I really don't recommend a library as older games have issues with newer OS's, drivers, and such. Just play as you pay.
Pshaw.
Many of the "PC Must Have" games have been mentioned I believe:
"Action"
Deus Ex
Doom II (NO ONE who plays shooters has an excuse not to play the greatest of them all)
System Shock 2 (1 might be too old for your criteria?)
Half-Life 2 + CSS + TF2
"RPG"
Fallout 1&2
Planescape: Torment
BG I&II (though some would say to skip 1)
Morrowind
"Strategy"
Civ (personal preference as to which, III/IV and even II are all excellent IMO)
C&C: Red Alert 1/2 (classic)
X-COM (for sure, for sure)
These are the first ones that come to my mind as those that no gamer should go without playing. I left off the original Half-Life and mods simply because it's been totally eclipsed by its sequel. It can still be fun though. KOTOR definitely deserves a mention, but it is neither ground-breaking nor a true "must-have." Mafia and the Max Payne games are also very worthwhile.
But there really are far too many great games. Many have been mentioned already, and more could be mentioned from the DOS era. It's a shame that almost most all of them are older and haven't seen much competition in the modern market. CoD4? Crysis? Please.
I disagree with whoever mentioned Alice. I finally played that for the first time several months ago. I really could not see what was so great about the gameplay itself. The overall art design was interesting but hasn't aged very well, and it's certainly not enough on its own to make the game great. Maybe it's just a nostalgia thing.
Everything is on sale on Steam today (ends tomorrow). Now is a PERFECT time to pick up plenty of stuff. Go to "All Games" and sort by rating, and just by everything until you run out of money. I'm serious.
It's been mentioned, but get Psychonauts. It's definately worth the $10 they are charging on Steam. I got a wired 360 pad to play it with as well, but the K&M controls are serviceable.
I also plan on picking up STALKER which has also been mentioned.
Everything is on sale on Steam today (ends tomorrow). Now is a PERFECT time to pick up plenty of stuff. Go to "All Games" and sort by rating, and just by everything until you run out of money. I'm serious.
Thanks for the heads up. I've been wanting to play Two Worlds, but the price tag is way too high for whats generally been rated as a mediocre game.
It's been mentioned, but get Psychonauts. It's definately worth the $10 they are charging on Steam. I got a wired 360 pad to play it with as well, but the K&M controls are serviceable.
I also plan on picking up STALKER which has also been mentioned.
Psychonauts is quite playable on kbm. Try both control options and settle for the most comfortable one.
And STALKER is fucking awesome. One of the best games I've ever played.
Since you already have the orange box, you need to download a bunch of single and multiplayer mods for it. Like The Ship, Dystopia, CSS:SCI-FI, Minerva, City 14, City 7, Dawn. Just go crazy with google.
Edit: Get the mega pack of Galactic Civilizations 2, the expansion packs are not sold physically.
RoyceSraphim on
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cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
edited December 2007
Aside from all the usual suspects given so far(all good choices), I'll put in a good word for F.E.A.R. . I got a new PC for this game after playing the first level at a LAN party, and it didn't disappoint.
Extraction Point's also fun, but the original's still the keeper.
I kind of regret jumping on the Hellgate train so impulsively. Fun game, and I like the style, but I get the impression that I'm missing most of the game's appeal by not being in on the multiplayer aspects.
On my last PC, I finally sat down to play Deus Ex from beginning to end, but it didn't like my PCI bus drivers, and so I never made it past the first area. It blew; I realized it was my sound card pretty early on, and then I replaced the card and realized it had to be the motherboard drivers. And there weren't any updates or anything, so I just had to live with it.
Some day I might try on this machine. I have at least three copies of the damn game, and I'm considering buying it on steam so I could have it wherever internet is available.
Mafia is the other game I'd really like to go back and finish. Made it just past halfway before I got to some intense stealth area and stopped to study for my 11th grade finals, never to return to the game.
Little brother and I bought my dad a nice, huge and pricey collectors pack with every Civiliazation game (1,2,3 and 4) for his birthday in August. Mom says we widowed her, so I'd say give them a shot.
He's asking what games he should play. Emphasis on the plural. WoW is the anti game because you stop playing anything else. You also stop fucking, showering, and eating eventually. Avoid like the plague OP.
WoW hurt my marriage. I'm not shitting you I'm a sad, sad man. I did manage to quit it though, so that's better now. I seriously think WoW's done damage to PC gaming simply because it sucks people in so totally to it that they don't play anything else. It was the *only* game I played for a bit more than a year.
