Crysis is the single best FPS released in the past few years, especially when compared to the likes of CoD4 or Bioshock. Stalker is pretty good too, but make sure you patch it up. And you do have HL2 and it's episodes, right? Because they're on sale which ends today
If you liked Heroes of Might and Magic back in the day, I'd strongly recomend getting the new Kings Bounty which came out last year. It's a turn based strategy game where you fight battles with units you recruit on a grid. And it has some neat RPG aspects.
Turn based strategy:
King's Bounty: The Legend - Pretty engaging single player
Heroes 5: Tribes of the East (stand alone expansion) - This is better played in custom game/skirmish imo if you are not playing against a human.
FPS:
Prey - Single player is real good imo, only really annoying thing is you can't actually die.
Crysis + Warhead - were pretty fun, but if you didn't like Far Cry, I doubt you'll like them. They play almost exactly the same.
Platformer:
Trine - I can only tell you impressions from playing the demo, but it seemed like a solid and fun platformer.
Okay so gta iv is a fucking fiasco. That aside it runs and isn't HIDEOUS but I find the quality at which it runs to be disappointing.
It also took over a fucking hour to install when you count the nonsense I had to download install sign up for etc. For fucks sakes this is why people play games on consoles now. Seriously.
Bioshock is really good. It came with Oblivion which I haven't installed yet but likely will eventually.
Pheezer on
IT'S GOT ME REACHING IN MY POCKET IT'S GOT ME FORKING OVER CASH
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
Okay so gta iv is a fucking fiasco. That aside it runs and isn't HIDEOUS but I find the quality at which it runs to be disappointing.
It also took over a fucking hour to install when you count the nonsense I had to download install sign up for etc. For fucks sakes this is why people play games on consoles now. Seriously.
Bioshock is really good. It came with Oblivion which I haven't installed yet but likely will eventually.
GTAIV is widely known as a bad port, so that might be some of the problem.
Oblivion is GOOD TIMES, and I highly advise you install it relatively quickly. I also highly advise you shell out the extra money for Shivering Isles, which is a fun romp through a very VERY pretty world. Far prettier than Oblivion's.
I won't spoil it, but I thought I got my money's worth during the first scene in the Shivering Isles world.
You will also want to become somewhat familiar with mods, and how they work. They can turn what you might consider average into something you consider really cool. If you have a problem with some part of the game, chances are someone's made a mod to attempt to fix that problem. There WAS an Oblivion Mod thread SOMEWHERE, you might try asking in the Elder Scrolls thread, my search-fu is weak tonight.
I really wanted to suggest a few title, but the two that immediate come to mind are RTS games: Company of Heroes, World in Conflict. Oblivion is good, but mostly because of the large variety of mods, I would say.
Yo, TelMarine. I'm real happy for you, I'mma letchu finish, but Valve made the best portal shooter of all time. Of all time!
Seriously, though, skip Prey unless you have absolutely nothing better to play. 95% of the content of interest in that game is shown in the first half hour, and, consequently, is in the demo. The demo's pretty awesome, though. You might want to play that. But at the end of it, you'll be thinking about how totally rocking awesome it'll be when the puzzles start getting deeper and the enemies get craftier and the story picks up. None of that happens. Ever. You get exactly what happens in the demo repeatedly over the next 6 hours. If anything, the game gets shallower as it goes along.
I also forget about console-centric multiplatform releases at times. Batman is awesome. Assassin's Creed is awesome, if divisive. Bionic Commando: Rearmed is awesome. The other new Bionic Commando is awesome, assuming you aren't a pansy wuss. Are you a pansy wuss? Really, anything by Capcom back to and including Devil May Cry 4 is surprisingly great on the PC. Also, buy Devil May Cry 4. It's awesome.
And now I finally own Crysis thanks to you dicks and Valve's devilshop.
PS Don't run Crysis on balls out max everything. It caused my friend's scary quad core processor 6 gb ram dual graphix card monstar to chug. I don't think we'll see a computer that can legitimately run Crysis at maximum for another few years.
