.

But only for Vista. It will be part of the "Games for Windows" games (and yes, I know some are already out, but it's still only for Vista).

[nil8]

A few years? Then I will recommend some good older games as well.

Half Life 2
Warcraft 3
Neverwinter Nights 2
Neverwinter Nights 1
Dark Messiah of Might & Magic
Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion
Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind
Icewind Dale 2
Arcanum
Doom 3
Heroes of Might and Magic 5
Unreal Tournament 2003
Quake 4
Mechwarrior 4
F.E.A.R.
Chessmaster 10th ed.

I highly suggest the elder scrolls and neverwinter nights series to everyone. Best rpg games ever.

[Zephik]

There is a Linux version of Neverwinter Nights.

http://nwn.bioware.com/downloads/linuxclient.html

-SnowFire

[Ronyx]

The ones i see coming up a lot are:

F.E.A.R.
HL2
BF2142
Splinter Cell
WoW: with Burning Crusade Expansion
CS: Source
Halo 2


and my personal wishfull thinking (i hope it comes out on PC)......................
GEARS OF WAR!!!!!!!!!!!

[DaveW]

Planescape: Torment

That has to be the most overlooked game of all time, full stop. It's one that...and this might make you gasp, if you know me...is up there with Fallout on my list of good games.

It's a real gem, although it's not exactly graphically impressive.

-Dave

[Zephik]

Me? I like Tron. I don't need none of that Oblivion graphics or gameplay! Psh, thats for wussies.

Real men play Tron! ...damn, that would make a great T-Shirt!

lol

-SnowFire

[simon275]

Starseige Tribes
Counter Strike
Counter Strike Source
Civllivaton any of them
Half Life
Half Life 2
Age of Empires 2
Arcanium
World of Warcaft

Enough Said

[chedabob]

Quake III FTW!!!

[PauL]

Battlefield 2
Counter-Strike: Source
Day of Dafeat: Source
World of Warcraft
Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne
F.E.A.R. + Expansion

[DaveW]

You're going to have to start polyphasic sleep. You have a lot of catching up to do!

-Dave

[Airbozo]

You're going to have to start polyphasic sleep. You have a lot of catching up to do!

-Dave

If I could figure that one out I would RULE THE WORLD!

[intergalacticman]

dude the line up is:
Battlefield 2142
Battlefield 2
Farcry(downlaod all the patches)
Warcraft 3
Starcraft
Americas Army
FEAR
Age of Empires 3, or Empire Earth 2

ive never played Half life 2 or any steam games (shoot me :dead: ) so i dont know about those.

[simon275]

ive never played Half life 2 or any steam games (shoot me :dead: ) so i dont know about those.

You are missing out.

[Cevinzol]

I like RPG's so I would have to endorse
Elder scrolls 3: morrowind (my rig can't handle oblivion atm)
Worlds of warcaft
only played the demo of half life 2 and really liked it but I've heard complaints about steam's update/server login thingy being fascist so it kinda turned me off
do not get everquest or EQ2 their Customer Service sucks

[xRyokenx]

So BF2142 is pretty good? The thing that turned me off on that one was the adware and the fact that it's an EA title. Some of the older good games were the Command & Conquer series up until Tiberian Sun, all after that are just "EA Wonders." The "Knights of the Old Republic" (KotOR) series is pretty good to, like NWN, but Star Wars themed. For RTS, I highly recommend MechCommander2, that game is one of the most customizable I've ever seen, you customize the mechs that you send into battle, and choose the pilots you use, it's a great game. Pretty much everything else everyone's mentioned is pretty good.

[simon275]

Knights of the Old Republic II was good to.

[Ronyx]

I'm getting 4 Games for Christmas, i've read up on like the top 20 games of 2006 from various websites and i've picked:

Spore
Oblivion
Age of Empires III
Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends

Spore is about evolving and advancing your species. You start off as bacteria and go all the way to the space age. Sounds interesting so i'd give it a shot

Oblivion is a graphically intensive game so i dunno if your system can pull it but i'm getting it to test my rig in the Foliage area =]

Age of Empires III is a civilization builder. Advancing through ages, attacking, defending and so forth. I love those types of games so i'm getting it.

RON:ROL is a real time strategy. Graphics look stunning and it's from Microsoft (they brought us Gears Of War). Need i say more?

[nil8]

If your rig can't handle oblivion, there is a mod out there called oldblivion. It's specifically made for pc's that can't handle oblivion well.
It looks much worse, but it's highly configurable and allows you to play on older rigs.

Spore sounds sweet. I just don't want to sink the amount of time it always takes to play a mmorpg. Other than that, it sounds bitchin'.

[DaveW]

Spore sounds sweet. I just don't want to sink the amount of time it always takes to play a mmorpg. Other than that, it sounds bitchin'.

Spore isn't as such a MMORPG. It kind of uses other people's races in your game but without you or them ever communicating-they have AI, not real intelligence. At least, this was the situation last time i checked about 2-3 months ago.

