What PC games would you recommend?

[SMG]

I've played and beaten all 5 TR games, System Shock 2 and Thief games, Max Payne (eh, over-hyped), Half-Life, Unreal, and tried Alice and Myst. What games, new or old, would you recommend? I've heard very good things about Grim Fandango and The Longest Journey, but I haven't seen them in stores. I haven't played adventures games besides the old old text kind (which I still occasionally play) and tried Myst for a little bit but it seemed sterile and lacked feeling. What games would you recommend, and where's the best place to buy them if they're too old to be in most stores?

[yesrushdt]

Project Eden is a must have if you haven't tried it already. Think of a more action-oriented TR with the abilty to control a team of four players. Much puzzle soliving too be found in this one as well. This was one of my favorite games of last year.

Also check out Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine. This game is very much in the veign of TR altough better than the last two games. Long, long game that spans two CD Roms! Definitley a classic. The upcoming Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb (coming out next month) looks amazing. Should be as good if not better than Infernal Machine. Check out this screenshot.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/screenshots_library/dir_164/vortal_pic_82407.jpg

Jedi Knight II is a great first person shooter. The graphics are superb as is the level design. Star Wars- Knights of the Old Republic looks really good from the screenshots I've seen. Looks like an action RPG.

Galleon from Toby Gard (designer of TR1 & TR2) looks promising. Who knows if it will ever come out as it's been delayed for over 2 years.

If you're a fan of Golf, look no further then Tiger Woods 2003 for PC. This is the finest golf simulation I have played. One of the only golf games for PC that is in full 3D. Great graphics and gameplay supplemented by the ability to download user created courses and play online.

I know you're just asking for PC games, but Metroid Prime is a game that EVERY pc/console gamer must check out. This may very well be the most phenomenal game I have ever played. From the jaw-droppingly detailed graphics and huge worlds to the excellent control and gameplay, this one has it all. If you are a fan of the other games in the series like Super Metroid, you'll like this one ever better...trust me!

Later,

Eric

[Dad]

The legacy of Kain series was interesting like Soul Reaver and Blood Omen 2. There was a SR demo out if I remember correctly but have not seen any copies in the store lately. BO2 was fun but short.
Bloodrayne demo is out now and that come out in march for the pc.

:)

[DaveJ]

No-One Lives Forever 1 and 2.

Definitely give Grim Fandango a shot, and Jedi Outcast.

Medal of Honor: Allied Assault is a must, too.

[Mgardiner]

Divine Divinity, excellent RPG that will give you about 100+ hours of gameplay. It puts morrowind to shame. (Image below)

http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2002/pc/rpg/divinedivinity/divine_screen001.jpg

Age of Mythology (My Pick of the Year for best game), This game is absolutely wonderful. All the animations are excellent, fun to play (especially online with friends or foes), graphics are top notch, It's not as fast paced as Warcraft 3 which can be good at times. (Image Below)

http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2002/pc/str/ageofmythology/a_screen001.jpg

[Data]

It is always difficult to recommend games for others as it is very subjective to personal taste, however I did enjoy the interaction I received from 'Elite Force'. I have not played a game since this, apart from Tomb Raider, however I do not have much time for games and the level editor; and the level editor wins every time. ;)

@DaveJ, that really is too much shooting :D however I do agree with your choice Grim Fandango, even if my play of it was short lived; and that is another story. ;)

[DaveJ]

I recommended NOLF 1 and 2 for the atmosphere and humour.

MOH:AA for its incredible, humbling atmosphere and superb AI.

And Jedi Outcast for the cool factor experienced in wielding a lightsabre.

Who mentioned shooting?
:p

[Lara Croft Online]

BloodRayne simply a great game and the PC demo is out at
fileplanet.com

[DaveJ]

Playing the demo for "Bloodrayne" confirmed my worst fears that it was as one-note as "Devil May Cry"...run/shoot/slash/repeat.

Shame, really.

[Seth]

No One Lives Forever Series - An excellent all around choice, as described by Dave.

Grim Fandango also.. The puzzles are just.. Wow. You gotta love that betting stub/kitty-hat one..

The Monkey Island Series! Another adventure game developed by LucasArts, and quite humourous indeed.

StarCraft is an excellent choice.. Just a great stratagy game..

Counter-Strike.. Need I explain?

The Sims - I'm insane, I know, but I find it fun.

[DaveJ]

'Splinter Cell' is definitely worth a few hours of anyones time.