Fortunately, Warhead somehow looks better on max while running smoother. Yay optimization!
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DrakeEdgelord TrashBelow the ecliptic plane.Registered Userregular
edited October 2009
So Pheez. You played Galactic Civilizations II yet? Have you played the expansions? If not, you really need to check them out.
PS Don't run Crysis on balls out max everything. It caused my friend's scary quad core processor 6 gb ram dual graphix card monstar to chug. I don't think we'll see a computer that can legitimately run Crysis at maximum for another few years.
Fortunately, Warhead somehow looks better on max while running smoother. Yay optimization!
I've only got a dual core, but I can max out quite a few of the settings. I think textures is probably the biggest hurdle, the rest you can often max out on a good system (varies). Probably keep shadows to medium, anything else that you can't set to V. High you can probably set to High, but experiment yourself to see.
Also, get Natural mod. I mean it. Seriously. Like right now.
Everything that was listed in the last page pretty much. If you do want to play Dark Messiah, just download the demo with the mod {or maybe it was just a cheat} that opens up a playground level of sorts. You'll save yourself money and have better time. I don't want to sound like a douche, but the only fun part about that game were the physics.
Neva on
SC2 Beta: Neva.ling
"Everyone who is capable of logical thought should be able to see why you shouldn't sell lifetime subscriptions to an MMO. Cell phone companies and drug dealers don't offer lifetime subscriptions either, guess why?" - Mugaaz
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DietarySupplementStill not approved by the FDADublin, OHRegistered Userregular
So Pheez. You played Galactic Civilizations II yet? Have you played the expansions? If not, you really need to check them out.
I thought we all hated Stardock because of Glen Beck? Or something? I dunno, I forget.
Oh hey, PC games? I saw Mass Effect mentioned here, so I'll just go ahead and assume you don't have a 360, and suggest Gears of War as well, while we're talking about ports.
What about Left 4 dead? I know you said no multi-fps's but it's still fun, regardless.
Everything that was listed in the last page pretty much. If you do want to play Dark Messiah, just download the demo with the mod {or maybe it was just a cheat} that opens up a playground level of sorts. You'll save yourself money and have better time. I don't want to sound like a douche, but the only fun part about that game were the physics.
I disagree wholeheartedly. That game was a blast, excluding the atrocious voicing. Still one of the best first person melee games that money can buy.
The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay
Galactic Civilizations II
Sins of a Solar Empire
On Steam:
Assassin's Creed
Audiosurf
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Bioshock
Braid
Civilization IV
Crysis and Crysis: Warhead
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic
Dead Space
Empire: Total War
Freedom Force and Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich
Grand Theft Auto IV
Mirror's Edge
Overlord
S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl
Sword of the Stars
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
Zeno Clash
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DrakeEdgelord TrashBelow the ecliptic plane.Registered Userregular
So Pheez. You played Galactic Civilizations II yet? Have you played the expansions? If not, you really need to check them out.
I thought we all hated Stardock because of Glen Beck? Or something? I dunno, I forget.
No, that's stupid. Stardock makes good games so people should buy them.
Exactly. Wardell can do whatever he likes for whatever reason. He can have his politics. The strident quest for ideological purity in D&D gets on my fucking nerves some times. "Gabe Newell watches Fox News? Guess I can't use Steam anymore hurfdurfgraahk." It's not like Wardell is piloting Predators over Pakistan or something.
And even if he was bombing Afghan villages, I'd still play GalCiv II, because it's that fucking good.
PS Don't run Crysis on balls out max everything. It caused my friend's scary quad core processor 6 gb ram dual graphix card monstar to chug. I don't think we'll see a computer that can legitimately run Crysis at maximum for another few years.
Fortunately, Warhead somehow looks better on max while running smoother. Yay optimization!
I've only got a dual core, but I can max out quite a few of the settings. I think textures is probably the biggest hurdle, the rest you can often max out on a good system (varies). Probably keep shadows to medium, anything else that you can't set to V. High you can probably set to High, but experiment yourself to see.
