Classic PC Games

[Max Overload]

GoG.com ----> Go See Phantasmagoria.

 

[kingcom]

Yea im another for recommending Fallout 1 + 2 and Baldurs Gate 1 + 2. Planescape is very much a personal taste but if you can get into it, its fantastic.

 

[Irridium]

I've been looking for a chance to try out Baldur's Gate and early Fallout. Needless to say, going to GoG and seeing those for $10 was a great suprise

It seems we have very similar taste in adventure games. I've already got Prince of Persia and Beyond Good and Evil on the PS2, and Psychonauts downloaded on the 360. Thanks for this list...I've got a lot of games to look into now

No problem. I also suggest reading The Madman's descriptions. If nothing else just to get you more hyped

I'd have described the games, but if I did I'd still be writing, and you would have to read one giant-ass wall of text.

 

[Waaghpowa]

--

MAX PAYNE! seriously, still the greatest game I've ever played and I still play it.

 

[Vosem]

The greatest game ever made... X-Com: UFO Defense. To me anyways.

Of course Fallout 1 and 2 as well.

 

[starwarsgeek]

GoG.com is sounding great, I'll have to check it out!

My favorite genres are platformers, adventures, RPGs, and shooters, but I'm into a little bit of everything.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far, everyone

Well if you're into everything, guess I'll just recommend my personal favourites from the gog site.

First of all, I consider this series pretty much mandatory for any rpg fan: Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate 2. In my mind Biowares finest work to date and the pinaccle of what an rpg should strive to be. Solid narrative, great characters, surprisingly vibrant 2D artwork even today, entertaining tactical combat, absolutely massive open world... I seriously can't think of any real major flaws in the series. It's absolutely brilliant. And then when you consider there are mods out there which combine BG1 and 2 into one cohesive game as well as improve and tweak the experience towards perfection, then really you just can't get any better. Though other rpg try such as...

Spoiler: Classic trailer for BG2 and a comparison between the BG games & Dragon Age

Planescape: Torment. You might've heard of this game, hell, there's another active topic about it in these forums right now. Bluntly put this game has by far the best fantasy story and one of the most unique styles and setting in any game, regardless of genre, ever. It's not disputable, it's fact. In terms of story, setting and character Planescape: Torment is one of the most in-depth and provocative games ever made. If only the combat and the basic gameplay mechanics were more solid it'd probably be my number 1 pick for rpg ever. But as it is it comes a close second, which considering how many rpg I've played, is still damned impressive methinks.

Spoiler: Games intro

Stepping a bit away from pure rpg we've got the absolutely spectacular Heroes of Might and Magic 3. It's a hard game to describe to someone that might not be familiar with this sort of game, so I'll just say it's brilliant and that everything this game does, it does exceptionally well. This is another of those 'I can't think of any real flaws' sort of games, so much so that despite being well over ten years old, I've introduced this game to kids who hadn't even been born when it came out and seen them enjoy it! Now that's the sign of a solid, long lasting experience!

Spoiler: Kinda hard to find any exciting trailer for this game, so here's some pretty music and a view of one of the games cities.

If you wanna give the old Point & Click classic PC adventure games a try, my personal favourite is The Longest Journey. Despite all the gushy mushy love I just gave to Planescape above, this is the game which in terms of story and character really stole my heart. Planescape is deeper, more in-depth and covers a number of more touchy subject but The Longest Journey... well, it's got soul. The main protagonist is my favourite of any game and her journey throughout the games length is enthralling. It's like a really, really nice book for me that I like to re-read every once and awhile for that fuzzy warm feeling of nostalgic happiness. Even nostalgia wont blind me to the shit puzzles and gameplay, but screw that, use a walkthrough if you have to. The story is worth it in my mind!

Spoiler: Trailer for the game!

And as a final suggestion for something more actiony if that's you're thing: Freespace 2. The space sim that was so good it killed the genre... or at least I like to think so. Simply put the story is solid but the gameplay so awesomely intense that you'll be suffering from shellshock and probably need to have your fingers pried from the joystick (I bought a force-feedback joystick exclusively for this game. So worth it!) with a pair of pliers when it's done. Not only that, but of all the games I just listed, this is probably the easiest to get into since a couple of years ago the developers released the games source code online, and as a result the community has been improving the engine ever since to such an extent that it still looks fantastic today. This game is so good at what it does it's become an entire genre unto itself, with so many mods and even total conversion that buying this game is like buying the last ten years worth of amazing space sims all in one. I kid you not!

