PC Game recommendations

[Llyse]

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

Give The Secret World a go with the three day trial now.

But yep, Blood bowl is the worth every minute spent in f13.

[Kageru]

Is world of tanks a possibility? It's pretty well constructed and an interesting application of f2p.

[Ruvaldt]

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

By the way, Andydavo isn't around anymore, Sky.  You can come back to us!

[eldaec]

Blood bowl.
Tf2.
portal.
EVE.

That's about all you'll ever need.

Mtgo has quietly become playable again if you feel you have too much money.

DAO is pretty much the last bioware game before the change (for better or worse) and worth playing through for reference in threads about RPGs (also it is good).

Everyone is going to be playing the new UFO in a month or so. They seem to be doing well despite console versions.

Is 2003 recent enough that you played VtM Bloodlines? If you like RPGs you kind of have to play that.

Some people suggested Diablo. Fuck that. Play torchlight and soon torchlight 2.

[Reg]

Morat is so far behind in PC gaming that he has no need to pay 60 bucks for some triple A game.  He can play his backlog for months and by the time he's done they'll be on sale on Steam.

[Sky]

Probably the best answer of all!

Pick up a few of the old titles we mentioned to tide you over until December and then drop the hammer on the steam xmas sale.

[Morat20]

Morat is so far behind in PC gaming that he has no need to pay 60 bucks for some triple A game.  He can play his backlog for months and by the time he's done they'll be on sale on Steam.

That's for damn sure. Everything tripleA I've gotten since, oh, 2006 has been on Xbox with the exception of WoW expansions. (And I have, but have not PLAYED, Cataclysm. I took a break right before it came out and never got a chance to pick it back up).

Picking up old titles -- yeah, I plan to pick over stuff on Steam. :) Hey, the Total War games  -- I've got Rome and Medieval 2, are any of the other newer ones worth playing?

[Sheepherder]

Hey, the Total War games  -- I've got Rome and Medieval 2, are any of the other newer ones worth playing?

Fuck the Total War games.  Play Crusader Kings: 2.

[eldaec]

I've got Rome and Medieval 2, are any of the other newer ones worth playing?

No. Never speak of them again.

[koro]

What? I've heard near-universal praise for Shogun 2, outside of its load times.

[Sjofn]

CK2 is pretty fun if you're into that sort of thing! I didn't realize I was until I tried it, though. 

I know some people really like Mount & Blade, but I haven't actually played that myself, so perhaps other people can recommend which version is awesome, which mods are good for it, etc.

[koro]

As someone who's been playing Mount & Blade since 2005, I can pretty safely say Warband is the one to shoot for. It's got the most mod support (though you should play it vanilla at first), the most people playing multiplayer on it (if that's your thing), and it's probably the best overall out-of-the-box M&B experience. Fire and Sword isn't bad, but it's kind of lackluster and cash-in-y. The Napoleanic Wars add-on for Warband I haven't heard much about.

There is no reason to ever buy the original M&B unless you're really jonesing for one of the tiny handful of mods that never got a Warband port.

[Sheepherder]

CK2 is pretty fun if you're into that sort of thing! I didn't realize I was until I tried it, though. 

The Sims: Making Hunchbacked Incest Babies.

[Sjofn]

I am pretty sure that's why I like it so much, yes. 

[Morat20]

I'll bite -- what the heck is Crusader Kings?

I'm still jonesing for a game wherein I can build a castle, and pour molten lead on people trying to invade it. (And yes, I played Castle. Castles? It was back in very early 90s when "dots" were awesome graphics and games still came on floppies.)

[Ingmar]

What? I've heard near-universal praise for Shogun 2, outside of its load times.

The load times are SO bad that it makes me unable to recommend it. Which is a shame because the game really is quite good otherwise.

[Ingmar]

I'll bite -- what the heck is Crusader Kings?

I'm still jonesing for a game wherein I can build a castle, and pour molten lead on people trying to invade it. (And yes, I played Castle. Castles? It was back in very early 90s when "dots" were awesome graphics and games still came on floppies.)

Stronghold is the game I think you want from that perspective, except I've heard that the latest one blows. Haven't played it myself.

[Morat20]

I'll bite -- what the heck is Crusader Kings?

I'm still jonesing for a game wherein I can build a castle, and pour molten lead on people trying to invade it. (And yes, I played Castle. Castles? It was back in very early 90s when "dots" were awesome graphics and games still came on floppies.)