Also, get Natural mod. I mean it. Seriously. Like right now.
The number 1 thing to keep performance at reasonable levels in crysis is to not use AA. Other than that, the shaders and motion blur are also some of the biggest power hogs
PS Don't run Crysis on balls out max everything. It caused my friend's scary quad core processor 6 gb ram dual graphix card monstar to chug. I don't think we'll see a computer that can legitimately run Crysis at maximum for another few years.
Fortunately, Warhead somehow looks better on max while running smoother. Yay optimization!
I've only got a dual core, but I can max out quite a few of the settings. I think textures is probably the biggest hurdle, the rest you can often max out on a good system (varies). Probably keep shadows to medium, anything else that you can't set to V. High you can probably set to High, but experiment yourself to see.
Also, get Natural mod. I mean it. Seriously. Like right now.
The number 1 thing to keep performance at reasonable levels in crysis is to not use AA. Other than that, the shaders and motion blur are also some of the biggest power hogs
The thing about motion blur is that although it's a power hog and can take away from frame rate, it also makes things look smoother in motion. So you really want to experiment with that one to see which one seems "smoother" to you, more frames or more motion blur.
The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay
Any reason to play this over Assault on Dark Athena?
I got a chunk of the way through the original on the Xbox, and enjoyed it, but when they announced the remake/sequel, I decided to wait for that. It's on my list of games to play when I get a new PC.
The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay
Any reason to play this over Assault on Dark Athena?
I got a chunk of the way through the original on the Xbox, and enjoyed it, but when they announced the remake/sequel, I decided to wait for that. It's on my list of games to play when I get a new PC.
I haven't played Dark Athena (3 install limit turns me off), but I hear that the combat upgrades and subsequent balancing break a lot of things in its version of Butcher Bay.
Butcher Bay is fantastic, though. I don't know how I forgot about it.
I know you guys suggesting rtses are doing so with the best intentions but there is less than zero chance I'll play a single one of em.
I've found it in my heart to love gta iv despite its best efforts. The third patch helps.
Bioshock is also making me smile lots. Though it's not very open ended. I get that everyone is so impressed by the "morality" of the thing but it's really not all that profound, it's just a very stylishly presented gameplay mechanic. Still. Stylish and fun.
I haven't installed oblivion yet. I remember being mildly intrigued by gal civ ii though. What's that like
Pheezer on
IT'S GOT ME REACHING IN MY POCKET IT'S GOT ME FORKING OVER CASH
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
Kind of like Civ, but in space. And you can build your own units. And the different races actually have useful strengths and weaknesses. And most importantly really really good AI
I know you guys suggesting rtses are doing so with the best intentions but there is less than zero chance I'll play a single one of em.
I've found it in my heart to love gta iv despite its best efforts. The third patch helps.
Bioshock is also making me smile lots. Though it's not very open ended. I get that everyone is so impressed by the "morality" of the thing but it's really not all that profound, it's just a very stylishly presented gameplay mechanic. Still. Stylish and fun.
I haven't installed oblivion yet. I remember being mildly intrigued by gal civ ii though. What's that like
Ahahahahhaahahah oh my god he has to play Fallout 3, Oblivion and Stalker
Kiss goodbye to your social life man, it's dead for the next six months.
Heroes of Newerth is great.. it's pretty new though. Plenty of classics to catch up on first.. Smash out the HL2 series.. get the orange box if you want value.
I know you guys suggesting rtses are doing so with the best intentions but there is less than zero chance I'll play a single one of em.
I've found it in my heart to love gta iv despite its best efforts. The third patch helps.
Bioshock is also making me smile lots. Though it's not very open ended. I get that everyone is so impressed by the "morality" of the thing but it's really not all that profound, it's just a very stylishly presented gameplay mechanic. Still. Stylish and fun.
