PC Game recommendations

[Morat20]

Well, tomorrow-ish -- this weekendish at least -- I'm actually getting a new PC. Mine dates back to, oh 2003ish? 2002ish? 2004 at the latest. It's a decade old, basically.

Other than replacing a video card that fried, adding another hard drive at some point and possible some RAM, I haven't updated it. At some point we got an Xbox, which was way cheaper, and the bulk of my gaming has been on that.

To give you a feel of where I stopped PC gaming: I played Star Wars: Galaxies on this thing. I've played WoW through Wrath of the Lich King. I've played EVE. I remember trying Lord of the Rings: Online, back when you paid for it, but it ran very sluggishly and I never got too far.

My most recent version of Civilization is Civ 3. I have Rollercoaster Tycoon 3, which I love, but can't stand to play very long because again -- PITA performance.  I've played Rome: Total War and Medieval 2: Total War. I played Spore. I've played Gal Civ 2 (rather enjoyed that. It worked well on an older PC).

If it was available on Xbox of Xbox 360 over the last few years, I've happily played it there.

So what I'm looking for is: What, if any, games have I missed on PC over the last five or six years? Worth considering or getting? I'm very likely to try LOTRO, since it's F2P, as well as ST:O and ST:TOR -- again, you know, free trials and whatnot unless I really dig it.

Anything I should definitely try?

Also, as a secondary question: I've got some stuff from Steam and GoGs on my old PC -- I can just hit my account on both and reacquire them, right?

[Ruvaldt]

I can't recall ever seeing Morat posting in the gaming forums.  I'm not sure what to recommend.

You should play Blood Bowl with us though.

[Sky]

Minecraft!

Since you seem to dig strategy/civ, grab Civ 4 with the Back to the Sword expansion and get the Fall From Heaven 2 mod; for me it's the pinnacle of the genre thus far. A few years old, but if you didn't pc game during that era, it's new to you!

Games you may have played on console: Just Cause 2 and Saint's Row 3.

TSW, TOR and GW2 are all good mmo in their own ways.

And yeah, minecraft. It's magical.

[Malakili]

Whats genres do you like?  RPGS: Fallout: New Vegas is probably my favorite in recent memory.  RTS - Starcraft 2 is good, but only if you are into that sort of thing.  Dawn of War 2 is probably a bit more accessible and easy to play with more RPG elements in the single player. Shooters - Team Fortress 2 is a must play.  MMORPG: Guild Wars 2 is the new hotness, but you've already said you want to try LOTRO, which is good.  

Things I'd put on a buy it when its cheap on Steam list:

Deus Ex 3
Borderlands
Skyrim
Fallout 3
Dragon Age (I'd suggest the first one but not the second one, but YMMV)

Stuff to try depending on your tastes:

DOTA 2 (or some other variation on DOTA like LoL)
Counter Strike: GO
Tribes: Ascend

[Kail]

Also, as a secondary question: I've got some stuff from Steam and GoGs on my old PC -- I can just hit my account on both and reacquire them, right?

For GoG it's no problem, you can just straight up copy the files if you don't want to re-download.  Steam is usually no problem, but some games have activation limits and stuff to worry about, and the first time you log in from a new computer Valve locks your account and sends a confirmation e-mail.

As for PC exclusives, they're pretty rare.  Most AAA stuff is released cross platform, outside the occasional MMO or RTS.  Starcraft 2, maybe, something like League of Legends or DOTA 2 if you're looking for that kind of thing.  Also there's obviously a ton of indie games if you want to hear more about that, but they're generally not the kinds of games you use to break in a  new PC.  What kind of game are you looking for?

[Morat20]

I can't recall ever seeing Morat posting in the gaming forums.  I'm not sure what to recommend.

You should play Blood Bowl with us though.

I post, just rarely. Mostly console games for the last few years (except for EVE and WoW), and even then I'm like a year behind everyone else so by the time I have time to play it, it's been done and gone. :)

In general, if it's been released on Xbox, I've tried it. (Skyrim, Fallout 3, Mass Effect 1 and 2 -- still haven't done 3 -- Orange Box, Portal 2 -- not played it yet -- Draogon Age 1 and 2). Shooters I tend to avoid, othre than the consoleized ones -- I'm just kinda shitty at them. :) I think the only one I ever played to completion was Jedi Knight. And Half Life.