Stronghold is the game I think you want from that perspective, except I've heard that the latest one blows. Haven't played it myself.

I like designing castles. And then defending them. I find Tower Defense games fun, if a bit too frantic at times. I just...enjoy building defenses in depth.

Pretty much any RTS I'd happily fort up -- which, admittedly, is a losing tactic against people. Against Zerg rushes from an AI (or several) it's fine. In fact, friend of mine and I used to do co-op Starcraft or Age of Empires and he'd basically specialize in hit-and-run attacks and lead them back to whatever defensive monstrosity I'd assembled.

I find a deep satisifaction in funneling enemies into a choke point and absolutely shredding them through well placed fixed defenses. Let them break on my walls, against my seige tanks or catapults. And behind them, of course, I build up the giant-ass nigh-invicible units that cost an arm and a leg -- and then deploy them en masse.

What can I say? It's my style. I like a game that allows it.

I am also looking forward to playing Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 again. It runs on my current PC, just not very well. It's...vexing and distracting. I enjoy building things.

Minecraft I'm really looking forward to. (I realzie it'd run fine on what I have, but...I dunno. New PC, new games. :) )

[lamaros]

Crusader Kings II is a medieval strategy dynasty game in which you have to make your line... well, do whatever you want your line to do. From surviving the infighting in the Holy Roman Empire, taking over England, fighting Holy Wars in the middle east, uniting Spain, sitting alone in your castle getting really really pious.. etc.

Though it is a strategy game with armies and kingdom laws, buildings, research, etc it plays almost like a RPG at times. The people (including your ruler, children, heirs, etc) have stats and traits (which you can then breed with others) and involves quite a few personal decisions like how to raise your children, if you want to commit adultery, etc.

This is really a crap explanation. It's fun, though.

[Ruvaldt]

I loved Crusader Kings 2, but the load times can get out of hand.  If you can see past its issues it can be a lot of fun.  It's essentially a feudal family simulator in which you control a European (or Muslim, with the DLC) dynasty from the date of the Battle of Hastings through to the dawn of the Renaissance.  There is no tactical level warfare like the Total War games; it's all strategy.  

The nice thing about CK 2 is that you do become very attached to your family members over the centuries and it's fun looking back through generations and generations of your virtual relatives...some of them paragons of the crusading spirit and others treacherous bastards hellbent on acquiring each others fiefs.  Towards the end of the game it usually devolves into a kind of cathartic bloodletting in which no one wins and you can barely stitch together a kingdom.  It is very engaging, at its best, and very frustrating, at its worst.  

It's a kind of strategy rpg, but without loot or dungeons and a lot more venereal diseases.

[Job601]

I like designing castles. And then defending them. I find Tower Defense games fun, if a bit too frantic at times. I just...enjoy building defenses in depth.

Pretty much any RTS I'd happily fort up -- which, admittedly, is a losing tactic against people. Against Zerg rushes from an AI (or several) it's fine. In fact, friend of mine and I used to do co-op Starcraft or Age of Empires and he'd basically specialize in hit-and-run attacks and lead them back to whatever defensive monstrosity I'd assembled.

I find a deep satisifaction in funneling enemies into a choke point and absolutely shredding them through well placed fixed defenses. Let them break on my walls, against my seige tanks or catapults. And behind them, of course, I build up the giant-ass nigh-invicible units that cost an arm and a leg -- and then deploy them en masse.

What can I say? It's my style. I like a game that allows it.

I am also looking forward to playing Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 again. It runs on my current PC, just not very well. It's...vexing and distracting. I enjoy building things.

Minecraft I'm really looking forward to. (I realzie it'd run fine on what I have, but...I dunno. New PC, new games. :) )

Did you play Orcs Must Die?  I guess it was on Xbox live also.  I liked the new King's Bounty, and especially its sequel. 

[Sjofn]

Did you play Plants vs. Zombies? Because if not, you should play that. 

[Sheepherder]

I'll bite -- what the heck is Crusader Kings?

Sort of like a Total War game with the tactical game scrapped in favour of a deeper diplomatic game and ridiculously thorough historical accuracy (at the start of the game, at least).  Or, the game wherein you learn that when the chips are down you're more of a raging dickhead than King John.  Me?  I have a one year old child in my dungeons.  One guy I threw in something like five or six times - I'm not stupid, I knew he was going to rebel the moment I let him out; I just liked the ransom money.