I haven't installed oblivion yet. I remember being mildly intrigued by gal civ ii though. What's that like
A. No one was impressed by the morality mechanic in Bioshock. It was easily the weakest part of the game, and generally the first thing to be criticized any time the discussion comes up. The idea itself isn't bad. It's unanimous, including Levine, that the execution was lacking.
In a nutshell, it's Civ in space but with 3D star maps, and fantastically diverse races. You also get to design your own ships, and the combat is real time tactical - you have full control over all your units. The research aspect is really well handled, too. Diplomacy is a bit meh compared to something like GalCiv II, but if you're after combat there really isn't a deeper or more fun 4x game.
It's available for a reasonable price here: http://www.impulsedriven.com/sotsult.
That includes the expansions - and if you do pick it up, I would really suggest getting the Argos Naval Yard DLC as well. It's basically another expansion.
EDIT: If you haven't played the HL2 episodes, Steam's weekend half-off sale on everything Half-Life seems to still be on.
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DrakeEdgelord TrashBelow the ecliptic plane.Registered Userregular
I remember being mildly intrigued by gal civ ii though. What's that like
It's awesome. That's what it's like. If you like space opera sci fi (Star Wars, Star Trek, Babylon 5, yadda yadda) and you like Civ style gameplay (which you do) this is a no fail fail game for you. Customizable races, variable victory conditions, customizable fleets, story driven single player campaigns, traditional "sandbox" 4X gameplay, lots of mods for customization, etc. etc. etc. I could go on forever. If you like Civ IV and you like blowing shit up in outer space with your race of death merchant super spies in frictionless pants (or whatever you feel like coming up with) then this game is for you.
It may be worth mentioning that currently Galactic Civilizations 2 does NOT work with win7. Well, actually GalCiv2 and DarkAvatar do, but none of the other expansions work.
Bioshock's all atmosphere, too. It has a cool story and an amazing environment. I also get a kick out of the entire thing basically taking the piss out of Ayn Rand and those idiotic "objectivists" that've popped up around her awful books.
But then, towards the end, the story pulls something so cliche and Hollywood that I put it down in disgust. Also, the gameplay's insultingly easy and rather bland.
Definitely worth a play through, but you'd probably be better playing it on 360 than a laptop, if that's an option.
I'd recommend getting Bioshock on a console rather than PC because, well, you can return it when you're done. It isn't really something you'd play more than once, or maybe twice, in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, the first time around is amazing, but after that....not so much. Especially given the very forgiving mechanic.
And unlike System Shock 2, which had a lot of replay value, I haven't heard of much of a PC mod community for Bioshock...
It may be worth mentioning that currently Galactic Civilizations 2 does NOT work with win7. Well, actually GalCiv2 and DarkAvatar do, but none of the other expansions work.
Sins of Solar Empire still works tho.
Is that the case with windows 7 in its entirety, or just certain video card drivers under windows 7? I own all those games and will inevitably end up with windows 7 so...
Posts
Crysis
All of Orange Box (Portal, HL2 and episodes 1 and 2)
Mass Effect
GT: Tanky the Tank
Black: 1377 6749 7425
Also Dark Messiah is pretty great.
If you liked Heroes of Might and Magic back in the day, I'd strongly recomend getting the new Kings Bounty which came out last year. It's a turn based strategy game where you fight battles with units you recruit on a grid. And it has some neat RPG aspects.
But I played through it twice and loved it just the same. Excellent in my book, and the better your computer, the more you're rewarded.
King's Bounty: The Legend - Pretty engaging single player
Heroes 5: Tribes of the East (stand alone expansion) - This is better played in custom game/skirmish imo if you are not playing against a human.
FPS:
Prey - Single player is real good imo, only really annoying thing is you can't actually die.
Crysis + Warhead - were pretty fun, but if you didn't like Far Cry, I doubt you'll like them. They play almost exactly the same.
Platformer:
Trine - I can only tell you impressions from playing the demo, but it seemed like a solid and fun platformer.