Cylarana on
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Waka LakaRiding the stuffed UnicornIf ya know what I mean.Registered Userregular
edited January 2008
SWAT 4
Ground Control
Rainbow 6 - Raven Shield (if you don't mind very harsh realism)
Operation Flashpoint (Yeah it looks old, but it's still one of the best military games out there- MP FTW)
Resident Evil 4 ( After its patched and if you've got a decent gamepad )
that's one of the best games no one played. best tactical squad combat of any game I've played. leaves all of tom clancy in the dust, imo. I'm sure I'm alone on that point though =p but I was never able to get into any of the Rainbow Sixes or anything but I really dug SWAT.
Also, Resident Evil 4 PC has no Mouse control. Fucking fail.
You can't even exit the game once you start playing, you have to use alt+F4.
They were too lazy to even change the icons from the playstation release. Yeah, that's right, when a QTE happens, it doesn't even show the right fricking buttons to press.
It might have even been related to the screwing up of my laptop monitor.
IShallRiseAgain on
0
Waka LakaRiding the stuffed UnicornIf ya know what I mean.Registered Userregular
Also, Resident Evil 4 PC has no Mouse control. Fucking fail.
You can't even exit the game once you start playing, you have to use alt+F4.
They were too lazy to even change the icons from the playstation release. Yeah, that's right, when a QTE happens, it doesn't even show the right fricking buttons to press.
It might have even been related to the screwing up of my laptop monitor.
Uhm, I play mine with a Xbox 360 controller and it states the right buttons. 1 2 3 ect, not Triangle, X and square etc.
On my last PC, I finally sat down to play Deus Ex from beginning to end, but it didn't like my PCI bus drivers, and so I never made it past the first area. It blew; I realized it was my sound card pretty early on, and then I replaced the card and realized it had to be the motherboard drivers. And there weren't any updates or anything, so I just had to live with it.
Some day I might try on this machine. I have at least three copies of the damn game, and I'm considering buying it on steam so I could have it wherever internet is available.
Mafia is the other game I'd really like to go back and finish. Made it just past halfway before I got to some intense stealth area and stopped to study for my 11th grade finals, never to return to the game.
Hmm, Jade Empire for PC is actually lots of fun, I strongly advise picking it up.
In the same vein as that, KOTOR 1 and 2 are reasonably stellar, 2 more so until the ending which is horribly unfinished.
HORRIBLY.
I still have no idea what the hell happened. Other than that it's freaking fantastic.
Publishers forced the release date. Some people went through the files and found remnants of the proper unfinished endings. Some of them were quite awesome. There was a project to restore those endings, but I don't know what happened to them.
Yeah, people seem to forget KOTOR2 wasn't made by Bioware. The developer was forced to release the game before the game was even really finished.
A similar thing happened with Bungie and Halo 2.
I've seen the Fallout games mentioned, but I gotta say, I tried them on this PC (XP) a while back and I couldn't get them to work at all past the title screens, no matter what settings I tried. With Vista I'd expect they'd just uninstall themselves on the spot or something.
Yea, I've been playing CoX for 3.5 years, and in that time I've probably played an average of, like, 3-4 other games a year (which usually last 1-2 weeks apiece). It might be saving me money overall, but if you want to try lots of cool games avoid an MMO...or at least, put them at the end of the list.
SWAT 4 Rainbow 6 - Raven Shield (if you don't mind very harsh realism)
Absolutely amazing game. The rest of the R6 series has been so disappointing to me because of it. I do have to say that COD 4's Hardcore mode is the closest i've ever been to recreating the Raven Shield experience.
SWAT 4
Ground Control
Rainbow 6 - Raven Shield (if you don't mind very harsh realism)
Operation Flashpoint (Yeah it looks old, but it's still one of the best military games out there- MP FTW)
Resident Evil 4 ( After its patched and if you've got a decent gamepad )
Wow, I've played all of those except for Rainbow 6.
SWAT 4 is awesome. It's far more intense than most other FPS's I've played. Plus I love the fact that primarily you play a police officer, not a soldier, mercenary or similar. Your objective is to save as many lives as possible, including the bad guys. The perfect playthrough is one in which no-one dies. Plus I don't think anyone forgets mission 2. Just frigging creepy.
Operation Flashpoint is pretty much a soldier sim. It's also tough to get into, but if you can, there's nothing quite like it.
And I'll agree with Resident Evil 4. Probably the absolute worst port ever made. You definitely need a joypad. HOWEVER, once you've modded the crap out of it, it becomes really good. Hi-res graphics and textures mods, weapons and character move mods (you can give Leon Weskers Thrust Punch and Hunks footbal kick if you want), character model mods, you can even modify the laser sight on the guns so that' it's lighter / darker / different colour / leaves a slight trail etc.
RE4 as a port was a dismal failure. The mod community turned it into something very well done.
subedii on
0
RoshinMy backlog can be seen from spaceSwedenRegistered Userregular
SWAT 4 is awesome. It's far more intense than most other FPS's I've played. Plus I love the fact that primarily you play a police officer, not a soldier, mercenary or similar. Your objective is to save as many lives as possible, including the bad guys. The perfect playthrough is one in which no-one dies. Plus I don't think anyone forgets mission 2. Just frigging creepy.