Also, I recently learned that children tend to inherit the culture and religion of the place they're tutored.  So I'm now sort of looking out for heirs to important Kingdoms that I can invite to Ireland, who I will i send back to their homeland as foreigners, incurring violent rebellions as the nobles rise up against their now foreign sovereign which will rip the kingdom apart and leave no clear line of succession.

[lac]

The something aweful 'How the Hell Do We Play Crusader Kings 2?' tutorial is a good way to get started and get a feel for the game. While it's not a genre a lot of people naturally gravitate towards, it is a surprisingly engaging and fun game.

[Morat20]

Did you play Plants vs. Zombies? Because if not, you should play that. 

I'll have you know that I only consider it a "win" if the zombies can't even make it past my walls. Ever. :)

Never tried Orcs Must Die.

Crusader Kings does sound fun

[Stormwaltz]

Crusader Kings is awesome. It's a grand mal strategy game plus medieval soap opera.

Regarding the recent Total War games, yeah, Shogun 2 is great, but skip Empire and Napoleon. Tom Chick's review featured one of my favorite tl;dr summaries in recent years; "Imagine you woke up one morning and the village idiot had built a cathedral. At which point someone vaguely recalls the village idiot was once a famous architect and it all kind of makes sense."

Aside from those. my votes would be for:

Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Red Faction Guerilla
Saints Row 3
AI War
R.U.S.E.
Dragon Age: Origins
Mount & Blade: Warband
Skyrim
Space Rangers 2 (older, still worthwhile)
The Witcher 2
X3 Terran Conflict
Civilization IV
Distant Worlds
Space Pirates and Zombies

[Sheepherder]

Crusader Kings does sound fun

Basically someone at Paradox read Game of Thrones and said "this needs to be a sandbox game."

[Ruvaldt]

And there was actually a pretty good Westeros mod for CK I.  The guy who worked on it decided not to make one for CK II, sadly, but I'm sure there is some group out there with the same idea.

[proudft]

There is one out now, but they're on version 0.3ish and it seemed sort of buggy when I tried it (0.2 I think).  It looks nice, though, and has promise:

http://citadel.prophpbb.com/topic1282.html

My game started with Robert getting killed by Rhaegar, so history sort of went off the rails right away, but it seemed fun.  The bugs I found were things like Kingsguard guys getting married, little stuff.  It did seem to basically work.

[Count Nerfedalot]

Crusader Kings does sound fun

Basically someone at Paradox read Game of Thrones and said "this needs to be a sandbox game."

Pretty humorous since the inspiration for the Game of Thrones (including many of the spectacular instances of asshattery) came from historical accounts of The War of the Roses.

[Paelos]

Ck2 didn't resonate with me as much due to the real time clock in a board game format. I much prefer total wars turns approach and actually fighting my battles

[HaemishM]

I've got Rome and Medieval 2, are any of the other newer ones worth playing?

No. Never speak of them again.

Don't listen to them. Empire is fatally flawed, but Napoleon and Shogun 2 are both good.

[eldaec]

Just looking through my steam library for things not mentioned...

Audiosurf                 (it's a cheap gimmick, you run a spaceship down a track defined by your music collection)
Back to the Future     (it's a cute 'use A on B' point and click adventure. With Christopher Lloyd and a Delorean)
Bioshock                  (you seem old enough to appreciate it for System Shock nods)
Dawn of War II          (RTS, but with no turtling allowed - which is what you said you didn't like - try this anyway)
Deus Ex & Deus Ex 3  (Do not speak of Deus Ex 2)
Freedom Force           (FOR FREEDOM)
Puzzle Quest              (Bejeweled but more so)
STALKER                   (I doubt it has aged well and probably incredibly long, but whatever)
Sid Meier's Pirates!     (remake of the original, on steam for almost no money)
The Witcher              (It's too damn long, but at least it is another take on rpgs. Also boobies)

[Morat20]

I have Pirates! :) I am quite old enough to have played the original, and I felt the remake captured it pretty well. The dancing game annoyed me, though and it was a bit crash-prone. I can't watch a tv show that mentions the Carribean (or the weather channel during hurricane season) without thinking "I've sacked that. I've marred the Governor's daughter there.".

My first RPG was, I believe the original Bard's Tale. Or possibly Space Quest I. Or Hero's Quest. (I'm fuzzy on the order). But I'm 90% sure it was Bard's Tale. :)

[Ingmar]

Well it certainly wasn't Space Quest since that wasn't an RPG!