I'd like to try Team Fortress 2 on PC rather than Xbox. I suspect the game is..different. :) In a good way. Minecraft? Oh definitely. I've been dying to try that one, and the limited Xbox version didn't look so good.

Blood Bowl is definitely on the list, it looks fun. :) Civ 4 sounds good -- I've heard about the Fall from Heaven mod, but without actually playing Civ 4 it's kinda nebulous what it adds. (Just from reading it here, it apparently adds fun).

I'm more a fan of the 4x games and RPG's. (I've got Planescape from GoG and plan to start that one soon. Have the BG's series. Never managed to finish the first one, but love the half I've done. I keep starting and restartign that one every few years).

RTS's? I'm a fan, but it's funnest in co-op. A friend wants me to get D3 to play with her, but I've heard "meh" on that.

Minecraft sounds pretty much exactly up my alley, other than the MMORPGs. I think Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 is the newest -- I enjoy that sort of simulation game, I'm a builder/explorer at heart and an RPG fan.

MMORPG's are hit and miss. I keep wanting to love EVE, but it only holds my attention for a month or two at a time. I enjoyed CoH, but realized half of what I was doing was making new heroes with new costumes because the game got kinda stale! WoW just seems to have the right mix of brainless PvE (PvP is fine -- in battlegrounds. I don't do world PvP. I don't like the stress) and exploration to keep drawing me back after breaks.

So, so far: Definite on Minecraft, probably on Blood Bowl, Civ 4 w/mods, and a smattering of MMORPGs.

[Malakili]

If you like 4x, you might want to pick up Sins of a Solar Empire.

[Morat20]

If you like 4x, you might want to pick up Sins of a Solar Empire.

I've heard good things about that one, but had totally forgotten it. Thanks -- same people who did Gal Civ, right? (Speaking of -- the expansions on GC2 worth it?)

[Trippy]

Borderlands 2, when it comes out (Sept 18)
Torchlight II, which it comes out (Sept 20)
King Arthur I and/or II
Warlock - Master of the Arcane
Pick an MMORPG: Rift, The Secret World, Guild Wars 2

[Sheepherder]

Skyrim
Saints Row: The Third
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
World of Tanks
Crusader Kings: II

[Tairnyn]

Civ4 + Fall From Heaven II is pretty much the mastery of Civilization, if that's your bag. As for action titles, the Batman: Arkham * titles are fantastic if you haven't played them on Xbox. Deus Ex and Saints Row are also worth playing.

If you're looking for a sim game Anno 2070 is a nice update to the city-building genre and Crusader Kings II is a great strategy/sim title.

Also, Just Cause 2 and the Assassin's Creed series are great if you like action titles.

[Venkman]

GW2 since it's PC exclusive, hella fun, and has no sub. Even just for a few weeks if it doesn't grab ya.

Minecraft for damn sure. It's ok on the Xbox, but it's really a PC-focused ecosystem of mods, textures, etc.

Skyrim if you didn't play on the Xbox or want to check out the mods.

Diablo 3 for the ding-gratz though only really if you absolutely loved D2.

Starcraft 2 for a similar reason.

Sky mentioned Just Cause 2, and I agree. I'm sure a console controller is fine, but it's great for keyboard/mouse and does crazy destruction lulz even better than Red Faction: Guerilla.

I'd only recommend SWTOR if you really want to see the "Everquest with Wookiees" so many though SWG was gonna be, and only after it goes F2P.

[Simond]

As I was trying to say before we were so rudely interrupted by the server imploding, just get Civ4+FFH, Guild Wars 2 and Skyrim then watch for Steam and GoG sales. You'll pick up more than enough that way.

[Morat20]

As I was trying to say before we were so rudely interrupted by the server imploding, just get Civ4+FFH, Guild Wars 2 and Skyrim then watch for Steam and GoG sales. You'll pick up more than enough that way.