Spoiler: Youtube videos showing gameplay and what the latest release of its visual upgrade mod looks like

And there you go! Between those five games (Technically 6 since there's 2 BG games!) that's enough PC gaming goodness to keep a normal human occupied for... hell, well over a year especially if they take the time to play the games fully and explore the communities which have sprung up around each game.

Mmm... spent some time on this reply. Think I'll save it for the next time someone asks for PC game suggestions.

Wow, thanks for all the time you put into this post. These games all sound fantastic. I will definitely be getting them!

 

[ten.to.ten]

Grim Fandango-A wonderful adventure game, terrific writing, and top notch voice acting.

Ah! I completely forgot about LucasArts' adventure games! Add to the list:

The original Monkey Island series (Curse Of Monkey Island was my favourite but they're all good)
Sam & Max Hit The Road
Day Of The Tentacle (beware, this one's a real brainteaser)

I've also been told that Full Throttle is superb and I own it but haven't yet gotten around to playing it. It's by Tim Schafer who was the creator of Psychonauts and Brutal Legend, if you like either of these.

 

[Ensiferum]

Going by just your name, I would highly recommend Star Wars: Dark Forces and the sequel series Jedi Knight 1 and 2.

And you just can't beat Deus Ex.

 

[TilMorrow]

The Monkey Island Series is a must.

This and Spacequest and Jedi Acacdemy and Grim Fandango.
[sub]Damn technology... I want to finish Spacequest 6 and Grim Fandango again![/sub]

I've also been told that Full Throttle is superb and I own it but haven't yet gotten around to playing it. It's by Tim Schafer who was the creator of Psychonauts and Brutal Legend, if you like either of these.

Play Full Throttle! It gets harder the further in you get, but its so satifying when you figure out the puzzles. Also the story is really great.

Also I know someone mentioned Freespace 2 already but Freespace is also pretty good. I enjoyed the time I sunk in that game and the way my ship became near inpenetrable. But I've yet to try Freespace 2 so I can't really compare them.

 

[WaReloaded]

The Sims is well worth checking out.

 

[HentMas]

Lately, I've found myself in a restrospective mood--playing PS2, Gamecube, or Xbox games instead of current-gen, looking through the virtual console, XBLA, and Steam for older games, ect. I didn't play a lot of PC growing up (a little warcraft and starcraft), so I figured this would be a good place to ask.

Could you please recomend some classic PC games? It'd be nice if they were available on steam, but I'll go through amazon if I have to.

Thanks in advance

duuude, search "Abandonia" man... you are missing A WHOLE F&%KING LOT

download "DosBOX", the basic tool to play all those abandoned games

seriously, those games are free because the "ESA" does not protects them, just get in and look around, there are plenty of great games

also, Halve Life, Team Fortress, Doom collection, Master Of Orion II (the first one is too old and hard, the seccond one is too old and hard, but at least you will understand what the hell is going on)

check it out man, i just covered all your bases

 

[The Madman]

No problem. I also suggest reading The Madman's descriptions. If nothing else just to get you more hyped

You have an excellent taste in PC games, my good sir!

Wow, thanks for all the time you put into this post. These games all sound fantastic. I will definitely be getting them!

Not a problem, and have fun! Plenty of other amazing suggestions in this topic as well: X-Com, Max Payne, Grim Fandango, Sam & Max, original Fallout games, Deux Ex, and No One Lives Forever just to mention a few. I'm just suggesting a couple I consider pinnacles of my PC gaming experience and which also happen to be easily available of GOG.

Wish GOG would get all the other games mentioned, as well as my personal favourites Thief 2: The Metal Age, Mechwarrior 2, and System Shock 2 (What's with the number 2?). But for now those games are often kinda hard to find and just as often annoying to get running even if you do own em, so I'd say leave those for later if you're still interested.

For now just have fun, and welcome to classic PC gaming!