It also took over a fucking hour to install when you count the nonsense I had to download install sign up for etc. For fucks sakes this is why people play games on consoles now. Seriously.
Bioshock is really good. It came with Oblivion which I haven't installed yet but likely will eventually.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
Crysis is cool as hell
Prey will have you wishing 3drealms wasn't stupid and finished duke nukem
that is about it.
T-Nation blog
GTAIV is widely known as a bad port, so that might be some of the problem.
Oblivion is GOOD TIMES, and I highly advise you install it relatively quickly. I also highly advise you shell out the extra money for Shivering Isles, which is a fun romp through a very VERY pretty world. Far prettier than Oblivion's.
I won't spoil it, but I thought I got my money's worth during the first scene in the Shivering Isles world.
You will also want to become somewhat familiar with mods, and how they work. They can turn what you might consider average into something you consider really cool. If you have a problem with some part of the game, chances are someone's made a mod to attempt to fix that problem. There WAS an Oblivion Mod thread SOMEWHERE, you might try asking in the Elder Scrolls thread, my search-fu is weak tonight.
Seriously, though, skip Prey unless you have absolutely nothing better to play. 95% of the content of interest in that game is shown in the first half hour, and, consequently, is in the demo. The demo's pretty awesome, though. You might want to play that. But at the end of it, you'll be thinking about how totally rocking awesome it'll be when the puzzles start getting deeper and the enemies get craftier and the story picks up. None of that happens. Ever. You get exactly what happens in the demo repeatedly over the next 6 hours. If anything, the game gets shallower as it goes along.
I also forget about console-centric multiplatform releases at times. Batman is awesome. Assassin's Creed is awesome, if divisive. Bionic Commando: Rearmed is awesome. The other new Bionic Commando is awesome, assuming you aren't a pansy wuss. Are you a pansy wuss? Really, anything by Capcom back to and including Devil May Cry 4 is surprisingly great on the PC. Also, buy Devil May Cry 4. It's awesome.
And now I finally own Crysis thanks to you dicks and Valve's devilshop.
All right, people. It is not a gerbil. It is not a hamster. It is not a guinea pig. It is a death rabbit. Death. Rabbit. Say it with me, now.
ONE OF US
PS Don't run Crysis on balls out max everything. It caused my friend's scary quad core processor 6 gb ram dual graphix card monstar to chug. I don't think we'll see a computer that can legitimately run Crysis at maximum for another few years.
Fortunately, Warhead somehow looks better on max while running smoother. Yay optimization!
I've only got a dual core, but I can max out quite a few of the settings. I think textures is probably the biggest hurdle, the rest you can often max out on a good system (varies). Probably keep shadows to medium, anything else that you can't set to V. High you can probably set to High, but experiment yourself to see.
Also, get Natural mod. I mean it. Seriously. Like right now.
"Everyone who is capable of logical thought should be able to see why you shouldn't sell lifetime subscriptions to an MMO. Cell phone companies and drug dealers don't offer lifetime subscriptions either, guess why?" - Mugaaz
I thought we all hated Stardock because of Glen Beck? Or something? I dunno, I forget.
Oh hey, PC games? I saw Mass Effect mentioned here, so I'll just go ahead and assume you don't have a 360, and suggest Gears of War as well, while we're talking about ports.
What about Left 4 dead? I know you said no multi-fps's but it's still fun, regardless.
Dwarf Fortress
DoomRL
Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden
Spelunky
No, that's stupid. Stardock makes good games so people should buy them.
I'm just playing this stupid game for context!
It's not like I'm having fun with it or anything.
All right, people. It is not a gerbil. It is not a hamster. It is not a guinea pig. It is a death rabbit. Death. Rabbit. Say it with me, now.