Not a bad idea. I was mostly aiming at games released over the last decade or so I might have missed -- any classic PC games I couldn't run and just don't remember.

I'll be reacquiring my few Steam games and transferring my GoG's stuff.

[Reg]

You aren't going to let your wife touch it are you?

[Morat20]

You aren't going to let your wife touch it are you?

Ha! No. I've not much experience with Windows 7, so I have to figure out how to setup shares again -- including the fun "My wife can see it from her vista laptop, but my son can't from any account, etc". Also plan to get one of those wireless home cloud storage drives -- only like 100 bucks for a terabyte -- and set that up, point mozy@home at it from my desktop and keep critical files backed up that wait.

I ended up with an i7 3770, a modest Nvidia card, and 16 gigs of RAM and went with Windows 7 Home Premium. Should be all I really need for the next several years.

[Reg]

Did it come with a discount coupon for Windows 8 or is it too early for that yet?

[Morat20]

Did it come with a discount coupon for Windows 8 or is it too early for that yet?

I didn't really check -- I haven't been watching the Windows 8 reviews, but Windows 7 seems very solid by all accounts. I can always pick up Windows 8 cheap through my work later, if I need to.

[lamaros]

Your tastes seem more like mine than some others, so:

Don't get Borderlands - even at $2 it's a waste!

Get Blood Bowl only if you have time for a multiplayer league (and if so get it for sure).
Crusader Kings II is great fun.
Minecraft is great.

[Morat20]

What's the time costs of Blood Bowl? I know only the bare basics of the game -- never seen it played, never seen the mechanics, just read bits and pieces here and there.

I have time, it's more a question of is it "Raid time" wherein I need to have my ass in my seat at 7:00PM or forfeit? I know it's fantasy football style -- that I have time for! I can even handle draft equivilants. I just can't, you know, "be here at X time on Y date" on a regular basis.

[koro]

Windows 8 is pretty awful, by the way. It provides no performance boost over Win7 beyond a quicker boot-up time and its UI is dogshit. It's also nigh-unusable for gaming if you have multiple monitors to boot.

[Ruvaldt]

What's the time costs of Blood Bowl? I know only the bare basics of the game -- never seen it played, never seen the mechanics, just read bits and pieces here and there.

I have time, it's more a question of is it "Raid time" wherein I need to have my ass in my seat at 7:00PM or forfeit? I know it's fantasy football style -- that I have time for! I can even handle draft equivilants. I just can't, you know, "be here at X time on Y date" on a regular basis.

Blood Bowl games take a little more than an hour on two minute turns, and you arrange that time with each opponent you face.  In our league that translates into one hour-and-a-half long game a week.  We keep other side-leagues going pretty frequently though and there is also the Feeder League if you want to play a game outside of tournaments.

It really isn't that time-consuming.  Mastering the game does, however, take time and there is a learning curve.  The game looks deceptively simple, but you realize over time that play can be tremendously deep, and it does take some commitment/patience. You'll lose a lot in the beginning, but when it all starts to click it is very rewarding.  Plus, there are teams for pretty much any preference, strategy-wise.  We have a lot of really good players here and they're also helpful/friendly enough to play with new players and give tips at the drop of a hat.

It really is fun if you like strategy, and I wasn't joking when I suggested it.  I've put in around 500 hours on the Legendary edition and I still look forward to every game.  It's what transformed me from a lurker into a poster a few years ago.

[HaemishM]

I can definitely recommend Blood Bowl. I've put over 100 hours into it, almost all of that in games with F13'ers. The hardest part of the game is finding the team that fits you. With 20 teams (soon to be 23 with the new edition coming out), that can be tricky, but the feeder league is good for that. And the multiple side leagues we have can also give you a better idea. Just get right with the idea you will lose about the first 10-20 games you play.

[ezrast]

As far as scheduling goes, you can usually rely on just bumping into your opponent on Steam as long as you watch out for each other, but occasionally setting up a time frame in advance will be necessary, especially if your opponent is in a vastly different time zone.

[Simond]

Did it come with a discount coupon for Windows 8 or is it too early for that yet?