-Dave

[Vertigo]

http://digitalzoetrope.com/files/screenshots/FEARexp-1.jpg
http://digitalzoetrope.com/files/screenshots/FEARexp-2.jpg

The game is so freakin creepy, I can't count the number of times I wasted ammo on some phantom that just disappears in a few seconds anyway.

[simon275]

Its like when one of those fast zombies charge at you in HL2 and you waste **** loads of ammo on it.

[d_stilgar]

I had to learn, you wait for the fast ones to be right on you, then BOOM with the shotgun in the face. One hit kill.

[Zephik]

I'm still waitin for Assassins Creed. That game looks like it will pwn all. Unless of course you like blowing the heads off zombies for 3 hours straight. Actually, I wouldn't mind taking a look at Bio Shock too. :Shiver:

-SnowFire

[simon275]

Assassins Creed looks amazing. They were talking about it on diggnation.

[HackSore]

The "Knights of the Old Republic" (KotOR) series is pretty good too

I concur, the KotOR games are two of my favourite pc games ever, i must have played each one 10 times through, and they still keep me totally hooked, i can reccomened them to anyone, even if you arent particularly into star wars.

Also in the RPG vein, i would also reccomend Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines.
Its pretty damn buggy, but underneath it is a rich and very immersive game, i have really enjoyed playing it, but you would be advised to patch it before playing!

[Vertigo]

I tried out Rise of Legends today, so far I like it pretty well. We'll see how I feel in a week about it :P

[d_stilgar]

I tried out Rise of Legends today, so far I like it pretty well. We'll see how I feel in a week about it :P

Rise of legends is good, but weird. The whole game changes after every level. I got bored with it after a while and used cheats to beat it. The cheats are awesome too.

[t009xv]

If you want a creepy game get Condemned, its only $20. I'm surprised no one said that yet.

[UserX]

DUde....Battlefield 2142 is SO SWEET..I cant wait until i get it...oh man..IM stoked..

[zitwep10]

It's not that sweet, it's good, I play a lot, only 3 more ranks and I finished.

[m4gnum]

I agree with the Assassins Creed comments, it's shaping up to be amazing.

Also, the new indiana jones game with better ragdoll physics. Worth digging out the video or some screen shots if you can find them. I would, but I can't remember what the game is going to be called.

[Vertigo]

There's a new Indiana Jones movie being filmed this year too.

[Airbozo]

I enjoy the BF2142 game for the teamwork. Taking a titan is almost impossible without good teamwork.

I have also dug up my copy of BF Vietnam. I still have a lot of fun with that game. I love the way the choppers handle! And you can add your own music!

[simon275]

Yeah you can play your own music in the old half life games 2. As you could play them with out a disk. But then you got no in game music only sound effects. But if you put in an audio CD then the game would just auto play the music from the disc put it would change song and also change the volume of the music of the situation depending on what is happening.

Like once I was playing opposing force and system of a down music is playing I minimize the game and the music stops. no media player is open. I then realize I have one of their albums in the drive.

[intergalacticman]

I enjoy the BF2142 game for the teamwork. Taking a titan is almost impossible without good teamwork.

I have also dug up my copy of BF Vietnam. I still have a lot of fun with that game. I love the way the choppers handle! And you can add your own music!

OMFG!! seriously!

[Airbozo]

OMFG!! seriously!

I would have to read the manual again, but you just drop the files in a certain directory and off you go. I _think_ they can even be in different formats. I will have to check. The music in BF Vietnam is the stereotypical '60's music that makes you want to put flowers in your hair and slip on some Birkenstock's... Hardly the score you want to eliminate baddies to. Need some Korn or OPM or Cypress Hill for that.

"...How I could just kill a man!"

[ESX]

I would have to read the manual again, but you just drop the files in a certain directory and off you go. I _think_ they can even be in different formats. I will have to check. The music in BF Vietnam is the stereotypical '60's music that makes you want to put flowers in your hair and slip on some Birkenstock's... Hardly the score you want to eliminate baddies to. Need some Korn or OPM or Cypress Hill for that.

"...How I could just kill a man!"
It reminds me of FMJ :D

[simon275]

You can make your own radio stations that play your own music in the computer ports of the GTA games. e.g. GTA3, and GTA Vice.

[d_stilgar]

Well, I think this would be a good place to post.

I've been playing Darwinia and love it. The gameplay is very original and the stylized graphics also support the concept and story. I'd say everyone should at least try out the demo.

[Luke122]

I'm into the racers right now.. NFS:Carbon is very arcade, but GT Legends is spot on.. 60s-70s touring cars and such. I've also got GTR2, but havent started on it yet, and I'm not in a rush. Not really an FIA fan, but it was packaged with GT Legends, so I grabbed it.

I got a Logitech MOMO wheel last year for Christmas, and it makes all the difference. :)

[DaveW]

Buy a Wii, buy Zelda. Kiss your life goodbye.

-Dave

[ESX]

Buy a Wii, buy Zelda. Kiss your life goodbye.