Galactic Civilizations II
Sins of a Solar Empire
On Steam:
Assassin's Creed
Audiosurf
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Bioshock
Braid
Civilization IV
Crysis and Crysis: Warhead
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic
Dead Space
Empire: Total War
Freedom Force and Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich
Grand Theft Auto IV
Mirror's Edge
Overlord
S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl
Sword of the Stars
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
Zeno Clash
Exactly. Wardell can do whatever he likes for whatever reason. He can have his politics. The strident quest for ideological purity in D&D gets on my fucking nerves some times. "Gabe Newell watches Fox News? Guess I can't use Steam anymore hurfdurfgraahk." It's not like Wardell is piloting Predators over Pakistan or something.
And even if he was bombing Afghan villages, I'd still play GalCiv II, because it's that fucking good.
The thing about motion blur is that although it's a power hog and can take away from frame rate, it also makes things look smoother in motion. So you really want to experiment with that one to see which one seems "smoother" to you, more frames or more motion blur.
Any reason to play this over Assault on Dark Athena?
I got a chunk of the way through the original on the Xbox, and enjoyed it, but when they announced the remake/sequel, I decided to wait for that. It's on my list of games to play when I get a new PC.
Butcher Bay is fantastic, though. I don't know how I forgot about it.
All right, people. It is not a gerbil. It is not a hamster. It is not a guinea pig. It is a death rabbit. Death. Rabbit. Say it with me, now.
I've found it in my heart to love gta iv despite its best efforts. The third patch helps.
Bioshock is also making me smile lots. Though it's not very open ended. I get that everyone is so impressed by the "morality" of the thing but it's really not all that profound, it's just a very stylishly presented gameplay mechanic. Still. Stylish and fun.
I haven't installed oblivion yet. I remember being mildly intrigued by gal civ ii though. What's that like
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
Ahahahahhaahahah oh my god he has to play Fallout 3, Oblivion and Stalker
Kiss goodbye to your social life man, it's dead for the next six months.
B. Do not play Oblivion without mods. Swing by the Elder Scrolls thread first.
C. If you're set on doing Fallout 3 (I'm not a fan of Fallout 3), you will want a large fucking break between it and Oblivion.
All right, people. It is not a gerbil. It is not a hamster. It is not a guinea pig. It is a death rabbit. Death. Rabbit. Say it with me, now.
Fix'd. :P
If don't know what SOTS is, I suggest checking out this thread: http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=88573.
In a nutshell, it's Civ in space but with 3D star maps, and fantastically diverse races. You also get to design your own ships, and the combat is real time tactical - you have full control over all your units. The research aspect is really well handled, too. Diplomacy is a bit meh compared to something like GalCiv II, but if you're after combat there really isn't a deeper or more fun 4x game.
It's available for a reasonable price here: http://www.impulsedriven.com/sotsult.
That includes the expansions - and if you do pick it up, I would really suggest getting the Argos Naval Yard DLC as well. It's basically another expansion.
EDIT: If you haven't played the HL2 episodes, Steam's weekend half-off sale on everything Half-Life seems to still be on.
It's awesome. That's what it's like. If you like space opera sci fi (Star Wars, Star Trek, Babylon 5, yadda yadda) and you like Civ style gameplay (which you do) this is a no fail fail game for you. Customizable races, variable victory conditions, customizable fleets, story driven single player campaigns, traditional "sandbox" 4X gameplay, lots of mods for customization, etc. etc. etc. I could go on forever. If you like Civ IV and you like blowing shit up in outer space with your race of death merchant super spies in frictionless pants (or whatever you feel like coming up with) then this game is for you.
Mass Effect has been bandied about for good reason as well.
Sins of Solar Empire still works tho.
The Witcher
STALKER
Mass Effect and BioShock are pretty cool too.
But then, towards the end, the story pulls something so cliche and Hollywood that I put it down in disgust. Also, the gameplay's insultingly easy and rather bland.
Definitely worth a play through, but you'd probably be better playing it on 360 than a laptop, if that's an option.
And unlike System Shock 2, which had a lot of replay value, I haven't heard of much of a PC mod community for Bioshock...
Is that the case with windows 7 in its entirety, or just certain video card drivers under windows 7? I own all those games and will inevitably end up with windows 7 so...