I don't know how the PC version is gonna shape up in terms of gameplay after the Xbox version though...some neat touches will be very hard to translate over.

[The Gamester]

I agreed with the others. It depends on what you perfer to play. If you want action/adventure games, the ones listed are pretty good. If you want driving and racing games, try the Need for Speed series. Or if you prefer war, try Novalogic's series of combat flight simulators. There are other games including RPG and web based interaction games.

[Jorge22]

Alice - play it to the end!

Max Payne - play it over and over!

All TRs - well, what else? - including several custom made games as The Last Crusade and The Quest for the Asphaeings Amulet

Return to Castle Wolfenstein - play it once but do play it!

Any Broken Sword - the best adventure game with a lot of humor too!

Harry Potter - nice...

[SMG]

A few games I failed to mention are Heavy Metal, Return to Castle Wolfenstein. and Deus Ex.
The Alice demo seemed a little too much like a stereotypical first person shooter to me; mainly about impressing with eye-candy, and sticking with the same old shoot 'em up gameplay...and while the levels are unique and artistic, it didn't have much exploration and puzzle solving.
I did play Max Payne once, but I didn't really care for it. I never got drawn in.

[mulder]

Alice is as far from a strereotypical FPS as you can get...

And how can you not get drawn in to Max.........?

[DaveJ]

Wolfenstein is the epitome of a stereotypical FPS.


And Alice and Heavy Metal were near identical in terms of gameplay for me.


Enjoyed 'em all though!

[Jorge22]

Alice is fantastic! I never played the demo but although it's a little bit like a third person shooter it's also much more than that. The only thing I didn't like that much in Alice (but that wasn't enough to become a problem) were the commands. For example, you have to jump with space because both sides of the mouse are used for different kinds of shooting. As for the puzzles and finding your way through the mazes amongst millions of very well imagined enemies in very well imagined sceneries they really aren't as simple as you thought at all...

Max Payne........ yes, how on earth can you not get drawn in? :confused:

[SMG]

A lot of Alice reviews say that gameplay is "just another shooter" that consists of a whole lot of killing, but with impressive and unique architecture, and a story. I didn't read any reviews before playing the demo, so I didin't have preconceptions. In fact, I was excited about the game when it first came out. I always thought the story was much darker and weirder than Disney's Alice, especially after hearing about what a weird guy the original author was. From what I gathered, and what I read after playing, it was lacking in atmosphere and adventure elements.
The same guy is working on a game based on the Wizard of Oz, that has potential to be a really good game.

And for Max Payne, its voice acting is hammy and over the top, uses every cliche in the book and at times humorously melodramatic, likes it's poking fun at the entire Bogart era of detective movies...but at the same time its dead serious, too serious for its own good. I heard it's an epic piece of digital story-telling. over-hyped, IMO.

[DaveJ]

Well 'Alice' remains for me one of the most atmospheric games and landscapes I've wandered through. It may not innovate in gameplay, but this is more than compensated for by its design and music, which make it a pleasure to replay.

'Max Payne' actually has a story which is something of a novelty for a game, complete with a thrilling and sensible ending.

It is an homage to the film noir thrillers, and John Woo movies - the whole genre. Hence the use of action-heroic dialogue and cinematic set-pieces.

The worst thing you can do is take it seriously when its obvious that the games makers had their tongues stuck firmly in their cheeks whilst making it (witness the various TV shows playing in hotel rooms, the self-mocking hallucinogenic dream sequences, and deliberate movie references and the pulp novel style cut-scenes.)

They knew they were making a piece of popcorn entertainment, not an 'epic piece of digital story telling'...thats just a reviewer gone mad.

[suzieq51]

Definitely give ALICE a go. Loved all the psychobabble stuff and also the whole Wonderland weirdness of it.
Definitely GRIM FANDANGO - it's a hoot! A travel agent in hell??? And the music is pretty cool too!
SOUL REAVER 1 & 2, worth playing (although the constant fighting can be petty tedious and tends to give PC players RSI!).
Really enjoyed INDIANA JONES & THE INFERNAL MACHINE, it was great fun and very similar to TR. Really looking forward to the new one due out shortly.

[OhMyGodNoooo]

...never quite grabbed me like the first one did :( Sure as hell looks nice though!

In fact, now I think about it, I never even got round to completing it. However, this probably has more to do with the fact that I now have a 1M Cable connection. :)

I prefer to play against real folk.