If you enjoyed Swat 4, you should definately check out Swat 3. Despite being old, it actually looks pretty good. It has, with a few exceptions (sewer map), fantastic map design and truly intense gameplay.
And I'll agree with Resident Evil 4. Probably the absolute worst port ever made. You definitely need a joypad. HOWEVER, once you've modded the crap out of it, it becomes really good. Hi-res graphics and textures mods, weapons and character move mods (you can give Leon Weskers Thrust Punch and Hunks footbal kick if you want), character model mods, you can even modify the laser sight on the guns so that' it's lighter / darker / different colour / leaves a slight trail etc.
RE4 as a port was a dismal failure. The mod community turned it into something very well done.
Wait, what? Mods for RE4? Please give me some links, so I can rescue this shite PC port.
It's been a while since I've been there so I can't remember where all the mods are located, but you can scan through the released mods thread and find them easily enough
First thing you'll want to get is probably the hi-res texture pack, which replaces all textures in-game with hi-res versions.
There's also a hi-res video pack.
Next there's joypad and keyboard button replacement packs. What these do is replace those idiotic prompts during the cutscenes where you're supposed to press specific buttons. In the unmodded version it'll flash up something like "5 + 6", where you're supposed to press button numbers 5 and 6 to dodge (or whatever). The packs are available for 360 and playstation gamepads (so now you'll see the proper buttons to press), and for the keyboard if you insist on using that.
After that there's the laser sight mod I was talking about earlier. The default laser looks a bit crap so it's nice to turn up the opacity on it so that it looks nice (and change the colour if you want).
After that there's the animation mods, character mods, weapon and weapon sound replacement packs. Basically pick and choose what you want.
It might be a bit time-consuming to do the modding since you need to extract the archives in order to be able to edit them (though once that's done you don't need to re-compress them IIRC). It was well worth it to be able to change the game from crap to actually quite good.
Edit:
http://z6.invisionfree.com/Resident_Evil_4_PC/index.php?showtopic=2003
That should show you how to extract the files. Then it's just a case of replacing the relevant files with those provided. At least for models / textures. Some of the other mods and some texture / character mods come with their own installers, although IIRC it's still probably best to have those files extracted first.
Posts
Pshaw.
Many of the "PC Must Have" games have been mentioned I believe:
"Action"
Deus Ex
Doom II (NO ONE who plays shooters has an excuse not to play the greatest of them all)
System Shock 2 (1 might be too old for your criteria?)
Half-Life 2 + CSS + TF2
"RPG"
Fallout 1&2
Planescape: Torment
BG I&II (though some would say to skip 1)
Morrowind
"Strategy"
Civ (personal preference as to which, III/IV and even II are all excellent IMO)
C&C: Red Alert 1/2 (classic)
X-COM (for sure, for sure)
These are the first ones that come to my mind as those that no gamer should go without playing. I left off the original Half-Life and mods simply because it's been totally eclipsed by its sequel. It can still be fun though. KOTOR definitely deserves a mention, but it is neither ground-breaking nor a true "must-have." Mafia and the Max Payne games are also very worthwhile.
But there really are far too many great games. Many have been mentioned already, and more could be mentioned from the DOS era. It's a shame that almost most all of them are older and haven't seen much competition in the modern market. CoD4? Crysis? Please.
I disagree with whoever mentioned Alice. I finally played that for the first time several months ago. I really could not see what was so great about the gameplay itself. The overall art design was interesting but hasn't aged very well, and it's certainly not enough on its own to make the game great. Maybe it's just a nostalgia thing.
Other good games have been previously mentioned.
I also plan on picking up STALKER which has also been mentioned.
Thanks for the heads up. I've been wanting to play Two Worlds, but the price tag is way too high for whats generally been rated as a mediocre game.
Psychonauts is quite playable on kbm. Try both control options and settle for the most comfortable one.
And STALKER is fucking awesome. One of the best games I've ever played.
Off the top of my head, ones on GameTap mentioned in this thread:
Homeworld 1 + 2
FarCry
Overlord
Thief 3
Deus Ex
Psychonauts
Civ 3 and 4
Galactic Civilizations 2
X-Com (can't remember which one)
Since you already have the orange box, you need to download a bunch of single and multiplayer mods for it. Like The Ship, Dystopia, CSS:SCI-FI, Minerva, City 14, City 7, Dawn. Just go crazy with google.
Edit: Get the mega pack of Galactic Civilizations 2, the expansion packs are not sold physically.
Extraction Point's also fun, but the original's still the keeper.
I kind of regret jumping on the Hellgate train so impulsively. Fun game, and I like the style, but I get the impression that I'm missing most of the game's appeal by not being in on the multiplayer aspects.