-Dave
Would you buy me one Dave? :)

[DaveW]

Don't make me use wii jokes...please...

-Dave

[dexaroni]

Singleplayer: Oblivion or Quake 2
Multiplayer: Battlefield 2

Honorable Mentions: Just Cause, Fable, Company of Heroes.

[intergalacticman]

and my personal wishfull thinking (i hope it comes out on PC)......................
GEARS OF WAR!!!!!!!!!!!

yeah in spring '07

[intergalacticman]

I would have to read the manual again, but you just drop the files in a certain directory and off you go. I _think_ they can even be in different formats. I will have to check. The music in BF Vietnam is the stereotypical '60's music that makes you want to put flowers in your hair and slip on some Birkenstock's... Hardly the score you want to eliminate baddies to. Need some Korn or OPM or Cypress Hill for that.

"...How I could just kill a man!"

it reminds me of the game "state of emergency" for xbox, i used to put in rock cd's and it would play them for the soundtrack

[Ronyx]

Medieval II: Total War is an absolutely stunning game. The game play, the amazing graphics and the complete control never leave you bored. I absolutely love it and would recommend it to ANYONE who owns a PC capable of running it.

I give it 10/10 (in it's genre) =D

[klingelton]

i have total war viking invasion, anyone remember that game on the program "time commanders" on BBC 2 a few years back, me and my housemate were both addicted to that program!

fave games are:

world of warcraft - don't have BC yet, but it is on order
counter strike 1.6 - imo better than source
BF2142 - play it when i've been ganked a few tiems on wow, takes out the aggression! I absolutely love the titan play on this game.

another game i was looking forward to was Star trek legacy, however it got totally slated by the press, so I'm thinking it might not be so good. Shame really cuz i was looking for a good playable trek game since Bridge commander a few years ago.

[.Maleficus.]

Hands down, best game ever, SkiFree (http://www.geocities.com/tranzion/downloads-games-skifree.html).

Can you say Win95? I remember playing this game literally for HOURS on end... Oh man were those the days.

Download it now.

[klingelton]

jeez, i remember that bad boy. we had it on a floppy disk and used to play it at school all the time on the I.T. computers. I seem to remember one game that had a "boss" button that changed it to look like a spreadsheet or work document of some sort!

[Airbozo]

...I seem to remember one game that had a "boss" button that changed it to look like a spreadsheet or work document of some sort!

Several games had that feature. Links (one of the best golf games) had that feature that got use ALOT! when I worked at McDonnell Douglas. It was hard to explain why 4 people were huddled around an IBM PC staring at a spreadsheet when we were all hardware guys...

EDIT: Oh and the _first_ graphical game I played on a PC? Helicopter Simulator, running on a system with and 8088 and cga graphics's... (and it was a brand new system...)

[silverdemon]

Best game:

SETTLERS II, 10th Anniversary !!!

[ReignInPain]

Ahh! Civilisation II! What a game. On par with Red Alert!

[Vertigo]

http://freeciv.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

Civ II, omg!

[Durrthock]

If you get Hl2 get episode 2 its a really good expansion

[simon275]

If you get Hl2 get episode 2 its a really good expansion

Dude ep2 isn't out yet.

But when it does comes out it comes with Team Fortress 2. and Portal.

[klingelton]

im getting that then! that portal looks great fun, and TFC2 i've been waiting for it since they announced it as a standalone game nearly 7 years ago!

[d_stilgar]

I think the current setbacks on the game are Vista and DX10. I'm really excited for that package of games to come out.

[slytherock]

Don't make me use wii jokes...please...

-Dave

BTW, here's one ;) (http://www.glumbert.com/media/ps3wii)


And just to be on the topic, nothing beat CIV. It's almost the only game I play. The II, the III and now to the IV

[intergalacticman]

Knights of the Old Republic II was good to.
hahaha KOTOR2 was awesome

[onelegout]

Check out Startopia - definately one of the most understated, original games of all time. It is AWSOME - Its innovative and complex gameplay, artistic brilliance, and its groundbreaking originality make it the most interesting and fun games I've ever played. They realy don't make games as creative and original as this anymore.

Grab the demo and see for yourself!:
http://www.strategyplanet.com/startopia/demo.shtml

[Zeo4500]

The Best Series of all time was Command and Conquer, up to Generals. C&C Generals sucked like no other.

Supreme Commander is also another great game, the Demo just came out, if you like RTS you should try it out.

Warcraft 3: Frozen throne was another great game.

The best RPG/Adventure Series ever was The Legend of Zelda.

[xRyokenx]

The Best Series of all time was Command and Conquer, up to Generals. C&C Generals sucked like no other.

Supreme Commander is also another great game, the Demo just came out, if you like RTS you should try it out.


I hear that... I have to say though, Generals Zero Hour is much much better, in a way... thanks for the heads up an the SC Demo, I'ma download that right now. I loved Total Annihilation, but it just took too long to build up a base, and too much micromanagement... there were a few too many bugs too, but it was overall a great game.