Or real computer geeks according to the wife ;) When will she finally comprehend that to participate in games on-line is simply another form of entertainment (like HER SOAPS), and in this case a lot more engaging....?

Anyway, games I recommend....

SHOGO M.A.D. - An oldie, but that means you'll get it cheap (if you can find it). It's an anime-style FPS, and not to be confused with Shogo the RTS.

Both MDK & MDK2 are very underrated - try them! I believe you can now get them both in a single pack quite cheaply.

Medal Of Honour Allied Assault still amazes me when I go back for a shot, despite having completed it twice.

Hope this helps in your quest for a new game.....

[DaveJ]

Just had a recent reminder that Core's own "Project Eden" is a great game too - highly recommended from this desk.

[wriggle]

OLD ONES!

- Ultima 8 (exteme difficult rpg game)
- Stunts (a really old/good/stunt racing game)
- Monkey Island 1 & 2 (the best adventure games)
- Magic Carpet 2 (fps/rpg with thousand weapons in a magic carpet.. really cool)
- The Incredible Machine (can't explain this one)


NEW ONES
- Need For Speed 4 & 5
- Ultima 9
- Worms World Party (can't explain too)
- Sim City 4
- Diablo 2 with Expansion


FREE ONES
- SolSuite (collection of thousand solitaire games) LINK (http://www.solsuite.com/)
- Pac Venture LINK (http://www.geocities.com/chechesoft/pacventure.htm)

[The Godfather]

Originally posted by yesrushdt
Project Eden & Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine.

Is it still possible to buy these and ... are they really as good as Tomb Raider? I mean: Indiana Jones doesn't really use his guns as much as Lara, right? And I don't know whether I'm so good in using the whip ... are the controls also any good as in Tomb Raider? I think that's also very important.

Thanks. ;)

[The Godfather]

Originally posted by DaveJ
No-One Lives Forever 1 and 2.

Could you or anyone else post a few pictures, so I can see how much it looks like Tomb Raider? You see: i'm planning on expanding my knowledge and experience in playing videogames beyond the Tomb Raider-saga and Max Payne. ;) :D

[DaveJ]

It looks nothing like the TR games....if it did, it wouldn't expand your horizons much, would it? ;)

Try here:
http://nolf2.sierra.com/

http://nolf2.sierra.com/800_600_04.jpg

[lc,england]

The Infernal Machine is still very available in this country, usually at a bargain price. If not, someone always seems to have a copy to sell on ebay. It really is a great game, the controls are somewhat similar to TR, and you can always modify them to be exactly the same. It's a game well worth checking out if you like Tomb Raider.

(sorry, no screenshots)

[The Godfather]

I meant to say: does it play like Tomb Raider?

You know: games where you can see everything through the eyes of the hero(es) or heroine(s) provided you can still see the character him- or herself? I only like games like that: e.g.: Max Payne, Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider? And not (anymore): Doom and Wolfenstein?

I really mean 3D games where you can see the action of your character from behind: those are the games I really like! Is it a game like that or is it more like Doom or Final Fantasy or maybe even Prince of Persia? :D

Thanks for a quick reply, my friend.

[lc,england]

check out the official website http://www.lucasarts.com/products/indy for some screenshots

:)

[The Godfather]

Thanks. I'm gonna try the demo now. I'm not 100% sure yet whether to buy this game or not. It does indeed look the same like Lara Croft, but somehow much older and more ... childish? With Lara Croft everything always seemed so beautiful and perfectly well-shaped ... hmmm, I'll be able to tell you more after the demo.

Bye for now.

[DaveJ]

NOLF is 1st person... ie - you don't see the character in-game.

The character animations are streets ahead of what you are used to in TR and Max Payne...in fact NOLF 2 has the best character animations (especially facial) I've yet seen in a game.

It has its tongue firmly in its cheek and is very humourous as well as atmospheric and involving.

[Seth]

No One Lives Forever 1 and 2 remain one of my favourite games of all time.

Especially 2.

The stealth factor is amazing. It's always so much fun being able to hide from enemies and apporach them differently instead of guns-a-blazin'. It also adds for replayability.

The plot is nothing short of specitacular as well. Both games are very story-driven.

The AI is absolutly the best AI I've seen in a game. Enemies react to sounds, sights, most everything.

Humour! Both games are lacking none of it. "...A Ninja Can Tell Time By The Slit Of A Cat's Eye!.."

http://www.nolfgirl.com/gameinfo/nolf2/screens/nolf2bg40.jpg