I think there's a console version of Deux Ex.
PC gaming has been around since the late 1970s. You can't just say "What are the must-have games for PC?", you need to narrow that shit down.
Otherwise, start with Zork, and work your way up from there.
plenty of soul-sucking fun, if you're into hard drugs. because it is one. but it feels so good...
Ground Control
Rainbow 6 - Raven Shield (if you don't mind very harsh realism)
Operation Flashpoint (Yeah it looks old, but it's still one of the best military games out there- MP FTW)
Resident Evil 4 ( After its patched and if you've got a decent gamepad )
Tumblr
Anyway, if you like a good RPG, you must buy the Witcher. You can spend hours on that game, and not even know it.
"Ok, just one more quest..."
...
"Ok, I'll just do one more"
...
"this is the last one"
etc etc
Also, Resident Evil 4 PC has no Mouse control. Fucking fail.
They were too lazy to even change the icons from the playstation release. Yeah, that's right, when a QTE happens, it doesn't even show the right fricking buttons to press.
It might have even been related to the screwing up of my laptop monitor.
Uhm, I play mine with a Xbox 360 controller and it states the right buttons. 1 2 3 ect, not Triangle, X and square etc.
But whatever.
Tumblr
LOL, thats a good one
So guys, should I buy Civ 4 on Steam? I've never really played a Civ game before. Steam games come with pdf manuals, right?
This is a good idea. But first you need to eat a lot to lay down a good layer of blubber. You might forget to eat for a while.
As far as must have games for the PC, I have to go with the Total War games just because there is nothing else like them at all.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Publishers forced the release date. Some people went through the files and found remnants of the proper unfinished endings. Some of them were quite awesome. There was a project to restore those endings, but I don't know what happened to them.
A similar thing happened with Bungie and Halo 2.
Looks like I missed out on Fallout forever.
It isn't a must have, its a must-avoid.
Even by Capcom's PC standards, the RE4 port is one of their worst ever.
Adding to the list of PC games,
- Swat 3
- Guild Wars
Wow, I've played all of those except for Rainbow 6.
SWAT 4 is awesome. It's far more intense than most other FPS's I've played. Plus I love the fact that primarily you play a police officer, not a soldier, mercenary or similar. Your objective is to save as many lives as possible, including the bad guys. The perfect playthrough is one in which no-one dies. Plus I don't think anyone forgets mission 2. Just frigging creepy.
Operation Flashpoint is pretty much a soldier sim. It's also tough to get into, but if you can, there's nothing quite like it.
And I'll agree with Resident Evil 4. Probably the absolute worst port ever made. You definitely need a joypad. HOWEVER, once you've modded the crap out of it, it becomes really good. Hi-res graphics and textures mods, weapons and character move mods (you can give Leon Weskers Thrust Punch and Hunks footbal kick if you want), character model mods, you can even modify the laser sight on the guns so that' it's lighter / darker / different colour / leaves a slight trail etc.
RE4 as a port was a dismal failure. The mod community turned it into something very well done.
If you enjoyed Swat 4, you should definately check out Swat 3. Despite being old, it actually looks pretty good. It has, with a few exceptions (sewer map), fantastic map design and truly intense gameplay.
Wait, what? Mods for RE4? Please give me some links, so I can rescue this shite PC port.
Thief 1 might not work on Vista.
SS13 Rules Post
http://z6.invisionfree.com/Resident_Evil_4_PC/index.php
It's been a while since I've been there so I can't remember where all the mods are located, but you can scan through the released mods thread and find them easily enough
First thing you'll want to get is probably the hi-res texture pack, which replaces all textures in-game with hi-res versions.
There's also a hi-res video pack.
Next there's joypad and keyboard button replacement packs. What these do is replace those idiotic prompts during the cutscenes where you're supposed to press specific buttons. In the unmodded version it'll flash up something like "5 + 6", where you're supposed to press button numbers 5 and 6 to dodge (or whatever). The packs are available for 360 and playstation gamepads (so now you'll see the proper buttons to press), and for the keyboard if you insist on using that.
After that there's the laser sight mod I was talking about earlier. The default laser looks a bit crap so it's nice to turn up the opacity on it so that it looks nice (and change the colour if you want).
After that there's the animation mods, character mods, weapon and weapon sound replacement packs. Basically pick and choose what you want.
It might be a bit time-consuming to do the modding since you need to extract the archives in order to be able to edit them (though once that's done you don't need to re-compress them IIRC). It was well worth it to be able to change the game from crap to actually quite good.
Edit:
http://z6.invisionfree.com/Resident_Evil_4_PC/index.php?showtopic=2003
That should show you how to extract the files. Then it's just a case of replacing the relevant files with those provided. At least for models / textures. Some of the other mods and some texture / character mods come with their own installers, although IIRC it's still probably best to have those files extracted first.