Don't buy Windows 8 - it falls solidly into the Star-Trek-esque "Windows versions alternate between good and terrible" rule (3.1 = good, 95 = mediocre, 98 = good, ME = awful, XP = great, Vista = Terrible, 7 = excellent, 8 = what is this I don't even). Stick with Win7.

[Reg]

Hmm. My PC runs Vista and I'm used to its awfulness at this point.  I'm nowhere near ready for a new system. Hopefully, the worst of Windows 8 will have been fixed or we'll be on to Windows 9 before I am.

[Signe]

Hi Morat.  What is "bg series"?  Also, Borderlands is awesome fun!  Can't wait for Borderlands 2 to come out.  Except I suck at driving in it.  If I offer you a lift, don't get in the vehicle!  Although, chances are I'll run you down backing up to leave.  Accidentally!  I haven't tried Blood Bowl or Minecraft or any of those either.  I might though. 

Mr. Spellchecker thinks I want to play Mineshaft.  Why does he hate me?  Oh, and you are Mort.  How's DEATH?

[Morat20]

Eh, Baldur's Gate. :) I'm actually looking forward to the HD remake. I love me some old-school RPGs. (I was thrilled to find Jade Empire on Xbox Arcade, which was an excellent use of five or ten dollars. Not that Jade Empire is that old school, being an Xbox original game -- but it's Bioware.)

[koro]

The BG revamp isn't actually an HD remake by the way; it uses all the original untouched art assets, aside from the couple of new areas it adds. It's essentially a glorified iOS port with a new UI and some baked-in inclusion of some of the most commonly-used ease of use mods. It doesn't look bad, but upon learning more about it, I'm in no hurry to replace my original BG1 and 2 copies with the Enhanced Edition.

[Venkman]

I love me some old-school RPGs.

Hmm, has anyone recommended DA:O yet?

[Morat20]

I love me some old-school RPGs.

Hmm, has anyone recommended DA:O yet?

Yep. If it came out on Xbox 360, I probably have looked at it. (I beat DA:O like four times. I still haven't finished DA2. I just don't like the changes that much).  I'm pretty much aiming at PC-only, or wherein the PC experience is VERY different than the console version.

At the moment: Minecraft, Civ 4+Fall of Heaven and Blood Bowl -- along with a smattering of free trials of MMORPG's that have come out since 2006 or so, seem to be the consensus. :)

[koro]

Oh, if you like old-school style RPGs, there's also the Eschalon series as well as Legend of Grimrock, both of which are really good.

[Kail]

I'm pretty much aiming at PC-only, or wherein the PC experience is VERY different than the console version.

So, Skyrim, then?

Oh, if you like old-school style RPGs, there's also the Eschalon series as well as Legend of Grimrock, both of which are really good.

If you're into indie stuff, there's a TON of it on Steam.  Iron Brigade and Orcs Must Die are crazy fun if you're into the tower defense FPS mashup thing, there's the Digital Combat Simulator games or Take On Helicopters if you're looking at flight sims.  Arma II is pretty popular now, mostly due to the DayZ mod.  Mount and Blade if you want to see "mounted combat done RIGHT".  There's a bunch of point and click adventure games, from Gemini Rue to Telltale's catalog.  Also a ton of 2d platformers, from quirky weird stuff (like Aquaria or Noitu Love 2) to puzzle platformers (like Vessel and Offspring Fling) to the "super difficult but with checkpoints every ten steps" games which are apparently the new hotness (like Super Meat Boy or Dustforce).  Terraria is good if you haven't already tried it, though it doesn't hook some people, and I'd have to point to Cave Story+ if you haven't already played Cave Story.

[Venkman]

Huh, I didn't realize DA:O came out for Xbox. I figured DA2 did just for how console-y it is (and I'm expecting ArenaNet to announce any day now).

[Sky]

I would also echo the Blood Bowl recommendations, it's a lot of fun against most people 

Dawn of Discovery is a cool game, if you don't want the sci-fi of the newest Anno. Mount & Blade Warband, HoMaM V, King's Bounty, Portal 1/2, TF2, Terraria, just naming some stuff from my steam library that's pc and mostly strategy type stuff or just realy cool.